Dete Meserve

Dete Meserve is a film and television producer, bull artist and novelist. Meserve is a partner of Wind Dancer Films and is producing animation TV and film projects through her company, Silver Creek Falls Entertainment.

Producing career

Meserve's list of credits span award-winning television series such as Home Improvement and Saint George with George Lopez (Executive Producer) as well as movies What Women Want, the comedy Bernie (Producer), The Keeping Room, and Where the Heart Is. In addition, she was an executive producer on What Men Want. Meserve raised the funding for and executive produced 64 episodes of the animated children's television series Ready Jet Go, which received the Common Sense Media Selection seal,^[1] and airs on PBS in the US and in 120 countries around the world. She has also overseen development and production of Ready Jet Go games, merchandise, and apps including Space Explorer^[2] and Space Scouts.^[3] Meserve was the Executive Producer for the TV specials One Small Step (for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing) and Ready Jet Go: Back to Bortron 7.^[4]

Meserve produces animation TV projects through her company, Silver Creek Falls Entertainment, where she is producer on the film Ready Jet Go! Space Camp for Universal Studios, released in July 2023.^[5] She is currently in production on an animated TV series based on an award-winning children's book for one of the major streamers (to be announced).

Writing career

Meserve is the author of the best-selling and multi-award-winning novel Good Sam, about the search for an anonymous Good Samaritan leaving $100,000 on Los Angeles doorsteps.^[6] The novel was adapted for a Netflix original film, which received the Dove Foundation seal in 2019,^[7][8] and stars Tiya Sircar as Kate Bradley.^[9][10] Kirkus Reviews called Good Sam, "a solid, feel-good romance sparked with mystery."^[11] Accolades for Good Sam include the National Indie Excellence Award, the Independent Author Network Outstanding Romance Novel Award, the Gold Medal (Fiction) from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association President's Book Awards, and the Readers' Favorite Gold Medal Award (Women's Fiction).^[12] Good Sam's sequels Perfectly Good Crime (2016) and The Good Stranger (2020) each won the Living Now Book Awards for "books that change the world."^[13] Her third novel, The Space Between, was published by Lake Union Publishing in July 2018 and was a Once Upon A Book Club August Selection.^[14] Her non-fiction book Random Acts of Kindness was a collaboration with journalist Rachel Greco. Random Acts of Kindness places a spotlight on ordinary people from ages 9 to 100 who have found varying ways to make a difference in the world. The film adaption of Random Acts of Kindness is in development with Meserve writing the screenplay. ^[15][16]

Meserve's fifth novel, The Memory Collectors, will be published in 2025.^[17]

Inspired by Meserve's novel Good Sam, Rotary International has awarded the Good Sam Award since 2021, given each year for "bold and inspiring leadership in advancing human kindness, understanding, and compassion." Meserve was the inaugural recipient;^[18] subsequent honorees include Jack McBrayer^[19] and LeVar Burton.^[20]

Memberships

Meserve is a member of the organizations Producers Guild of America,^[21] the Writers Guild of America, the Television Academy, and the Writers Guild of Canada.^[22][23]

Speaking engagements

Meserve's speaking engagements include events with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media,^[24] the Romance Writers of America,^[25] the Palm Springs Writers Guild,^[26] the Southern California Writers Association,^[27] the Bentonville Film Festival, Innovate Beverly Hills, City Club of Los Angeles, Women in Entertainment, and Kidscreen.^[28] She is an instructor for Rosemont College's Creative Writing MFA program.^[29]

With Ready, Jet, Go!, Meserve will be the host of the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse in Dallas, Texas, alongside Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Amy Mainzer, in partnership with NOAA, NASA, and NSF.^[30][31]

Personal life

Originally a native of Chicago, Illinois, Meserve lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three children.^[32]

Bibliography

Fiction

• Good Sam (Kate Bradley Mystery #1, 2014)
• Perfectly Good Crime (Kate Bradley Mystery #2, 2016)
• The Space Between (2018)
• The Good Stranger (Kate Bradley Mystery #3, 2020)

Non-Fiction

• Random Acts of Kindness (with Rachel Greco, 2019)

Filmography

Films

• Where the Heart Is (2000) - Producer
• What Women Want (2000) - Producer
• Walker Payne (2006) - Producer
• Bernie (2011) - Producer
• As Cool As I Am (2013) - Producer
• The Keeping Room (2014) - Producer
• What Men Want (2019) - Executive Producer
• Good Sam (2019) - Producer, Writer, Author

Television

• Home Improvement (1991-1999) - Producer
• Wildest Africa (2006) - Executive Producer
• Saint George (2014) - Executive Producer
• Ready Jet Go: (2016) - Executive Producer^[33]
• Ready Jet Go: Back to Bortron 7 (2017) - Executive Producer
• Ready Jet Go: One Small Step (2019) - Executive Producer
• Ready Jet Go: Space Camp (2023) - Producer

References

1. "Ready Jet Go! TV Review | Common Sense Media". www.commonsensemedia.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
2. "Ready Jet Go! Space Explorer Mobile Downloads | PBS KIDS". pbskids.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
3. "Ready Jet Go! Space Scouts". App Store. 2020-10-04. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
4. "Ready Jet Go! MOVIE | Back to Bortron 7 | PBS KIDS". WPBS | Serving Northern New York and Eastern Ontario. 2021-06-28. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
5. Malonepublished, Michael (2023-06-05). "PBS Kids Set To Debut Trio of Summer Movies Based on Popular Series". Broadcasting Cable. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
6. "How Dete Meserve Found Bestsellerdom the DIY Way". NY Book Editors. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
7. "Good Sam". Dove.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
8. Sahms, Jacob (2019-05-23). "The Work of Good Sam's Dete Meserve Spreads Like Miracles Do". Dove.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
9. "'The Good Place' Actress Tiya Sircar to Star in Netflix Film 'Good Sam'". 20 September 2018.
10. May 01, Lexi Vollero; EDT, 2019 at 04:36 PM. "Watch Netflix's trailer for uplifting mystery 'Good Sam'". EW.com. Retrieved 2023-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
11. "GOOD SAM | Kirkus Reviews".
12. "Good Sam". Dete Meserve, Award-winning and Bestselling author. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
13. "2020 Winners". www.livingnowawards.com. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
14. "Adult 2018". Once Upon a Book Club. 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
15. "'Random Acts of Kindness' includes local tales". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
16. Nordstrom, David Sturt and Todd. "If You Want Results, Don't Avoid Drama, Create It". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
17. "About Dete Meserve, Award-winning and Bestselling author". Dete Meserve, Award-winning and Bestselling author. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
18. "Rotary gala highlights transformative impact of good works". KTLA. 2021-11-07. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
19. "Good Sam Awards honoring Jack McBrayer | Rotary LA5". rotaryla5.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
20. "Good Sam Award". Rotary LA5.
21. Hull, Aleisha. "Dete Meserve". Produced By Conference. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
22. "Meet – Accomplished Film and TV Producer/Creator and Honorary LA5 Member Dete Meserve | Rotary LA5". rotaryla5.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
23. Hull, Aleisha. "Dete Meserve". Produced By Conference. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
24. "Global Storytelling: Portrayals of Women and Girls". Geena Davis Institute. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
25. "Workshops by Date and Time". www.rwa.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
26. "Palm Springs Writers Guild - Insider Workshop: EXCLUSIVE EVENT "Book to Screen" with writer/producer Dete Meserve". palmspringswritersguild.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
27. "Meetings – Southern California Writers Association". Retrieved 2024-03-02.
28. "Meet – Accomplished Film and TV Producer/Creator and Honorary LA5 Member Dete Meserve | Rotary LA5". rotaryla5.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
29. "MFA in Creative Writing | Rosemont - Creative Writing - Graduate - Academics - Rosemont College". www.rosemont.edu. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
30. "Total Solar Eclipse". National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
31. "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
32. "About Dete Meserve, Award-winning and Bestselling author". Dete Meserve, Award-winning and Bestselling author. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
33. "Ready Jet Go! producer sees festivals on the horizon". Retrieved 2023-07-06.