Welcome Home, Franklin
Saturday, July 20
2:00 pm
Cost: Included with Museum admission. Free for Members!
Celebrate over 55 years since Franklin’s debut in the Peanuts comic strip with a screening and discussion of the newest animated special, Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin. Hear about the inspiration, ideas, and process of creating this new Apple TV+ exclusive animated special with JumpStart cartoonist Robb Armstrong (writer), Melissa Menta (senior vice president of Marketing and Communications, Peanuts Worldwide), Raymond S. Persi (director), and Craig Schulz (writer and executive producer). Moderated by Marissa Nance (founder and CEO of Native Tongue Communications).
The panel discussion will take place at 2:00 pm. Arrive early to watch the animated special in the Theater at 1:00 pm! Watch the trailer here.
Theater seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Attendees will have the opportunity to win Franklin-related prizes and talk with the panelists after the event.
ABOUT ROBB ARMSTRONG
Robbin (Franklin) Armstrong, the creator of “JumpStart,” was born on March 4, 1962, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
At the age of 3, Robbin found his vocation by falling in love with the comic strip “Peanuts” by Charles Schulz. He was captivated by the stories told through simple but deft drawings, and spent the next three years perfecting his rendition of Charlie Brown. Little did Robbin know that before he turned 27, he would have not only syndicated his own strip but also meet his hero. Robbin became a protegé and a lifelong friend of Schulz, who immortalized Robbin in “Peanuts” as Franklin Armstrong: a character Schulz introduced shortly after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968.
ABOUT MELISSA MENTA
Melissa Menta, a savvy Publicity and Marketing executive with deep experience in the entertainment and character licensing space, currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Peanuts Worldwide. In this role, she oversees major global marketing initiatives, a robust consumer communications program, and a highly engaged social media audience for the timeless property Peanuts by Charles Schulz. Recent highlights include a partnership with NASA that is sent Astronaut Snoopy into space with Artemis 1; original and classic Peanuts now streaming on Apple TV+; and the international, multi-year Take Care With Peanuts initiative promoting good global citizenship, inspired directly by Charles Schulz’s comic strips. Throughout the course of her career, Melissa has worked on such iconic brands and characters as the Muppets, the Pets.com sock puppet, and Dilbert. Melissa received her Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College, and a Masters in Performing Arts Administration from NYU.
ABOUT RAYMOND S. PERSI
Raymond S. Persi is an Emmy Award®-winning director (The Simpsons) who has worked on high profile projects for many film and television studios including 20th Century Studios, Illumination Entertainment, and Disney Feature Animation. While at Disney Feature Animation, Raymond was a part of the story crew on Wreck-It Ralph and the Oscar®-winning animated feature Frozen, as well as the Oscar®-winning animated short Feast. Raymond was a producer and director on the award-winning independent short Ghost of Stephen Foster and served as co-director on the animated feature film, Extinct. In addition, Raymond is also a voice actor in several animated projects including Zootopia, where he provided the voice for Flash, the fastest sloth at the DMV. Most recently, in association with WildBrain Studios, Raymond has directed four new Peanuts Specials for Apple TV+ under the “Snoopy Presents” banner: It’s The Small Things, Charlie Brown, the Emmy® nominated/Leo Award® winning Lucy’s School, the Annie Award® winning One-of-a-Kind, Marcie, and Welcome Home, Franklin.
ABOUT CRAIG SCHULZ
Craig Schulz is a producer, screenwriter, motorcross racer, pilot, and instructor. He has often worked on adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip, created by his father, Charles M. Schulz. He was producer and writer of the The Peanuts Movie (2015), The Snoopy Show (2021), and several Snoopy Presents animated specials, including Welcome Home, Franklin.
ABOUT MARISSA NANCE
Marissa Nance is founder and CEO of Native Tongue Communications. During her nearly 30-year career in advertising, Nance has sought representation in the industry’s workforce and in its work by creating pathways for BIPOC communities. In 2019, she left Omnicom, where she ultimately become one of their first Black/Female managing directors, to launch the first and only minority and female-certified media agency, Native Tongue Communications (NTC). Clients include Amazon, Pine-Sol, Burt’s Bees, Peanuts, Nike, Microsoft, Blackbird House, BlueHub Capital, California Utilities, Intel, Eli Lilly, McDonald’s and Clorox. She serves as protector, advisor and champion for countless women and people of color, all within the media/marketing industry.
