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See you in DC: FableVision Travels to ED Games Expo Showcase

On January 8, FableVision will present at the 5th annual ED Games Expo hosted by the U.S. Department of Education. Bringing together the top players in educational game development and recipients of the prestigious SBIR grant, we are gearing up to showcase three of our finest examples of game-based education at work. This event follows on the Department’s continuing efforts to increase its commitment to exploring the potential of learning games and research into their effectiveness.

A preview of SuperChem VR from Schell Games

FableVision has been in the education and game development world for over 20 years and along the way, we have picked up some valuable lessons to inform the work we do. By working with partners like WNET, Learning Games Network, TERC, and other content matter experts, we are building better-informed experiences that leave a big impact. We are excited to bring together research, education, and play to create games that have the potential to transform education.    

Together with our sister company FableVision Learning, we are extending an invitation to see you there! Below is a preview of the games and tools we’re showcasing. Take a look, get psyched, and come by to try your hand at playing the games yourself at what is always an exciting event for students, educators, agency employees, and kids-at-heart.

Cyberchase Fractions Quest is an immersive, story-based mobile game that engages 3rd and 4th grade students in fractions learning. Based on the latest research on how young learners best develop fractions’ knowledge and skills, and featuring the worlds and characters of the award-winning Cyberchase PBS series, players swipe, tap, and slice their way through this imaginative, challenging, and fun game. FableVision Studios produced this game in collaboration with THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET and the Education Development Center’s Center for Children and Technology (EDC/CCT). The game is a Phase II SBIR award recipient and is currently undergoing full development and evaluation as an education technology product in classrooms and schools.

Zoombinis, the little blue guys on a logical journey, are back and this time they’re mobile. Through a partnership with TERC, a not-for-profit leader in K-12 math and science education, and the Learning Games Network, a not-for-profit game company, FableVision Studios embarked on an epic journey to relaunch the classic, beloved ’90s game Logical Journey of Zoombinis for today’s generation. Through Zoombinis, players learn important life skills including algebraic thinking, data analysis, and theory formulation in a fun and engaging setting. With 12 puzzles and four levels of increasing difficulty in each, players are constantly challenged, improving their problem-solving skills as they advance through the game.

Fab@School Maker Studio is a web-based design and fabrication tool for students in PreK to grade 8 to design, invent, and build their own geometric constructions and working machines using low-cost materials like paper, cardstock or cardboard and a wide range of tools from scissors to inexpensive 2D cutters, 3D printers and laser cutters. Developed by FableVision Studios, Reynolds Center for Teaching, Learning and Creativity, with initial funding in 2010 by ED/IES SBIR.

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ED GAMES EXPO: Showcasing Learning Games Developed through SBIR
When: Monday, January 8 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Where: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
RSVP: edward.metz@ed.gov
Free and open to the public!

 

 

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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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December FableFriday: Global Tinker’s CEO and Executive Producer, Sep Riahi, and Creative Producer, Olivia Levenson

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It all starts with an idea. Makers themselves, Global Tinker’s CEO and Executive Producer, Sep Riahi, and Creative Producer, Olivia Levenson, have lit up the children’s media stage with their invention of the award-winning property The Paper Girls. 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 most recently awarded Best TV Series Animated Short at the 2017 Palm Springs International Animation Festival.

Global Tinker, a two year old venture-backed transmedia studio that inspires young minds through STEAM content, are preparing youth for the 21st Century by fostering creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking skills. Leading Global Tinker’s efforts in that mission is The Paper Girls, produced in collaboration with FableVision Studios. The short-form pilot series follows the adventures of best friends and makers, Caily and Reese, and aims to empower young girls to imagine, create, and learn through the exploration of the arts, science, and engineering.

“The feedback from the first three pilot episodes has been truly amazing, from the initial ‘kid testing’ sessions we conducted with Dr. Natascha Crandall to the awards to strong interest from international distributors who are increasingly seeking mobile-friendly but meaningful content that truly engages children’s imagination,” shares Sep. “Our plan is to produce 15-25 more episodes with FableVision in 2018 en route to another 25 in 2019 and truly develop The Paper Girls into a ‘must watch – must make’ transmedia property with its own physical and digital product lines.

Read on to learn more about Sep and Olivia, The Paper Girls, the other projects they’re tinkering with—and how with some hard work and imagination, “if you can dream it, you can make it!”

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You’ve spent much of your career in media creating empowering content for girls. How do your past production experiences influence what you do at Global Tinker, and why do you think it is important to create stories like these for young women?
Sep: Like many, I’ve always pulled for the underdogs and tried to produce projects for the forgotten children around the world be it through my own productions or my work at the Sesame Workshop. Unfortunately, given societal and technology pressures today, girls are often the underdogs of the modern world. According to a very recent joint NYU/ Illinois and Princeton study, by age six girls start thinking of themselves as less brilliant than boys even though girls show just as much – if not more – STEM aptitude than boys.  Our focus on producing stories, characters, and products is our humble attempt to change the false narrative that girls are often subject to in the media.  With The Paper Girls, in particular, we hope to inspire girls who are that very impressionable ages between 6 and 8 to not succumb to stereotypical messaging that consumes us and tinker with their own ideas, create projects, and unleash their own imaginations. 

What inspired your foray into the children’s media world and how did you get your start?
Sep: I started my career at a large LA studio structuring film and media ventures, however, the combination of becoming an uncle, witnessing the positive impact of a kids’ feature film I produced, and reading my fair share of child development convinced me that producing children’s media is the most direct way I can leave my mark. Also, my experience serving and managing Sesame Workshop’s global digital distribution and home video groups truly opened my eyes to the real life impact and potential of combining pedagogy and engaging stories.

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Marie Curie is a key influence on The Paper Girls—Caily even has a Marie Curie poster in her room! How did Marie Curie’s La Cooperative spark the “maker movement” present in The Paper Girls?
Sep: Marie Curie was a true visionary in many areas of her life, not just in her scientific research. She and her contemporaries did not accept the status quo when it came to the education of their own children. They took matters into their own hands by creating La Coopérative to provide a much more diverse learning environment, especially with regard to combining the global arts and the sciences. In many ways, they were creating their own “STEAM curriculum” before any formally existed.  As is the case with many over-burdened and time-stretched families today, they played a very active role in their children’s education, despite professional pressures in their own lives. Global Tinker and the team at FableVision were inspired by their efforts and hope to spread their message in subsequent episodes of The Paper Girls.

The world of Confetti is where Caily and Reese explore creative ideas to solve their real-world problems. If you could jump into Confetti and have Kami and Dev help you with something, what would it be? 
Olivia: Positive impact on the environment and concerns around global warming have always been important to us. How amazing would it be if the characters invented a mini filtering device to help with air pollution? Plus, we all know Kami’s big on keeping Confetti clean, so we think she’d be on board with this one. Leveraging the power of media and the “maker mindset” to encourage children to tackle the environmental issues is a big priority for us and we’re backing it up by producing shows that address these issues. Pilot episode # 2 of The Paper Girls, for example, promotes how trash can be used to create innovative products, and we hope to produce more episodes with a similar message.

The authentic paper-y look and feel of Confetti is a huge part of the world’s appeal. How did you know this was the right art style for the show?
Olivia: We’re very fortunate to have worked with such innovative and talented artists at FableVision in developing the world of Confetti. Texture and depth were major contributors in the paper-y look and feel, and it was important to distinguish the visual contrast between the flatter real world and the layered paper world. We also wanted the art to have a level of sophistication that’s unique to today’s television landscape. And finally, the “wow” factor: our biggest challenge was creating a world and art style that no one has ever seen before.

What was your experience like working with the FableVision team on The Paper Girls?
Sep: The team at FableVision has been absolutely wonderful on every level, from creative development to execution to production. Truth be told, given international government funding and support, there’s no shortage of “animation houses” that produce technically excellent work. However, there are very few production companies specializing in children’s educational media who truly understand and are passionate about every aspect of the industry and produce world-class quality work. For us, FableVision is at the very top of that list.

All good shows come primed with a catchy theme song, and we can’t get “If You Dream It, You Can Make It” out of our heads. Where did the inspiration come from and what went into creating it?
Olivia: To start—the song wouldn’t be what it is today without the incredible creativity from FableVision’s Vice President of Creative Tone Thyne, the FableVision team, and Junior Joe. As you can tell by the title, the messaging we wanted to get across was pretty simple: if you can dream it, you can make it! From there, the process was a groundwork of building on the show’s themes—including makerspaces, boundless creativity, and positive social and global impact.

Why is STEAM education important to you?
Olivia and Sep: STEAM’s real world applications contribute to engaging and thought-provoking content. We’re passionate about adding our version of the arts to STEAM as it is part and parcel of the making process, from planning projects to designing, tinkering, and presenting them!

The Maker Movement is making waves on social media. Who are some of your favorite makers you’ve met online? What are some of the exciting projects you’ve come across?
Sep: As mentioned, we’ve created Global Tinker as a media company that will fight to celebrate the lives of underdogs. What excites us most about the maker movement and where we see the biggest impact is its influence on children’s lives, especially the “99%” around the world who may not have access to expensive electronic maker kits. Today, YouTube is a massive repository for great children’s inventions that can be viewed and shared by all, inspiring a global audience, hence our insistence on launching our properties on YouTube and other global networks for maximum reach and impact.

Global Tinker has been tinkering with some fantastic projects. What’s next for Global Tinker and The Paper Girls?
Sep: We have seven projects in active development or production this year. More specifically—and in addition to The Paper Girls—we are very excited about a graphic novel series called the Style Engineers Worldwide, which we’re officially launching in December. It’s for tweens and focuses on creating “wearable tech for good.” We also have a STEM refugee education app concept which was a finalist at the MIT / UN competition last spring. Three of our other media projects range from a global food show to a picture book series that highlights the resilience of children who have experienced war.

You can check out Global Tinker’s site here, and learn more about The Paper Girls here. Follow their creative adventure on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and on YouTube!

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Thanksgiving Traditions: A Peace of the Pie

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Thanksgiving traditions are as colorful as the falling leaves. Every kitchen has its own rules and recipes, but on each set table, memories are the main ingredient. The spirit of Thanksgiving is often characterized by the company we find ourselves in. However, there is something to be said for the quieter moments in which we reflect and discover what we are truly thankful for.

Founder Peter H. Reynolds shares one of these moments, “I remember taking a walk after Thanksgiving dinner with a family friend when I was about 11. We walked to the center of our town of Chelmsford, MA. That was my first experience and sensation of having the world come to a slow stop. No cars. We walked in the center of the road downtown. It was very peaceful. Years later, our friend became an abbot for a Trappist monastery in the Amazon. It seems his way to find peace here on Earth was with him early on.”

Peace of mind is a theme that goes hand in hand with the holiday. We stop and consider what we are grateful for, and what brings out the season’s serenity for each of us. We find peace in our families and friends, and we honor that peace in traditions new and old, planned and impromptu, hectic and hilarious.

Here at FableVision, we are an eclectic cornucopia of individuals with roots reaching far and wide. This holiday season, we asked some festive FableVisionaries to share the roots we’ve built in memories by telling a story about their own Thanksgiving routines—from food, to family, to furry football stars.

Sarah Ditkoff, Communications Director
Every Thanksgiving, my Pop-Pop is responsible for setting the table. When I was little, while my grandmother's kitchen was a hot clatter of pots and pans, he slipped into the quiet(er) dining room, took out the nice china, and arranged the place settings. I joined him when I was small and followed instructions, "knife faces inwards towards the plate, glasses on the right side." Now that I am older, I love setting the table. It is a calming exercise of preparing our home—a ritual for making loved ones feel comfortable and welcome.

Brian Grossman, Technical Director
I love food. Anyone that knows me knows this is true. So, it’s a pretty big deal when you learn that the thing I like most about Thanksgiving, the foodiest of all holidays, is actually my family. With busy lives, it’s hard to make time to see the extended family. But every Thanksgiving, I can count on seeing the aunts, uncles, and cousins I love. It’s always comforting to be seated around a table with a couple dozen people just as crazy as me.

Our extended family has been consistently getting together for Thanksgiving since 2014, which you can read more about here. 

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David Welsh, Marketing Intern
My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is the turkey. Even when traditions fade away or new ones don't stick, there will always be turkey. When the shape of the table changes or when different people are around the table, there will always be turkey. When you have to run between houses trying to make it to separate family Thanksgivings, well, in that case there will probably be MORE turkey. And even when I was a vegetarian for a couple of years, I still had the turkey. I really, really like turkey.

Samantha Bissonnette, Producer
Football has always somehow been a part of my family's Thanksgiving traditions. Whether it was playing football in the yard with my cousins or watching my brother's game for our local high school, we always found a way to get outside and play. Now our Thanksgivings change every year—last year my now-husband's family came to visit my parent's house, this year we'll be in Chicago but we still find a way to throw the ball around and play keep-away from our star running back, Kovu.

Didi Hatcher, Lead Animator

I didn’t grow up in the US, so I don’t have fond childhood memories of Thanksgiving. However, I have plenty of memories from my early years here. My college would shut down for Thanksgiving break, as all the students would go to their homes, and I had nowhere to stay. However, friends would always invite me to spend the holiday with their families, and share their meals and homes with me. Some of them were immigrant families themselves, and I always enjoyed seeing the cultural blend that Thanksgiving was at their houses—turkeys and pies next to dumplings, durian, kugel, blinchiki. It was the quintessential American experience!

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Mitul Daiyan, Communications Strategist
I come from an immigrant home so Thanksgiving wasn’t celebrated with the usual western fanfare of pies, cranberry sauces, or even turkey. My siblings and I longed for the Norman Rockwell version of roast turkey we saw on television but during high school, when my family finally made the splurge on 15 pounds of poultry, they turned it into what they knew best—curry! We didn’t quite appreciate it back then, but now turkey curry has become a special delicacy as part of the Thanksgiving dinners I host, and sits proudly alongside those Rockwell-esque traditional pies and sauces.

Olivia Jones, Marketing Intern
Every other Thanksgiving, my family heads down to south Texas for a feasting extravaganza of epic proportions at my grandparents house. My mom's four other siblings and their families in tow, it's quite the social exercise as well. When "the younger cousins" want to get a break from small talk, a tradition we have is to head up to the attic and play the 1993 Aladdin game start to finish on the old Super Nintendo. Once Jafar's been taken down a notch—and hunger has kicked UP a notch—we follow the wafting scent of homemade rolls down the spiral staircase, and make a *beeline* for the honey jar (filled from the hive in my grandma’s backyard!)

Christina Kelly, Production Designer
Many major life events have caused my traditions and life routines to fall out of any kind of normalcy, but one thing that has never changed is getting to share Thanksgiving with my mom. Every year, my mom puts together an elaborate feast of some of my favorites: mashed potatoes, homemade chunky cranberry sauce, and stuffing with turkey liver chopped into it. My mom and her partner Bill always open their doors to neighbors, friends, family, and whichever loved one we can think of that might need a special dinner that day. It might be her grandmother's recipes that make me hungry the day before, but it's the company and the feeling of home my mom provides—no matter where each November has taken us—that make the holiday special.

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Jordan Bach, Senior Developer
While I have fond memories of spending Thanksgiving with my immediate family when I was young, I've loved the years spent with friends and their families. Meeting your friend's friend's aunt over stuffing and pie and finding a way to connect is what it's about.

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November FableFriday: Looking Back on 20 Years with Karen Bresnahan

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FableVision has never known a day without Karen Bresnahan, our much-admired executive producer for the last 20 years. As EP, Karen has touched and guided every one of the hundreds of projects that have come through our door, but more than that, she has touched the lives of every person lucky enough to have worked with her. Under her tutelage, our staff has grown, matured, and thrived.

“FableVisionaries,” as we have dubbed ourselves, are a creative, talented, passionate lot. We can get a bit messy and rowdy in the throes of production, mostly because we care so much about the work we are doing and the people we are doing it for. In every project, the creative vision, beautiful artwork, and slick technology needs to be balanced with the budget, schedule, and client’s vision. It’s a bit of a dance, a blend of reality and magic, and through it all, Karen has been the perfect dance partner.

“It’s been 20 years of laughter and learning, challenges and successes, creating and collaborating—such a rewarding place to come to every day,” shares Karen. “I turn 70 years old this month, and although I will miss FableVision, now seems like the right time to hand over the reins.”

And we are going to miss her; not just Karen the executive producer who always knows the right thing to do, even though it might not be the easy thing, but Karen the incredible, caring, funny, and loyal person who is so completely and eternally a part of the FableVision fabric.

Looking ahead, FableVision’s senior producer, Peter Stidwill, will take the reins as executive producer later this month. Peter was first introduced to us as one of FableVision’s clients, and then joined our staff in 2016. We are fortunate to have such a familiar face and brilliant mind taking on this crucial role

We’ll be forever grateful for the time Karen spent with us. Her delight in taking a summertime lunch-time stroll to James Hook for a lobster roll, her exhaustive knowledge of rock ‘n’ roll music, unabashed fandom for The Stones and Elvis, and dedication to her Red Sox are just a few of the fond memories she leaves with us. We share her excitement for the next phase of her journey. Read on in this special-edition FableFriday to hear Karen look back on her last two decades at our studio.

What’s your journey to FableVision story?
In March 1977, I started my media career as a production assistant at a Boston video studio. I was working as a freelance producer for Paul Reynolds at CF Video in 1996, when Peter Reynolds started FableVision in the same location. I produced some early FableVision projects, and joined the staff as the executive producer in 2000.

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For over 40 years I have been a part of Boston’s media production community, a community filled with talented folks who helped make working enjoyable. I produced videos, films, interactive videodiscs, CD-ROMs, websites, games, apps, and exhibits, and loved every job I had. But the position that brought me the most joy is here at FableVision.

After over 20 years of being a FableVisionary, what has collaborative storytelling come to mean to you?
To me, collaborative storytelling is telling stories or integrating stories into media in a way that learners feel they are taking part or collaborating, and their experience is more meaningful.

How is FableVision unique in the world of media production studios?
FableVision is mission driven, creating stories that matter, stories that move. Peter Reynolds founded the company with this mission, and it’s still the driving force behind all we do. It’s unique and such a good feeling when your work is designed to help move the world to a better place.

In the 20 years since its inception, how has FableVision evolved? What elements have stayed the same?
So much has evolved over these 20 years. FableVision started with no programmers and now has an entire technology department. We started with a studio manager plus one freelance producer, and now have a six-person producer team. The art style on day one was only Peter’s and now we have multiple visual styles to offer. The staff expanded. We moved to Boston. But just as many things have remained the same like the focus on storytelling, team collaboration, emphasis on learning, company culture, and being part of a family.

Share a memorable learning moment from your experience working at FableVision.
This is going to sound trite, but I have learned something every day that I’ve been here.

What are some of your favorite studio traditions?
Music playing all day, valentines made by hand, the holiday book swap party, Kaizen days, homemade waffle breakfasts, team members’ art in the studio, FableFun days, and I even love taking part in our weekly staff meetings. A short-lived but special tradition was when Peter Reynolds drew illustrations on our paycheck envelopes.

As executive producer, what has been your most meaningful accomplishment? What are you proud of?
I’m aware I have my own style of leading and managing that involves a mix of honesty, trust, attitude, caring, and intuition. So most meaningful to me are the team members who have considered me a mentor, and are now leading with their own version of that style.

I’m most proud of the production processes and standards we have at FableVision. I started 20 years ago with a goal of setting up procedures for budgeting and scheduling, and with the help of great team members, we established best practices over the years and continue to improve the process.

How has the FableVision team shaped your path and shaped your growth as a creative professional?
The executive team always respected my ideas and allowed me to make final production decisions. I am so appreciative of Gary Goldberger, our president and executive creative. We each contribute our unique knowledge and vision, and the blending that results has led to a path of success.  As a creative professional, I was allowed to grow by managing teams that include all types of personalities and skills, trying to bring out what’s best for FableVision from everyone.

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Over the years, you have helped FableVision adopt technology to enhance learning. What were some key milestones and pivot points?
Probably the key milestone was when we hired Brian Grossman as technical director. Prior to that, I managed the developers as part of our project teams. Brian on our team equaled adopting technology.

When we first started creating interactive programs, content was presented via video or text, and activities or games were designed so users could practice or be tested on that content. All that changed when we collaborated to produce the Lure of the Labyrinth game with Maryland Public Television and the MIT Education Arcade. It was designed so users explored content through story-based gameplay with the goal of learning. That was one of the studio’s first forays into game-based learning, now a key product and service at FableVision.

What are three common characteristics in a FableVisionary?
Creative. Dedicated. Kind.

Peter Stidwill, FableVision's Senior Producer

Peter Stidwill, FableVision's Senior Producer

Peter Stidwill will be taking over the reins at FableVision as executive producer. What has your experience been like working together?
Oh wow. Working with Peter has been a highlight. I am sorry that my time working with him was so short, and he is a big reason I leave feeling so positive about the future of FableVision.

What are you most looking forward to about retirement?
Sleeping in, drinking my morning tea at home while looking out at the river, going to yoga classes, spending time with my family and friends, and eventually discovering what I want to do for my next life adventure.

You’re FableVision’s rock star. You know we can’t let you go without having you contribute to our creativity playlist. Share your top five picks for songs we should play to keep our productivity flowing.
Nope. Instead I’m sharing all my Spotify playlists with you, and I’ll keep updating them so you can listen to Karen Faves, Chuck Berry Covered, 60’s Deep Cuts, Random Faves, etc. I hope when you all miss me and want inspiration from the roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll, you’ll put one of my playlists on in the studio. And when I stop by for a visit, I’ll be listening.

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