Kristin Laskas Martin
| Kristin Laskas Martin | |
|---|---|
| Born | United States |
| 🏫 Education |
|
| 💼 Occupation | * Television producer
|
| Known for | * The Magic School Bus
|
| 🏅 Awards | * Daytime Emmy Awards
|
Kristin Laskas Martin is an American television producer, executive, and educator best known as the executive producer and story editor of The Magic School Bus series. Her career spans more than two decades in children's media, including senior executive roles at Nickelodeon, ABC, Disney, and multiple PBS Kids productions.
Early life and Education
Martin holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in English from Rosemont College in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. She went on to earn a Master of Arts from The Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham in England, and completed doctoral coursework in an interdisciplinary program combining English, Drama, and Film at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to her television career she taught English literature at secondary schools in England and Pennsylvania, holding Pennsylvania state teaching certifications for both elementary and secondary education, experience that would later inform her approach to curriculum-driven children's media.
Career
Early television: All My Children and ABC
Martin began her professional career in network television as coordinating producer and program executive for All My Children, the Emmy Award–winning soap opera on ABC Television. Over six years she managed all facets of daily production — from casting and directing to budget, set design, costume, music, and post-production — for more than 250 episodes per year. During her tenure the series consistently ranked first or second in its slot with an average daily viewership of over six million, and the daytime division generated approximately 66 percent of ABC's network revenue. She also supervised merchandising, licensing, and publicity for the series in collaboration with ABC's marketing and public relations departments, and served as the network's liaison to the Directors Guild of America during daytime programming negotiations.
The Magic School Bus (PBS Kids / Fox Kids, 1994–1997)
Martin served as executive producer and story editor of The Magic School Bus, an animated science series produced by Scholastic Productions for PBS Kids. Based on the bestselling Scholastic book series by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen, the show debuted in fall 1994 as PBS's first fully animated series.[1] Martin built the production unit and oversaw all phases of development from pilot through all four seasons and 52 episodes. She managed seasonal budgets of approximately $6 million per season, hired and supervised instructional design, writing, sound design, and animation teams (including the Canadian animation studio Nelvana Ltd.), and voice-directed guest stars. The series starred Lily Tomlin as the voice of Ms. Frizzle and featured cameo appearances by dozens of prominent figures.
Nickelodeon (MTV Networks)
As Vice President of Production at Nickelodeon, Martin supervised studio production at Universal Studios Florida and collaborated on the network's strategic shift into live-action narrative series. Productions from this period included Clarissa Explains It All and Welcome Freshman, for which she also served as a development and creative consultant. Zoog Disney / ABZ (Disney/ABC Cable Networks) As Executive in Charge / Executive Producer for what became Zoog Disney, Martin created, developed, and programmed an experimental 24-hour digital channel for Disney/ABC Cable Networks. Working in collaboration with Animation and Technology Executive Producers across Disney Channel, Disney Online, and Disney Promotion, she collaborated with Disney Imagineers to implement Disney Telefusion technology — an early integration of broadcast and online media — and created the brand identity "TV You DO." The initiative's success led to the launch of the Zoog Disney channel.
Cyberchase (PBS Kids GO / WNET-Thirteen)
Martin served as Executive Producer and Story Editor for Cyberchase, the Emmy Award–winning animated action-adventure series from WNET/Thirteen produced for PBS Kids GO. She developed and executed the creative vision from pilot through 65 episodes, built the production unit, managed seasonal budgets of $6 million, and oversaw the creation of one of PBS's most expansive digital media ecosystems for children. Her work on the series included producing PBS's first online series launch campaign, creating the first interactive online game series (The Quest), supervising more than 50 online learning games, developing financial literacy and STEM-themed campaigns on air and online, and spearheading the Cyberchase Math Museum Project with the Children's Museum of Houston. She also linked an original Cyberchase math column to both Weekly Reader and Time for Kids, and collaborated with PBS on the strategic launch of the PBS Kids GO brand.
Moe Greene Entertainment / Creative Group
As Vice President of Creative Development and Production at the Creative Group's Moe Greene Entertainment Division, Martin led development of family properties for television, home video, and online platforms. She created, developed, and sold a multiplatform mystery series; secured a $3 million PBS Kids production grant and a 40-episode series order.
Additional PBS Kids projects
Martin created and developed Nate the Great for PBS Kids GO as Executive Producer and Story Editor, overseeing the full production pipeline from conception through delivery, website, and outreach. She also acquired the rights to the bestselling HarperCollins book series My Weird School by Dan Gutman, created a series bible, secured a PBS development commitment and funding, and co-produced a pilot with Curious Pictures.
Digital and app development: HITN / Project Lamp
As executive director and Executive Producer for HITN (Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network) and Project Lamp — funded by a U.S. Department of Education Ready to Learn Grant — Martin created and developed the Pocoyo PlaySet Apps, a 13-app digital transmedia initiative designed to promote English Language Development (ELD) in Spanish-speaking English Language Learners between the ages of three and five. developed a unique ELD pedagogy in collaboration with Content Directors, secured a production partnership with Zinkia Entertainment (Madrid, Spain), and directed independent research whose positive findings led to an expansion of the project's scope and budget. She represented the project at the Clinton Initiative for America, ISTE, NAEYC, Kidscreen, iKids, and Toy Fair.
Film work
As Executive Producer and Creator at Big Ideas Entertainment, Martin created, wrote, and produced an IMAX experimental short, The Adventures of Hawking & Crick, combining CG animation and live-action IMAX footage. She wrote the grant proposal and secured production funding from the National Science Foundation and presented the film at the Giant Screen Cinema Association annual conference. She also produced The Babysitters' Club live-action film series for Scholastic Productions and HBO, shot on location and based on Ann Martin's bestselling Scholastic book series.
Consulting
As Principal and CEO of Kristin Martin Media, she provided creative development and production consulting to Viacom, Fred Silverman Productions, Hit Entertainment, Pearson, and Penguin, among others. Properties on which she served as a development or creative consultant include Scholastic's Clifford the Big Red Dog, Pearson/Penguin's Peter Peter, Hit Entertainment's Thomas the Tank Engine, Lancit Media's Reading Rainbow and Ramona, and the BBC CBeebies series Raa Raa the Noisy Lion. She also served as a National Science Foundation proposal review panelist.
Teaching
Martin taught Television Production I and II, Film History, and Multimedia Production at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to her media career she taught 9th and 10th grade English Literature at Springfield High School in Springfield, Pennsylvania, and Middle and High School English Literature at Erkenwald Comprehensive School in Barking, Essex, England.
Awards and recognition
The series and projects Martin produced received numerous honors, including:
- Daytime Emmy Awards for Television and Broadband (The Magic School Bus; Cyberchase)
- Prix Jeunesse
- Chicago Film Festival
- Clarion Award
- Cine Golden Eagles
- Environmental Media Award
- iParenting Media Awards
- National Education Association recognition
- Parents' Choice Gold Award
- EPPY Award
- Japan Prize for Excellence in Multimedia
- USA Today Hot Site
- Yahooligans Cool Site
References
- ↑ Bedford, Karen Everhart (December 15, 1997). "Fox network suddenly inspired to buy up Magic School Bus". Current.
- Bedford, Karen Everhart. "Fox network suddenly inspired to buy up Magic School Bus." Current. December 15, 1997.
- Yeh, Phoebe; Gotthelf, Cheryl A.; Gargiulo, Susan. "The Message Is the Medium." Education Week. October 25, 1995.
- Wisnioski, Matthew; Meindl, Michael. "The Magic School Bus and the Rise of Public-Private Partnerships for Science Education." Paper presented at the Business History Conference, 2024.
- Martin, Kristin Laskas. Professional curriculum vitae. [Primary source, on file.]
- The Magic School Bus series entry. Weston Woods Studios / PBS LearningMedia. Release Year: 1994. [Distributor records.]
- Chen, Milton (KQED); Gorfinkel, Anne (WNET). Quoted in Bedford, Karen Everhart. Current, December 15, 1997.
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