Kyle Schickner is an American film producer, writer, director, actor and a bisexual civil rights activist. He is the founder of FenceSitter Films, a

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and v ...

devoted to entertainment for women, and sexual and ethnic minorities. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles, where he directs films,

music videos A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

, a

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and commercials for his

FenceSitterFilms.

Career

Schickner attended Harvard from 1993 to 1995 before dropping out to start

Off-Off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the pro ...

theater company, Fencesitter Productions. Based out of the Stanford Meisner Theater, the company produced four successful plays, three of which were written and directed by Schickner himself. While in college, inspired by hearing a talk given by bisexual

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory ...

activist Lani Ka'ahumanu, he formed BIAS (Bisexuals Achieving Solidarity) the first college bisexual

group in the United States. After seeking out the campus' gay and lesbian organization, Schickner recalls, "I knew I was bisexual, but those who ran the club didn't believe it." He later went on to appear on

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Montel Williams Montel Brian Anthony Williams (born July 3, 1956) is an American television host, actor and motivational speaker. He is known for hosting the long-running daytime tabloid talk show '' The Montel Williams Show'', which ran in syndication from 199 ...

Jane Pratt Jane Pratt (born November 11, 1962) is the founding editor of '' Sassy'', ''Jane and'' xoJane. She is the host of the talk show ''Jane Radio'' on Sirius XM Radio. Early life Jane Pratt was born in San Francisco, California, to Sheila Marks Blake ...

and several other national television shows, helping to give visibility to what was at that time a largely invisible community. After writing and producing three successful plays, Schickner moved to cinema in hope of reaching a wider audience. In 1995, FenceSitter Films (the former Fencesitter Productions) started production on '' Rose by Any Other Name...'', a film based on Schickner's most successful play. According to the official website, FenceSitter Films was ''"founded on the belief that films don't need straight white men as heroes in order to be successful and entertaining."'' He says, ''"I wanted to make films

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a person of color, a woman, or a bisexual person would enjoy watching."'' Schickner has written and directed five feature films, several commercials and

and is now currently producing a

of '' Rose by Any Other Name...''. His features include romantic comedy '' Rose by Any Other Name...'',

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

'' Full Frontal'', and the critically acclaimed thriller '' Strange Fruit''. His most current feature film, '' Steam'', stars Oscar-nominated actress Ruby Dee, 1980s and indie icon

Ally Sheedy Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy (born June 13, 1962) is an American actress. Following her film debut in 1983's '' Bad Boys'', she became known as one of the Brat Pack group of actors and starred in '' WarGames'' (1983), ''The Breakfast Club'' (1985) ...

as well as up-and-coming young actress

Kate Siegel Kate Gordon Siegelbaum, known professionally as Kate Siegel ( , born 9 August 1982), is an American actress and screenwriter. She is best known for her collaborations with her husband, filmmaker Mike Flanagan, appearing in his films ''Oculus'' ...

. In late 2008 into 2009 Schickner began working with an American Cable TV Network to spin-off his original work '' Rose by Any Other Name...'' into a weekly TV series. However, according to Schickner "at the 11th hour as they were setting up to shoot the pilot the network expressed concern over how the cutting-edge social theme might play with some of their core viewership and decided to look at more data to see what kind of response the show might get". So with the assistance of

American Institute of Bisexuality The American Institute of Bisexuality (AIB) is a charity founded on July 23, 1998, by sex researcher, psychiatrist and bisexual rights activist Fritz Klein to promote research and education about bisexuality. AIB produces the '' Journal of Bisexu ...

, FenceSitter Films turned it into a

with each

Webisode A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available as either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or c ...

being posted on their YouTube channel.

Filmography

Feature films

*'' Steam'' (2007) (producer, director, writer) *'' Paradise Lost'' (2006) (producer, director, writer, actor) *'' Strange Fruit'' (2004) (producer, director, writer, actor) *'' Full Frontal'' (2001) (executive producer, director, writer, actor) *'' Rose by Any Other Name...'' (1997) (producer director, writer, actor)

Web series

*'' Rose by Any Other Name...'' (2009)(producer director, writer, actor)

References

External links

*
FenceSitter Films official siteFenceSitter Films Youtube Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schickner, Kyle Living people People from New Jersey Rutgers University alumni American film directors American feminist writers Bisexual men Bisexual rights activists LGBT people from New Jersey American LGBT rights activists Bisexual feminists Male feminists Year of birth missing (living people) American bisexual writers