Better Said Than Done (BSTD) was founded as a community minded, small business in May 2011 with the goal of bringing storytelling to Northern Virginia. In addition to producing fundraising shows to benefit the Walker Nature Education Center in Reston, VA, BSTD hosted shows at Epicure Café, in Fairfax, VA. In 2012, BSTD began offering storytelling workshops to teach foundational skills to anyone who wanted to be able to perform a story but did not feel they already had that ability. In 2013, BSTD moved to The Auld Shebeen in Fairfax City, VA.
In March 2020, BSTD produced the first Women’s Storytelling Festival (WSF) at The Old Town Hall in Fairfax City, VA. During the covid pandemic shutdown, BSTD produced at least one monthly storytelling show online. The 2021 WSF was entirely virtual, with 36 storytellers performing from all over the USA and Canada. In 2022, BSTD resumed in-person storytelling shows, and the WSF returned to The Old Town Hall, though shows continue to also be offered online.
In 2023, BSTD began performing semi-monthly shows at Clare and Don’s Beach Shack, in Falls Church, VA. BSTD also performs for Senior Centers, Libraries, Parks, Museums, and Pre-Schools. BSTD offers in-house storytelling workshops as well as workshops and presentations for any organization looking to learn more about the art of storytelling.
Always a community minded organization, in October of 2023, BSTD received 501(c)3 designation and began operating as a non-profit.
BSTD Executive Director Jessica Piscitelli Robinson is the only staff person – handling the administrative work as well as producing shows, managing the WSF, and coordinating storytelling workshops, presentations, and shows for organizations. BSTD also has a volunteer Board of Directors to assist, oversee, and support our mission of developing the art of storytelling in Northern Virginia and showcasing storytelling in Virginia, the DMV, and beyond.
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Phill Good Stories is a production company headed by storyteller Phill Branch. Phill Branch is an Emmy® Award winning producer, a writer and director. Branch’s documentary Hampton University: One of the Wonders of the World (Maryland Public Television/PBS) won the Emmy for Outstanding Education/Schools Long Form Content (Capital Emmys/2024). His film, Searching for Shaniqua (Maryland Public Television/PBS), a documentary about the impact names have on our lives, won the HBO Best Documentary award at Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival. His upcoming memoir tentatively titled "The Double Dutch Fuss" will be released by HarperCollins/Amistad in 2026. He is a 2024 recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council’s Creativity Grant and a 2019 Rubys Artist Award grantee for storytelling and performance. He was the 2018 GrandSLAM Champion of The Moth in DC. He was also a 2014 Lambda Literary Nonfiction Emerging Voices Fellow. Branch is the founder and Creative Director of Baltimore Story Fest, a showcase for live, personal storytelling. Currently, Branch is a Resident Artist at the Howard County Center for the Arts in Maryland.
Seating is first come first serve in the general seating area.
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