The Creators
Adapted from Diana S. Zimmerman’s internationally popular “Kandide” novels, the Kandide television series is brilliantly aged up for a more mature audience by Steven L. Sears and Diana S. Zimmerman.
Diana S. Zimmerman
Vanishing avocados, haute couture jewels, million-dollar product branding, and enigmatic beings are all part of Diana’s life.
Diana's role in the creative arts, as well as the business world, transcends the ordinary. From an impoverished childhood to becoming a highly respected performer, bestselling author, entrepreneur, and businesswoman, her life is both magical and inspiring.
At the age of six she was writing plays and faery stories. At the age of eight she invested all of her resources into a small magic trick. With a total capital outlay of 47 cents, Diana’s uniquely creative approach to the male-dominated world of magic enabled her to parlay her hard-earned investment into a spectacular 25-year stage and television career as the “World's Foremost Lady Magician.”
Today, this same out-of-the-box thinking has made Diana a bestselling author and the President of CMS Communications, Inc.—an award-winning Los Angeles-based creative agency. Diana’s innovative approach to product launches has generated hundreds of millions of dollars for her clients; garnered CMS the reputation as one of America’s top creative agencies; and positioned Diana as a leading expert on Brand strategy. Her client list reads like the “Who’s Who” of the Fortune 500.
Diana’s dazzling road of business achievements is also paved with equally impressive writing credentials, including seven books and hundreds of articles, many of them cover stories for the high-fashion jewelry industry. All three of Diana’s Kandide fantasy adventure novels have been on the Amazon.com bestseller list.
Her first corporate book, Tactical Abyss—MarCom’s Greatest Threat, is the go-to book in many MarCom college classes. She has also written two biographies: Siegfried and Roy: Unique In All The World, and Butterfly In A Storm; The True Story of Gisele Rufer Delance (founder of the elite Delance Swiss Watch Company). Her new book, Why Most Branding Fails, will be out later this year.
During her years as a magician, Diana toured the world; starred in her own television show; and was the magical spokesperson for dozens of companies. She has invented illusions performed by magic superstars including Lance Burton, David Copperfield, Criss Angel, and social-media mega-star Collins Key (21.4 million YouTube subscribers).
She also sponsors the Junior Magicians Club—a youth group she founded with the help of legendary actor, Cary Grant—at Hollywood's famous Magic Castle.
Diana’s numerous awards include: Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” top finalist; a two-time L.A. Business Journal “Woman of the Year” nominee; and Lifetime Achievement awards from the Academy of Magical Arts/Magic Castle, and the Society of American Magicians.
She also owns one of the world's largest collections of Faery Art with pieces dating back to the 1700s. A vegan and Animal Rights activist, she works tirelessly to promote and improve animal welfare.
At the age of six she was writing plays and faery stories. At the age of eight she invested all of her resources into a small magic trick. With a total capital outlay of 47 cents, Diana’s uniquely creative approach to the male-dominated world of magic enabled her to parlay her hard-earned investment into a spectacular 25-year stage and television career as the “World's Foremost Lady Magician.”
Today, this same out-of-the-box thinking has made Diana a bestselling author and the President of CMS Communications, Inc.—an award-winning Los Angeles-based creative agency. Diana’s innovative approach to product launches has generated hundreds of millions of dollars for her clients; garnered CMS the reputation as one of America’s top creative agencies; and positioned Diana as a leading expert on Brand strategy. Her client list reads like the “Who’s Who” of the Fortune 500.
Diana’s dazzling road of business achievements is also paved with equally impressive writing credentials, including seven books and hundreds of articles, many of them cover stories for the high-fashion jewelry industry. All three of Diana’s Kandide fantasy adventure novels have been on the Amazon.com bestseller list.
Her first corporate book, Tactical Abyss—MarCom’s Greatest Threat, is the go-to book in many MarCom college classes. She has also written two biographies: Siegfried and Roy: Unique In All The World, and Butterfly In A Storm; The True Story of Gisele Rufer Delance (founder of the elite Delance Swiss Watch Company). Her new book, Why Most Branding Fails, will be out later this year.
During her years as a magician, Diana toured the world; starred in her own television show; and was the magical spokesperson for dozens of companies. She has invented illusions performed by magic superstars including Lance Burton, David Copperfield, Criss Angel, and social-media mega-star Collins Key (21.4 million YouTube subscribers).
She also sponsors the Junior Magicians Club—a youth group she founded with the help of legendary actor, Cary Grant—at Hollywood's famous Magic Castle.
Diana’s numerous awards include: Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” top finalist; a two-time L.A. Business Journal “Woman of the Year” nominee; and Lifetime Achievement awards from the Academy of Magical Arts/Magic Castle, and the Society of American Magicians.
She also owns one of the world's largest collections of Faery Art with pieces dating back to the 1700s. A vegan and Animal Rights activist, she works tirelessly to promote and improve animal welfare.
Steven L. Sears
Screenwriter/Producer/Author
Steven L. Sears has worked as a writer, story editor, producer, and creator in television, film, digital media, and animation.
His career has encompassed more than fifteen separate television series and development deals with a number of the major studios in the industry, including: Columbia Studios, Sony/Tristar Television, Cookie Jar Entertainment, Rhysher Entertainment, Artists Inc., Digital Pictures, and many others.
Steven’s initial foray into professional television-writing came when he was hired as a staff writer on the Stephen J. Cannell Productions’ hit TV series Riptide, for the NBC Television Network. He followed that up by adding his talents to the writing staff of one of the most popular genre series of its time, The A-Team, also for NBC.
From there, he continued his career by writing and working on such popular series as: Hardcastle & McCormick, JJ Starbuck, Stingray, Walker-Texas Ranger, Highwayman, Robin’s Hoods, Hollywood Detective, Father Dowling Mysteries, Hardball, Grand Slam, Jesse Hawkes, Superboy, S.H.E. Spies and many other television favorites.
His animation experience includes: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Transformers: Rescue Bots and working with the legendary animation director Don Bluth as writer on the short feature The Gift of the Hoopee.
Steven also moved up through production from a Story Editor and Producer to a Creator of Television series. After producing Swamp Thing for USA Network and Raven for CBS, he soon moved to a series that made its mark in television and pop culture history, as Co-Executive Producer of the wildly popular series Xena – Warrior Princess. He followed that by co-creating the latest incarnation of the legendary comic book heroine Sheena for Sony/TriStar Television, which ran for two seasons.
While he remains involved in television and film development, he recently branched out into the literary world. His partnership with popular sci-fi author Kevin J. Anderson (Dune: House Atreides; Clockwork Angels; Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.) has resulted in the gritty futuristic sci-fi graphic novel Stalag-X, published by Vault Comics.
Partnering with Peter J. Wacks (Second Paradigm; Bloodletting), he co-created the upcoming epic book and graphic novel series Vill’Anne. A popular figure at genre Sci-Fi/Pop Culture conventions for his past and current work, Steven has an eclectic fan base as a result of his many series and accomplishments and is a frequent guest speaker at colleges and universities.
His career has encompassed more than fifteen separate television series and development deals with a number of the major studios in the industry, including: Columbia Studios, Sony/Tristar Television, Cookie Jar Entertainment, Rhysher Entertainment, Artists Inc., Digital Pictures, and many others.
Steven’s initial foray into professional television-writing came when he was hired as a staff writer on the Stephen J. Cannell Productions’ hit TV series Riptide, for the NBC Television Network. He followed that up by adding his talents to the writing staff of one of the most popular genre series of its time, The A-Team, also for NBC.
From there, he continued his career by writing and working on such popular series as: Hardcastle & McCormick, JJ Starbuck, Stingray, Walker-Texas Ranger, Highwayman, Robin’s Hoods, Hollywood Detective, Father Dowling Mysteries, Hardball, Grand Slam, Jesse Hawkes, Superboy, S.H.E. Spies and many other television favorites.
His animation experience includes: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Transformers: Rescue Bots and working with the legendary animation director Don Bluth as writer on the short feature The Gift of the Hoopee.
Steven also moved up through production from a Story Editor and Producer to a Creator of Television series. After producing Swamp Thing for USA Network and Raven for CBS, he soon moved to a series that made its mark in television and pop culture history, as Co-Executive Producer of the wildly popular series Xena – Warrior Princess. He followed that by co-creating the latest incarnation of the legendary comic book heroine Sheena for Sony/TriStar Television, which ran for two seasons.
While he remains involved in television and film development, he recently branched out into the literary world. His partnership with popular sci-fi author Kevin J. Anderson (Dune: House Atreides; Clockwork Angels; Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.) has resulted in the gritty futuristic sci-fi graphic novel Stalag-X, published by Vault Comics.
Partnering with Peter J. Wacks (Second Paradigm; Bloodletting), he co-created the upcoming epic book and graphic novel series Vill’Anne. A popular figure at genre Sci-Fi/Pop Culture conventions for his past and current work, Steven has an eclectic fan base as a result of his many series and accomplishments and is a frequent guest speaker at colleges and universities.