Radio (1975-78) In 1975, Dylan moved to
Chicago and accepted the job as "The Queen of Country Music" at WMAQ, a hefty salary, and a new
surname By June of that year, Dylan was on the cover of the
Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine, which called her "82 pounds and 50,000 watts of down-home disc jockey." In her two years at WMAQ, Dylan turned her 7:00pm-to-midnight shift into the number-one rated music show in Chicago. But the success at WNBC did not last though, as the station's switch to a more streamlined format was short-lived; and Ellie was gone from WNBC within a few months.
Television (1978-85) But Dylan itched to broaden her horizons and set her sights on television, explaining that she wanted to “create a kind of ‘reality show’ that is honest, clear, and alive.” By 1980, Dylan also began hosting and producing a series of one-hour
Ellie Dylan Specials in her first departure from the
You! format. and later,
The Today Show.
Multimedia education (1985–2020) Drawing from her past when she was discouraged from becoming a radio disc jockey and then a television host/producer, only to succeed at both, Dylan next set her sights on developing entertainment to motivate children. In 1986, Dylan started Skyshapers, Inc., a company to produce motivational entertainment products and programs for children. By August 1988, Dylan had also formed a
501(c)(3) public charity, the
Skyshapers Foundation to develop and distribute children's motivational programs and scholarships. Along with creating 22 original cartoon characters and an original rock music soundtrack, Dylan put together an advisory board and forged alliances with the
Department of Health and Human Services to develop a program that would motivate children by giving them “action steps” to reach their dreams. It became one of the largest programs of its kind the
Public Health Service has ever run in American schools. In excess of 14 million pieces of Skyshapers materials were distributed to fulfill orders from 10,000 public and private elementary schools, and thousands of Boys' and Girls' Clubs, Scout troops, and church- and synagogue-affiliated youth groups in the United States. Inspired by the successful response to the Skyshapers Program, Dylan and her team began developing Skyshapers textbooks and teacher editions; the first of which was the
Sky Quest series. In 1999, Skyshapers became an official vendor for textbooks and teachers' editions for the New York City Board of Education, and Dylan began developing and delivering programs for the New York City school system, the largest in America with over 1 million students in more than 1,400 schools. In 2003, Dylan started Sky U, L.L.C., to serve as the production entity for the marketing and distribution of
Skyshapers University products and programs.
Quest For Excellence In 2005, Dylan began The SKY U Quest For Excellence initiative in NYC schools, with Sky U and
Skyshapers University producing and delivering SKY U Quest For Excellence Live Events for students, Faculty Training Seminars, SKY U Tracker Organizer Systems, SKY U Activity Sets, SKY U Incentive Cards, and Leaders’ Curriculum Sets. SKYSHAPERS University programs are remembered for their cartoon characters and “hip” approach. Dylan co-directed the film with her daughter, Sky Dylan-Robbins, also a filmmaker and journalist. The film was inspired by and dedicated to Dylan's husband of 33 years and Sky's father, Steven Robbins, who died in February 2016.
On Our Own Island has won numerous awards and screened at
film festivals in the United States and around the world. == References ==