Madstone
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Madstone Company Inc.
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Madstone Company Inc. is a multi-media entertainment company founded by Writer and Producer Tonya Lewis Lee. Collaborating with some of the best and brightest talent in the entertainment industry today, Madstone has worked with Savion Glover, Queen Latifah, Nick Cannon, Whoopi Goldberg, LaVar Burton, Spike Lee, Bill Duke, Tristan Wilds, Peabody Award Winning directors, Whitney Dow and Marco Williams, among others. In the areas of television and publishing, Madstone has partnered with Nickelodeon, Simon and Schuster, Walt Disney Television Animation, ABC News and ABC TV.
In 1998 Madstone Company, Inc. secured a 5-year contract with Nickelodeon,its first client, to produce interstitial programming for Nickelodeon’s young adult audiences. This partnership resulted in the documentary,I Sit Where I Want and the popular miniseries, Miracle Boys. Madstone. has also produced three children’s books, Giant Steps, Please Puppy Please, and Please Baby Please all published by Simon and Schuster, selling over 250,000 copies worldwide. It was Madstone that produced the documentary film, Crisis in the Crib based on the campaign “A Healthy Baby Begins With You“ launched by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health, for which Mrs. Lee serves as the spokesperson.
Madstone Company, Inc produces work,including books, interstitials, films, television programming and web programming that often addresses the subjects of health, education and social justice in an entertaining and informative way Currently Madstone.is developing several projects, including the production of the young adult novel,The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis, and a new television series, New Reality written by Tonya Lewis Lee and Nikki Silver.
Books, Movies & Series Produced by Madstone
Giant Steps to Change the World
 
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Spike Lee
Tonya Lewis Lee
Illustrated by Sean Qualls
“On some days your dreams may seem too away far to realize… Listen to the whispers of those that came before…”
Following the success of their much beloved picture books, Please, Baby, Please and Please, Puppy, Please; Academy Award nominated director Spike Lee, and his talented wife Tonya Lewis Lee offer up an inspirational picture book about activism and taking the big steps to set things right set to beautiful illustrations by the award-winning Sean Qualls. Using examples of people throughout history who have taken “giant steps”, this book urges kids to follow in their footsteps and not be hindered by fear or a sense that you are not good enough. Despite the challenges, even the smallest step can change the world. So, what’s your next step going to be?
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Crisis in the Crib: Saving Our Nation’s Babies
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In recognition of National Infant Mortality Awareness Month, the Office of Minority Health and producer
Infant Mortality for the African-American community is a pressing, but often overlooked, health disparity. The rate of death for black babies before their first birthday is twice the rate of white babies and greatly outpaces the national average. For some communities these deaths can seem like a normal part of life, but they are strong indicators of the health of the community.
Tonya Lewis Lee released a documentary on Sept. 9, 2009, focusing on the issue of Infant Mortality in the African-American community. Much of the footage was shot during a trip to Memphis, in which Lee, spokeswoman for OMH’s Healthy Baby Begins with You Campaign, worked with federal and local officials, students and residents to raise awareness about the issue of infant mortality.
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Crisis in the Crib: Saving Our Nation’s Babies from Kansas Health Institute on Vimeo. |
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Michelle Obama Looks Back (and Ahead!)
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Glamour Magazine
Interview with Michelle Obama
October 3, 2008
The political superstar and mom of two talks to Tonya Lewis Lee about politics, marriage and what she wants for young women.
When I first interviewed Michelle Obama forGlamour in July 2007, I was moved by her generosity of spirit, her conviction and, most of all, her realness. At that time, her campaign trail “entourage” consisted of two staff members and one really good friend.
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Your Next First Lady?
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Glamour Magazine
Interview with Michelle Obama
September 2007
With SpongeBob on her TV, Lauryn Hill on her iPod, two BlackBerrys in her purse and, she hopes, the White House in her future, Michelle Obama is moving fast. Writer Tonya Lewis Lee attempts to catch up.
I have to admit I was a little intimidated by Michelle Obama when I first saw her. She was standing on the far side of a hotel conference room, and I got the impression of a regal woman who has a model’s height (she’s 5’11”) and a classic, understated chic. But then she came forward, extended an endless arm and broke out her famous million-watt smile.
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Please, Puppy, Please
Spike Lee
Tonya Lewis Lee
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
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Away from the gate,
puppy puppy, please, puppy.
Oh wait, puppy, wait,
please, please, please,
please…. …
In page after page of tail-wagging fun, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Spike Lee and his wife, Beacon Award-winning producer Tonya Lewis Lee, take a close-up look at what happens when a couple of high-energy toddlers meet their match in an adventurous pup who has no plans of letting up.
Irresistible illustrations by Coretta Scott King Award winner Kadir Nelson unleash countless memorable moments of toddlerhood, and puppyhood, which families with four-legged friends will enjoy over and over again.
Read Reviews of Please, Puppy, Please
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Please, Baby, Please
Spike Lee
Tonya Lewis Lee
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
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Go back to bed,
Baby, please, baby, please.
Not on your HEAD,
Baby baby baby, please! …
From moments fussy to fond, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Spike Lee and his wife, producer Tonya Lewis Lee, present a behind-the-scenes look at the chills, spills, and unequivocal thrills of bringing up baby!
Vivid illustrations from celebrated artist Kadir Nelson evoke toddlerhood from sandbox to high chair to crib, and families everywhere will delight in sharing these exuberant moments again and again.
Read Reviews of Please, Baby, Please.
View Interview with Tonya Lewis Lee on Please Baby Please.
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That’s What I’m Talkin’ About
View variety.com’s TV Land Preps Black Special article.
View PRNewswire TV TV Land Celebrates the Influence of African-Americans on American Culture With That’s What I’m Talking About article.
View That’s What I’m Talkin’ About reviews
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Miracle’s Boys
Miracle’s Boys, executive produced by Tonya Lewis Lee, is a character- driven series about three half-Puerto Rican, half-African-American orphaned teenage brothers living in Harlem and their struggle to hold their family together. The half-hour drama reflects the everyday lives of the Bailey brothers – 13-year-old Lafayette, 16-year-old Charlie and 20-year-old Ty’ree, whose beloved mother Milagros (Spanish for ‘Miracle’) has recently died and whose father is also deceased. Miracle’s Boys is also the story of Harlem and the many ways the boys are impacted by their community, friends and school.
Spike Lee Works ‘Miracle’s’ for The N
View Zap2it.com’s article Spike Lee Works ‘Miracle’s’ for The N
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Gotham Diaries
By Tonya Lewis Lee and Crystal McCrary Anthony
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A clever, tantalizing absorbing work of social satire by Tonya Lewis Lee and Crystal McCrary Anthony, who guide us through a world of luxury, class, style and extravagance with an incredible view of Manhattan. From the bedroom to the boardroom, to the art world, to the philanthropic jet set, to the hottest spots, this heartfelt, entertaining story explores seduction, scandal, excess, betrayal, desire, dreams and deception through one of-a-kind characters.
In this compelling first novel, Tonya Lewis Lee and Crystal McCrary Anthony give us a rare glimpse inside the fashionable and urbane world of New York’s African-American society and its intricate scandals, foibles, and skeletons. Gotham Diaries is a gripping tale, filled with fascinating characters and a plot that won’t let go.
Read Reviews of Gotham Diaries.
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I Sit Where I Want: The Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education
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Double Dutch
By Veronica Chambers
Introduction by Tonya Lewis Lee
ANYONE WHO has witnessed double Dutch knows that to be a part of the double-Dutch game means that you belong to a special group. Warmth and sisterhood instantly come to mind. Young girls are connected for at least a moment to the rhythm of their steps and to each other. For that moment everything is in sync and all is right with the world.
View Introduction to Double Dutch by Tonya Lewis Lee.
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I Want My Color TV
Tonya Lewis Lee – Mrs. Spike – on the networks’ one-note white world.
GLAMOUR
November 1999
May 17, 1999, started out well enough. It was a sunny day, and I was on my way across town to New York City’s Avery Fisher Hall to catch a glimpse of NBC’s fall season Must See TV lineup. I’d been invited to the event as the guest of the president of Sarah Lawrence College, my alma matter, who knew I was working on developing a new show and thought I might want to see how the big boys call the shots…
