(NECN: Barbara MacLeod, Dedham, Mass.) - Two Massachusetts brothers are making a mark in both the literary and business worlds.
The Reynolds brothers have managed to parlay their love of storytelling into a hugely successful cutting edge technology business.
Fablevision is the name of their company. It was recently honored by the Boston Business Journal for being one of the fastest growing private firms in the region.
What better place for Peter and Paul Reynolds to brainstorm about their latest project than the Blue Bunny, their shop in the heart of downtown Dedham.
Surrounded by books and toys, the identical twin brothers bounce ideas off each other as they create characters and a storyline that will come to life on the page and later, the computer screen.
As they develop their stories, children browse the aisles and customers snap up the best selling children's books that Peter Reynolds is known for. Books like <b>The Dot</b>, <b> Ish</b>, and <b>The North Star</b>: stories that share an overarching theme that many find both powerful and comforting.
The Reynolds brothers mission is to bring creativity to the home and the classroom and to encourage kids and adults to find their true potential. Working together is helping them reach their's. Peter and Paul challenge each other and build on their individual strengths.
"We do call it twinergy,” Peter Reynolds said. “Twins have a special bond...in sync since we were born.”
"I love to draw, we both love to draw and write but I couldn't stop myself and I would be drawing when I was supposed to do my chores,” Peter said. “My mother would ring the bell and Paul would say, Pete you stay there and keep drawing, I am going to do your chores.”
The dynamic that started when they were little boys has become the model for FABLEVISION--their wildly successful educational multimedia company that has grown 140 percent over the past four years.
"Paul said you go be creative and I am going to worry about everything else," Peter Reynolds said.
Everything else is a lot: Fablevision is not your typical company. It is funky and colorful. Playful and productive.
Situated high above the Children’s Museum in Boston, some 50 employees create animation, design software and websites, and produce educational technology for schools. There are a dozen projects going at once. From what we could tell, job satisfaction is, in a word, skyhigh.
FABLEVISION is a melting pot of artists and designers and technical people. The client list includes PBS, Children’s Hospital, Simon and Schuster, The U.S. Dept. of Education, the National Academy of Sciences.
The work is both innovative and inspiring.
“The work we do is almost hard to call work, Paul Reynolds said. “We are on a mission to move the world to a better place. That's what drives us. It happens that we use media storytelling technology to do that. And because we love doing it so much it's hard to say it's work with a capital w."
Peter Reynolds shows us the company's first iPhone application; a digital storybook by Peter Reynolds.
“It allows you to read a story from your iPhone,” Paul said. “You have a distracted child, can download from store for 99 cents.”
The Eyebrow Story has 25 million reads and counting.
So while Paul holds down the fort as CEO of FABLEVISION, Peter, the president of the company, can hunker down in a Dedham coffee shop and paint.
“I went to art school and the more I learned, the tighter I got and the less I was drawing and then I met a mentor who taught me to be uncareful,” Peter said.
Peter says when finally loosened up his style he found his niche.
"Don't pack away our paint brushes when you are ten or eleven,” Peter said. “Keep them out . those are your tools to let whats inside out and I think its dangerous when kids stop doing their own thinking.”
Dream big, says Peter's artwork at the Blue Bunny..
These are two brothers who have taken their own advice.
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