Boston-based service studio Hero4Hire (H4H) has set up a new prodco called Pretty Amazing, which is dedicated to original content development, production and distribution.

H4H’s Allison Dressler Kramer (executive producer) and Evan Sussman (executive creative director) will pull double-duty as co-CEOs of the new studio, while Jordan Beck will shift over from his development chief role at H4H to serve as Pretty Amazing’s head of operations.

Setting up this offshoot is part of a strategy to separate and focus the company’s capabilities under two roofs. While H4H continues to provide animation and motion design services, Pretty Amazing will produce and distribute original IPs, starting with Fizzy’s Lunch Lab. 

The company is embarking on a revival of the franchise by distributing the original show to new platforms and also developing new episodes. 

Fizzy’s Lunch Lab originally launched on the PBS KIDS website in 2009 as a mixed-media web series about healthy eating and cooking. It stars a quirky professor and his sidekicks, who uncover the science behind various foods and snacks. Sussman and Dave Schlafman co-created the show concept, and H4H was established to handle its animated components. 

Pretty Amazing, which now owns the IP, has finalized a deal to license the original shorts (three hours in total) to Common Sense Networks’ Sensical channels and the OTT platform BatteryPOP. 

Over the course of the show’s run from 2009 to 2021, it earned three Daytime Emmy nominations and was adapted into a three-book series published by Candlewick Press and 15 games on the PBS KIDS website/app.

Pretty Amazing is also sussing out distribution opportunities for the new Lunch Lab content it’s currently working on. These fresh episodes will broaden the original show’s focus from nutrition to overall health and wellness. While the revival will also feature a mixed-media format, the team at Pretty Amazing is planning to roll in new elements, such as a tech segment that introduces fun gadgets.

The studio is also looking for developers to reactivate the gaming side of the franchise, either through new content and/or remastered versions of its classic games.

Looking ahead, Pretty Amazing is developing new content that spans a wide variety of formats. It will primarily focus on producing for young kids and family audiences, but the team is also looking at projects that cater to tweens, teens and adults.