I met Janice Burgess early in my career when I was head writer on GULLAH GULLAH ISLAND and she was assigned to be our Executive in Charge of Production. This is the person the network sends to the set to make sure the money is not going to waste.
Janice swept in with her acid-tongued wit, flowing Hermes scarves and omnipresent cigarettes. Instead of an overseer, she became a friend. She recognized my magic before I did and made sure I was in the room and under consideration for many of the shows that came my way including LITTLE BILL and TAINA. Janice created THE BACKYARDIGANS and guided countless other shows for Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, Disney and Apple TV. Her script/story critiques were astute, clear and constructive - and I really thank her for that.
Janice, Maria Perez-Brown and I developed shows together, gossiped together and oh, how we laughed! I will miss my dear friend. RIP. Oh, how we laughed…