A pianist and teacher to kids, Lillie Gardner advocates for education about women composers to help normalize female genius. The canon of great composers does not have to be narrow and small. Allegra Sparkle wants kids to see that the greats are just like them—and greatness is available to us all.

 

“[Allegra] is someone worth watching for continued installments. She is fun, funny, and engaging. She’s truly someone who can carry a Pixar film as its lead.”

-analyst from WeScreenplay

 

“This is a wonderfully unique and entertaining premise . . . Allegra is a well executed lead, and her vivid imagination comes to life on the page throughout the entire episode. Beyond this, she's hilarious.”

-reader from The Black List

 

“I want that.”

-toddler from Minneapolis

 

 

I'm Dr. Lillie Gardner, a piano instructor and screenwriter based in the Twin Cities. Thank you for checking out this Seed&Spark campaign, which supports the next leg of my animated series project's journey into the world through the making of a high-quality pitch video with FableVision Studios and bringing the project on the festival circuit this fall.

 

I created Allegra Sparkle's Guide to the Great Composers (You Might Not Have Heard Of) because there is an overwhelming lack of public knowledge about women composers. This leads to a misunderstanding that the only "great" composers to have ever existed are men, and this misunderstanding fuels sexism in today's classical music world and beyond. As a classical pianist myself, I didn't play any music composed by a woman until I was in graduate school. I quickly realized there are not just a few forgotten composers, or dozens of forgotten composers - but thousands of them.

 

 

Now as a piano teacher to kids, I'm passionate about including women composers in my students' repertoire in an effort to normalize female genius. I believe that if we want a more inclusive future, we need to have an accurate understanding of our own past, which has never been exclusively about men. I also believe that classical music and its history can be taught in an entertaining and accessible way. As a result, Allegra Sparkle offers a super fun and inclusive history of classical music that doesn't exist anywhere else.

 

 

 

Here are some quick facts on Allegra Sparkle's Guide to the Great Composers (You Might Not Have Heard Of):

 

• Logline: An imaginative 10-year-old girl leads a magical podcast journey throughout history and around the world to meet composers who got left out of the classical music canon.
• Target audience: ages 6-11
• Episode length: 18-22 minutes
• Comps: Wishbone, The Magic School Bus, We The People

 

"Allegra Sparkle" is the alter ego of a shy fourth-grader named Layla who lives in Suburbia, USA with her mom and her cat Florence. Layla suffers from stage fright, and her music teacher once gave her some advice: "When you have to perform, try pretending you're someone else - someone who loves to be on stage!" And Allegra Sparkle was born.

 

Allegra is extroverted, playful and adventurous. She dreams of being a renowned composer and she's determined to make it happen. While Allegra Sparkle is the host of our magical podcast, we get glimpses of her real life as Layla as she confides in the composers she meets.

 

Each episode begins in Allegra's house, where Allegra and her cat Florence hang out before it's time to record her podcast about historical composers. Allegra records her show with her magical pink podcast microphone.

 

 

When she starts recording, we jump into her imagination, where Allegra is her full diva self. As Allegra tells us about the composer of the episode, the composer's story plays out on screen. When Allegra plays the "Allegra's Extremely Magical Tune" audio file on her computer, the guest composer can hear it! This causes the composer to break the fourth wall and join Allegra in her imagination, where they can tell their own story.

 

Allegra learns lessons from each composer that help her through issues in her real life, like dealing with bullying at school, navigating new friendships and listening to Mom. She also gains a broader understanding of cultural differences across time and space.

 

Each episode is centered around one composer - who all hail from different time periods and countries - including women like Chiquinha Gonzaga, Florence Price, Elisabetta de Gambarini, Queen Lili'uokalani, Margaret Bonds, and so, so many more.

 

 

My pilot screenplay for Allegra Sparkle's Guide to the Great Composers (You Might Not Have Heard Of) has already had many successes! This project has been or is currently:

 

• a Finalist (top 1% out of over 10,000 scripts in Austin Film Festival's Script Competition) for the Rooster Teeth Women & Animation Fellowship Award
• an Official Selection in the 2022 Catalyst Story Institute
• one of 3 Finalists in Barnstorm Media's 2022 BOLT Screenplay Competition
• one of 25 Finalists in The International Screenwriters' Association's TV Pilot Pitch Challenge
• a Quarterfinalist in the 2022 Filmmatic Short Screenplay Awards

 

My talented artist sister Jane Gardner illustrated the super cute concept art we have so far. Nobody knows kids' content like Jane, who has worked as a designer for Nickelodeon, Fisher-Price and Mattel, and it's been so much fun to get in some quality sister time while working on this project!

 

 

But the next steps are video and exposure!

 

I'm determined to get this project into the world no matter what, and having a high-quality pitch video will help me bring Allegra Sparkle to life, reach more people and give this project a greater advantage in pitches and other industry meetings.

 

I'm also bringing Allegra Sparkle to in-person festivals this fall, including Catalyst Story Institute and Austin Film Festival, with the goal of significantly expanding the project's outreach and network.

 

We're so excited to be working with the team at FableVision Studios on this pitch video for Allegra Sparkle. FableVision is a multimedia production studio that designs and develops engaging media and interactives that inspire, teach, and move people to action - which is what we're all about here on #TeamAllegra! FableVision has collaborated with a variety of broadcasters and nonprofits including PBS, Nick Jr., The Jim Henson Company and more. We can't think of a more perfect place to bring Allegra Sparkle to animated life.

 

 

 

 

High-quality art, animation, sound design, editing and traveling are expensive! So much work has gone into Allegra Sparkle already. A quality pitch video made in collaboration with FableVision Studios and with Jane Gardner's playful illustrations will help this project move so much farther than it can go with only a script. If we meet our campaign goal, we'll have additional concept art (including three more characters!), motion graphics, simple character animation and sound design for this pitch video; and assist with travel costs for in-person festivals.

 

A quality pitch video is the next step on Allegra Sparkle's journey to your TV screen, and it can't happen without your contribution!

 

If we surpass our campaign goal of $12,500 (which will pay for additional art, video production with animation, and project outreach), we would love to have additional funds for Original Music Composition for the pitch video ($1,500).

 

 

Anything beyond this will be put toward administrative costs related to this campaign - including taxes, transaction fees and shipping costs for artwork.

 

 

Can you help us share this campaign on social media? Here are some copy & paste-able example posts to save you some energy! (You can also share any of the visuals on this page by dragging them to your desktop if you're on a computer, or holding and saving image on your phone!)

 

I can't wait to see the pitch video for Allegra Sparkle's Guide to the Great Composers (You Might Not Have Heard Of)! Check out this project on Seed&Spark and join #TeamAllegra to bring this super fun animated kids series to life. https://seedandspark.com/fund/allegrasparkle

 

 

I just joined #TeamAllegra on Seed&Spark! Allegra Sparkle's Guide to the Great Composers (You Might Not Have Heard Of) is an animated series that promises to bring a fun and inclusive history of classical music to kids. #womencomposers https://seedandspark.com/fund/allegrasparkle

 

 

Hurry now to support Allegra Sparkle's Guide to the Great Composers (You Might Not Have Heard Of) on Seed&Spark! #TeamAllegra https://seedandspark.com/fund/allegrasparkle

 

Thank you so much for your support of #TeamAllegra on social media! You can also email old friends, tell new friends, and sign up for project updates at allegrasparkle.com!