Deborah Forte

Deborah Forte is an American producer of family television series and movies, websites and digital media including Clifford the Big Red Dog, Clifford's Puppy Days, Maya & Miguel, WordGirl, The Magic School Bus, the series Goosebumps, Sony's films Goosebumps and Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, Horrible Histories, Dragon, I Spy, The Baby-Sitters Club, The Golden Compass, and Astroblast. She created Scholastic Media, a division of Scholastic Inc. She is the founder of Silvertongue Films and under that banner is currently producing a television adaptation of His Dark Materials. She is attached to produce The 39 Clues and Spirit Animals for Universal and Clifford the Big Red Dog for Paramount. Her productions have won six Emmys, one Academy Award, the Humanitas Prize, and the Annenberg Public Policy Center Award for Outstanding Educational Program on a Commercial Broadcast Station.

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), 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.[5]

She produced the 2018 film Mortal Engines, with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh for Universal Pictures and will likely produce its TV re-adaptation. She also produced the TV re-adaptation of His Dark Materials.

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1990 The Baby-Sitters Club executive producer
1994-1997 The Magic School Bus executive producer
1995-1998 Goosebumps executive producer
1998-1999 Animorphs executive producers
2000-2003 Clifford the Big Red Dog executive producer
2001-2002 Horrible Histories executive producer
2002-2003 I Spy executive producer
2003-2006 Clifford's Puppy Days executive producer
2004-2007 Maya & Miguel executive producer
2007-2014 WordGirl executive producer
2008-2009 Turbo Dogs executive producer
2009-2010 Becoming Naomi Leon executive producer
2014–2015 Astroblast! executive producer
2017–present The Magic School Bus Rides Again executive producer
2019–present His Dark Materials executive producer
2020–present The Baby-Sitters Club executive producer

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1995 The Indian in the Cupboard executive producer
The Baby-Sitters Club executive producer
2002 Tuck Everlasting executive producer
2004 Clifford's Really Big Movie producer
2007 The Golden Compass producer
2015 Goosebumps producer
2018 Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween producer
Mortal Engines producer
2021 Clifford the Big Red Dog executive producer

Awards and honors for production
  • 1 Oscar Award[6]
  • 6 Emmy Awards
  • 1 Humanitas Prize [7]
  • 11 Cine Golden Eagle Awards [8]
  • 12 Parents' Choice Awards [9]
  • 4 Webby Awards
  • 1 National Education Association Award
  • 1 American Women in TV and Radio's Gracie Award[10]
  • 1 National Educational Media Network Golden Apple Award
  • 1 The Annenberg Public Policy Center Award
  • 1 Literacy in Media Award[11]
  • honored by The National Hispanic Federation
  • honored by The National Wildlife Federation
  • honored by The Environmental Protection Agency

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",[12] 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."[13] In Fast Company's Spring 2014 interview, "How Scholastic Kept Its Relevance in a Digital World",[14] 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. "[15]

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[16] 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. "Nominees & Winners of the 2008 (80th) Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. 2012-08-24. Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  6. "The Golden Compass (2007) : Awards". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  7. "Humanitas Prize : Date: June 28 2001". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  8. "Clifford Wins A Cine Golden Eagle Award | Animation World Network". Awn.com. 2001-07-29. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  9. "Scholastic Media". Parents-choice.org. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  10. "2006 Gracie Awards® Winners". The Gracies. Archived from the original on 2013-08-12. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  11. "Latest on TV Media News - Cynopsis MediaCynopsis Media". Cynopsiskidssummit.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  12. Mifflin, Lawrie (1996-01-22). "At Scholastic, Turning Books Into the Stuff Of Multimedia". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  13. Mifflin, Lawrie (1996-01-22). "At Scholastic, Turning Books Into the Stuff Of Multimedia". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  14. Evans, Lisa (2014-05-13). "How Scholastic Kept Its Relevance In A Digital World". Fastcompany.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  15. Evans, Lisa (2014-05-13). "How Scholastic Kept Its Relevance In A Digital World". Fastcompany.com. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  16. "Center for Children and Media Board Members". Centerforchildrenandmedia.org. Archived from the original on 2013-09-24. Retrieved 2013-08-26.

General references
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