EP 67: INCREDIBLE STORIES OF INSPIRING WOMEN: The Women Behind the Cameras

Live from Los Angeles to the Red House Streaming Studios, award-winning TV and film executives Theresa McKeown, Rebecca Sirmons, and Jessica Everleth are "On The Record With Sarina Fazan" to discuss their roles in bringing remarkable stories to the screen – including working with Sarina on Investigation Discovery’s “Joe Exotic: Tiger, Lies & Cover-Up.” In this episode of our “Incredible Stories of Inspirational Women” series, Theresa, Rebecca, and Jessica move from behind-the-scenes to in front of the camera, sharing their individual journeys to Hollywood, their significant accomplishments, and what it means to be women in the TV/film industry.

THERESA MCKEOWN

Theresa McKeown has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment industry. She received her B.A. in telecommunications and film from San Diego State University and has been involved in television production ever since. 

After twelve seasons of running the West Coast Bureau of “Inside Edition” and a short stint as a freelance producer, Theresa formed her own company, Dalaklis-McKeown Entertainment. During the next ten years, she executive produced hundreds of hours of television for such wide-ranging clients like CBS, Lifetime, USA Network, VH1, MTV, Fine Living, E Entertainment, Fine Living, The Travel Channel, TLC, TNT, and Style Network as well as a host of corporate clients. 

In 2015, Theresa took a time-out from the television industry for a few years to pursue her passion of publishing children’s books. She then created a small publishing company with her sisters and wrote three books! Once the trilogy was launched, she returned to the entertainment industry and picked up where she left off, by executive producing a limited series for Discovery ID. Theresa now spends her time producing and developing documentaries, podcasts, and scripted series, while keeping her hand in the children’s book world.

REBECCA SIRMONS

Rebecca Sirmons is a Florida native, who is now a television development executive out of Los Angeles, CA. Most recently, she worked as a creative executive at Robert Rodriguez's El Rey Network, supporting all development, creative initiatives, and discovering diverse talent to tell the stories that "need to be heard". Rebecca is a GLAAD Award Winner, 2015. Now at Conveyor Media, she is working as VP of Development, and she is an Executive Producer behind Discovery ID's “Joe Exotic: Tigers, Lies and Cover-Up.”

JESSICA EVERLETH

Jessica Everleth has served as showrunner, executive producer, writer, and director on multiple television series. She earned a Peabody Award in 2020 and a Critics Choice Award, MTV Movie & TV Award, and Prime Time Emmy Nomination in 2019 for “Surviving R. Kelly.” Her executive producer credits also include “Joe Exotic: Tigers, Lies and Cover-Up,” “Betrayed,” and “Man with a Van” for Discovery ID, “True Life” for MTV, and “Plaster Caster,” a feature-length documentary film distributed by Xenon/Lionsgate. Prior to her career in film and television, Jessica worked as a recording engineer and music producer in Chicago.

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