A Season 2 Interview with ‘Eva the Owlet’ Executive Producer Jef Kaminsky

Eva (voiced by Vivienne Rutherford) and Lucy (voiced by Evie Hsu) in "Eva the Owlet," now streaming on Apple TV+.

Jef Kaminsky is an executive producer that has brought forth some incredible family shows to the airwaves, and of his most important ones, Eva the Owlet, is back for a second season on Apple TV+ and to properly celebrate we sat down with Jef to discuss season two of this dynamic show.
 
John Betancourt: I'd like to start by getting to know, what does it mean to be back for a second season.
 
Jef Kaminsky: It's awesome. It's the best. It's the dream come true. It's what you want.
 
John Betancourt: I couldn't help but notice this season that you and the team, not only brought back what you made season one so amazing, but you also expanded upon a lot of the messages this year regarding the world and life, and I’m curious what went into the decision to go bigger this year.
 
Jef Kaminsky: I think it's just, you know, letting the writers, you know, keep imagining what kind of stories they would tell. I think more of that… how characters are going to relate. You know, I think, like the one where Humphrey’s sad and playing his guitar is like a nice example of, you know, we're still doing the same thing. You're still recognizing your emotions. You're journaling about them, you're talking to yourself and figuring things out, but you are really trying to connect, trying to see things from someone else's angle and connect with them, which is what she does. She doesn’t try to fix him, she just joins him, which is a really different -- a lot of times we're, like, focused on, what's the fix, what's the you know, what's the zenith, the ultimate outcome, and that was like, “Well, you know, join somebody in an emotion that you're maybe not so comfortable with to help them feel better.”
 
John Betancourt: I very much appreciated that, because that is something I'm seeing more and more of now. Less about how can I fix it, and more, how can I support? And we’re definitely seeing deeper thoughts like that appear in this genre of TV. So, I thought that was a really nice touch to add that in there. And speaking of that second layer, was it hard to accomplish?
 
Jef Kaminsky: You know, there's… you work on certain shows and things are hard. I can't think of anything that was hard on this show. It was all like a pleasure, like everything about it was fun. It was this was truly a delight to work on. There's some lawyers and stuff, but oh well. (Laughs.)
 
John Betancourt: (Laughs) they're always there. That's for sure. Now I'm curious too, how do you as a producer then shepherd that structure and that messaging?
 
Jef Kaminsky: Well, the nice thing about this role, is that you really get a crazy overview. You're like, 50,000 feet up, and you're not, you know, there are days you come in and you're like, “Well, let me come up with a couple of story ideas to help us, you know, keep moving.” But you're not like, I'm not drawing anything. I'm not trying to figure out what the color styling is. I'm reviewing work that really great people have already done. And if you know what you're trying to achieve, you can give the kind of notes that are actionable, that keeps the core of it, you know, as a through line. And then, I mean, like, look… Apple TV Plus execs are top notch at helping us with this. They are remarkable people, super creative, super collaborative. And really, I mean, they're not going to let you go too far off the path, because that's what we all want to achieve. Is this a singular vision that makes sense.
 
John Betancourt: Back to the messaging for a moment, it's a question I asked last time we talked, and I want to ask it again, because the show goes to such unique places this year. What's the message that you hope people take away overall from season two this year.
 
Jef Kaminsky: I think it’s the same. It's really about, it's about knowing how you're feeling and being able to either, if you don't know how to, what to, call it, you learn how to put a name on it, if you don't know what to do with the feelings, you figure out what to do. Ideally, giving kids that toolkit to navigate life better. That's all, same season one, same season two.
 
John Betancourt: That’s a fine message and an honest answer, and it does lead me to my next question. Because you as a producer are in a very unique spot with this show. Because you can outright say you’ve helped put together a story that is helping children kind of process, that kind of stuff that we don't talk about enough. And I'm curious what it means to you to be a part of a television revolution in this genre, and a show, that is actually helping young minds grow.
 
Jef Kaminsky: Sometimes my friends make fun of me because I say that this is what gets me out of bed in the morning. This is what keeps me going, this is what keeps me happy. This is what I want to do with my time here. To be able to help kids through this medium, have, live in a better world. Be better, enjoy themselves, have fun, laugh and maybe be kinder. Be all the things that we want to ideally be. As a self-actualized little person.
 
John Betancourt: I think that's a great thing to do, because we don't get enough folks to do that. Now you’ve also put together more incredible moments that parents can use as conversation starters, what are you most excited for families to discuss when they sit down to watch season two?
 
Jef Kaminsky: That's a great question. I haven't thought about it. I, you know, ideally, we'd have parents co-viewing with kids, but hopefully the shows are clear enough and we've got it like dialed into the demographic the right way, so that kids don't need a parent there to help them to explain things to them. But as even as a parent myself, that same, the same messages, the same, you know, desire to have kids be able to, in particular in this series, to regulate, to identify, and to be able to come back from certain kinds of emotions, like, you know, sometimes Eva has negative feelings, and to be able to process that and then have a good outcome from that processing. I think that's a tremendous thing to be able to do.
 
John Betancourt: Obviously, you’ve got one season under your belt. The response was tremendous. What does that response mean to you?
 
Jef Kaminsky: Well, yeah, it's why you do it, right? You want to, you want to reach as many kids as you can. I used to be a kindergarten teacher. I would teach 20 kids a year, and when you realize the power of this media, you're like, “Oh, I like that it can just expand out to millions of kids over the years.” That's… that's the dream, is to reach, to reach tons of people with the message and the humor and the fun of it.
 
John Betancourt: The last question I have for you today, what does it mean to you to be part of this grand expansion of both children’s entertainment and the messages they carry?
 
Jef Kaminsky: Well, I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to do this. This is like a crazy dream job, to be able to have it. You know, you've talked a little bit about, like, what's contemporary, what's contemporary thought in children's television, or children's media, to be able to stay abreast of what's going on, in what kind of shows are being made. I mean, Apple TV Plus has an amazing – Dr. Alice Wilder is an incredible guide in this. And Apple TV Plus also has change makers. That's like a huge part of the of what they do. It's… it's amazing to be a part of that ecosystem and be able to craft stories, and of course, out of Scholastic Books. That's what I do is, you know, try to try to take the best of the Scholastic Books and adapt them, but to be able to do that in partnership with Apple TV Plus, to really be ahead of the curve on what's happening in the world is a delight. It's a pleasure. It's an honor.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.