Piggy Nation is the brainchild of Author/Playwright/Cartoonist Richard Rosser. After watching a man steal a parking space from his mother-in-law, Rosser decided, “Enough is enough!” No more drivers parking in two spaces. No more dogs pooping on neighbors’ lawns. No more texting while driving. And that’s how Piggy Nation was born!
Piggy Nation launched with Piggy Nation The Musical, which premiered February 25th at The Pierson Playhouse in Pacific Palisades, California and the release of the children’s book Piggy Nation A Day at Work with Dad. The book retails for $14.95 and is available for purchase at select bookstores and online at piggynation.com and amazon.com.
Having worked on children’s programs for Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel, Rosser considered a children’s book the natural outlet for his frustration with piggy behavior. Teaming up with illustrator Shane Sowell (The Simpsons, King of the Hill), together they created Piggy Nation A Day At Work With Dad, a children’s picture book that focuses on piggy behavior in an amusing update of the Golden Rule. The main character is a piglet named Sammy who joins his dad on Piggy Patrol. As they search the town for piggies, Sammy learns about rude behavior.
During the design process, Rosser began reading his book to elementary school classes, which led to performing assemblies for large groups of students. The kids responded so positively that it inspired Rosser to adapt the story into a full-length musical with twelve songs and a cast of twenty. Expanding on the children’s book, he added elements of romance and treachery. With composer Alec Wells (theoutsidejoke.com), the two crafted a musical richly layered with Blues, Zydeco, Rock, Rap and Gospel influences.
Richard grew up in an Oklahoma household filled with books and music, attending many musical theater productions as an elementary student. Rosser performed in numerous theater productions while in high school and graduated from Washington and Lee University, where he became involved in filmmaking and won a Student Academy Award for his animated film No One For Chess. After earning a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from New York University, Richard worked on a number of children’s programs, including The Adventures of Pete and Pete and Lizzie McGuire. After watching a man steal a parking space from his mother-in-law, Richard created the Piggy Ticket, and the concept of Piggy Nation was born. Rosser went on to write his first children’s book, Piggy Nation A Day At Work With Dad. Richard lives in Pacific Palisades with his wife and daughter. Email Richard at richard@piggynation.com
Shane Sowell – Illustrator
Shane began his love of drawing at a young age, and through much encouragement of his family he began to take drawing classes. He was always intrigued by cartoons and soon went from watching them to creating his own. After high school, Shane attended Columbus College of Art & Design. He trained as a fine artist and took classes in animation and illustration. After earning an MFA from UCLA, Shane began working on the Emmy award winning shows King of the Hill and The Simpsons. While working on The Simpsons, he contributed to The Simpsons Movie and The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios. Piggy Nation A Day At Work With Dad is Shane’s first children’s book. He lives in Kentucky with his wife and daughter. Email Shane at shane@piggynation.com
Alec Wells – Composer
An Angeleno by way of North Carolina, Alec has spent the last several years pursuing his interests in music composition and writing for the stage and screen. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Alec has been an avid musician for most of his life. Alec has written several musicals, including Larry’s Rhetorical Conundrum, which won the award for playwriting at the North Carolina Theatre conference. Alec is also one-fourth of the comedy production team, The Outside Joke, which has had over two million cumulative hits on YouTube, The Huffington Post, and College Humor. Email Alec at alec@piggynation.com
Dear Richard,
I have a couple more questions for you. I need to have a timeline for my project so if you could give me dates like when you were born, when you got married, when you started writing,when you published your books, things like that. I also need to know what character traits you think you have and why. thanks,
Austin
Austin
I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back to you sooner. I don’t check comments on my website regularly. From now on, please email me at richard@piggynation.com Is it too late for the answers to your questions?
Born – December 13, 1961
Graduated from Deer Creek High School in Edmond, Oklahoma – May, 1980
Graduated from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia – June 1984
Graduated from New York University in New York, New York – June 1987
Married Stacey Ponticello – June 1988
Produced Commercials and Music Videos – July 1987-1993
Worked as a First Assistant Director on Feature Films and Series Television 1993-2005
Came up with the idea of The Piggy Ticket – October 2005
Wrote the original manuscript for Piggy Nation A Day At Work With Dad – February 2008
Finished the manuscript and began design of ADAW – April 2010
Began performing Piggy Nation assemblies – June 2010
Began writing Piggy Nation The Musical – July 2010
Published Piggy Nation A Day At Work With Dad & Piggy Nation The Musical premiered – February 2011
Taught Piggy Tales Writing Workshop to 2 Girl Scout Troops (Plotted Piggy Nation Let’s Go Camping) – June 2011
Began writing Piggy Nation Let’s Sell Some Cookies (Picture Book) – June 2011
Piggy Nation the comic strip began running The Sunday Oklahoman – July 2011
Published Piggy Nation Let’s Go Camping – November 2011
The character traits that I have are the following: Vivid Imagination, Playfulness, Hyper Organized, Driven, Forward Vision, Entrepreneur, Love of the Creative Process.
I hope this helps. email me at richard@piggynation.com if you have any other questions or need any other information. In the meantime, have a Piggy Free Day!
Shane Sowell – Illustrator 
Alec Wells – Composer 
2 comments
Austin Francois
December 5, 2011 at 6:31 am (UTC -7)
Dear Richard,
I have a couple more questions for you. I need to have a timeline for my project so if you could give me dates like when you were born, when you got married, when you started writing,when you published your books, things like that. I also need to know what character traits you think you have and why. thanks,
Austin
admin
December 12, 2011 at 10:05 pm (UTC -7)
Austin
I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back to you sooner. I don’t check comments on my website regularly. From now on, please email me at richard@piggynation.com Is it too late for the answers to your questions?
Born – December 13, 1961
Graduated from Deer Creek High School in Edmond, Oklahoma – May, 1980
Graduated from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia – June 1984
Graduated from New York University in New York, New York – June 1987
Married Stacey Ponticello – June 1988
Produced Commercials and Music Videos – July 1987-1993
Worked as a First Assistant Director on Feature Films and Series Television 1993-2005
Came up with the idea of The Piggy Ticket – October 2005
Wrote the original manuscript for Piggy Nation A Day At Work With Dad – February 2008
Finished the manuscript and began design of ADAW – April 2010
Began performing Piggy Nation assemblies – June 2010
Began writing Piggy Nation The Musical – July 2010
Published Piggy Nation A Day At Work With Dad & Piggy Nation The Musical premiered – February 2011
Taught Piggy Tales Writing Workshop to 2 Girl Scout Troops (Plotted Piggy Nation Let’s Go Camping) – June 2011
Began writing Piggy Nation Let’s Sell Some Cookies (Picture Book) – June 2011
Piggy Nation the comic strip began running The Sunday Oklahoman – July 2011
Published Piggy Nation Let’s Go Camping – November 2011
The character traits that I have are the following: Vivid Imagination, Playfulness, Hyper Organized, Driven, Forward Vision, Entrepreneur, Love of the Creative Process.
I hope this helps. email me at richard@piggynation.com if you have any other questions or need any other information. In the meantime, have a Piggy Free Day!
Richard