Maxine Lapiduss
Maxine Lapiduss is an American comedian-singer, television comedy writer, director, producer, entrepreneur, and branding strategist. She is a graduate of Taylor Allderdice High School and the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, both in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she was born and raised. Lapiduss wrote and produced many notable comedy series including "Dharma & Greg", "Ellen", "Roseanne", "Home Improvement" and more. Storyverse Studios. Lapiduss is the co-founder and CEO of Storyverse Studios, an entertainment company founded in Los Angeles in 2014. Storyverse develops and produces story-driven properties within a multi-platform universe of entertainment. Their first property , "Find Me I'm Yours", launched on November 3, 2014, and begins as a media rich ebook, written and designed by writer/artist/web innovator, Hillary Carlip, and published by Rosetta Books. The romantic comedy novel is filled with hand-written lists, Instagram-style photos, videos and links to its 33 original websites, and five web series all created as part of this Click Lit experience. Television writer/producer/director. Lapiduss wrote and produced the last season of "Ellen" (three Emmy nominations), "Roseanne", (Emmy nomination as Best Comedy Series and a Golden Globe award), "Home Improvement" (People's Choice Awards  for Best Comedy Series), "Dharma & Greg", and "", a Bravo reality series Lapiduss starred in and produced with Sean Hayes ("Will and Grace") about how to make a sitcom. She has directed Disney Channel's acclaimed show, "Jessie". Lapiduss spent four months managing relationships and production on 40 episodes of the Russian adaptation of "The King of Queens" in Moscow. She also acted as Studio Executive and show runner for the pilots and post production of Sony International TV's adaptations of "The Cosby Show" and "Rules of Engagement" for CTC Media. Lapiduss also co-founded non-profit Steeltown Entertainment Project , a teaching organization and production company whose mission is to bring film and TV production jobs back to Pittsburgh. Creative strategist. For more than a decade, Lapiduss has been working with artists, writers, performers, and filmmakers to expand their brands through her consulting company, Lapiduss Creative. Lapiduss also pioneered one of the earliest online digital networks, Voxxy (1999-2001). As Co-President, Co-Founder, and Executive Creative Strategist, Lapiduss raised two rounds of financing, contracted A-list talent and notables for Voxxy involvement including Jennifer Aniston, Melissa Etheridge, Billie Jean King, Kathy Najimy, and Shirley Manson, among others. Lapiduss also  recruited Hollywood show runners and producers to create content, and developed branded "advertainment" for entertainment companies, record labels, and businesses including Motorola and Hard Candy. Voxxy won the 2000 Bandie Broadband Award for innovation in the category "Newest New Thing." Performer. Lapiduss has written, starred in, and produced several one-woman variety shows including "Mackie's Back in Town", and has been honored with a nomination for Best Cabaret Artist (Female) 2011, by Broadway World Los Angeles. Her video "Scared About Life Without Oprah" included a cameo by "Glee"'s Jane Lynch and was featured in "The Huffington Post", "USA  Today", and "TV Guide".