Our story here
Deb Fink and Ted McClellan (Executive Producers) first met in 1992 as theatre professionals working in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2015 they were reunited on the Board of Directors for Central Works Theatre Company where they bonded over a shared passion for nurturing new artists.
In early 2021 Deb met Rebecca Marquardt (Associate Producer) in an international Artist's Way group organized by the Sundance Collab Writers' Cafe, a virtual creative space for artists run by Sundance Institute. After twelve weeks of diving deep into their goals and what was important to them, they came to a clear conclusion: Rebecca needed to make a short film and Deb needed to launch a production company. A match made in heaven!
Ted and Deb worked together to hone a vision for the mission and purpose of Your Stories Here. They would host a series of salons that would serve as the backbone of the development process where artists could share works in progress in a nurturing environment. From there, Your Stories Here would serve as a vehicle to secure funding for artists developing and producing their own work.
The first salon was online in June 2021. The funds raised there allowed Your Stories Here to Executive Produce Boifriend, the multi-award-winning short film that Rebecca was inspired to make (with Lane Michael Stanley) after the Artist's Way workshop. Boifriend centers around queer identity, visibility, and family.
Projects Your Stories Here is currently supporting:
T, a feature film by Lane Michael Stanley that was filmed over the lead actor's first year on testosterone (in postproduction).
American Solitaire, a feature film by Aaron Davidman about a US soldier struggling to make sense of civilian life when confronted with the complexities of gun violence in America (in postproduction).
Pinsetter, a coming-of-age short film by Rebecca Marquardt about a queer 13-year-old girl who sets pins at the family's rural Texas bowling alley (in development).
The next salon will be Fall, 2024.
In early 2021 Deb met Rebecca Marquardt (Associate Producer) in an international Artist's Way group organized by the Sundance Collab Writers' Cafe, a virtual creative space for artists run by Sundance Institute. After twelve weeks of diving deep into their goals and what was important to them, they came to a clear conclusion: Rebecca needed to make a short film and Deb needed to launch a production company. A match made in heaven!
Ted and Deb worked together to hone a vision for the mission and purpose of Your Stories Here. They would host a series of salons that would serve as the backbone of the development process where artists could share works in progress in a nurturing environment. From there, Your Stories Here would serve as a vehicle to secure funding for artists developing and producing their own work.
The first salon was online in June 2021. The funds raised there allowed Your Stories Here to Executive Produce Boifriend, the multi-award-winning short film that Rebecca was inspired to make (with Lane Michael Stanley) after the Artist's Way workshop. Boifriend centers around queer identity, visibility, and family.
Projects Your Stories Here is currently supporting:
T, a feature film by Lane Michael Stanley that was filmed over the lead actor's first year on testosterone (in postproduction).
American Solitaire, a feature film by Aaron Davidman about a US soldier struggling to make sense of civilian life when confronted with the complexities of gun violence in America (in postproduction).
Pinsetter, a coming-of-age short film by Rebecca Marquardt about a queer 13-year-old girl who sets pins at the family's rural Texas bowling alley (in development).
The next salon will be Fall, 2024.
Deb Fink, Executive Producer
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Deb Fink is a screenwriter, producer, actor, director, fundraiser, community builder, poet and storyteller, teacher and coach. Deb just finished shooting T, for which she both executive produced and played the role of Rebecca. T is an indie feature film written and directed by Lane Michael Stanley, now in postproduction. The short film Boifriend, co-written and co-directed by Rebecca Marquardt and Lane Michael Stanley, which Deb co-executive produced with creative partner Ted McClellan, is currently winning awards on the U.S. festival circuit. Most recently, Boifriend played at the REELING Film Festival in Chicago. Deb is currently working on a short film screenplay entitled In an Instant, a feature film script entitled Beautiful Collaterals (both stories based on memoir material), a documentary film entitled One of Our Own... A Compassion Project, and she recently finished producing a theatrical production of the play Tea Party by Gordon Dahlquist which is the subject of the previously mentioned documentary. She is also currently in the research phase of a memoir-based book/screenplay about her mother’s narrow escape from Nazi Germany, as well as editing a collection of her poetry, and starting work as a collaborator and producer on another short film entitled Pinsetter, written and directed by Rebecca Marquardt. Deb is a founding member of Central Works Theater of Berkeley, where she currently serves as Vice President on the Board and as an Associate Artist, having acted in many productions over the past 30+ years since its inception. Deb has acted on many other stages in the San Francisco Bay Area including A Traveling Jewish Theater, The Magic Theatre, Berkeley Shakespeare Festival, Marin Shakespeare Festival, Stanford Repertory Theater, Word For Word, and Oakland Public Theater. Deb was thrilled to serve as a consulting director on The I Wants Music Experience for her rockstar sister, Bekka Fink. She loves cats, hot springs, and swimming in warm oceans and rivers.
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Ted McClellan, Executive Producer
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Ted McClellan is an award-winning actor and improviser from the San Francisco Bay Area. His decades-long theater career transported him across the country in the service of Shakespeare’s plays, new plays for which he pioneered many roles, and plays from the traditional American canon. Ted’s improvisation work began in the 1980s and continues to this day. He currently performs across the country in improv festivals and in the San Francisco Bay Area with his improv duo, Foolhardy. Among the many rich lessons Ted learned from his performing career is that artists need support to develop and flourish. Too often, promising creatives have to make the choice between their art and putting bread on the table. Ted’s involvement with Your Stories Here begins and ends with the profound desire to nurture new voices and give them the financial means to create according to their vision, not the pressures of outside constraints. We all have a voice that deserves to be heard. That is our birthright. It is the platform of Your Stories Here that helps those voices to ring out loud and clear.
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Rebecca Marquardt, Associate Producer
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Rebecca Marquardt is a Texas-born, LA-based actor, filmmaker, and musician. She played oboe professionally just long enough to decide that she was a better fit for comedy, so she spent 8 years in Chicago learning improv, standup, storytelling, writing, and acting. She also fulfilled a childhood dream of playing on a real live softball team (which she still does!).
Rebecca toured the country as the host of Odd Squad, LIVE!, a musical based on the Emmy-winning PBS show for kids. Children raved, "You're crazy!" and parents had to know, "Where you do you get all your energy??!" When she's not acting, writing, or directing, she can often be found strumming a ukulele or rocking out with her looper. Her a cappella covers have over 2 million views online and shout outs from Leslie Jones ("I'm obsessed with you!") and Nicki Minaj ("FKNG Icon"). Her debut short film Boifriend (co-written/directed with Lane Michael Stanley) won multiple awards and played at over 15 film festivals across the country, and her first short screenplay Pinsetter made the semifinals in Slamdance's script competition. It's currently in development. Rebecca also works with the Second City bringing improv into corporate environments to improve communication, collaboration, and employee morale across the board. She also has the perfect tripod kitty Myrtle and makes a mean margarita. Learn more about her here. |
Once you aren’t scared of the outcome, your choices become much clearer, and opportunities arise. - Michael Rogers