Mount Holyoke College • Vista • Spring 2013, Vol. 18, No. 1

Inside the Studio: Debra Martin Chase ’77

In February, a group of students sat down with Debra Martin Chase ’77, producer of The Princess Diaries, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Cheetah Girls, and Sparkle. Chase, who is the first African American woman to have a solo producing deal at a major studio, earned a law degree from Harvard shortly after graduating from Mount Holyoke. Her visit to campus was part of the “Inside the Studio” Media Series.

Not surprisingly, the conversation touched on Chase’s commitment to creating work that defies stereotypes, particularly around race and gender. Her hope, she told students, is to supply positive images and messages for all females.

“I’m a kid who grew up watching television and movies and was always not happywith the fact that I never saw me in anything and when I did see people of color in particular . . . it was in subservient roles,” she said. “I hope everything I do speaks to the girl in every woman.”

The thread in all of Chase’s work for film and television is that girls have the power within themselves to be anything they want. “From Mia Thermopolis to the Cheetah Girls, the message is ‘dream big,’ ” she said. “And that’s very much what Mount Holyoke is about. We know we’re smart and we’re special. Mount Holyoke reinforces that and tells us to use these gifts we’ve all been given, that if we work hard and we dream big, we can do whatever we want to do.”

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Vista is published twice a year by the Mount Holyoke College Office of Communications. Vista is produced for prospective Mount Holyoke students; alumnae; faculty and staff; parents of current students; and other friends of the College.

Creative Director and Editor: Tekla McInerney

Writer: Michelle Ducharme

Copyeditor: Bonnie Sennott

Executive Director of Communications and Marketing: Patricia VandenBerg

Cover photo by Jim Gipe, Pivot Media

©2013 by Mount Holyoke College. Portions of Vista may be reproduced with the permission of the Office of Communications, 50 College Street, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075-1459; 413-538- 2989; email: tmcinern@mtholyoke.edu. Third-class postage paid at South Hadley, MA 01075 An electronic version of Vista is available at www.mtholyoke.edu/admission/publications.html