A box of letters, held in secret for nearly 60 years, ignites a 5-year exploration into a part of LGBT history that has never been told.
The letters open a window into a forgotten world where being yourself meant breaking the law and where the penalties for “masquerading” as a woman were swift and severe.
“
Baker got me all hopped up on drag again. We were having coffee at the Waldorf about 4 o’clock. Some butch looking rube, comes over and asks us if we know where ‘you can get big size high heels.’ Well that immediately set the drag ball rolling.
—Daphne, October 5, 1957
”
The government sought to destroy them, then history tried to erase them, now they tell their story for the first time.
social
Come chat with us on Instagram @psburnthisletterplease
CONTACT US
For Festival Distribution, please contact Jeffrey Winter:
jeffrey@thefilmcollaborative.org
For Publicity Inquiries, please contact David Magdael:
dmagdael@tcdm-associates.com
For Sales Inquiries, please contact Andrew Herwitz:
andrew.herwitz@filmsalescorp.com
Donate
WE WERE THERE, INC. is a registered 501(c)(3). Our mission is the preservation and dissemination of LGBTQ+ history through multi-platform storytelling, with the goal of educating and empowering LGBTQ+ youth. By emphasizing LGBTQ+ achievements we can have a positive impact on at-risk young people as they construct their own identities and strive to lead more integrated lives.
If you would like to support P.S. Burn This Letter Please and join our mission to keep LGBTQ+ history alive for this and future generations, please show your support by giving here. Your donation is tax-deductible.
the TEAM
Jennifer Tiexiera, Co-Director | Producer | Editor
Jen Tiexiera is a storyteller who believes that more voices equal a better story. When everyone is represented, storytelling benefits. She most recently won the TriBeCa Film Festival Award for Best Editor for the film 17 BLOCKS. She also produced and edited ZIKR: A SUFI REVIVAL and THE DAY THE WORLD CHANGED, official selections of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and 2018 TriBeCa Film Festival respectively. In 2017, she produced and edited the documentaries, A SUITABLE GIRL, winner of the Albert Maysles Award at the TriBeCa Film Festival and WAITING FOR HASSANA, official selection of the Sundance, SXSW, and Toronto Film Festivals. She edited THE LAST GOODBYE which made its debut at the 2017 TriBeCa Film Festival, internationally at the 2017 Venice International Film Festival, and won the 2018 Lumiere Award for Best VR Documentary. Her previous work also includes the documentary, SALAM NEIGHBOR, narrative film, ROAD TO PALOMA and the 2011 SXSW Documentary Grand Jury Winner, DRAGONSLAYER. P.S. BURN THIS LETTER PLEASE is her directorial debut.
Michael Seligman, Co-Director | Producer
Michael Seligman is a veteran TV writer, producer and podcaster. His credits include the Emmy Award-winning series RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE, as well as MYSTERIES & SCANDALS and TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY. He is the producer and co-host of the podcast series MOB QUEENS that explores the intersection of gay history and mafia history. Following the discovery of the letters at the heart of P.S. BURN THIS LETTER PLEASE, Michael set about researching queer life in the decades before Stonewall. With a passion for history and a curiosity about his own LGBTQ+ past, Michael has made it his new mission to bring LGBTQ+ stories to life. P.S. BURN THIS LETTER PLEASE is his directing debut.
Craig Olsen, Producer
Craig Olsen is an entrepreneur in art, production and interior design. A graduate from Cornish College of the Arts with a BFA in Theatre, Craig can be seen on film as well as numerous network and cable television series, most notably in drag and transgender roles. The LA Times declared him, “A Must See Tour de Force!” Craig produced and starred in the long running podcast, “The Craig and Robbie Hour” on Global Voice Broadcasting and is currently producing and starring in the theatrical play MY GARDEN IN HELL by playwright Billy Wiener as legendary icon Diana Vreeland. Craig currently sits as Chairman of the Board for Los Angeles’ premier contemporary ballet company Barak Ballet and is a trustee of the Edward F. Limato Foundation. After discovering a cache of personal letters by prominent drag performers in 1950s New York City, Mr. Olsen embarked on what has now become a 5 year journey to preserve and illuminate the courage of those that have set the stage for the current success of the LGBTQ+ community. Craig is directing his future focus toward preserving gay history through philanthropy and educational outreach.
Richard Konigsberg, Executive Producer
As the youngest of three boys, Richard Konigsberg has been managing expectations from his earliest beginnings. Richard was born and raised in New Rochelle, NY, where he remained until the age of 18 when he enrolled at George Washington University in Washington D.C. As the son of a NYC Certified Public Accountant, Richard followed in his father’s footsteps and received his BA in Business Administration with a Major concentration in Personal Finance. Though finance came naturally to Richard, it was his true passion for entertainment and Hollywood talent that lead him to intern for legendary agent Sam Cohn in the summer of his Junior year at GWU. After that summer, Richard knew that he could successfully combine his love of entertainment and his talent with finance in a career in management and applied for a position in the agent training program at the Los Angeles offices of International Creative Management. He was accepted in May of 1988 and had established his new home in Los Angeles by August of the same year. Konigsberg soon found himself in the mail room of ICM learning the names and faces of all the of the major players in Hollywood. It was only a few months later at the company Holiday party in Beverly Hills that Konigsberg would meet the man who would become his best friend and mentor, Edward F. Limato. Not long after that fateful introduction, Richard became Ed’s assistant and worked for him for many years. Eventually, Richard was promoted to an agent at ICM where he represented several major actors in Television and Film. After a lengthy legal battle, where Limato sued ICM to be let out out of his contract, Konigsberg left ICM to start his own business, and in 2008 started RKM where he still works today. Richard and Ed remained friends until his death in July of 2010. Richard is excited to continue the legacy and memory of Ed Limato by establishing The Edward F. Limato Foundation. Richard is honored to have been a part of Ed’s life and shared in his experiences and hopes that through the foundation those who did not know Ed get to know the man behind the stars and share in the journey of his legacy and light.
Alex Bohs, Editor
Alex Bohs is a Los Angeles based filmmaker. As an editor, he has helped bring to life many projects that convey what it’s like to be queer. Whether it be through history with the inter generational documentary project “Conversations with Gay Elders” or episodically breaking down the Iranian queer community with the doc-series “Thirst For Love,” Alex has committed to telling the rich stories of the LGBTQ+ community that have so often been overlooked.
Zachary Shields, Cinematographer
Zachary Shields is a Cinematographer, whose most recent projects include the Sundance Grand Jury Award Winning Documentary, THE PRICE OF FREE, which documents the efforts of Nobel Prize Winner, Kailash Satyarthi in his quest to end child slavery; HBO’s MCMILLIONS, chronicling the McDonald’s monopoly scandal and a six-part documentary series for STARZ entitled WARRIORS OF LIBERTY CITY. Shields filmed 17 BLOCKS, a multigenerational story of one family living in the shadow of the US Capital and XY CHELSEA both having their premieres at TriBeCa Film Festival in 2019. Previously, Shields shot and produced NIGHT SCHOOL which premiered at TriBeCa Film Festival in 2016 and offers an intimate look at a year in the lives of three adult students attempting to go back and get their high school diplomas.
Sponsors
The Edward F. Limato Foundation is dedicated to supporting the dramatic arts and LGBT causes through scholarship and endowment.