Panelists Henry Winkler, Tony DiTerlizzi, D.J. MacHale, Lin Oliver, Christina Hammonds Reed, Selwyn Seyfu Hinds and Angela DiTerlizzi Talk YouTube Reading Channel that Sparks Kids’ Imaginations During These Challenging Times
(Los Angeles, CA; July 21, 2020) – Reading books to kids is a treasured experience, stimulating their imaginations and providing comfort in these challenging times. In response to this need, leading management and production company The Gotham Group created the YouTube series ‘Gotham Reads,’ which has to date recruited over 100 authors, illustrators, public figures and celebrities to read books out loud for kids desperate for adventures that transport them from the confines of their homes.
At this year’s Comic-Con AT Home on Sunday, July 26 at 11am PT, the TOP KIDS AUTHORS COME TOGETHER FOR GOTHAM READS panel welcomes Emmy® winning actor, producer and author HENRY WINKLER and writing partner LIN OLIVER (co-authors of the NYT bestseller Alien Superstar), Caldecott Honor recipient TONY DITERLIZZI (The Spiderwick Chronicles); ANGELA DITERLIZZI (Some Bugs); CHRISTINA HAMMONDS REED (The Black Kids); SELWYN SEYFU HINDS (Washington Black and Prince of Cats screenwriter) and D.J. MacHALE (Pendragon). Also on the panel are ‘Gotham Reads’ producers ELLEN GOLDSMITH-VEIN (The Maze Runner franchise) and ANDREW GELLER (1stAveMachine). (More information can be found at @GothamReads.)
Lin Oliver (Executive Director of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) will moderate this panel of top authors discussing the power of the imagination, which book they for Gotham Reads and why, and the enduring power of storytelling. @GothamReads
Gotham Reads’ roster of celebrities, authors and public figures also includes Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, Senate hopeful/Veteran Air Force combat pilot/teacger MJ Hegar, Jerry Spinelli, Butch Hartman, Kevin Bacon, Steve Buscemi, Ethan Nicolle, Skylar Astin, Barry Sonnenfeld Eileen Spinelli, Dan Yaccarino, Auliʻi Cravalho, Scott Sonneborn, Lorraine Toussaint, AnnaSophia Robb, Sara Rue, Max Greenfield, Jewel, Natascha McElhone, Patrick Warburton and Elanna Allen, among many others.
To extend outreach to as many quarantined Pre-School through Middle Grade kids as possible, Gotham Reads content will be shared with a network of affiliated organizations including 826LA, Common Sense Media, Girls Inc., Imagine LA, P.S. Arts, Save the Children, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Sourcebooks, Andrews McMeel Publishing and Young Storytellers.
The Gotham Group: The Gotham Group is a multi-faceted management and production company, representing some of the most creative minds in Hollywood and the leading hub for books and IP in the industry. The Gotham Group produced the film Stargirl, based on the best-selling novel by Jerry Spinelli, with America’s Got Talent champ Grace VanderWaal making her debut as the eponymous lead, Stargirl Caraway which premieres later this year on Disney+. Gotham is currently in production on Wendell & Wild at Netflix in collaboration with Jordan Peele and acclaimed director Henry Selick, starring the voice talent of Key & Peele and Lyric Ross (This Is Us), and just wrapped Sorta Like a Rock Star, based on the novel by Matthew Quick (Silver Linings Playbook), and starring Moana’s Auli’I Cravalho for Netflix. The Gotham Group produced The Maze Runner franchise as well as the Netflix 2018 film Kodachrome with Jason Sudeikis, Elisabeth Olsen and Ed Harris, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.
On the television side, Gotham is in post-production on the pilot Masters of Doom, based on award winning journalist David Kushner’s novel, at USA and is developing Washington Black, based on Esi Edugyan’s acclaimed novel with Selwyn Hinds adapting, Anthony Hemingway directing, and Sterling K. Brown producing, at Hulu, which sold in a bidding war last year.