RTÉ's brand new children's series, The Imagination Machine, is perfect vieweing for the whole family – mostly because it was made by one.
Following sisters Ella and Lucy and brother Blaze as they go on amazing adventures through time and space thanks to the magical powers of an old cardboard box, the concept of the show, whereby kids become more fascinated by the cardboard box than the toy inside, is one that parents everywhere will relate to.
"Its proof that children's love using their imagination," laughs creator Ian Benjamin Kenny. "That's where the concept came from: kids using an old box to go off on adventures and use their imaginations. It's such a simple idea."
Written, directed, and edited by dad Ian, who has a long-standing career in graphics and visual effects, the fantastical show stars his three children, while set design and costumes were handled by his wife.
Speaking over the phone, the director explained that the family-friendly, family-made series stemmed from a short movie that he made during the pandemic.
"During lockdown I made a short, CGI, 3-minute film, where the kids are flying on a little miniature bug spaceships and are being chased by a butterfly. It was a bit of craic so I stuck it up on YouTube and used it as a proof of concept to pitch to RTÉ."
The pitch went down a treat and before long Kenny and his family found themselves filming 11 episodes of The Imagination Machine with a small crew at locations that were close to home.
"The natural thing to do was get the kids involved," explains Ian. "They were thrown in the deep end a bit, they had never done anything like it before, filming with a full crew, but they had a lovely acting coach involved. They really rose to the challenge, they're good little actors!"
"We really did try to design the whole show around the kids' comfort," he adds. "All the green screen was shot in their school, the headmaster there was brilliant, and then we shot the playroom scenes in the spare room of their grandad's house."
As well as having his children star in the show, Kenny says their interests and opinions often fueled the material and dialogue, with their enthusiasm for the project constantly adding to the script and the performances.
"You get inspired by different things, but you write what you know. There's certain things that the kids do or say that you write into the scripts - they're a great source of inspiration."
"I threw them in at the deep-end, and it was tricky for them at the start, but they really got into the swing of it. They added so much personality to it. They were total pros by the end."
A gorgeous concept with lots of heart and brilliant chemistry between real-life siblings, The Imagination Machine is available on RTÉ Player now.
