Christin Mell, Executive Producer and CEO of
tello Films that focuses on stories for our lesbian community talks about her new webseries
“Nikki & Nora” with Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of
OUTTAKE VOICES™. Christin
is proud to be one of the Executive Producers and the distributor of
“Nikki & Nora”, the first un-aired network pilot to be re-imagined
as a digital web-series premiering on December 22nd. “Nikki & Nora”
follows New Orleans locals Nikki Beaumont (Liz Vassey) and Nora Delaney
(Christina Cox) former NOPD cops turned private investigators. They
navigate the channels of their personal life together alongside their
dedication to uncovering the truth in a city that really likes to keep
its secrets. We talked to Christin about her web-series “Nikki &
Nora” and her spin on our LGBT civil rights.
When asked what her personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights Mell
stated, “Illinois just passed equal marriage which was so exciting and
my wife and I have been very strong supporters. My wife (Deb Mell) is a
politician here in Chicago. She was the first openly lesbian to be
elected to the Illinois State Legislature and she’s now serving as an
Alderman. She’s also the first open lesbian to be an Alderman for the
city of Chicago and so on the house floor, my wife announced our
engagement. At the time, civil union wasn’t even an option in Illinois
but Iowa had equal marriage. So this was the first time someone who was a
lesbian got up and announced a marriage for a gay couple. That really
prompted a lot of discussion and a lot of people started to talk about
it. At least in Illinois, civil unions passed first. So the Chicago
Tribune and the Chicago Sun Times both had editorials in favor of gay
marriage and then Deb and I were featured on the cover of the Sun Times
after we did get married because it was the first openly gay legislator
to get married. We really had the opportunity to talk about the
inequality that was happening. Here my wife can make laws and represent
people in her home state of Illinois, but we had to go to Iowa in order
to get married. It really sparked a dialogue for people here and real
recognition of how weird that was that there wasn’t equality in our own
state. We were so happy when civil unions passed and as I mentioned just
recently gay marriage passed. The governor signed it into law and it
starts the end of June. So we’ve been very committed and very open about
our relationship. My wife had breast cancer and thank goodness we
married and civil unions were recognized in Illinois because if anything
happened I was there to legally make decisions and ‘in sickness and in
health’ is a really serious concern and everyone should have those
rights and opportunities. So we’ve been very active in the fight for
equal marriage.”
Christin Mell has produced eight projects and just as many in various
levels of pre-production. In January of 2013 OneMoreLesbian.com and
tellofilms.com merged as a digital media powerhouse that produces
stories for the lesbian community.
For More Info: onemorelesbian.com/tello
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