Orlando Fringe Announces Four New Board Members

Today, Orlando Fringe announced the appointment of four new members of their Board of Directors.

Emily Behzadi is an Associate Attorney at Meehle & Jay whose primary focus is on the Art Law, Entertainment Law, and Immigration Law. Emily's lifelong interest and passion for the arts began at an early age and eventually led her to pursue a degree in Art History, Criticism and Conservation at Florida Southern College. She later went on to obtain her Master of Arts Degree in Twentieth-Century Spanish Art from New York University Institute of Fine Arts. Emily received her Juris Doctorate degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2015. At Georgetown, she served as the Senior Submissions Editor of the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal and also served as the Vice President of the Georgetown Art Law Society. Prior to joining Meehle & Jay, Emily spent the last few years working in New York City for a boutique immigration law firm. While there, she successfully attained immigrant and non-immigrant visas for Oscar Award-winning directors, cinematographers, Tony Award-winning producers, actors, and playwrights, as well as some of the world's most renowned contemporary visual artists and gallery directors. She is a member of the Central Florida United Arts Hispanic Task Force, the Lawyers for Cultural Heritage Preservation, the American Immigration Law Association, and a committee member of the Orange County Bar Association Immigration Law Committee. She is licensed to practice law in Florida, New York, and Washington D.C.

Returning to the Fringe board after a one-year hiatus is Doug Davis, a Corporate Trainer for WellCare Health Plans. Doug previously served as Vice President of Orlando Fringe. During his brief hiatus, he remained heavily involved with the Fringe by assisting numerous artists with logistics before and during the festival. He volunteered during the festival along with the support of his wife, Jeri and his son, Cameron, who also volunteer each year. Before his current position at WellCare Doug was a Development Director for a human services non-profit and he is skilled in structural organization, budgeting, logistics, and public speaking. As a lifelong resident of Orlando, Doug strongly believes in the value of The Orlando Fringe, and he looks forward to continually serving the Central Florida arts community.

Robert Dean Hertenstein is the Senior Director of Entertainment Production for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, overseeing the entire fleet of 26 ships between three brands: Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas. He recently celebrated his 11-year anniversary with NCLH. Prior to his current position, he had a 23-year career as a dancer. Some of the highlights are 42nd Street, where he got his Equity card at age 19, West Side Story as Riff, playing Steve in Blue's Clues Live and Boots in Dora, The Explorer Live. His favorite theatre experience was Starlight Express in both the German and Las Vegas productions. Robert Dean has sailed around the world, literally, as a singer/dancer with Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, and Holland-America. Now responsible for producing the onboard production shows, he is still traveling the world; albeit just as much by plane as on ships. From his home base at Norwegian Creative Studios, he finds and develops new show content, heads up casting and operations and shepherds NCLH's creative vision to the delight of diverse and sophisticated audiences.

A native of South Georgia, Michael Ussery moved to Central Florida in 2001 to pursue his career goals. A student of Coastal Georgia Community College, Michael continued his studies in business at Palm Beach Atlantic University in Central Florida. His career focus has been in the title insurance industry, from owning his own company to now being the Director of Business Development for First American Title. Upon arriving in Florida, Michael immediately fell in love with the diversity of Orlando and the abundance of art and theater. A huge lover of all things Fringe he is extremely excited to join the board.