About Baby Prodigy
Barbara Candiano-Marcus
Parenting Expert / Executive Producer / Author / Founder of the Baby Prodigy Company
Now an accomplished author, parenting expert, and executive producer, Barbara’s initial product was the production of a video titled “Baby Prodigy.”
The video’s inspiration was the result of her newborn daughter, Samantha, who suffered from unbearable bouts of colic at just six weeks old. Not knowing what else to do, Barbara took to the internet and unexpectedly discovered something very intriguing. She found that certain types of brain stimulation not only affect intelligence, but also a child’s happiness. While Barbara didn’t find a cure for colic she did find that music and visuals helped soothe Samantha. Taking this and her research of brain stimulation and happiness, she wrote, produced and directed her first video “Baby Prodigy.”
To Barbara’s amazement, four months after its release, retail giant Walmart not only picked up the title, but sold over 100,000 units in six weeks. From there, other big-name stores, such as Costco, Sam’s Club, Barnes and Noble, Toys R Us, Babies R Us and many more followed suit. Barbara negotiated several licensing deals, a partnership with Nestle Canada who sold hundreds of thousands of units of the Musical Pacifier CD to package with Nestle baby formula. Shortly after the first video release, Random House published her self-help book titled “Baby Prodigy: A Guide to Raising A Smarter Happier Baby.”
Barbara singlehandedly took her company worldwide. Her products were sold in the US, Canada and internationally. Baby Prodigy has won over 25 National Awards and appeared on national television and radio including NY Times, LA Daily News, Parenting Magazine, People Magazine, Good Day LA, CNBC and many more.
Prior to being a stay at home mom with her daughter, Barbara worked in television production. She filled the role as Assistant Producer and liaison between line producers and all departments including executive producer, writers, and post-production. Additionally as a Story and Production Coordinator, Assistant Writer, and Production Assistant, she produced some of the most successful shows on television through Bright Kauffman Crane Productions/Warner Bros. Television, Brad Lachman Productions, Nickelodeon, BSB Productions, and HBO including: “Baywatch”, “Martin”, The Maury Povich Show”, “Jesse”, and many other hit prime time shows. Prior to working in television, she worked in marketing at BMG/RCA Music helping to launch the careers of Christina Aguilera and Bruce Hornsby. She is a long time member of the Producer’s Guild of America and currently serves on several committees.
Eighteen years later, Baby Prodigy continues to be a favorite for children on Netflix and can be viewed on The Genius Youtube Channel which has generated over 65M views. Naturally, Barbara wanted to take this success to the next level by creating a television series which reinforces the premise of the Award Winning Baby Prodigy DVDs: stimulating the senses to promote smarter, happier children. “Sensational Five”, encourages parents and children to learn through engaging the senses.