The Happiest Contributors

Stephen and Karen Tortora-Lee

MANAGING EDITOR and Contributor – Karen Tortora-Lee

Karen Tortora-Lee has been in love with theatre since she was a young child growing up in Brooklyn. She began reviewing off-off Broadway shows for neighborbeeblog.com / neighborbeenyc.com in 2008 and became that site’s managing editor in early 2009 while continuing to act as their sole theatre columnist. In mid 2009 she began reviewing for TheFabMarquee.com.

Overflowing with ideas, constantly making new connections, and feeling the need to highlight, showcase and celebrate the amazing talent she continually came in contact with, she launched THE HAPPIEST MEDIUM with her husband in fall of 2009.    As a theatre reviewer she has covered everything from the IT nominations to the Fringe Festival, the First Irish Festival to the New York Musical Festival, the Midtown International Festival to the Fight Festival and everything in between.  Most notably, she was honored when THM was asked to become a media partner for The Planet Connections Festivities.

On a more creative note, Karen has written several plays, completed a novel (and is working on a second), wrote, directed and performed her one woman show TRASHEDY, has worked as a script consultant for an independent film company, and appeared as an extra in Next Stop Wonderland. She’s been published in Time Digital Magazine, and was a comedy staff writer for the (never completed) Lady Bunny Show. She currently resides on the Board of Directors of  Maieutic Theatre Works (MTWorks).

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WEBSITE ARCHITECT and Contributor – Stephen Tortora-Lee

Stephen Tortora-Lee likes to refer to himself as a Jack-of-All-Trades / Master of Science. (He has an M.S in Forest Ecology with a concentration in Geographical Information Systems and Social Ecology). He hails from the great state of Michigan but has been a New Yorker for (so far) the best years of his life. Since arriving here he’s participated in some interesting groups dealing with Spirituality, Philosophy, and Open Source Computing in order to perfect his solution to international strife. To pay the bills he’s worked as an assistant to an internationally known writer and celebrity of sorts, was a Survey Project Manager for a national consortium of construction magazines and did some municipal bonds analysis (but haven’t we all). Stephen lives very happily in Brooklyn Heights with his amazing wife Karen Tortora-Lee. His posts center on collective intelligence which can often present itself through music, art, books, or film. He strives to one day save the world – one small step at a time. He hopes he inspires you to join him.

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Our Writers

K. B. Abele

K. B. Abele was born and raised in Miami, Florida and received a BA in Creative Writing and Film Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She now lives and writes in Brooklyn, NY.

Abele started her career leading marketing and promotional strategies for feature films working with studios like The Weinstein Company, Summit Entertainment, IFC Films, Think Film, StoneVillage Productions and more. After a brief stint working for Rock Media & GenArt handling their fashion division, Abele returned to her roots in film and now is the Director of Marketing for Juxtapose Film, a boutique film marketing and promotions company in New York City.

On top of being a regular contributor for THM, Abele also serves as the Brooklyn Local Music Examiner on Examiner.com and contributes regular music and film reviews for GreenShoelace.com and NeighborbeeNYC, respectively.

Abele is extremely passionate about the arts with a specific expertise in film, music and creative writing. Abele is in the process of completing her first novel while continously focusing on short stories. You may find some samples of her work at www.kbabele.com.

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Anne Jordanova

Anne Bergstedt Jordanova is a French actress and model.

She is a film student at CUNY Brooklyn College-majoring in Directing, with an emphasis on German cinema, and had quite a bohemian life which has taken her from Paris to New York, Milan, Berlin, and Los Angeles. Born into a family of performers -her grandmother was actress Jean Carlin- “Anya” relocated to Los Angeles in 2005 to pursue a career in the arts. After quickly finding success as a model, she spent the next few years traveling, working, and publishing a blog on her travels and life as a model. Anya is also passionate about animal rights and is a constant public voice in campaigns with PETA, Whaleman Foundation, and local animal rescue organizations.

Anya currently resides in Brooklyn, NY and she can also be seen the the upcoming German films Zweiohrküken and Hier kommt Lola!, as well as the American thriller Sound of Mind. In addition, Anya is set to begin production on her directorial and screenwriting debut this winter of her short film “Les Innocents”.

Her official website is: www.anyasamanthajordanova.com

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Diánna Martin

Diánna Martin is an actress, acting teacher, director, and writer who grew up in an entertainment household but spent most of her time writing, and was an English Lit Major in college…and then started doing a lot of different things.

After five years hosting, directing, and producing live television and radio in St. Louis, Diánna returned to her hometown, NYC, in 2000 to continue on that course and perhaps return to her love of acting…and eventually decided that her love of the arts made her want to pursue acting and directing theatre and film, as well as teaching – following in the footsteps of her parents, Tony Award-winning actress Ann Wedgeworth and acting teacher/director Ernie Martin.Since her return to NYC, she has acted, directed, and coached in and for theatre, film, and television, as well as been a staff theatre critic for TheFabMarquee.com. She now runs Martin Acting Studios, teaching acting classes and private coaching a cross-section of Strasberg and Meisner technique.

She is currently a core member of Oberon Theatre Ensemble and Maieutic Theatre Works (MTWorks), a teacher for Hunter College CE, as well as an Awards Judge for the New York Innovative Theatre Awards and a staff writer for The Happiest Medium.

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Antonio Miniño

Antonio Miniño is a native of the Dominican Republic, where he studied theatre at the School of Dramatic Arts, and co-hosted/produced for FashionTV. He has been acting, producing and marketing NY theatre since he moved in 2005 to attend the Michael Howard Studios. Antonio is a founding member and Director of Marketing for MTWorks. He has been working with Katie Rosin-Kampfire PR since 2007; Clients include: Astoria Performing Arts Center, Ateh Theater Group, Boo-Arts Productions, Ignited States, The New York Innovative Theatre Awards, Nicu’s Spoon, Oberon Theatre Ensemble, Maieutic Theatre Works, Woman Seeking…A Theater Company, Wreckio, as well as, various productions at MITF, NYMF and FringeNYC. He is editor of The Fab Marquee, and his photography has been featured in the NY Times, Backstage, etc. Antonio is a proud member of the MTWorks Company Actors.

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Sarah V. Schweig

Sarah V. Schweig’s poetry has appeared in Western Humanities Review and online at VerseDaily, her prose has appeared in the Park Slope Reader, and an interview with her can be found online at ScatteredRhymes.

She has poetry forthcoming in Boston Review and a chapbook titled S due out through Dancing Girl Press at the end of this year.

She earned a BA in English from the University of Virginia and an MFA in Writing from Columbia University. She lives in Brooklyn.

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Lina Zeldovich

Lina Zeldovich is a Russian-born New York writer who grew up on the classics of Russian literature, started writing at age five and switched languages at twenty one. Since then she has authored four novels, which have not yet found a home, and written many short stories that did.

Lina is a recipient of three Writer’s Digest Fiction Awards, one of them for an excerpt from her most recently finished belly dance murder mystery Death by Scheherazade’s Veil. Her story The Call of the Red Desert won a 2010 Moondance Film Festival contest.

Her works appeared in Murder New York Style and four Deadly Ink anthologies as well as in e-zines such as Voices from the Garage, A Twist of Noir and Trills Kills n’ Chills. Her upcoming publications include short stories in Writer’s Digest Fiction Collection 2010, Murder to Mil-Spec anthology from Wolfmont, The Shaker of Margaritas from MozarkPress, and an e-zine Beat to a Pulp – all of which mean a busy season of reading her works at NYC open mikes.

She also writes plays and travel articles as well as theater, restaurant and book reviews. Her Russian poetry collection titled Little Harlot, was published in her hometown a few years ago. Lina aspires to see her novels on the shelves of every indie book store and on The New York Times bestsellers list (one day!) Her other passions are traveling off-the-beaten-path, all things poisonous, and, of course, belly dancing!

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