HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NJ – School-aged kids are bombarded with hundreds of enticements to stray from the straight and narrow path, away from an objective or away from healthy choices. There are too few enticements to reorient these same kids back to their path. Urban, rural or frontier (yes there are still frontier areas in the US) environs share the same burden of nurturing kids.
But an effort out of New Jersey takes the best that hockey has to offer and moves it into an engaging and mentoring animation effort called Asphalt Avengers.
New Jersey-based River Edge Productions has created the animation concept starring Martin Brodeur from the New Jersey Devils hockey team. It is geared toward the 7-11 demographic who play sports and has been in development and is now ready to seek out production partners and financial backing to help with the creation of a website as well other aspects of producing the series.
The principle, Creator of Asphalt Avengers, and executive producer is Chris Riley, whose credits include producer at ESPN, TSN, Leafs TV, and Fox Sports. He has produced 17 Stanley Cup finals broadcasts.
The “Asphalt Avengers” is a labor of love for Riley who sees the animated production as a means to get kids engaged in self-awareness and self-discovery.
“It’s a way kids can see themselves improving through activity and competition in the hockey rink,” Riley said.
The inspiration for the “Asphalt Avengers” goes back to his years playing street hockey in the summers and pond hockey in the winters.
“The whole series is a product of my experiences playing hockey, and kids I played with, and then those I coached later as an adult,” Riley said. “Growing up with my friends playing hockey has driven so much of this effort (and) I am thankful for all of that experience.”
The “Asphalt Avengers” is the ongoing story of a group of inner-city “tweens” ages 10-12 who appear in animated programming that delivers strong, encouraging, usable, entertaining messages about how to deal with life’s challenges on a daily basis; leading to better life-choices made by kids.
Martin Brodeur lends voice to Asphalt Avengers
“The “Asphalt Avengers” can help the Tween demo,” Riley said. “I want to reach kids through a positive outlet and not have to use a violent message. So much of what kids watch today is very violent and gives kids a very dangerous message. I want children to see that things can be fun and they can enjoy life.”
The “Asphalt Avengers” also demonstrates the power of self-discovery. It sets goals for healthy competition, showing kids that they can change tough situations by learning to reach for positive solutions. It lets kids see how changing attitudes and seeking options to their behavior can transform their life. Just as an athletic competition takes skill coupled with perseverance, so does the resolution of emotionally charged issues. It is more than a story about kids playing roller hockey.
The real power of the animation series may be its ability to break through the noise that surrounds kids today and places so many enticements in front of them to draw them down unwanted paths. Riley is quick to emphasize this point.
“I want “Asphalt Avengers” to be story driven. Today very few people can tell a good story about something,” Riley said. “I had great childhood growing up and have a lot of great stories from not only sports but life as well. Today that gets lost on kids.”
It’s those stories and experiences that fuel Riley and the “Asphalt Avengers”.
“We tend to crush creative thinking and new ideas,” riley said. “People are afraid of new ideas and meeting challenges. I want to show kids through hard work and time you can succeed not only in sports but in the game of life.
“I read the book, “Story” by Robert McKee two summers ago. In the book he talks about telling stories in script form and the importance of substance, structure, and style. This is what we are aiming for with Asphalt Avengers. Great stories that kids will want to watch and parents will like because they have value to them.“
There are valuable lessons to be learned from “Asphalt Avengers”.
They include, Loyalty, trust, faith, honesty, sincerity, goodness, and responsibility. The “Asphalt Avengers” are a diverse group of boys and girls from a range of backgrounds, ethnicities and races.
The storylines are told in a funny, magical way with heart. Appealing to kids who play sports along with adults who follow hockey.
There is celebrity sparkle with the :Asphalt Avengers” as the mentor and coach is Martin Brodeur, NHL goalie of the New Jersey Devils, who helps the team through a variety of challenges in life and sports.
Despite the participation of an NHL star like Brodeur, the NHL itself has not warmed to the “Asphalt Avengers.” Disappointed but unbowed, Riley has moved the project forward incrementally.
“ With the blessing from them (NHL) we can get the money needed to make this a reality. Everyone we have pitched “Asphalt Avengers” to has said ‘if you get the NHL to say they want to part of this we can get the money and production team behind this’,” Riley said.
The “Asphalt Avengers” website will be a destination where kids can suggest ideas for positive issues in sports and life.
It is important to impact children’s lives in a positive way, and this is done by using sports. Kids want to interact with their media and this is what “Asphalt Avengers” does, letting kids use the website, to bounce ideas and feelings to each other. It will be a multi-platform property, with webisodes, on-line games, and positive re-nforcement with interpersonal skills.
Asphalt Avengers was nominated in 2009 in the “Kids First Film Festival” in the Iron Kids Division of the competition for independent shorts. Currently, Asphalt Avengers is also being showcased on the Kids Screen website.
If you would like to view the website to watch the trailer, click here .
When you stop by the “Asphalt Avengers” YouTube site, drop Chris Riley a note and let him know what you think of the “Asphalt Avengers.”
Contact Lou.Lafrado@prohockeynews.com
Publisher’s Note: This is the second time Pro Hockey News has moved the publication date for this article. Why? Our children are subject to the charms of a sedentary lifestyle with more and more online games and handheld devices that reduce their time in physical activity. The creator of Asphalt Avengers, Chris Riley, has a subtle message that engages kids and gets them moving. We at Pro Hockey News believe the Asphalt Avengers and the message therein need to be in front of our eyes often. Be sure to visit the YouTube video and drop a note that PHN was the referring site.
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