About DecadesOut

On April 6th, 2009, we successfully incorporated as a New York State not-for-profit and opened an office in New York City. We are currently working with Fractured Atlas as our fiscal sponsor through which we can receive tax-deductible donations while we await our IRS 501(c)3 status. We began our 501(c)3 paperwork. Once achieved we can directly collect tax-deductible donations.

We established memberships to key artistic organizations including ARTny, the League of Independent Theatre, the Dramatists Guild, Independent Film Project (IFP), DCTV (Downtown Commiunity Television), and the Foundation Center.

In June 2009, DecadesOut launched its mission and work to the public at its inaugural launch event and fundraiser at the Classic Car Club in Manhattan. At the event, the trailers for our two documentary film projects, New Land, New Life and Burning To Communicate, premiered before over 200 guests and industry professionals. The night was a phenomenal success that laid the foundation for a future of meaningful work.

The following outlines our programs and the progress we have made in our first year.

Film

New Land, New Life is in full production and will be completed by the end of 2011. In 2009, we completed all the preliminary research and completed successful production trips to New Orleans, Houston, Galveston and Austin that not only accomplished our artistic goals but also raised awareness of DecadesOut’s mission.

Burning to Communicate continued production with key interviews in New York City with award-winning American playwrights Lanford Wilson and William Hoffman. We had already obtained interviews with key OOB veterans Judith Malina of The Living Theatre, Doric Wilson of the Caffe Cino, and Marshall Mason, acclaimed director and founder of the Circle Repertory Theatre.

We have also fostered key alliances with production companies such as LaMama Etc., Lincoln Center, the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation (NYITF), and the League of Independent Theatre (LIT-NY).

Theatre

Our first theatre development series, The Launch Pad, was produced in January 2010 to great success. Within the series, we worked on new plays from award-winning playwrights and had a great audience turnout. As mentioned above, we also made a wonderful alliance with established production group 3-Legged Dog, a company whose mission is a fitting complement to ours.

Going forward, we rae currently planning another theatre development series with teh goal of producing our first full production in 2011.

Visual Arts

We had our first visual art exhibition in October 2009 at the ABCyz Salon in which we displayed a mixed media photographic piece focusing on the science of memory and desire. We presented our piece with over 30 artists in the salon.

By the end of 2010, we wil also implement our online visual arts galleries with the goal of moving toward live gallerry exhibitions along with our other live events.

DecadesOut has been created with hope and belief in a future that builds on the connections that exist between us and the universe we live in, and we look forward to growing in our work and sharing in the work of other artists.

The founding staff of DecadesOut has a diverse background in the arts, business and production. Our founding principal is based on the desire to explore subjects that exist at the crossroads of science and culture from an artist’s point of view.

We have a full-time, volunteer executive director/lead producer in Frank Kuzler, a dedicated volunteer staff of two co-producers (Jennifer Larkin and Patrick Sullivan), two marketing staff members, several needs-based interns for production periods and research, as well as wide network of film/video and theatre professionals.

Currently, everyone works as a volunteer, generously donating their time and energy to establish the company and our programming.

Francis Kuzler — Board Member/Executive Director

For over ten years, Frank has been writing, directing and producing independent film and theatre. A strong believer in the development of new talent and the expression of new ideas, Frank has built the foundation of his career developing projects that come from new voices and have a fresh and unique perspective.

Most recently, he was a producer on Rain, the first independent feature to be indigenously produced in the Bahamas. Rain was produced in association with DedPro Inc (www.dedpro.com) a commercial producer of which Frank is the president and lead producer. After having played at over 25 international film festivals including London, Paris, Toronto, Chicago, New York and Turkey, Rain had its cable premiere on Showtime in February 2010. The film has been called a “trailblazer” sure to lead the way for new voices.

Other film credits include the uncompromising arthouse film After The Apocalypse by Japanese filmmaker Yasuaki Nakajima which was called “a triumph in independent filmmaking,” and which received acclaim in over 30 international film festivals.

As a theatre producer, Frank recently stepped down after 6 years as the Managing Director of the award-winning Boomerang Theatre Company, a staple independent theatre company in NYC’s Off-Off Broadway world. During his tenure, the company has received several awards for its productions, notably NYIT’s 2008 Caffé Cino Award for Outstanding Independent Theatre Company. Frank continues to be active as a member of Boomerang’s Board of Directors.

In addition to his producing role, Frank is a writer and director. His plays include The Substance of John, The Last Spoken Word, and Giant-n-Variation which have premiered independently in NYC as well as within the NY International Fringe Festival, the largest multi-arts festival in North America. Currently, Frank has a feature length screenplay, The Orange Cyclist, in development.

He holds a BA from Manhattan College in English literature, a Juris Doctorate degree and is a member of the New York State Bar.

Jennifer Larkin Kuzler — Board Member/Co-Producer

Jen is an actress and producer living in Brooklyn working in theatre and film. In New York, she has produced theatre in the 10th Annual New York International Fringe Festival and is an active co-producer at DedPro Inc.

Jennifer is also the Director of Annual Awards and Annual Editor for the Art Directors Club (ADC). Founded in New York in 1920, ADC is a self-funding, not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to connect, provoke and elevate creative visual communications professionals around the world. The ADC Annual Awards competition identifies and honors the best work of the year in print and broadcast advertising, interactive media, graphic design, publication design, packaging, photography and illustration.

As an actress, Jen’s theatre credits include: A Streetcar Named Desire, Camino Real and A Christmas Carol, all with Hartford Stage Company, directed by Michael Wilson; the title role in Anna Christie with Boomerang Theatre Company; Giant-n-Variation, The Substance of John and Beyond the Horizon, also with Boomerang; Steel Magnolias with Shadowland Theatre; The Lucky Chance with The Queen’s Company; Back House Productions’ Feiffer’s People at the Drama Book Shop’s Arthur Seelen Theatre, directed by Tony Award-nominated director Thomas Kail; and Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth with the National Shakespeare Company.

She holds a BFA in Acting and a BA in English from the University of Connecticut, has studied at the Circle in the Square Theatre School, and is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association (AEA).

Patrick Sullivan — Producer

Patrick Sullivan is a filmmaker, photographer and advertising professional. He has produced two feature films including My Brother's War and A Rogue in Londinium which is currently making the festival rounds, as well as host of indie shorts.

He has worked in advertising for twenty-five years and is currently a production specialist at McGarry Bowen. He studied photography at the School of Visual Arts and has been taking photographs much of his adult life. His work has been shown in various gallery spaces around New York.

Shaunna Harry — Marketing/PR

Growing up in Texas, Shaunna spent most of her time dancing, training with the Houston Ballet and graduating from the High School for the Performing & Visual Arts. She moved to Oklahoma where she continued her dance training at Oklahoma City University (OCU), and before long moved to New York City, where she has been for the past nine years. Continuing her education at FIT with a dual degree in Fashion Merchandising and Advertising, Marketing and Communication, she began to focus more on the business side of the arts.

Her experience includes working with public relations, event and promotional companies as well as working with a number of advertising firms. After testing the waters as a creative manager, brand strategist and trend analyst, she realized her true calling was working in the not-for-profit art sector. She is currently freelancing, doing PR and marketing for dance, film, theater and art collective companies and is thrilled to a part of the DecadesOut team.

Our Board of Directors consists of the two founding members (Francis Kuzler and Jennifer Larkin) each of whom has extensive experience in programming as well as the not-for-profit sector.

We have also added two new board members in the last two months. Jan Rosenveld is the General Manager of the Ace Hotel New York and has a rich background in the international hospitality industry and the arts, as well as the charitable world of New York City. Sue Torres is the owner and Executive chef of Suenòs Restaurant. Sue also has a rich background in charitable event organization and the New York City philanthropic world.

For bios of Francis Kuzler and Jennifer Larkin, please visit our staff page.

Jan Rosenveld — Board of Directors

Jan Rozenveld serves as managing director at the popular Ace Hotel NY, a friendly hotel that opened in May of 2009, where he was involved with the construction, development and all operational and financial aspects of the hotel, as well as setting up all of its PR, sales and marketing strategies. In recognition of his work, Rozenveld was recently named New York GM of the Year for 2010 by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI).

He has achieved distinguished veteran status in the luxury, boutique and friendly hotel industry, having opened, repositioned, renovated and managed properties including The Greenwich Hotel, Royalton, Paramount and St. Regis Hotels (all in New York), The Tides South Beach in Miami Beach, the Windjammer Landing Beach Resort in St. Lucia, the Westin Casaurina Resort in Grand Cayman, the Amanpulo Resort in the Philippines, The Chateau De Bagnols in France, the Stafford Hotel in London and others. Rozenveld also serves on the board of directors of The Brooke Jackman Foundation for children in need, and in 2006 won the Brookster Award for his dedication to the cause.

Sue Torres — Board of Directors

Best known for her delectable Mexican cuisine, chef Sue Torres is an expert on combining flavor, color, and texture through her culinary art. She has worked at some of New York's finest restaurants, including The "21" Club, La Grenouille, Isabella's, Lola's and Arizona 206 & Café. Torres became head chef at Rocking Horse Café Mexicano at just 23 years old, providing "the most exciting Mexican food in the city," according to The New York Times, and later started the restaurant Hell's Kitchen from the ground up. Sueños, her own restaurant opened in 2003, quickly became one of New York's favorite hideaways, featuring a variety of fresh Mexican dishes, authentic Mexican décor and stellar margaritas.

Over the years, Torres has received notable recognition from The New York Times, New York Post, Time Out New York, New York Magazine, Food & Wine, Working Woman's list of "20 Women Under 30" to watch, Bon Appetit's Best Cocktail List of 2004, Vogue's "Taster's Choice" 2004, and made guest appearances on "The Martha Stewart Show," "The Rachel Ray Show" and the Food Network's "Iron Chef".

Steve Schaeffer — Advisory Board

Steve Schaeffer is a graduate of UCLA's School of Theatre, Film and Television and has worked in the NYC theatre scene for over 20 years, with the last 10 years as a fundraising professional. After working at Off Broadway's MCC Theater as Director of Development, he currently acts as Director of Special Events for Roundabout Theatre Company, New York City's largest not-for-profit theatre. He is also a published playwright and has worked extensively writing industrials across the country.

Darren Campo — Advisory Board

Darren Campo is Senior Vice President of Programming, Production and Development at truTV, a TimeWarner company. In his role Campo manages the scheduling, production and development departments, one of the largest original programming operations in cable. The unit is responsible for more than 30 original series, totaling more than 500 episodes a year, and is among the top ten most watched networks among men 18-49.

Campo is also the author of two science fiction novels, Alex Detail’s Revolution and Alex Detail’s Rebellion. A third book of the Alex Detail series will be published in November 2011.

Prior to joining the company, Campo worked in various positions at CBS, beginning in the television network research department and later serving as program manager for the CBS Television Stations Group.

Campo graduated from the Stern School of Business at N.Y.U. He is a frequent lecturer for undergraduate and graduate classes in the Entertainment Media and Technology program. Campo also co-hosts “Better Living”, a syndicated NBC Today Show segment that airs on Monday mornings. Last year TV Week added Campo to its “40 Under 40” to watch list.