STEPHANIE ST. JAMES:
Writer/Executive Producer/Director Stephanie St. James-Werba is the daughter of a Russian born mother of Jewish descent & her father is of Guyanese decent and both met in Jerusalem, Israel. Her grandparents were Holocaust survivors, her grandmother Sofia Katz being one of two Jewish survivors of the entire Jewish community in Budslav, Poland & her grandfather David Kopelewicz a decorated Partisan Commander who saved the lives of hundreds of Jews during the Holocaust.
Stephanie was born in Miami, Florida and grew up in the Northern California Bay Area where she began her career in the theater at a very young age. She has been seen as an actress most recently on IFC's "Portlandia" and internationally in such productions as Oprah Winfrey presents “The Color Purple (musical)”, for which she was nominated in 2008 for an NAACP Theater Award for Best Supporting Female – Equity for her role as “Squeak”. She received the 2010 San Francisco Broadway World Fan Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, for her role as Mimi in Rent. In 2011 she was honored with the FREC Award by The Film Recording Entertainment Council in South Florida.
Stephanie St. James began her career after studying in New York City at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, where she landed her first role.
She has over 25 years experience of performing on the worlds stages and has even entertained the President of the United States Barack Obama.
Stephanie has been seen as a panelist speaker for Facebook for which she currently serves on the Small and Medium Business Council as CEO to her Business Amazing Fairytale Parties, she is also an invited Key Note Speaker for Facebook INC., and has appeared on television networks NBC, CW, PBS, and IFC to name a few.
She is a published author in USA Today.
After suffering for over a decade with the painful symptoms of Endometriosis, she was officially diagnosed with the disease in 2003. To date it is noted that she has survived six major surgeries from the disease and she went public in 2007 to raise awareness. She nearly lost her life to Endometriosis in 2012 when under going over 4 surgeries within a 2 month period & a 3 month hospital stay in NYC. When asked about that time in her life she states, “It was one of the most challenging times in my life, but I survived it and now I am fearless because of it and will do whatever I can to help others who suffer like me”. She is an advocate for woman suffering with Endometriosis worldwide and is known as one of the first women suffering from the disease to go public. For her work with Endometriosis Awareness she was honored as a 2012 WEGO Health Activist Award Nominee.
In 2013 she launched Award Winning Children’s Entertainment Company “Amazing Fairytale Parties” that was named Northern California’s Best of the Best 4 Years in a Row for Party Entertainment Company & Party Entertainer by Bay Area Parents Magazine. www.amazingfairytaleparties.com, headquartered in Portland, Oregon with divisions in Northern California, Seattle and Miami.
In 2014 Stephanie was honored to be named by the North Bay Business Journal as one of the Top 40 under 40 in Business in Northern California.
She is a Recipient of the 2015 Spirit of Sonoma Award.
Stephanie is currently Executive Producer for End The Cycle and the "Ziggy Francis and her Amazing Adventures™" project with collaborator Tiffani Barbour.