Hempfield man wins Emmy for 'Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood'

Like many children, Chris Loggins grew up watching Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

“I remember watching the “Picture Picture” episodes,” he says, which focused on how people make things.

So Loggins, 33, of Hempfield, is proud to be part of the team of recent Emmy winners for their work on the Fred Rogers Productions program, “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.”

Aimed at preschoolers ages 2 to 4, the animated PBS series builds on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, using imagination, creativity and music to help the characters — and their young viewers — learn key school and life social skills.

Loggins, a show producer, won in the category of Outstanding Preschool Children’s Animated Series. He is among 10 team members winning Emmys for the program during the recent 46th annual Daytime Emmy awards in Pasadena, Calif.

Also claiming Emmys — bringing PBS KIDS shows five awards total — are “Odd Squad,” Outstanding Children’s or Family Viewing Series, Outstanding Writing for a Children’s, Preschool Children’s, Family Viewing and Outstanding Directing in the same category for “Odd Squad: World Turned Odd”; and “Peg + Cat,” Outstanding Original Song in a Children’s or Animated Program “Making a World With My Friend.”

Loggins also serves as producer of “Through the Woods,” which he helped create, and production manager of “Peg + Cat” and “Odd Squad.”

Before joining Fred Rogers Productions, he worked in fundraising for WQED. He also was a volunteer coordinator and Storymobile driver at the Beginning with Books Center for Early Literacy and a librarian assistant in the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s children’s department.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in American Studies with a focus on African-American history from Kenyon College in Ohio.

The Tennessee native says he met his wife, Molly (Mickinak) Loggins, in school and followed her back to her Westmoreland County home.

Finding his niche

While working with the former Storymobile, he delivered books to children in under-served neighborhoods.

Loggins began his career with WQED fundraising for the station.

He read to children as part of his library position, work he continued for a time after joining Fred Rogers Productions.

“I already had an interest in working with children and families (while working at WQED). I knew about Fred Rogers Productions and developed relationships with some people there,” Loggins says.

He started working on Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood in 2012, the year it premiered.

His job, Loggins says, involves helping to maintain budgets, oversee production schedules, work with the creative team and decide what stories to tell.

“We do the live-action pieces in and around Pittsburgh. I produce those with a local crew,” he says.

Loggins says multiple episodes are being worked on at one time, as one episode takes 40 weeks to complete.

Job satisfaction

He finds it especially rewarding to hear from people, often parents, how inspirational or helpful a show was.

“Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” features “strategy” songs in each episode. One, adapted from Fred Rogers’ “What do you do with the mad that you feel,” helps children with their feelings through lyrics including, “When you feel so mad that you want to roar, take a deep breath and count to four.”

Another episode helps Daniel Tiger deal with the death of his pet fish, also inspired by a “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” storyline.

“Immediately after it aired, we heard from parents who said it helped them with … talking to kids about death,” Loggins says.

Appreciation

Winning the Emmy was a happy surprise, he says.

As the show is made for such a young audience, unlike other children’s shows, he says, it “might not be as slick, or have adult humor.”

“To be recognized by my peers means a lot to me,” he adds.

“I am thankful for the support of my family in Greensburg and also in Tennessee. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them,” Loggins says.

As for that Emmy? There will be one for the company office.

“Everyone (who won) gets one as well,” he says.