{"id":212087,"date":"2025-09-09T06:04:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T06:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212087\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T06:04:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T06:04:23","slug":"how-ny-hired-its-chaotic-new-phone-ban-mascot-frankie-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212087\/","title":{"rendered":"How NY hired its ‘chaotic’ new phone ban mascot, Frankie Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"

When New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is trailed by the state\u2019s new, neon-green, shaggy-haired phone ban mascot<\/a>, the person inside the costume may be pocketing $300, minus agent fees.<\/p>\n

Hochul unveiled the monstrous mascot similar to what you would find at a professional sporting event at a Brooklyn middle school last week. The character is part of the governor\u2019s ongoing efforts to promote one of her signature achievements: the state\u2019s new ban on smartphone use in public schools, which went into effect this month.<\/p>\n

A casting call, posted last month to a handful of websites that actors prowl for their next gig, provides a window into what the state had in mind for Frankie.<\/p>\n

Candidates had to be between 5\u20195\u201d and 5\u20199\u201d, with a shoe size of 9.5-10 for men, 11-12 for women. They needed high energy and physical stamina. Mime, improv and dance skills were considered \u201cA HUGE PLUS,\u201d since the casting call made clear they were auditioning for a \u201cnon-speaking role.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, of course, they had to be \u201ccomfortable performing in a full-body mascot costume.\u201d<\/p>\n

A talent agency, working on behalf of the state Office of General Services, crafted the casting call. It promised pay of $300 per event \u2014 minus the agency\u2019s 10% cut \u2014 plus travel reimbursement to non-union performers aged 21-45 in the New York City, Buffalo and Rochester areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankie Focus embodies the energy of a 14-16 year old boy,\u201d the casting call reads. \u201cHe\u2019s fun, silly, a little chaotic but his heart\u2019s always in the right place. He hates seeing someone on their phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam Spokony, a spokesperson for Hochul, said Frankie Focus will be played by volunteers — such as workers who agree to put on the costume — more often than by hired performers.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankie is so full of energy that he actually doesn\u2019t need too much hired talent \u2014 and that\u2019s why he\u2019s utilizing volunteers for most of his appearances and photo-ops,\u201d Spokony said. \u201cThe bottom line is that our kids succeed when they\u2019re learning and growing, not clicking and scrolling \u2014 and we\u2019ll keep working to ensure distraction-free learning delivers the best results for New York schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s administration launched the character as part of a statewide public-service campaign called \u201cTeam Phone Free,\u201d which features a handful of cartoon characters who appear on billboards and in online advertisements.<\/p>\n

Frankie \u2014 who sometimes wears thick-rimmed glasses in an apparent show of his dedication to remaining focused \u2014 is the only one of those characters the state brought to life with a full size mascot costume, with bulging, unblinking blue eyes and fleshy elf ears.<\/p>\n

For the honor of donning the Frankie costume, the casting call asked actors to submit short videos \u2014 no more than a minute long \u2014 miming out a scene, sans words, where they spot their best friend across the street.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t see you because they are on their phone and about to cross the street,\u201d the prompt reads. \u201cGet their attention. Finally, they see you \u2014 just in time. You are both reunited and all is well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The casting call encouraged actors to \u201cfind the physical, comedic moments\u201d in the scene, and also to \u201ckeep it simple, short and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, the Frankie Focus mascot popped up on the first day of school at M.S. 582 in East Williamsburg. He also has a nascent social-media presence, with his handlers posting a photo of the hair-covered mascot leaning against a tree on the massive marble Albany structure known as Empire State Plaza with the cheeky caption: \u201cnature is lowkey gorgeous bro.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the casting call makes clear further events are in the mascot\u2019s future. The candidates were told Frankie would be touring schools across New York state, with up to two events per day through late October.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mascot will follow a government official, shake hands and interact with a diverse audience,\u201d the call reads.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t clear how many applicants tried for the role of Frankie.<\/p>\n

The talent agency that posted the casting call \u2014 T Creatives Casting \u2014 didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment, while the state Office of General Services didn\u2019t immediately provide a number.<\/p>\n

This article has been updated with additional information from the governor’s office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is trailed by the state\u2019s new, neon-green, shaggy-haired phone ban mascot, the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":212088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-212087","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115172833031405626","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}