Sean Robinson
Director
Sean Robinson is an award-winning director/editor whose work has screened in over 40 international film festivals. His films include "OUTER BANKS," OFFICIAL SELECTION 2012: Garden State Film Festival; "THE PURITANS," WINNER: Best Original Concept (NW Short Film Festival), WINNER: Best International Short (Carmarthen Bay Film Festival), WINNER: Grand Prix Award (International Short Film Festival "Kharkov Lilac") WINNER: Audience Choice Award (Vagrant Film Festival); "NAKED" a musical short film, WINNER Best Original Song (Long Island International Film Expo), NOMINATED Best Comedy (Snake Alley Film Festival); and numerous music videos. Robinson co-wrote an original screenplay with acclaimed director Paul Warner "RECLAIMING EDEN", a finalist in the Harvardwood 2012 Writing Competition. Robinson is the assistant director and editor for 4 original movie musicals: "IT IS WHAT IT IS", "LIFELESS", "GINGERBREAD HOUSE”, and THE LEGION OF GRADS” (directors VP Boyle and Kevin Duda), as well as "KINDLING," (director Glenn Kalison)
Paul Warner
Producer
Paul Warner has directed more than fifty stage productions and numerous films, including the award-winning IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, as well as the feature, "FALL TIME," (Lionsgate/Artisan) starring Mickey Rourke, Stephen Baldwin, and David Arquette, which premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival (and subsequently, OUTFEST) where it was nominated for The Grand Jury Prize. IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, starring British stalwart Trevor Eve, also premiered at Sundance and garnered numerous awards, including: The Cine Golden Eagle, the Gold Hugo Award from the Chicago International Film Festival, first place at The British International Film and Video Festival, and best cinematography at The Atlanta Film and Video Festival. He is in pre-production to direct his next feature film, RECLAIMING EDEN, co-written with Sean Robinson, followed by TRANSFER AT AACHEN. Most recently, he directed the actors and served as Executive Creative Consultant for artist David Michalek's PORTRAITS IN DRAMATIC TIME--a series of slow motion cinematic shorts featuring seminal performers of stage and screen, including: Holly Hunter, Patti Lupone, Lily Taylor, Alan Rickman, Roger Rees, Liev Schreiber, and William H. Macy, as well as influential multi-disciplinary artists from around the world, which premiered at The Lincoln Center Festival. Warner has just been awarded the Princess Grace Foundation's Works-in-Process Grant to develop his new multi-media dance theatre opera, WOMEN: THE WAR WITHIN, at The Baryshnikov Arts Center (Artistic Director Mikhail Baryshnikov) in June of 2013 featuring Wendy Whelan of the New York City Ballet and Chinese Opera Star, Qian Yi. Warner has won numerous awards including a Statue Award from The Princess Grace Foundation and directing fellowship from The Drama League of New York, which enabled him to serve as The Artistic Associate of New York’s Second Stage and a resident director at The Baryshnikov Arts Center (BACNY.ORG). Theatre productions include: OUT IN AMERICA (starring Daryl Hannah), WEDDING DRESS (seven LA Dramalogue Awards), MERCURY (produced by Eve Ensler (VAGINA MONOLOGUES). He is a graduate of Harvard University and The American Film Institute.
Diedra Meredith
Since 2007, Diedra was appointed the Executive Director of OUTmusic Inc. by the founders Dan Martin and Michael Biello. under her new leadership the organization was re-founded to create a new brand and infrastructure for the organization.
Her vision was to create a commerically viable LGBT music & entertainment platform and diversify the organization to represent the true essence of what Equality looks like. In 2009, Diedra developed a Board of Directors and she became the Chairwoman of The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual,transgender) Academy of Recording Arts (LARA) and the CEO of OUTmusic Inc.
In 2009, Diedra and a small core group of working Board members set out to execute the plan to give the organizations most viable brand the OUTmusic Awards (OMA) a new commercially viable branding. Volunteers for OUT at NBC filmed and editied some of the footage from the 6th OUTmusic Awards. With the support of volunteer Sekiya Dorset, the OUTmusic Awards aired on Television for the first time in the existence of the organization exposing the OMA brand to 30 million viewers when the Best Moments of the OUTmusic Awards aired on Logo/MTV Networks New Now Next show.
Outmusic Inc. is the premiere 501c3 non-profit organization was founded 24 years ago by life partners Dan Martin and Michael Biello with a missionto give LGBT recording artists a place to express their music in all beautiful ways.Against all odds, Diedra has built the entertainment platform of the LGBT Academy of Recording Arts (LARA) to shineequivalently to mainstream music award platforms with a state of the art production of the OUTmusic Awards. She is the woman leading one of the most impactful social and cultural changes in music and entertainment history, as she has been dedicated and responsible for building the global LGBT music industry platform.
With the “I Am MusicProject” for homeless and at risk young people, she strives to use the OUTmusic Awards platform to shine a light onthe homeless youth epidemic in America.Under her leadership, LARA will finally be recognized for its 23 years of struggle and dedication to the advancement ofLGBT recording artists in the media and the music/entertainment industry. LARA will finally be able to turn thespeakers up to amplify the soundtrack of the Equality movement celebrating the images, music, lyrics and voices ofLGBT artists. Queer Music Culture and Heritage will be recognized as an integral contribution to music history.
As an activist and recording artist, Deepa Soul walked away from an opportunity to sign a lucrative major record deal, when her single “As I Am” was at the top of the Billboard Charts in 2005. She refused to play into the suggestion that shepretend to be straight or water down being “so openly” Lesbian. Diedra has received several awards of recognitionfrom the NAACP, as well as receiving a Proclamation in 2011 from New York State Senator Eric Adams and recentlyserved as Honorary Co-Chair for Black Women's Blueprint “Mother Tongue Monologues” in 2013.She is known for her fiery, bold and unapologetic stance for Human Rights & Marriage Equality she is celebrated bythe global LGBT community and media! Curve Magazine the #1 selling womens' magazine dedicated a full pageeditorial “Top 10 Reasons We Love Deepa Soul”. In 2010, GO! Magazine a popular nationally distributed lesbianmagazine ranked her among the top 3 on the National list of “Women We Love” landing her next to the first openlylesbian Mayor of Houston Texas Annise Parker. Top selling gay publication Out Magazine has followed Deepa Soulon coming back into the music industry with her mission to create an equivalent platform for openly gay recordingartists. Diedra has been featured in blogs and articles and appears in two impactful documentaries “U People” and“Taboo Yardies”.