Kids Discover Nature: Many parents enjoy exploring the outdoors with their children, what inspired you to film your son's nature explorations?

Sean Nightingale: I had been trying to come up with an idea for a documentary for years and most ideas where too outlandish or expensive to produce. Gus had been watching a lot of Jeff Corwin, Nigel Martin and Steve Irwin and I would see him re-enact these adventures in our backyard. It was so entertaining to me to watch these adventure that I asked him if he wanted to go on a filming adventure. He was only four years old but it went really well! It took a while for the idea to come to fruition and as the idea grew I became more and more excited about the possibilities and better yet, Gus was willing to keep going on filming adventures.

KDN: With so much emphasis on encouraging children to play outside and exercise, how do you think your series of natural history DVD's will help promote that effort?

SN: The most common feedback we get is that parents want to make a similar show with their own kids. The second most common feedback is that kids want to load up their backpacks and re-enact Gus Outdoors - much like what Jeff Corwin did for Gus! That is our mission! To inspire families to get outside together and learn about their own backyards. We want the next generation of kids to experience, learn about and enjoy nature so that they grow into adults that respect our natural world and want to protect it. Life without nature and the creatures in it is not much of a life.

KDN: My children enjoy watching Gus because they see things through his point of view. It is definitely a unique perspective. What gave you the idea to have Gus do the narration?

SN: Gus Outdoors isn't just a show, it's something I get to do with my son from time to time that we document. This program is meant to be fun for both of us, so once the fun stops so does the filming. That's our main reason Gus is the host and narrator so he feels like he's 100% involved and not just doing something for Dad.

Secondly, my personal perspective on kids is that they learn so much from each other. So what better way to reach them than through a kid? And isn't kind of funny to think of a 6 year-old as a nature expert? So far from my experience kids are completely absorbing the information in Gus Outdoors to the point that they memorize the words and talk about it over dinner with their parents. It's an amazing feeling to hear that over and over again!

KDN: The market is flooded these days with DVD's targeted to children. What do you think sets Gus Outdoors apart from the crowd?

SN: I think what really separates Gus Outdoors from other shows is that kids can relate to him because, like them, he is a regular kid. He talks about school and friends, things that all kids have in common. Another aspect of Gus Outdoors is that we tried to make it more like a documentary than a kids TV show. We resisted the urge to over stimulate the kids with fast music and flashy graphics and focused on making it a relaxing experience with a gentler tempo. I've seen the way Gus' behavior changes when he watches a 'flashy' show compared to a Jeff Corwin episode. I definitely get along better with the Jeff Corwin infused Gus!

KDN: Gus makes a point of noting the important supplies he carries with him on his explorations and teaches vocabulary as well. Is education a main goal of Gus Outdoors? Do you have other goals as well?

SN: The biggest goal is to inspire children to be outside and be curious about the creatures they encounter. Education is a big part of Gus Outdoors and we want it to be a complete learning experience. So we purposely introduce a higher level of vocabulary that is relevant to the show. Regurgitate is a big word, but a funny word in meaning and to say. My take on kids is that they will absorb everything if they're having fun. Take dinosaurs for example, kids love dinosaurs, right? But they have all of these incredibly long latin names - aka really big words - but somehow kids know them. If a child can learn the word Parasaurolophus, why can't they learn regurgitate? And that's just it - they can!

Our other sinister plot is to make daily habits less stressful on parents, like putting on sunblock and drinking water. Both will be a common theme in future episodes, because they are important to having fun outside. So we hope that when a child sees Gus applying sunblock they will 'embrace' the idea and keep the fuss at a minimum next time they go to the beach. I can't guarantee it will work, but we are going to continue to give it a try!

KDN:  What are your future plans for Gus Outdoors?

SN: I'd like to see it on television. But for now we are doing the film festival circuit and hoping for more exposure internationally. Future episodes may include dinosaurs, Nantucket's creatures, Montana's creatures, the sky is the limit on ideas. Nantucket is most likely going to be episode #3 and we are planning to possibly include a child from the island that will show us something he loves to do - catch snakes. If it goes well we may start looking for ideas from other kids around the world!

KDN:  Thank you, Sean, for your time and insight!

Stay tuned for an interview with the star of the show, Gus Nightingale!  Check back on Wednesday to learn more about Gus and read the interview conducted by my six-year-old daughter.

To learn more about Gus Outdoors visit the the website at gusoutdoors.com/home.html.