One Strike
Productions
Film · Theatre · Performance · Media
One strike of a clapper — and the film begins.
One strike of a light — and the stage comes alive.
One shot. One night. Everything you have.
Stories don’t wait for the right medium. Neither do we.
One Strike Productions was born from the belief that the most powerful stories are made by people who have something true — and something alive — to say. We don’t make films and plays about women. We make them by women, for women, and from the full, complicated, hilarious, heartbreaking center of women’s lived experience.
We are the match strike, the clapper board, the spotlight cutting through dark — and yes, the punchline that lands when no one saw it coming. Both things. Always.
Founded by Cynthia Millhorn — storyteller, educator, author, comedian, and creator of the fringe circuit hit Botticelli Babes — One Strike Productions brings scholarly precision and genuine comic timing to every medium it touches. Screen and stage are not opposites. They are two rooms in the same house, both lit by the same strike of a single, irreverent flame.
Botticelli Babes
Comedy · History · Game Show · Storytelling
Women’s history — illuminated, celebrated, and served with enough wit and joy to make you wonder why no one told you this way before.
Created and performed by Cynthia Millhorn, Botticelli Babes spotlights women from across the full sweep of history — ancient and classical, Renaissance, modern — the forgotten, the underestimated, the scandalously overlooked. Original historical storytelling, standup comedy, and live audience game show rolled into one unmissable evening.
“Breathes new life into the storytelling genre!”
— Cory HowardCreator, The Campfireball
“I was blown away. The entire show was a thrill ride! So funny and the way Cynthia brought the audience into the show and connected with them was brilliant. I can’t believe I learned so much while laughing so hard. It was a breath of fresh air and joy!”
— Mary ElzeyAudience Member, Atlanta Fringe Festival
Daughters
Brothers Grimm · Deconstructed · One Hour · One Woman · Four Archetypes
These are deconstructed magical tales that explore the reality of women in dire, real-world circumstances — with limited choices and impossible stakes.
And yet — limited choices are still choices. Each woman must decide. Good or evil, the consequences are hers to own, regardless of what brought her to the door.
Daughters leads you into a world of unexpected reimagining — shades of gray, moral complexity, and women who refuse to be simply explained. Shockingly relatable. Thought-provoking. And more inspiring than you’ll see coming.
Performed at Atlanta Fringe Festival, The Wallace Theatre (Johnson City, TN), Christ Community Church, and ETSU.
Learn More & BookNarrative Film
Character-driven storytelling that puts women at the center of their own stories. Literary, precise, and emotionally unafraid. We are drawn to stories of grief, forgiveness, reinvention, and the quiet heroism of ordinary life.
Documentary
True stories told with the craft and intentionality of fiction. We seek subjects that illuminate the human condition — particularly the lives of women whose stories have not yet been given the screen they deserve.
Women’s Stories
Female-led, female-made, female-centered. Stories that are rich, layered, and rooted — written from the kitchen and the classroom, from the hearth and the archive. Sophisticated without being cold. Warm without being simple.
Short Form & Media
Short films, spoken word on screen, performance documentation, and digital storytelling. The full range of the moving image — in service of the story that needs to be told.
One strike of a match
A single flame that starts everything. Light, warmth, fire. Transformative from a single moment.
One strike of a clapper
The language of film. One take. One shot. The moment the camera rolls and the story begins.
One strike of a key
The writer at the typewriter. One keystroke that begins the whole story. The word before the world.
One strike of a bell
Resonant, clear, lasting. The kind of sound that lingers long after it has gone silent.
One strike left
Resilience. The woman counted out, who comes back. Grief. Survival. Joy reclaimed against the odds.
Strike while the iron is hot
Urgency, craft, and the maker’s hands. The moment that cannot wait. The story that must be told now.
Cynthia
Millhorn
Storyteller, educator, author, comedian, and visual artist. Two master’s degrees from East Tennessee State University. Creator of the fringe circuit hit Botticelli Babes and the acclaimed one-woman show Daughters, awarded Outstanding Graduate Capstone at ETSU and performed at festivals and venues across the region.
Cynthia has performed, taught, and created across East Tennessee, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Cape Town, South Africa. She brings scholarly rigor, genuine warmth, and a comic timing you won’t see coming to every room she walks into.
2023 Carol Burnett Award — Excellence in Teaching, Engagement & Student Support, East Tennessee State University.
Get in touchWe are building something.
Come build it with us.
One Strike Productions is actively seeking collaborators, co-creators, and kindred spirits at every stage of production. We believe the best films are made in community — by people who trust each other, challenge each other, and share a commitment to stories that matter.