Deborah Forte

Deborah Forte is an American award-winning producer of children's television series and movies, websites and digital media including Clifford the Big Red Dog, The Magic School Bus, Goosebumps, WordGirl, Maya & Miguel, I Spy, The Baby-Sitters Club, The Golden Compass and Astroblast. She created Scholastic Media, a division of Scholastic Inc.

Career

Forte began her career in publishing at Viking Press in 1976 before joining Scholastic Productions in 1984 as VP of new business development.[1]

Forte became President of Scholastic Media in 1995 and is the lead creative and business executive overseeing all media production including two production studios (Weston Woods and Soup2Nuts), Scholastic Interactive, Scholastic Audio Books and Scholastic Media Marketing and Consumer Products. Forte formed Scholastic Entertainment, a part of Scholastic Media, in 1997.[2]

At Scholastic, Forte has produced over 300 productions, which includes turning best-selling Scholastic book series Clifford the Big Red Dog, Dear America, I Spy, The Magic School Bus, Goosebumps, Animorphs and The Baby-Sitters Club into some of the longest running children's TV series.[3][4]

Her feature film credits include the Goosebumps film (2015; Columbia Pictures) and Captain Underpants (2017, DreamWorks Animation),[5] The Indian in the Cupboard, Clifford's Really Big Movie, The Baby-Sitters Club, The Mighty and Tuck Everlasting. Forte produced The Golden Compass, an adaptation of Philip Pullman's critically acclaimed trilogy His Dark Materials, which won the 2008 Academy Award for Visual Effects.[6]

Forte is attached to produce upcoming features including Mortal Engines, The 39 Clues[7] and Clifford the Big Red Dog (Universal Pictures).[8]

Forte also oversees the Interactive Products Group of Scholastic Media, which has developed more than 80 video games, apps and other interactive products based on popular Scholastic brands, licensed properties and wholly developed properties.[9]

Awards and honors for production

Forte's productions have won over 100 industry awards, including those listed above.

In The New York Times article, "At Scholastic, Turning Books Into the Stuff Of Multimedia",[16] a colleague at Scholastic described her creative direction, by saying, "She takes tremendous care in seeing that our products get developed with the qualities that made them popular in the first place and making sure the new products are right for kids, educationally, developmentally and from an entertainment point of view." [17] In Fast Company's Spring 2014 interview, "How Scholastic Kept Its Relevance in a Digital World",[18] Forte shared that, “We have developed our brand so that it’s relative and meaningful to children when they want to read, when they want to watch and when they want to play." Fast Company remarked that the Bottom Line from her interview was, "Scholastic’s secret sauce is the development of a complementary media strategy across a variety of mediums, without losing focus on the company’s mission. "[19]

Personal life

Forte was a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Children's Museum of Manhattan and currently serves on the board of the American Center for Children and Media[20] and the International Emmys. She is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences as well as the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

A native of Newton, Massachusetts, Forte graduated from Hamilton College and lives in New York with her husband, Peter Stone, and their two sons.

References

  1. ↑ Clark, Melanie M. (2005-06-18). "A Scholastic Achievement". Broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  2. ↑ Mifflin, Lawrie (1996-01-22). "At Scholastic, Turning Books Into the Stuff Of Multimedia – New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  3. ↑ "Deborah Forte". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  4. ↑ Todd Spangler (2014-06-11). "Netflix Orders ‘Magic School Bus’ Original Animated Series from Scholastic". Variety. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  5. ↑ Kit, Borys (August 18, 2008). "Two get hands on 'Goosebumps'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Nominees & Winners of the 2008 (80th) Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. 2012-08-24. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  7. ↑ Borys Kit (2013-08-20). "Universal in Talks to Pick Up '39 Clues' (Exclusive)". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  8. ↑ Shaw, Lucas (September 13, 2013). "David Bowers in Talks to Direct ‘Clifford the Big Red Dog’; Illumination Drops Off (Exclusive)". The Wrap. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  9. ↑ Springen, Karen (2010-04-08). "The iPad Meets the Children's Book". Publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  10. ↑ "The Golden Compass (2007) : Awards". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  11. ↑ "Humanitas Prize : Date: June 28 2001". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  12. ↑ "Clifford Wins A Cine Golden Eagle Award | Animation World Network". Awn.com. 2001-07-29. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  13. ↑ "Scholastic Media". Parents-choice.org. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  14. ↑ "2006 Gracie Awards® Winners". The Gracies. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  15. ↑ "Latest on TV Media News - Cynopsis MediaCynopsis Media". Cynopsiskidssummit.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  16. ↑ Mifflin, Lawrie (1996-01-22). "At Scholastic, Turning Books Into the Stuff Of Multimedia". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  17. ↑ Mifflin, Lawrie (1996-01-22). "At Scholastic, Turning Books Into the Stuff Of Multimedia". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  18. ↑ Evans, Lisa (2014-05-13). "How Scholastic Kept Its Relevance In A Digital World". Fastcompany.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  19. ↑ Evans, Lisa (2014-05-13). "How Scholastic Kept Its Relevance In A Digital World". Fastcompany.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  20. ↑ "Center for Children and Media Board Members". Centerforchildrenandmedia.org. Retrieved 2013-08-26.

General references

External links

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