Cutting the fat – A new series wants to make “gumbo” a verb and obesity obsolete

Baton Rouge filmmaker John Darling Haynes had a unique focus group for his new project: Blue, age 8, and Jackson, then only 3.

Together, they perfectly bookended his target demographic. They are his sons with wife and producing partner Joanna, and the Haynes children, like most, can be brutally honest.

“With the music, it literally came down to their opinion, and they told me which songs got their feet moving the best,” Haynes recalls. “Of course, there were also times when they said, ‘I don’t like that at all, Daddy.’ But as an artist, you get used to hearing criticism.”

Blue and Jackson’s input, along with years of research, fundraising and creative development, come to fruition this month as Haynes launches an assault on childhood obesity with Geaux America presents The Gumbo Gang, a new musical movement adventure for children.

This fall, The Gumbo Gang will air 12 mostly animated three-minute episodes—called interstitials—online and on public broadcasting stations in more than a dozen states, including LPB in Baton Rouge, where Haynes and his wife first hatched the concept.

That covers roughly 25 million potential households, including young eyeballs in three of the top 10 markets in the country.

Imagination Movers, another Louisiana-born series and now a Disney Channel staple, got its start with similar short clips shown between episodes of more established programming.

As a filmmaker, Haynes, a Baton Rouge native, has always been fascinated with telling Louisiana stories. Last year, Haynes produced and directed the popular and comprehensive LSU gridiron documentary Ole War Skule.

Unfortunately, poor health is as much of a Louisiana story as Tiger football.

Last December, the United Health Foundation ranked Louisiana 49th overall for state health. That bottom-dwelling position means our state is, quite literally, setting the curve for a nation that will see 42% obesity rates and a $550 billion increase to health care costs by 2030, according to a May report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

After Blue was born, John and Joanna Haynes began to pay more attention to statistics like these.

“It’s not just a childhood problem; it’s a family epidemic,” Haynes says. “That’s the real issue.”

For Haynes, producing The Gumbo Gang in Louisiana is about breaking a stereotype, reversing a trend and making a statement about his home state—just as much as it is about getting children and their parents to be more active together.

“We thought that if we can be a part of tackling this issue in a state with such poor health rankings, then it becomes a great story for Louisiana,” Haynes says. “So that is our mission.”

For collaborators, Haynes attracted a team of educational entertainment veterans, Grammy- and Emmy-winning artists and performers from the likes of Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer.

“When you’re up against the Disneys and the Nickelodeons, you have to have the best of the best, and people who believe in what you’re doing,” he says.

That belief has aligned closely with Haynes’ vision for creative social change. Every detail of the animated series is infused with his aesthetic.

Haynes co-wrote much of the music. The animated backgrounds and environments are based on his own expressionist paintings.

For the educational component, Haynes’ team consulted a variety of health experts, including Dr. Tim Church at Pennington Biomedical Research Center.

“We started with the science of it before we even got to the entertainment,” Haynes says. “If we were going to do this, we had to be on target and correct; science-backed.”

Haynes says his team solidified the DNA of The Gumbo Gang when they decided to focus more on movement and everyday activity and less on diet or more traditional, reps-at-the-gym exercise.

“Food is such a huge variable,” Haynes says. “Not everyone can shop at the same stores or has access to the same healthy foods. But everyone can move. It’s universal.”

To brand movement as something fun for children, Haynes is renaming it. The show pushes the word “gumbo” as a verb so that the phrase “Do the gumbo” is synonymous with any form of movement.

“It can be raking the yard, dancing, playing soccer,” Haynes says. “It doesn’t matter what it is; just get out and move. Get out there and ‘gumbo.’”

For season two next year, Haynes aims to expand to PBS affiliates in all 50 states. Beyond television and online entertainment, Haynes hopes to turn this obesity-fighting campaign into a transmedia experience by rolling out national projects under the Geaux America and Gumbo Games banners.

This broader effort could grow to include Geaux Games, a family-oriented, Olympic-style field day competition, and a rolling Geaux America unit boasting free medical exams and health-related entertainment that will visit school events, state fairs, malls, museums and more.

Until then, webisodes, e-books—in French, Spanish and English—educational games, music, information on the televised interstitials and more is available starting this month at www.gumbogang.com.