Biography
Comedy writer, actress, filmmaker, and cartoonist. Based in NYC and Austin, TX. Deborah Finley was raised in the Northeast, and also live(d) in Brazil, Georgia, and Texas. She has a Masters degree in Communications from The University of Texas at Austin, where she studied journalism, photojournalism, filmmaking, and graphic design. She has Bachelor of Arts degree from Simmons College/University, where she concentrated on psychology, business and English.
As a actress, Deborah Finley has acted in a variety of films/shows: movies, TV, independent, shorts commercials, Web productions, theater improvisation, sketch comedy shows, and print. She studied comedy writing and improvisation at Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB), Magnet Theater, Peoples Improv Theater (The PIT), and Merlin Works (Zach Theatre). Also, studied theater and acting at American University, Texas State Theater, and Actors Connection NY. She joined SAG-AFTRA in 2015, and is now SAG-Core.
As a multimedia producer/filmmaker/photographer, Deborah Finley is typically, "a one-person band". She finds and produces her own multimedia stories, commercials and features. Finley shoots video, still photography, and records audio. She generates the story ideas, conducts the interviews, researches, writes, edits, and incorporates the graphics, and music. Sometimes, she includes her own graphics such as her cartoons and illustrations. Typically, she manages the entire production process, including generating ideas, meeting budgets and deadlines.
Deborah Finley's video feature stories were published in The Daily Texan. Several of Deborah Finley's films have been featured and won awards.
AWARDS:
* Gulf Coast Film and Video Festival 2010, Best Documentary: Humble Trash
* 2010 Faces of Austin Multimedia Showcase Selection: Humble Trash
* REEL WOMEN 2010 Showcase SXSW Selection: Mind Over Polio
* 64th College Photographer of the Year (CPOY), Multimedia Category, Semi-Finalist: Mind Over Polio
* 2008 Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival, Student Category, Grand Prize: Mind Over Polio
* Austin Film Festival 2006 Humorous Short Film Competition, Finalist: Rock'n with Rocky
* Photographer's Forum magazine's College Photography Contest, Four-Time Finalist
In addition to studying communications/multimedia journalism at The University of Texas at Austin, Deborah Finley has also taken related courses at Parsons School of Design, International Center for Photography, School of Visual Arts, Maine Media Workshop, Texas State University, Austin Community College, and three NPPA news/storytelling workshops.
