Deborah Forte is an award winning producer of children’s and family TV, feature films, websites and digital media including I Spy, Clifford the Big Red Dog, The Magic School Bus, Goosebumps, WordGirl, and The Golden Compass.
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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 successful children’s TV series.[3]
Her feature film credits include; The Indian in the Cupboard, Clifford's Really Big Movie, The Babysitters Club, The Mighty, and Tuck Everlasting. Forte’s most recent film The Golden Compass, an adaptation of Philip Pullman’s critically acclaimed trilogy, His Dark Materials, won the 2008 Academy Award for Visual Effects.[4]
Forte is attached to produce upcoming features including Mortal Engines, Goosebumps (Columbia Pictures),[5] The 39 Clues (DreamWorks)[6] and Clifford (Illumination/Universal).
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 proprieties. This includes iPod, iPhone and iPad apps.[7]
Forte’s productions have won over 100 industry awards, including an Oscar,[9] three Daytime Emmys, four Webby Awards, two Cine Golden Eagle Awards, twelve Parent's Choice Awards and the Humanitas prize.
Hamilton College, Forte’s alma mater, described her as "a pioneer in educational children's media."[10]
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[11] 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 Boston native, Forte is a graduate of Hamilton College and lives in New York with her husband, Dr. Peter Stone, and their two sons.