Diane Namm
 

Diane Namm

With Jeremy Skidmore as Guest Artistic Director, shows included: A Wonderful Life; Mary's Wedding; The Pavillion. Young Audiences Programming: Monster, adapted by Diane Namm from the Walter Dean Myers YA novel.

A Conversation with..... Katharine Ross, moderated by Steven Gaydos, Variety
LOVE LETTERS, with Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross
Master Class Workshops with Drake Hogestyn (Days of Our Lives); Mike Scully (Simpsons)
OXYMORONS, with Ed Asner and Mark Rydell
A MAN AND HIS PROSTATE, with Ed Asner
THE GUYS, with Ray Abruzzo and Wendie Malick, directed by Dan Lauria
GOD OF CARNAGE, with A Martinez, dir. GraemeClifford

Finding Hope is the continuing story of Esmee from "The Sacrifice." She escapes the cruel cult that forced her into marriage as a child. As a teen runaway, Esmee enters the world of sex trafficking to survive. 

THE SACRIFICE, a SHORT FILM Written and Directed by Diane Namm

Cast: Chris Mulkey, Darby Stanchfield, Molly Quinn, Jon
Lindstrom and Richard Riehle

Produced by Eric Mofford
Casting Director: Ivy Isenberg


Director of Photography: Terrence Hayes
Production Designer: Katherine Bulovic
Film Editor: Lindsay Mofford
Music by Buddy Judge
Photo credit Vic Olam

"The Sacrifice" is a short drama about what happens on the day a polygamous cult leader comes to take a reluctant 13-year-old girl as his wife.

HollyShorts Film Festival 2008
"Audience Choice" Award Winner
www.hollyshorts.com

Accolade Film Festival 2009
"Merit Award"

SPECIAL JURY AWARD
2009 Lady Filmmakers Festival

2009 Angel Film Awards - Monaco

BEST DIRECTOR FOR SHORT FILM — Diane Namm

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST FOR SHORT FILM — Jon Lindstrom, Chris Mulkey, Darby Stanchfield, Molly Quinn, Richard Riehle

BEST EMERGING ACTRESS FOR SHORT FILM — Molly Quinn

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS FOR SHORT FILM — Darby Stanchfield

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR FOR SHORT FILM — Chris Mulkey

Official Selection of the Beverly Hills Shorts Film Festival 2009

Official Selection of MethodFest 2009

Official Selection of Newport Beach Film Festival 2009

Official Selection Malibu Film Festival 2009

Official Selection Dingle Film Festival 2009

Official Selection Temecula Valley Film Festival 2009

TELEMAFIA
a Diane Namm Film

STARRING

Ray Abruzzo
Jeff Richards

Written by Jan Militello and Diane Namm
Produced by Eric Mofford
Production Design by Tana Roller
Director of Photography Thomas Morris
Edited by Scott Meyer

"We'll Always Have Dingle"
A docu-dramedy written and produced by Diane Namm

Directed by Geoff Wonfor (Beatles Anthology)

Director of Photography Eugene O'Connor

The story of Dingle Film fest organizer Maurice Galway, through the "Dingle-ization" of classic movie scenes.

Bunny Tales Episode IV: BUNNY WARS based on Beatrix Potter's "Tale of Peter Rabbit"

Peter's not a baby bunny anymore. He's a "Luke Skywalker" rabbit and he's ready to take back the cabbage patch and rescue his dad from Sgt. McGregor. Join Peter and his bunny army in this zany anti-war retelling of this best loved tale. Can you say food fight?

MONSTER is the first production in the "You, the Jury" TM series of courtroom dramas. At the Carrie Hamilton Theater (Pasadena Playhouse) this February. Coming to the Edgemar Center for the Arts in March.

MONSTER is a world premier stage adaptation of the National Book Award finalist young adult novel by Walter Dean Myers.

The story of 16-year-old African American Steven Harmon, on trial for murder, for allegedly being the lookout in a robbery gone bad.

Designed for high school students, the "You, the Jury" tm series allows audiences to serve as the jury, and vote for the guilt or innocence of the defendant.

THEATER

Formerly "You, the Jury" (an interactive theatrical experience) 
MONSTER
12 ANGRY JURORS

Community Service Series:
LA STREET SCENES 1
LA STREET SCENES 2: A Boy's Story/A Girl's Story
LA STREET SCENES 3: Everyone Has a Story

(An Interactive Thestricsl Experience)

Adapted Classics Series:

MRS. SCROOGE Namm's wacky tale inspired by Dickens's "Christmas Carol" is a zany holiday recipe for family fun: take a couple of mischievous angels, a grumpy Mrs. Scrooge, and sprinkle in an audience filled with snowball-throwing angels and a snowball fight and you've got the quintessential family tradition for Christmas entertainment.

BUNNY TALES EPISODE IV: THE BUNNY WARS teenage Peter Rabbit enlists young audiences to help him wage vegetable warfare on Sgt. McGregor to take back the cabbage patch and rescue his father.

"HUCK" inspired by Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" takes audiences on a river ride in which Huck and Jim set off in search of treasure and adventure, only to discover there's no place like home.

"Red Chief!" inspired by O.Henry's "Ransom of Red Chief" tells the tale of Red Chief, sugared up and ready to roll on Halloween night, who gives the adults in charge a run for their money along with a well-deserved fright.


FILM SCRIPTS
"Greed" a horror/thriller about a woman who discovers that her greed just might cost her her life.
2006 Austin Film Festival (Second Round Selection)
2007 Filmmakers International Screenwriting Awards (Finalist);
2007 Filmmakers International Screenwriting Award (Platinum Prize);
13th Annual Writer's Network Screenplay & Fiction Contest (Quarter-finalist)

"Pranksters" a family comedy about two thirteen-year-olds who wage a practical-joke war on their dating parents to prevent a family merger.
2007 California Independent Film Festival selection for "Best Screenplay"
2007 American Screenwriters Association Competition (Quarter-finalist)
2007 KidsFirst! selection.

"Full Blue" is inspired by "Blue Blood," a Showtime documentary on teenage boxing at Oxford that premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival
15th Writemovies.com International Screenplay Contest (Finalist)
2007 American Screenwriters Association Competition (Semi-finalist)


TELEVISION

"Reality Strikes" a reality-show horror series.
2008 Scriptalooza Reality TV Competition (First Place)


PUBLICATIONS

Latkes & Lefse A picture book about celebrating  Hannukah & Christmas. 

Hollywood Makeup Lab (a DIY step-by-step) Filled with photos & tips on how to create special effects makeup. 

Diane's adaptation of Leroux's "Phantom of the Opera," Margaret Sydney's "The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew," a medley of "Animal Stories" by Jack London, Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe and more, and a collection of "Greek Myths" and "Roman Myths for the Classic Starts series, published by Sterling Publishing, a division of BARNES & NOBLE. A Fairy Tale series: Jack and the Beanstalk, Puss 'n' Boots, Princess and the Pea, The Ugly Duckling; The Emperor's New Clothes; King Arther and his Knights; Three Little Pigs; Goldilocks and the Three Bears; The Gingerbread Boy and The Frog Prince.

Adaptations of Kipling's "Jungle Book" and Lofting's "Doctor Dolittle" for the Easy Reader Classics series, published by Sterling Books.

Laugh-a-Long Readers: Funny Bunny Jokes; Jungle Jokes; Slithery, Squirmy Jokes; Silly Jokes.

BACKGROUND

Diane is the author of over 65 published children’s books and young
adult novels. Her titles (adaptations of Jungle Book; Doctor Dolittle; Phantom of the Opera; The Five Little Peppers; Animal Stories; Greek Myths and Roman Myths) are published by Sterling Books – a division of Barnes & Noble Publishing. Diane's most recent picture book, Latkes & Lefse will be published December 2022 in hardcover, paperback & e-book. 

Diane founded West of Broadway (www.westofbroadway.com) in order to stage updated interactive classics for family audiences. As Artistic Director of West of Broadway, Namm has penned and directed modern adaptations of many children's literary classics and a “You, the Jury," series of interactive courtroom dramas.

A filmmaker since 2008, Diane founded a film production company, Lady of the Canyon, ALL MEDIA (www.ladyofthecanyon.com).

Diane's first short film, The Sacrifice, deals with the controversial issue of child marriage within the US  (www.thesacrificemove.com) won "Best Director" at the Monaco International Film Angel Awards, "Special Jury Prize" at Lady Filmmakers Festival and "Audience Choice Award" at Holly Shorts Film Festival. The Sacrifice is available on itunes, Amazon & the Lady Filmmskers YouTube channel. 

Diane's other films include:

Telemafia,(www.telemafiamovie.com), a comedy about a conversational duel between a telemarketer and a consumer.  "Best Comedy Short" at the Route 66 Film Festival.

"We'll Always Have Dingle," a story about the Dingle Film Festival, working with director Geoff Wonfor (History of the Beatles)

SASA: A Light in the Dark, a documentary of events taking place on the India/Burma border.

Great American Pigeon Race, an animated short about prejudice and working together. (www.pigeonracemovie.com) 

Finding Hope, a continuation of The Sacrifice, explores the plight of teen runaways against the backdrop of the sex trafficking industry in the US. "Best TV Drama Pilot" 2011 NY Television Festival. 

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Lady of the Canyon, ALL MEDIA, Writer, Director, Producer 
West of Broadway, Artistic Director,President
Women in Film
Authors Guild
American Screenwriters Association
AFI Alumni Association


AWARDS
1999 AFI Television Movie Award for "Warrior Queen," based on the life of Queen Boadicea of Iceni.
2007 KidsFirst! 'seal of approval' for "Pranksters"
2007 Top Ten of "Abbreviated Screenplay" Competition for "The Sacrifice"
2008 "Audience Choice Award" at Holly Shorts Film Festival for "The Sacrifice"

2011 "Best TV Drama" at NY Television Festival. 

Big Dreams in Little Pasadena
By Terry Miller


Born out of a workshop that was an adjunct to John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, - Big Dreams in Pasadena gave four young writers a chance to see their work performed on stage.


Steinbeck’s story is about thwarted hopes and dreams and about friendships when those hopes are shattered.

The four young writers in this workshop ( Deleah Davis, Kelsea Mayfield, Sharay Traylor and Morgan Tucker, used these ideas for their narratives.


Instead of going for Steinbeck’s tragic ending, Big Dreams in Pasadena ends on a far more positive note. Directed by Diane Namm the play was presented in the intimate theatre upstairs from the Pasadena Playhouse, home to Furious Theatre Company.


Big Dreams is a modern day filmmaking challenge the young people have taken on via You Tube. The idea is to create a film, edit and post on line in twenty-four hours. It has to be done on a Macintosh laptop (which the actors did on a Dell with a picture of apple hurriedly pasted on the front of the laptop for good measure) - This caused a good laugh when the audience realized the joke.


They (the four teens) hope to come away from the experience with fame and fortune.

Instead, the teens find something far more valuable.


The play is about 50 minutes long and features professional actors Rafael Noble, Jessica Jones, Chioma Nwosu, Rick Vargas, Jaimyon Parker and Nichole Joubert.

Two of the authors participated in the real Apple 24 hour film competition.


Their three minute film can be seen at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WlmXRA_DYO

The production is a joint effort of the Pasadena Playhouse and West of Broadway Theatre Company.