KJ Productions’ business not too ‘ruff’ these days

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Renee Settlemires and Jack Quirk work to fill orders of the video series named “Adventures with Travis and Presley.” (Photo provided by KJ Productions)
A Coolidge Elementary School student interacts with Presley and Brorson using sign language during a recent event. (Staff Photo by SHAWN YORKS)
Perry native Travis Brorsen and his dog, Presley, saw their fame skyrocket when they were named winners on “Greatest American Dog,” a CBS reality television program, and decided to create the series. (Photo provided / travisandpresley.com)

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April 17, 2010

Local company promotes area man, dog, good manners

By Robert Barron, Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle The Enid News and Eagle Sat Apr 17, 2010, 10:30 PM CDT

ENID — A video series featuring a Perry native and his dog showing elementary school students how to use their manners has attracted quite a following.

Travis Brorsen’s series, “Adventures with Travis and Presley,” was so popular he decided to develop it into a children’s video and book, so he turned to KJProductions in Enid, said Renee Settlemires, KJ executive producer.

Brorson’s fame took off two years ago when he and Presley were named winners on “Greatest American Dog” a CBS reality television program. Brorsen, who now lives in Los Angeles, said he wanted to capitalize on their popularity.

KJ Productions wrote and developed the video and book series, and Brorsen travels back to Oklahoma for each film shoot. The series has become well-known, and they have been touring elementary schools in Stillwater, Perry, Enid and Oklahoma City this spring to promote it.

“He has an assembly ... where Presley does tricks,” Settlemires said. “The target audience is pre-kindergarten and kindergarten.”

Local sponsors purchase books for the kids, and Travis and Presley do an appearance for a fee.

Each video takes Presley on a treasure hunt to find toys, and kids must contribute missing manners as clues to help Presley find his treasure.

The assemblies and the series are centered around good manners, sharing, caring, being polite, why children shouldn’t bully and saying please and thank you. The project was developed in less than a year, with the KJ Productions staff and Brorsen planning an eight-part series. The first one is under promotion now and focuses on please and thank you.

“The neat thing is it meets the Oklahoma curriculum objective so teachers can apply it to their curriculum,” Settlemires said.

So far 3,000 series sets have sold. She said the KJ staff writes them with Brorsen contributing ideas and Oklahoma teachers providing resource materials to be sure they properly enhance reading skills.

“It is really spreading,” Settlemires said. “Everything we have done with this has been using Oklahoma resources. The illustrator is Curtis Tucker of Enid, and we have a song that goes on the DVD written by Brendan Parker of Oklahoma City.”

She said the series is important to Brorsen because he is from Oklahoma and is able to return to his roots to work on the project.

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KJ Productions’ business not too ‘ruff’ these days

Local company promotes area man, dog, good manners

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