Producers

Max Reynal and Doug Morrione are the co-creators of Jack, the Cuddly Dog. In addition to filmmakers, they are respectively a father and an uncle who saw a need for a new generation of baby videos. Inspired by classic baby books like Goodnight Moon and Winnie the Pooh, they decided to focus on a cuddly animal that would give their videos a warm and "organic" feel. Max and Doug created the character of a puppy named Jack who discovers the world, scampering about and interacting with little viewers. Having sifted through the conflicting rhetoric and theories of early childhood development and arriving at an even-keeled focus on common sense, they strive to produce wholesome and engaging videos for young children and parents alike. Doug earned a B.A. in History from Colby College and Masters in Media Studies from The New School for Social Research, where he now teaches and was recently nominated for the university’s distinguished teaching award. Doug has been a part of multiple Emmy nominated and awarded productions, including the documentary, A Yiddish World Remembered and ESPN’s groundbreaking World Series of Poker. Max has a Masters in Fine Arts in Film and Television from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a BA from Columbia University. He is the proud father of two extraordinary girls, Charlotte and Lucy. Lucy is one of the voices of Jack, the Cuddly Dog, along with Kristine Louis. Max’s awards include: Gold Award for Best Short Drama from Houston Worldfest (for “The Butterfly Dance” which starred Vera Farmiga of “Up in the Air” fame), Recipient of a Warner Bros Post-production cash award, Tisch School of the Arts Dean's Award for excellent acting performance, Official selection at the Denver International Film Festival, selected to be a graduate assistant at NYU, and the Seymour Brick Award from Columbia University for Best Play. Doug and Max are the principal partners of Hello Baby Productions in New York City. They would love to hear from you if you have any questions, thoughts or suggestions about Jack, the Cuddly Dog.

Jack’s Animators

Paul Beard

There were several false starts as Doug and Max began production before finding Paul Beard, a former animator for the popular Blues Clues series for Nickelodeon. Paul had the right qualities to express the wide-eyed wonder and loveability of the Jack The Cuddly Dog character. Jack materialized as a reflection of Paul: curious, friendly and sweet. Sadly, Paul passed away far too young in a tragic car accident in 2005. Paul wrapped production on his animated short, Petalocity, the week before he died, and his colleagues and friends and family celebrated the film’s premiere as it opened the 2008 Chicago Animation Festival. Paul is still watching, helping and smiling down on us from a better place.

Christina Ghiloni

Christina took over the animation for Hello Baby Productions’ second video Jack Goes West! She has worked as an artist and animator in New York City for over 10 years. Her credits include animation on the hit kids show “Blue’s Clue’s” on Nickelodeon, “Kappa Mikey” on Nick Jr. and directorial credit on CBS’s Sunday morning cartoon “Generation Jets.” She is currently the Art Director for e.l.f. Cosmetics.

Sofia Park

Sophia graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2010 with an Illustration and Printmaking BFA. She is the illustrator of the soon-to-come Jack picture book.

Musicians

Another artistic differentiator in the Jack video series was the decision to have live music recorded by standout musicians on acoustic instruments. The soundtrack for the first Jack video—Colors and Shapes—was thus recorded live to tape by Cheryl Tchanz with no overdubs or editing of any kind. The producers are grateful for her efforts and amazing and beautiful musicianship.

Cheryl Tschanz

Cheryl Tschanz’s ability as a pianist was recognized early. At seven, Clavier magazine described her as having "startling qualities of great talent." She attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and, at eleven, made her major orchestral debut as guest soloist with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. Since then, she has played in solo performances and with orchestras and chamber music groups throughout the United States, Canada, France, Italy and Finland. She received Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Indiana University and holds a Doctorate from State University of New York at Stony Brook. Her principal teachers were Ruth Edwards, Boris Berman and Gilbert Kalish. A dedicated teacher for over thirty years, Ms Tschanz was an assistant professor of music at Colby College from 1991-2008, where she directed the piano and accompanying programs. She currently lives in Celebration, Florida where she maintains a private teaching studio and has an active solo and chamber performance schedule.

Sean McCaul

Sean is a New York City based musician and composer. He started playing the drums when he was 8 years old and the vibraphone when he was 13. He also plays the piano, guitar, bass, harmonica and sings.The vibraphone is a heavy and large instrument that resembles a xylophone but has foot pedals that engage a spinning motor to influence the sound with vibrato and sustain. Sean has played on some great records; "Naqoyqatsi" (Philip Glass/ Yo Yo Ma), "La Aventura", "Back Numbers" (Dean and Britta), "Hooked" Lucy Woodward", to name a few. Sean's own records include "No Words", "Plastic Aluminum", "McCaul Vaillant", "Make It Shiny For Glockenspiel Galore" and his most recent effort, "Alone.” Currently, Sean McCaul and Phil Kester have a band called Xylophone People and are working on a forthcoming album of original music.