Todd Kessler

Todd Kessler is the co-creator and show runner of Blue's Clues, one of the most successful series in the history of children's television. He directed the pilot, creating an original storybook world unlike anything seen before on television. To date, he has completed 150 episodes, which air in 30 countries. Named "the David E. Kelley of children's television," by the New York Times, Todd is quoted extensively in The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell's bestseller about visionaries and new world trends. Todd's artistic and innovative work has garnered him the prestigious Peabody Award, seven Emmy nominations, two Television Critics Association awards, five Parent's Choice awards, and a New York Film Festival Cine Golden Eagle. Having never attended college, without any formal training (and after a brief stint as a New York City taxi driver), Todd taught himself filmmaking through hands-on experience in virtually every aspect of the craft, from camera-work to editing, in 16, 35mm, and digital formats. In 2005, on the advice of his teenage children who complained that there were no good films for them, Todd optioned the short story Keith and developed the project into a feature film which he co-wrote, directed and produced. The film has won first prize in every teenage festival in which it has competed: Giffoni (Italy), Schlingel (Germany), and Buff (Sweden), and the Youth section of TIFF (Toronto).