We are a multimedia resource focusing on social and emotional learning for children with dyslexia and attention issues. Our mission is to help kids succeed in school and life because of, and not in spite of, their learning differences.
All the series produced by SuperD!ville are cast only with kids who have learning differences like dyslexia or ADHD.
Super d! Show is about the everyday lives of kids with learning and attention issues, and designed to instill confidence and reinforce that shame is lame.
“I get to play a mad scientist, Professor Boom, who learns all about the dyslexic brain. How cool is that?”
- Jordan, age 12, Super d! Show cast member
At SuperD!ville, we know it's hard to be dyslexic.
How do we know?
Because all of us who created Super d! have learning and attention issues. We are a community of kids and adults with LD who share our point of view with the world.
“Anyone who is serious about intervention in the social and emotional well-being of LD children should be supporting the Super d! Platform”
- Marcus Soutra
Co-Founder and President, Eye to Eye
“The Super d! Show truly fills a void that parents like me are seeking for our kids with reading disabilities.”
- Lyn Pollard
Founding Member, Decoding Dyslexia Texas
“The Super d! Platform provides an environment where children can go and celebrate their unique contributions…in a supportive community.”
– MaryAnn Wolf
Director, Tufts University
Center for Reading and Language Research
Peggy Stern is an Academy Award-winning film Producer/Director with more than 30 years experience. Her dyslexia led her to filmmaking and animation at a young age, and in March 2006 Stern won the Oscar for Best Animated Short. Stern has produced for PBS, HBO, Teachers College at Columbia University, The National PTA, and National YWCA among others. She received her BA from Harvard University and her senior thesis film STEPHANIE, was turned into a PBS documentary Special and broadcast nationally. SuperD!ville is a family affair, as her dyslexic daughter Emma has been a key advisor!
Jennifer DiGiacomo is an award-winning pioneer in the digital space with over 20 years of storytelling, content strategy and tactics experience. After launching AOL Small Business during her decade-long tenure at AOL, she created the first online reality series, The Startup. Since then, she's created and executive produced digital content for CBS, Townsquare Media, and AMC, including for Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
Ian Myers is Chief Executive Officer of Newspicks, a mobile-first media platform created as a joint venture between American publishing group Dow Jones and Uzabase, a Japanese business intelligence and media company. There, he is tasked with managing growth, partnerships, and strategy. Prior to becoming CEO at Newspicks, Ian was a venture capitalist with White Star Capital, where he focused on sourcing early stage technology investments. Early in his career, Ian was a para educator at the Wilder Regional Alternative Program--a day school dedicated to helping Vermont students who struggle with LD.
Patricia Nolan has broad experience in strategic planning and management having worked at renowned institutions including McKinsey and LISC and serving as President of two small companies. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale School of Management, she has served for ten years on the Cambridge School Committee, where she is active in local and state educational initiatives.
Kristi Helgeson is a business consultant, non-profit advisor, dyslexia life coach, and mother of two wonderful dyslexic children. From 2013 to 2016, Kristi served SuperD!ville as CEO and Co-Producer of Season One of the Super d! Show. Previously, Kristi drove high-profile deals with large media companies as deal lawyer to Adobe's Digital Media Strategic Alliances & Business Development team. Her leadership experience with startups and education related nonprofits spans over 20 years, and she currently serves as advisor to Dyslexic Advantage.
Max Strebel has been making films since he was 12 when he convinced his teachers to let him make animations rather than write essays (a true dyslexic)! Since then, he has made over a dozen award-winning short films and animations. Currently, he works in commercial directing, editing and motion graphics. Two of Max's short films focus on dyslexia, and he is passionate about empowering young people who struggle with learning differences.
David Bailen, another dyslexic member of our team, is both an accomplished filmmaker and musician. He worked with Peggy Stern on the Academy Award winning film Moon and the Son and is now writing the Super d! Show for SuperD!ville. David attended the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU for film and has written and directed short films and music videos including behind the scenes videos and commercials for brands like Victoria’Secret’s PINK and Aeropostale. He also writes songs, and tours with the band BAILEN.
H.H. Cooper is a film producer who produced Jonathan Demme's documentary Marley, was a Co-Producer on Demme’s Rachel Getting Married and The Lottery Ticket, and episodes of Mozart in the Jungle and House of Cards. He has served as an Assistant Director to directors Wong Kar-wai, Charlie Kaufman, Robert De Niro and Spike Lee.
Vinnie Angel is an artist and filmmaker. He is inspired by the determination and resilience of his dyslexic eight-year-old niece, Eleni. He looks forward to the day when she asks him (for the millionth time!) "Is SuperD!ville ready yet?" and he can say, "Yes!"
Tom Stern is the creator of the nationally syndicated comic strip CEO DAD, and the book "CEO DAD - How To Avoid Getting Fired By Your Family." As a Dyslexic with ADHD and the father of a thirteen-year-old daughter with dyslexia, he has been contributing ideas to SuperD!ville since its inception.
Diana Correa-Cintron, attorney, educator and Latino rights activist, has a distinguished career in public interest law, development, fundraising, external relations and coaching/counseling. Ms. Correa-Cintron served as Assistant Director for the Center for Public Interest Law at Columbia University School of Law, where she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship. Currently, Ms. Correa-Cintron runs her own consulting firm Yellow Brick Road Group, Inc. working with institutions such as the Bronx Children’s Museum. She is the proud mother of two sons with dyslexia.
Christina Giammalva, is a distinguished educator, child advocate, and founder of the Columbia-Harlem Tutorial Program, which provides students with one-on-one tutoring at Columbia Law School. Ms. Giammalva also established a highly successful, alternative public school in central Harlem, where the reading comprehension curriculum, ReadWorks, was first developed. Ms. Giammalva recently completed her master’s degree as a reading specialist at Columbia University.
Robert J. Landy, Ph.D., Super d! Show Content Consultant, is the Director of NYU’s Drama Therapy Program, a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist (LCAT), a Registered Drama Therapist (RDT) and Board Certified Trainer (BCT). A pioneer in the profession of Drama Therapy, he lectures and trains professionals internationally. As a drama therapist, Landy has more than 35 years of clinical experience, having treated children and adults with a wide range of psychiatric, cognitive and adjustment challenges.
Deborah Lynam is currently the Director of Partnerships and Engagement at the AIM Institute for Learning & Research and a well-regarded parent advocate and frequent speaker on dyslexia nationwide. She is an active participant in the growing network of statewide parent-led grassroots movements called Decoding Dyslexia. She is a former Family Resource Specialist for the NJ Parent Training and Information Center, SPAN, as well as a volunteer tutor for the Reading Assist Institute. Deborah was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award in 2013 by the NJ Branch of the International Dyslexia Association. Two of her three children are dyslexic.
Melissa Orkin, Ph.D., Super D! Show Content Consultant, is Director of Educational and Clinical Services at Tufts University Center for Reading & Language Research. Melissa’s research focuses on how emotions affect learning. More specifically, she is investigating the ways in which the beliefs and goals of children with reading disabilities relate to their ability to handle academic challenges.
Lyn Pollard is a writer, parent advocate and mom to two kids with learning and attention issues. She is part of the Strategic Partnership team at Understood.org where she connects community partners and parents to Understood.org and other resources that empower families and kids. As a founding member of Decoding Dyslexia Texas, Lyn works to raise awareness and improve school-based services for kids who learn differently in her home state and beyond.
John Canemaker has won an Academy Award, an Emmy and a Peabody Award for his animation and is an internationally-renowned animation historian and teacher. He has collaborated with Peggy Stern on numerous projects, and is a noted author of nine books on animation, as well as numerous essays and articles for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Canemaker has taught at several colleges and universities, including a guest residency at Yale, but he is most closely associated with New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Miriam Lewis Racchah is Executive Director at Bronx Charter School for the Arts. Previously, Ms. Racchah was Director of Business Affairs and Development for Harlem Day Charter School, and she founded the Girls Preparatory Charter School and Public Prep, which now manages a number of schools.
Marcus Soutra, is Co-Founder and President of Eye to Eye, the only national LD/ADHD movement dedicated to mentoring. Marcus helped to create Eye to Eye's summer program, Camp Vision, and speaks out throughout the country sharing Eye to Eye's vision of a world in which people with LD/ADHD are fully accepted, valued and respected.
Sylvia Stein, Strategic Consultant and New Product Development, was the Founder and President of Consumer Eyes, Inc. and co-Founder of Buzzback.com. She is currently working on projects in healthcare, education, as well as other entrepreneurial ventures.
Heidi R. Steinberg is an entrepreneurial advisor, investor and Wall Street veteran. Heidi has been an active angel investor with Golden Seeds and New York Angels, as well as a liaison between the two angel groups to syndicate deals and partner in supporting entrepreneurs. Heidi is a seasoned Equity Analyst in the Consumer and Specialty Retail Industries, and a former Wall Street Journal All-Star Analyst. Her current investments include Localytics and Crimson Hexagon.
Henry Sinclair Sherrill is a longstanding grant maker who has worked extensively in both philanthropy and fundraising to support a variety of charitable missions, and is currently leading up Boon Philanthropy which is dedicated to providing innovative funding and stewardship solutions to support young children and professional learning in literacy. Mr. Sherrill has served on the boards of Partnership for Children, a special philanthropic board for the American Academy of Pediatrics, Good Samaritan, Inc; Sherrill House, and the National Board of International Dyslexia Association.
Mary Anne Wolf, P.hD. is the Director of Tufts University’s Center for Reading and Language Research. She received her doctorate from Harvard University in the Department of Human Development and Psychology in the Graduate School of Education. Her work on neurological developmental dyslexia was the subject of a recent special issue of the Journal of Learning Disabilities. Dr. Wolf is a Fullbright Fellow, and was awarded an NICHD Shannon Award for Innovative Research and several multi-year NICHD grants to investigate new approaches to reading intervention.
Michael Hart, Ph.D. trained as a psychologist and served in a clinical capacity for many years. Currently, he is the founder/owner of www.drmichaelhart.com and provides webinars, online courses and onsite presentations/training for parents, educators and specialists regarding the proper educational care of our dyslexic students. Michael is also the co-chair of the UNESCO MGIEP advisory committee for a large-scale literacy development project in India specialist institute on education for peace and sustainable development to foster global citizenship. In addition, Dr. Hart also serves as a subject matter expert for Understood.org, one of the largest repositories of information about learning disabilities in the world.
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Emma, Lucas – New York, ages 10 & 12 |
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Arianna – California, age 13 |
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Merrill – Texas, age 10 |
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Elliott, Dylan – Washington State, ages 11 & 14 |
