Debra Chase

Debra Martin Chase is an Emmy nominated and Peabody Award winning television and motion picture producer whose company, Martin Chase Productions, has been affiliated with the Walt Disney Company since 2001. Much of her work has focused upon women, tweens, dance and music. Her filmography includes three beloved franchises: THE PRINCESS DIARIES, THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS and THE CHEETAH GIRLS. THE PRINCESS DIARIES and its hit sequel jointly grossed over $300 million in worldwide box office receipts and launched the movie career of actress Anne Hathaway. According to Variety, the first SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELNG PANTS was one of the best reviewed movies of 2005 and began the career of another young actress, Blake Lively. The soundtrack for THE CHEETAH GIRLS, which Ms. Chase also executive produced, went double platinum. Its first sequel was the most watched movie debut in the history of the Disney Channel and the singing group had one of the most successful U.S. concert tours of the 2006-2007 season. Her other motion picture producing credits include SPARKLE, a dramatic musical starring Jordin Sparks and the late Whitney Houston; JUST WRIGHT starring Queen Latifah, which won the 2011 NAACP Image Award for Best Screenplay; COURAGE UNDER FIRE starring Denzel Washington; and the perennial holiday favorite, THE PREACHER'S WIFE starring Washington and Houston. Her television credits include the Emmy winning RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA with Brandy and Houston; the Lifetime TV series MISSING, which had the most watched series debut in the network's history; the Disney Channel's original musical LEMONADE MOUTH, which featured a number one Billboard soundtrack that Ms. Chase executive produced; and the Oscar and Emmy nominated and Peabody Award winning documentary HANK AARON: CHASING THE DREAM. She just completed the third movie in her partnership with the American Girl Company. In 2012 she entered into a deal with the ABC Television Network to focus more intently upon the development and production of series. Ms. Chase graduated from Mount Holyoke College and the Harvard Law School. In 2007, she received an honorary Doctorate of Arts from Mount Holyoke and is a member of its Board of Trustees. She also serves on the boards of the New York City Ballet, the United Friends of Children, the Women at NBC/Universal Advisory Board, and the Producing Mentor Board of USC's Peter Stark Program. She has co-chaired the Athena Film Festival in New York City for the past three years. Ms. Chase is also a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, Ebony Magazine named her one of the 150 Most Influential African Americans in America. In December 2012, Black Enterprise Magazine named her one of the Ten Most Bankable African American Movie Producers in Hollywood based upon worldwide box office, the only woman on the list.