Craig Gerber (creator)

Craig Gerber is an American executive producer and creator of children’s television programming, best known for Disney Junior’s Sofia the First (November 2012-present) and Elena of Avalor (June 2016-present). Gerber is often credited and praised for creating shows that deal with blended families, breaking gender stereotypes, difficulty fitting into society and representation of Latin culture.

Gerber was raised in outer suburban New York. His mother and father divorced when he was eight years old. His father remarried and had another son while his mother had a boyfriend who had a daughter of his own. Having a family that was not “together” made Gerber feel like uneasy, but after he discovered that these kinds of families were more common than he thought, he was inspired to create Sofia the First.

Gerber graduated from University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. His career skyrocketed after he entered a screenwriting showcase at his school, which led to a major Hollywood studio displaying his first screenplay. Gerber has also won awards for directing his comedic short “Film Time” and won Best Narrative Short at the Sonoma Valley Film Festival and Best Digital Short at the Sedona Film Festival in 2003. Before branching off into children’s television, Craig Gerber previously worked at Pixie Hollow Games and wrote screenplays for Rogue Pictures, Radar Pictures, and Intrepid Films.

Gerber was approached by Nancy Kanter, a writer at Disney Junior who asked him for an idea for a children’s show revolving around a princess during her childhood. He was determined to give a modern spin of the classic “fairy tale” element of the pitch. Thus, in November 2012, Sofia the First was created. When Gerber was stuck in traffic while driving in Los Angeles, he immediately looked at his childhood and found inspiration with his own home life to create a show with a family that many children could identify with. Growing up in a Stepfamily, he wanted to emulate how it is normal this type of situation is for people. In the program, he provides the young princess with a stepsister, stepbrother, and stepdad; something that is a new territory for her. Gerber’s then three-year-old son, Miles, was also an influence for him, constantly making believe, sometimes even as a princess, which led him to provide a character that he could relate to.

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