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FableVision's Top 10 Moments of 2017

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A banner year for FableVision! 2017 had us look to the stars as FableVisionaries reached new heights across our industry and our community. Let’s turn back time and take a look back at the year with our Top 10 highlights of 2017.

1. Building A Dedicated Community
FableVision fans, friends, and staff unite! 2017 was a year for community building within and outside of the studio. Our annual Building Learning Communities (BLC) event brought over 200 creative educators to our studio, a passion for science took the team outside to witness the stunning phenomenon of the eclipse, artists and admirers came together for an incredible Creative Juices Art Show centered around the theme of time, and our chorus of “Game On!” resounded as we took on our fifth annual Extra Life gameathon event and beat our goal of raising $6,000 for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

2. An Award-Winning Year!
Make room in the awards case because FableVision brought home the gold! We’re honored to share these highlights:

In addition to the publication of Happy Dreamer, Sydney and Simon: To the Moon!, and the announcement of a new book series from Scholastic, FableVision Founder Peter H. Reynolds was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from The Boy Scouts of America and National Eagle Scout Association!

FableVision's Tone Thyne with Nina Hunter at the Make-A-Wish Gala in New York City. 

FableVision's Tone Thyne with Nina Hunter at the Make-A-Wish Gala in New York City. 

3. FableVision on the Red Carpet
Butter up that popcorn because FableVision Studios is coming to a theater near you! Marc Colagiovanni’s The Reflection in Me screened at Mill Valley Film Festival, Great Lakes International Film Festival, Skyline Indie Film Fest, Auburn International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults (AIFF),and Boston Kids International Film Festival! What a perfectly perfect year for this inspiring animated short.

Our work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York and Western New York flourished this year as we saw Neshama Ryman’s The Klumz screen at Milwaukee Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, and TIFF Kids International Film Festival. FableVision and Nina Hunter took to the stage at the Make-A-Wish Gala, where we premiered The Adventures of the Blue Cowgirl starring Nina Hunter. The film brings to life Nina’s trip to a ranch in Texas where she was able to fulfill her wish of becoming a blue cowgirl.

Global Tinker’s The Paper Girls is also lighting up the children’s media stage! Along with the launch of their new YouTube page, the series went home as a winner of the 2017 MIPTV Digital Short Form Series Pitch, competing against the industry’s top series developers, and it was awarded Best TV Series Animated Short at the 2017 Palm Springs International Animation Festival.

Stay tuned as we announce more FableVision film festival happenings in 2018!

4. New Partnerships

New year, new partnerships! We were excited to create new characters, stories, and songs with these great organizations.

 
 

5. Continuing Partnerships
Our partners mean so much to us, and we love when we can continue collaborating with old friends. 2017 was a great year for strengthening relationships, and we’re looking forward to strengthening them further in the new year.

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6. FableFridays with FableVision Friends

We’ve put the spotlight on our fantastic partners with new, client-centered FableFridays. Hear from them on what it was like working with us on an array of projects covering STEAM, SEL, literacy, career readiness, and much more!

7. Studio Thought Leaders
We’re proud of our team for reaching across the industry and their fields this year to share our take of what’s working and what we’d like to see more of. Our thought leaders are giving talks, teaching seminars, writing articles, and making headlines!

Executive Producer Peter Stidwill brings his expertise in gaming and research to Linkedin Pulse for two thought-provoking articles:

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Creative Director Leigh Hallisey took to Linkedin Pulse to write about the power of teaching empathy through games, shined in the spotlight as she was interviewed by Boston Voyager, and provided an inside look into her life and career for Funimation.

Our Director of Art and Animation, Bob Flynn, and his creative space were featured in Kidscreen! FableVisionaries Shelby Marshall and Sarah Ditkoff hosted several AgileEd professional development webinars in 2017.

Watch this fascinating talk from longtime FableVision partner, Dr. Jodi Asbell-Clarke, co-founder and co-director of Educational Gaming Environments Group (EdGE) at TERC. FableVision worked with TERC to relaunch the classic, beloved ’90s game Logical Journey of Zoombinis, for today’s generation.

As a member of the Content in Context (CIC) conference planning committee, FableVision's Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Product Solutions, Shelby Marshall, lead three sessions in planning, producing, and navigating the development of educational technology. 

FableVision founders Paul Reynolds and Peter H. Reynolds brought us another STEAM winner with Sydney and Simon's latest adventure in Sydney and Simon: To the Moon!

In 2018, FableVision’s Senior Developer Jordan Bach will host a session with Full Stack Boston to talk about making games with HTML5. You can also find us at SXSW EDU 2018! FableVision’s Peter Stidwill will join Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Andrew MacCartney and Laura Evans to present a case study titled Immersive Learning: Teaching History through GBL, selected from the competitive, crowd-sourced PanelPicker program. Register to attend!

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8. A Mission-Match Year
We continued to give back in all sorts of fun ways! Associate Producer Mikaela Johnson and Executive Vice President Adam Landry put the pedal to the metal for the Pan-Mass Challenge, and the studio went “quackers” for JumpStart’s annual Read for the Record.

We sponsored a delicious breakfast at this year’s Prix Jeunesse Suitcase at WGBH in Boston, and FableVisionaries represented at this year’s MICE expo and at the ESA Foundation’s #WeAre event. 

The holiday season is in full swing with Team FableVision running to raise funds for Cambridge Family and Children’s Service at the Cambridge 5k Yulefest. In the spirit of the holidays, this year the entire studio is taking part in the Adopt-A-Family program with The Home for Little Wanderers.

9. Movers and Shakers
Our lineup of FableVisionaries created a buzz around the studio in 2017 with new faces and new roles.

We said a tearful goodbye to our former Executive Producer Karen Bresnahan as she retires from 20 years of service at FableVision and embarks on her next adventure. Peter Stidwill has stepped into Karen’s role as our new Executive Producer. Congratulations to Karen and Peter!

Samantha Bissonnette returns to FableVision after her tenure teaching, working at PBS, and going to school at HGSE. We are thrilled to have her rejoin the team as a producer.

10. Fab Intern Projects
This year’s all-star interns put their heads together and came up with an incredible array of independent projects. From animated comics to games to food to unexpected playmates to creative videography, this portfolio of intern-produced projects is chock full of inspiration!

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September FableFriday: Sam Bissonnette, Producer

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Samantha “Sam” Bissonnette is holding educational media to a high standard – and it’s an interactive one. The newest producer at the studio, Sam is no stranger to FableVision, having spent time honing her skills as a 2013 intern in our marketing department. Since then, Sam has ventured deeper into media production, managing streaming content on the digital team at PBS KIDS, working as a production assistant on shows like WordGirl and Astroblast!, and consulting with Sesame Workshop on innovating in the early education field. After graduating from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education (HGSE), Sam returns to FableVision armed with a renewed passion for producing educational media. Among other things, she’s constantly thinking about how our favorite properties positively impact our lives – no matter your age.

“I’m really excited about interactive experiences through streaming media. Specifically, there’s a lot of conversation that says TV is a passive experience, and I disagree – the best shows and stories start conversation and action,” Sam shares. “People feel moved to make fan art, express their thoughts about characters online, or host viewing parties. I’m really excited to be able to think about harnessing this excitement at FableVision Studios and make it easier for people to interact with media, especially in an educational space.”

Pull up a chair and get to know Sam’s thoughts on personalized learning, rich production past, and her enthusiastic love for food, Pokémon, and a certain BIG puppy in this month’s FableFriday.

Sam, tell us about your journey to FableVision story!
My journey (back!) to FableVision started after my internship with the marketing team here in 2013. Inspired to continue working in the edtech industry, I worked several different jobs in the children’s media space and finished graduate school. I heard there was a job opening at FableVision Studios so I interviewed with Executive Producer Karen Bresnahan and Senior Producer Peter Stidwill. Before I knew it, I was welcomed back into the FableVision team!

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The role of producer is often mysterious as they’re creatively working behind the scenes to pull everything together. Can you give us a crash course on your role at FableVision?
Producers at FableVision have the exciting task of managing projects that come in all shapes and sizes. We think about the project as a whole and work to keep the client’s vision at the forefront of the team’s mind every step of the way. Producers have a hand in shaping and guiding each project towards delivery. I get to constantly learn more about art, tech, and design – all things I love! At FableVision, we’re fortunate to work on a broad range of media, so every day and every project feels different.

As a producer you have to stay organized, what’s your trick?
I like to record everything as much as possible – I have three notebooks, one schedule book, and lots of calendars! I can type pretty quickly too, so I tend to transcribe meetings and conversations whenever possible.

What’s a favorite project that you’re working on now?
It’s so hard to choose! FableVision’s work with The Good Project is especially important to me. Through research-based concepts, frameworks, and resources, The Good Project seeks to help students reflect upon the ethical dilemmas that arise in everyday life and give them the tools to make thoughtful decisions. It was my first kickoff as a part of the FableVision team, and it ties perfectly with my experience at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Plus it involves a lot of content I feel passionate about, like social/emotional development.

Hats off to the new graduate! You recently matriculated from HGSE, tell us about what you studied in the Technology, Innovation, and Education (TIE) program?
As a member of the 2017 TIE cohort, I explored courses in design, entrepreneurship, animation, inclusive education, race and culture in education, and of course, children’s media! The program is really hands-on, so it involved a lot of awesome group projects and collaboration with students from a variety of professional backgrounds. I feel really fortunate to have spent a year growing professionally in such a supportive and creative environment.

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Before heading off to grad school, you managed the streaming content on the digital team at PBS KIDS. What are some of the insights you gleaned from curating digital content for kids?
The PBS KIDS Video app is so successful in part because it has such great design, and it’s really made with the target audience in mind. It was important for our team to constantly be thinking about how our young audience was seeing our videos. One interesting thing we realized was that marking a video as “new” didn’t necessarily alert kids to brand new content – partly because we have a lot of early readers as viewers. This meant that we could regularly repurpose content along with current pieces to maintain a level of variety.

You spent some time teaching in the classroom. Do you have any takeaways from your time as a teacher?
My time as a preschool teacher was so valuable and it shapes the way I understand, think about, and appreciate children and early educators. As a child development major in undergrad I had a firm understanding of why early education is so important, but being a part of that growth really brought it home for me. Children zero to five can do so much more than I had imagined. Plus, they’re imaginative, creative, honest, and fun. Early educators are smart, dedicated, and passionate people that deserve all our support. 

Who are some industry folks that you’re following these days and how do they inspire you to follow your North Star?Women in media like Rebecca Sugar, Issa Rae, and the ladies of Broad City and 2DopeQueens who are leading the way in their genres are all really inspiring to me. They let their own unique perspectives be their creative guide rather than trying to make more of what is already out there.

Last year's Extra Life team at FableVision Studios

Last year's Extra Life team at FableVision Studios

This is your first year gaming for good and raising funds for Boston Children’s Hospital with us for Extra Life! Why are you excited to join our team?
I’m super excited for Extra Life! Boston is my home and I’m proud that Boston Children’s Hospital is one of the best hospitals in the country. I’m excited to support an organization that brings so much necessity and good into the lives of kids and their families. I’m also looking forward to working with Team FableVision to beat our goal of $6,000!


 

Who is Kovu?
Kovu the dog! My fiancé Andy and I adopted Kovu as a rescue puppy a few years ago while we were living outside D.C. He’s nostalgically named after Kovu from Lion King 2, because we both happened to love the movie as kids and it’s such a great name! Kovu is about 90 lbs, and we think a Boxer, Great Pyrenees, Staffordshire mix. Maybe. He’s very lovable, strange, lazy, sleepy, and friendly. He loves belly rubs, playing with little kids, and swimming in lakes. He’s always making us laugh and we love him a lot!

As a traveling foodie, tell us about the top three international places to visit and eat our way through.

More about Sam!

Hogwarts house: I want to say Gryffindor, but I think I’m a Hufflepuff.
Your current jam: Bright Whites by Kishi Bashi
Current read: My professor’s book – The Diversity Bargain by Natasha Warikoo
Best Cartoon Ever: Ohhhhh, don’t make me choose! If I have to, my favorite anime is School Live! (Gakkō Gurashi!)
Food that makes you look like a cooking connoisseur: My Cincinnati Chili! (Thanks, America’s Test Kitchen!)
Greatest holiday: Halloween!!!!
Favorite Pokemon: Vulpix (fire types forever!) 
Tell us a joke: This is my favorite thing on the internet.
Hands-down the best sports team:  The Tufts Women’s Track and Field team!

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Extra Fun at Extra Life 2015

Imagine being trapped in an office with your coworkers for 24 hours, with only video games, Italian food, and a good cause to sustain you. Sounds fun, right? We thought so too! Which is why, for the third year in a row, we participated in Extra Life, a 24-hour gaming marathon to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Team FableVision chose our local hospital, Boston Children’s.

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The marathon began at 10 a.m. on Saturday, with some fancy pancake making and Brian’s famous waffles. Finally fueled, the marathon was off, with everything from Super Mario Kart to Five Nights at Freddy’s played across our office. With the arrival of more staff and their families, things got a little crafty! The conference room became a full-blown arts and crafts hub, with coloring, felting, and calligraphy. Soon the office was awash with our creations.

Amidst the crafting and racing and scares, others opted to take a more traditional gaming approach: board games and card games. A highlight of the event came when many of the staff sat down to play Red Dragon Inn, a card game that everyone might have gotten a little too into.

Thoroughly exhausted by all our hardcore gaming, some FableVisionaries decided it was time to hit the hay… but others weren’t quite on the same page, continuing the gaming fun well into the wee hours of the morning.

Team FableVision proudly raised $7,387 for Boston Children’s Hospital! This beats last year’s fundraising, at $7,193. Everyone at FableVision worked tremendously hard to make this event happen. We’re so grateful for this amazing opportunity to use our forces for good. Does this mean we get to level up now?

See you at next year’s Extra Life!

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Meet FableVision's 2015 Extra Life team!

Gamers, start your consoles! Team FableVision is gearing up our fundraising efforts for the Children’s Miracle Network through Extra Life. What’s Extra Life? It’s a 24 hour game-a-thon fundraiser for any Children’s Miracle Network Hospital of your choice, and Boston Children’s Hospital, we choose you!

Folks can sponsor a member of our team starting at $1 per hour (a total of $24), or support FableVision as a whole by visiting our team page here. Every member of our team has been training for this since we were kids; from Super Mario to Tag, from Dungeons and Dragons to Scrabble, we are truly an Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A-Team! Introducing Team FableVision!

Name: Gary Goldberger
Favorite game memory from when you were a kid: I remember after school on winter days a group of six to seven kids would come over and bounce between playing epic games of M.U.L.E. on the Commodore 64 and Risk (board game) at the same time. 
What are you looking forward to playing this year at Extra Life? One of the most exciting parts of the Extra Life event is that you never know what new game you will learn. 
Why are you participating in Extra Life? Boston Children's Hospital was there when my child was in need of an emergency operation that saved his life. I am hoping that this support will allow them to help others in the same way they helped me and my family. 
Fun fact about yourself: I am a collector of hobbies...lately it's been bee keeping and origami.

Name: Matt Brelsford
Favorite game memory from when you were a kid: Playing Dungeons and Dragons with my older sister and her friend from up the road. It's really the perfect game for a kid; it's all about imagination, creativity, cooperation, and there are no limits to what you can do.
What are you looking forward to playing this year at Extra Life? Any of the social games, like Resistance or Two Rooms and a Boom.
Why are you participating in Extra Life? Get to do something I love with people I love, all for a good cause. Doesn't get better than that!
Fun fact about yourself: I wrote a computer program that, given enough time and space, would eventually generate every possible picture. Most of them would just be noise, but there would be pictures of you riding on a dragon through every city in the world, past or present.

Name: Adam Landry
Favorite game memory from when you were a kid: Not necessarily my favorite, but I very distinctly remember playing Decathlon on the Atari 2600 for hours on end - trying to wiggle that darn black joystick with the red button back and forth faster than any of my friends. Everyone had a different take on how to do it. Of course, finding the little "glitches" were always a treat. I think at one point I pole vaulted a couple hundred feet in the air.
What are you looking forward to playing this year at Extra Life? I love the mix of board games, card games, video games and the occasional wheelbarrow race.
Why are you participating in Extra Life? It is such a great way to raise money for a wonderful cause. And, by participating with my children, they are learning all the fun ways to do good in the world.
Fun fact about yourself: Mr. Troy, my 6th grade teacher, required that we be able to recite 150 prepositions in under a minute. I can still do it. Give or take a couple seconds.

Name: Sonnye Lim
Favorite game memory from when you were a kid: I used to play Super Mario World and Raiden on the SNES with my dad.
What are you looking forward to playing this year at Extra Life? Any game that involves competition and teamwork. I'd love to play Mario Kart!
Why are you participating in Extra Life? This will be my first time participating. It just sounds like a lot of fun and It'll be for a good cause.
Fun fact about yourself: I have a pet albino crayfish.

Name: Michael Fogarasi
Favorite Game Memory: Growing up, one of the houses I lived in had a great rec room in the basement. We were able to black out the windows and make it completely dark. Then we would have one person guard the light switch at one end of the room. Everyone else, armed with pillows, would have to fight their way across the room to see who could switch the light on first. It was a little dangerous, but I'm pretty sure it's the most fun I ever had.
What am I looking forward to playing: New games! I love finding a new game that I really enjoy.
Why am I participating: It's a great way to raise money for a very important cause that I am passionate about!
Fun Fact About Myself: I finally won the kick the shoe contest at our local fair this summer after coming in second for almost five years in a row.

Name: Sarah Ditkoff
Favorite game memory from when you were a kid: I played flashlight tag with my whole neighborhood. I had two favorite hiding places: behind my house in the wild blueberry bushes, or in my mom's vegetable patch.
What are you looking forward to playing this year at Extra Life? Two Rooms and a Boom
Why are you participating in Extra Life? It's the right thing to do. Boston Children's Hospital does incredible work and whatever I can do to help that along is worth it -- especially when it's this fun!
Fun fact about yourself: I'm in the process of learning calligraphy.

Name: Hannah O'Neal
Favorite game memory from when you were a kid: I've always loved playing video games. As a kid, I would play with my siblings so it was super fun. We would use our Sega Genesis to play Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Earthworm Jim. I LOVE those games!
What are you looking forward to playing this year at Extra Life? I pretty much love any game where you get to work collaboratively with other players.
Why are you participating in Extra Life? I get to do something I love with people whom I love, and help raise money for sick children in the Boston area and beyond.
Fun fact about yourself: I can make a whistle out of an acorn top.

Name: Isabella Boettcher
Favorite game memory from when you were a kid: My family is extremely passionate about Scrabble. At least once a week after dinner, we would clear the table to make room for our limited edition Scrabble board. It got very competitive.
What are you looking forward to playing this year at Extra Life? All the games! I'm not sure which one's we have...
Why are you participating in Extra Life? I love Boston, and therefore I love Boston Children's Hospital. To be able to help them out in any way is an opportunity I wasn't about to pass up!
Fun fact about yourself: I have over twenty different allergies.

Name: Karina Kolb
Favorite game memory from when you were a kid: Playing Dominos and Old Maid with my grandparents, huge game nights with my family and neighbors, and playing Zoombinis on the family computer.
What are you looking forward to playing this year at Extra Life? I’m not sure what games are on the table (figuratively and literally), but I’m bring my 20-sided dice ;)
Why are you participating in Extra Life? Many people in my life have been touched by cancer. The Children's Miracle Network truly helps kids and their families, deciding to participate was not a hard decision.
Fun fact about yourself: My favorite animal is the majestic Gopher Tortoise

Name: Brian Grossman
Favorite game memory from when you were a kid: The Atari 2600. I spent way too much time with the Atari 2600. Hmmm… in retrospect… maybe I should be a little more understanding when I find my 13-year-old son playing video games into the wee hours of the morning...
What are you looking forward to playing this year at Extra Life? Hanging out with all my friends from work spending an entire day doing nothing but fun stuff!
Why are you participating in Extra Life? To raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital, of course! … and maybe to have some fun, too...
Fun fact about yourself: I am clinically addicted to sugar.

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We're extra excited for Extra Life!

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Who's excited to stay up for 24 hours playing games for charity? WE ARE! For a second year, FableVision’s Extra Life team is back on a mission to save kids through a 24-hour gaming marathon, and we need your help.

On Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014, we’ll join an international celebration of the social impact of gamers with Extra Life and it's our sincere hope that you’ll support us with a donation that will go directly to our chosen hospital.

As a team we will be supporting the Boston Children’s Hospital, our local Children's Miracle Network hospital, where thousands of children are treated each year, regardless of their family's ability to pay. These kids are facing scary stuff like cancer, cystic fibrosis, and injuries from accidents to name just a few.

Your donation is tax-deductible and ALL PROCEEDS go to help kids. As a team, FableVision raised $5,675 last year for the Boston Children’s Hospital and we hope to surpass it in 2014! You can read the recap of our Extra Life adventures on our blog here.

To make an online donation to our team, click here. Or, to donate to a specific participant on our team, view our roster. You can also join Team FableVision and fundraise with us. Here are some photos from our 24-hour gameathon last year (enjoy!), and as a studio, we thank you!

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