The idea for MY OVER THERE came from a transcript Laura and I found while cleaning out a photo cabinet. The transcript was from an interview between Jonathan Delano, Laura’s cousin, and Edna Draper Delano, Laura’s grandmother.

The interview revealed the source of Edna’s desire to become a nurse, what it was like going to nursing school, and subsequently her enlistment in WWI as an Army Nurse.

This was the jumping off point in telling this story. Like many of her generation or anyone who has been to and seen war up close, she avoided too many details or did not speak of them at all. She was stationed in France and moved to the front lines. The sights she witnessed must have been horrific. We took creative license, using archival photographs and file footage to expand her story and fill in the details of what she might have experienced.

The question her family and friends have bandied about for years was, did she have a romantic involvement during her time overseas? We decided “Yes”. We created a first person visual narrative through her eyes, using drawings. The romantic part of the story was also inspired from what was happening in our country during the pandemic.

I feel it is important that we as artists continue to make films that dig into the issues many would like to ignore. I feel it is imperative to relate the histories, stories, and legacies that continue to influence current events and in order to change things for the better. Often a film, a painting, a piece of music, or a play can open people’s minds in a way a debate or news clips cannot. 

About the Project

Laura Delano and Bob Celli met as actors while performing in an off-off Broadway show in New York City. They decided to branch out from acting and formed DelanoCelli Productions in 1995 to produce new works and revivals of plays they found compelling and challenging. In 1999 Celli moved to LA for a few years and while there he wrote, directed, acted in, and produced his first film, Going Home, along with friend and associate, Patrick Hillan, and Jouve´ Productions. He enlisted Delano to help. Thus, DelanoCelli Productions entered the world of film. Celli moved back to NYC and DelanoCelli Productions co-produced, along with JMTC, the original production of the award winning play, “Circle”, by Suzanne Bachner. At the urging and with the help of friend and actor Thaddeus Daniels, DelanoCelli Productions also developed and produced the original production of the play “Down Range”, by Jeffrey Skinner.

As an actor, Bob has been seen in City On a Hill, The Blacklist, Gotham, Saturday Night Live, As The World Turns, The Onion News Network, Going Home, Down Range and Circle.
Laura has appeared in Fame, Slow Dancing in the Big City, The Warriors, The Chosen, and Stardust Memories.

Since 2015 DelanoCelli Productions has produced three short films, Figs for Italo, Brooklyn in July, The Keeper, My Over There, and Because I Love You. Delano and Celli have been fortunate to enjoy great collaborations with talented casts, crews, and production teams. None of this could have happened without the generous support of Co-Producers, Associate Producers, Donors, and DelanoCelli Production’s fiscal sponsor, Beth Davis in Good Company. Delano and Celli feel so honored that their films have won many awards and have been Official Selections at festivals all over the world.

With luck, a bit of pluck, and a little help from our friends, the journey continues. Onward and upward.


About the Team

Starring Emmy winning actor Penny Fuller, this short film is about Lenore McDowell, a veteran of WWI. Lenore, an Army Nurse, reveals a dramatic and deeply personal part of her life during her time “over there” that she has never shared before.
Inspired by a true story.

My Over There

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