Draft:Dan Clark (writer director producer)

Dan Clark (born July 9, 1961) is an American writer, director, producer, and performer best known for his work on various television series including Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation for Fox Kids, Brats of the Lost Nebula with The Jim Henson Company for Kids' WB, The Save-Ums! for Discovery Kids, Yo Gabba Gabba! for The Magic Store and Nick JR, Team Smithereen for Disney XD, Alien Xmas for Netflix with The Chiodo Brothers, and FriendZSpace produced by T&B Media Global with Flying Bark Productions and The Dan Clark Company.

Early Life & Influences
Dan Clark grew up in Park Forest, IL, a southern suburb of Chicago. As a child, he was influenced by television puppet creators who wrote, directed, and performed in their own work. His earliest creative influence was Bill Jackson, who wrote, directed, produced, and performed in his own puppet children's television series in Chicago, Cartoon Town and The BJ & Dirty Dragon Show.

Clark was also heavily influenced by Jim Henson and Kroffts, both for their use of puppets and comedy, as well as their unique design styles. Clark went on to create and collaborate with both companies.

As a teen, Clark made short puppet films on Super 8 film and VHS video. When not making shorts, By his early twenties, Clark was Director Of Programming at Jones Intercable in Park Forest. In 1991, Clark moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in television puppetry and animation.

Career
Clark first found work at Night Flight as a segment producer.

Wandering Monkey Entertainment (1990s-2001)
In the early 1990s, Clark formed his first production company, Wandering Monkey Entertainment, with fellow Chicagoans Don Asher and Dave Pressler. Clark’s first pilot was a surreal puppet sitcom called Beyond Family. The project was designed by Dave Pressler and produced by Don Asher, with Clark and Pressler performing many of the characters.

During this time, Clark wrote a season of live-action Public Service Announcements for Fox Kids called Totally For Kids. The project received a George Foster Peabody Award.

Clark also developed The Mr. Potato Head Show, a puppet TV comedy for Hasbro, Film Roman, and Fox Kids. Dave Pressler served as character designer and Mark Mothersbaugh and Ernie Mannix provided music. The series showrunner was Doug Langdale.

In 1996, Dan Clark was signed to an overall deal with The Jim Henson Company. The collaboration resulted in the action adventure puppet comedy Brats of the Lost Nebula, created by Clark. The series, made for Kids' WB, was executive produced by Brian Henson, Margaret Loesch, and Dan Clark. Dave Pressler contributed as a character and concept designer and Don Asher served as Executive For Wandering Monkey. Artist Nathan Cabrera designed the Brats and the overall look of the world. Brats was selected by TV Guide as "One Of The Top Ten Children's Series Of The Year.”

Also in 1996, Clark wrote the series bible and spearheaded development for Ninja Turtles: Next Mutation for Fox Kids. Clark was attached to the series as a creative consultant and contributed many scripts.

Wandering Monkey also produced the indie feature, The Item. The film was written and directed by Clark, produced by Don Asher and Dave Pressler, and featured Clark and Pressler as two of its leads.

Through 1999 and 2000, the film was screened at several film festivals, including Sundance Film Festival’s Dramatic Competition Category, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Sitges International Film Festival of Catalonia, SXSW, and others. The Item was the first digital feature to be included in film festivals and distributed by a major distribution company, Artisan Entertainment. Dan Clark was nominated for a Independent Spirit Someone to Watch Award for his work on The Item.

The Dan Clark Company (2001-present)
In 2001, Wandering Monkey Entertainment evolved into The Dan Clark Company. The company’s first animated series was the preschool action/adventure show, The Save-Ums!, produced by Decode Entertainment and the Dan Clark Company for Discovery Kids. The series was created by Dan Clark, Dave Pressler, and Don Asher. The Save-Ums! explored ideas related to service to others, technology, comedy, and adventure. Clark served as show-runner, Asher as Executive For The Dan Clark Company, and Pressler as key character and world designer along with artist, Nathan Cabrera. The first season of The Save-Ums! was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 2006.

In 2002, Clark wrote and developed the series bible for the live-action adventure comedy Los Luchadores, based on an idea conceived by Fox Kids Executive David McDermott. Clark served as consultant for the series.

In 2007, The Dan Clark Company produced Team Smithereen with W!LDBRAIN for Disney's Jetix International, featuring puppet characters performing absurd stunts. The company produced 26 shorts and later in 2011, long-form series pilot based on the shorts for Disney Television. Team Smithereen was created by Dan Clark, Dave Pressler, and Don Asher. Pressler and Clark designed the original characters.

Clark signed on as Story Editor for the NICK JR preschool series, Yo Gabba Gabba! Clark wrote songs, scripts, and co-wrote songs for the second season.

In 2015, Clark developed and directed the animated comedy series The Tasty Tales Of The Food Truckers for Fremantle Kids of the UK and Shellhut Entertainment of Thailand. The series premiered on Netflix Asia.

In 2022, Clark co-created FriendZSpace with producer Oscar Covar. FriendZspace follows the adventure of three human kids recruited by an alien interagency to travel the super clutter of stars and befriend alien kids, no matter how strange and not-human they may seem. The animated comedy is described by Clark as "Hitchhikers Guide To The Universe for seven-year-olds."