Atlanta Goes Hollywood as Local Children Get Ready for Their Close-Ups.

ATLANTA -- For Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) it was a movie theatre at age 10. For Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy, The Vampire Slayer), it was a restaurant at age four. If you have a child living in northern Georgia, it could be the mall, the airport, even a church or synagogue. That's where Dennis Fedoruk is on the lookout for his next little stars, and it could be your child!

Fedoruk is President and Executive Producer of the Alpharetta based Brainy Baby Company that produces award-winning, Brainy Baby videos and DVDs, which inspire learning and development in young children.

But unlike many other children's videos that enlist professional kids and models, Fedoruk and Marcia Grimsley, the Senior Producer and Director of the Brainy Baby series, instead choose to dive into the talent pool of their own backyard of Atlanta to find their young stars.

"The majority of children we use are not actors," says Grimsley. "They're just regular kids being themselves. We'll occasionally go to a local agency if we need a child with a specific talent, but because I know so many people with children, chances are, if you're 10 and under and living in my neighborhood, you've been in a Brainy Baby video or soon will be."

Fedoruk takes the direct approach with parents, using the tried-and-true line, "I'm a video producer. Can I talk to you about putting your baby in a children's video?" and handing out his business card. "Some parents are cautiously suspicious," he says. "But most of the time I have my own children with me, and when parents see I'm on the up-and-up, they're happy to have their kids participate."

"My daughter Kate has grown up with the Brainy Baby videos and was thrilled to be in one," says Alice Turner, mother of two who lives in Marietta. "It's not work to them, just a really big play-date. It's really obvious to me that everyone at Brainy Baby truly loves and understands children."

Grimsley, a mother of two - both of which have appeared in many of the programs - has a background in education that she finds very helpful on the Brainy Baby set.

"I love using my experience to create programs that really do teach something, as well as entertain," claims Grimsley, "When I'm not writing, I'm on the set with little ones! I'm used to the energy level it takes to lead the children in what we need them to do. It's exhilarating and exhausting, but I wouldn't trade this job for anything."

Children aren't the only local talent featured in the videos. Liz Raphael Helgesen performs the adult voice-overs for the series. Her name you may not recognize, but her voice is unmistakable. The mother of four is a nationally known voice-over artist who does voicemail prompts for T-Mobile and Verizon; narration for AT&T and Coca-Cola; and is the voice for hundreds of commercials.

10-year-old Mairin Ferreira from Alpharetta also performs voice-overs for the series. Grimsley, who describes Mairin as "a natural," recognized potential in her, then seven, and cast her in one of the videos (along with her younger brother Owen) and she's been doing it ever since.

Another example of Brainy Baby using local talent is the featured harmonies of local barbershop quartet "Sentimental Journey" as well as music written by the nationally known, award-winning composer Erik Grant Bennett, who lives in the Atlanta area.

Brainy Baby products are available in the Atlanta area wherever videos and DVDs are sold. For more information call 1-678-762-1100 or visit www.brainybaby.com.

Note to Editors: Dennis Fedoruk, Marcia Grimsley, and voice-over talent available for interviews.