Meet the Creative Team

The Toothfaireez project is a wonderful example of international creative co-operation. The original concept, Tooth Fairy Town, on which Toothfaireez is based in part, was created in 1993 by Michael and Kay Kavanagh, who live in the U.K.

In 2012 Michael and Kay Kavanagh’s son Ross contacted Ron Merk to inquire if the concept could be updated for modern audiences and produced in 3D computer animation. Ron agreed that it was a great idea, and his company, located now in San Francisco, began work on the project. Ron and Ross then re-named some of the original characters, and created some new ones. Ron then proceeded to write a complete new story, keeping in mind the increased sophistication of children in the modern world.

Ron hired a long-time collaborator, James Racioppi (2500 miles away in New Jersey) to re-design the characters, with a mix of classic style of a modern hip feeling. Working in traditional pencil on paper, James created ten new characters, complete with attitude and personality and color schemes.

The project was ready to move from the drawing board into the amazing world of computer animation. In an amazing stroke of luck, one of the partners in Ron’s company, Ozgur Pamukcu, introduced Ron to a friend from his native Turkey, named Turker Mutlu. Turker was studying computer animation and CGI in the U.S. and he agreed to work on the demo 3D animation, first in Orlando, Florida, and then at his boutique Studio, Pose Visual Effects and Animation, in Izmir,Turkey. Working with his wife, Selva, who is a designer and digital artist, all of the Toothfaireez characters were translated from the line art created by Racioppi, and created digital color models, which made the characters ready for the next step. Turker then created a 3D computer model of the Toothfaireez character, Reego, with skin tones, hair, and costume. The time-consuming computer animation was then completed by Turker, bringing the character to life, completing one scene included in the demo.

Ron recorded different actors doing the voice of Reego, the character featured in the demo. Then one day, Ross Kavanagh surprised Ron Merk with a recording of the voice that Ron said was perfect. When Ron asked Ross who the voice belonged to, Ross said, “me.” Ron said, “It’s perfect,” and that’s the voice you’ll hear for Reego.

The next step in making Toothfaireez a reality on TV, cinemas, the internet and other forms of distribution is to create a complete short film, which would be used to sell the concept to a buyer in TV and other media, and launch the concept.

Investors are currently being solicited for this project, and this amazing international team is ready to begin work as soon as funding is in place. This is a great example of how it’s possible to use modern technology and communication to work across thousands of miles of distance, different cultures and languages, but with a solidly focused point of view. The Toothfaireez are coming your way. Oh, yes, Toothfaireez is not just our own special spelling of the name, but the first time that the Toothfaireez had a real team of hard workers, but also some real enemies that must be defeated. It is the unique combination of factors that will make Toothfaireez and well-known and successful international children’s franchise.