Iole Lucchese

Chairman of Board, EVice President, President of Scholastic Entertainment & Chief Strategy Officer, Scholastic

Search every verified Iole Lucchese interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Iole Lucchesi discussed the 2022 film adaptation of "Clifford the Big Red Dog," describing the character as a "beloved iconic character for Scholastic for well over 50 years" with millions of fans worldwide. She stated that the film's technology allowed the studio to "take him and make him a real life dog" and introduce the character to "a whole bunch of new kids and parents who maybe weren't reading the books." Lucchesi said it was "so important to get his message of empathy and accepting differences and kindness and love out now more than ever." Lucchesi praised the film's cast, noting the "chemistry between Jack Whitehall and Darby Camp" and that "fabulous comedians" who "grew up with" Clifford wanted to participate. She described the movie as "timeless" and "absolutely pays homage to everything that is Clifford, yet so current, so funny, so emotional." She added that director Walt Becker "made a huge expansive movie out of what started as a black and red color book more than 50 years ago" and that the film "starts small and ends big, kind of like Clifford."