Producer Jay Michaels Teaches SWIM WITH SHARKS! Today

Producer Jay Michaels will host a new class, SWIM WITH SHARKS!, Learn the Tricks of the Trade from 35-year veteran of stage and film today.

How to Market Yourself in the Arts
Today, Saturday, August 10, 2013
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Shetler Studios
244 West 54th Street

"I'm a self-made man" Jay Michaels says proudly. "I didn't get that special leg-up from a kindly teacher or happen to be related to a great actor, I learned how to be a working professional; I learned the ropes from journeymen just like I am now and I am thrilled to pass it on to other self-starters!"

In one afternoon, Mr. Michaels - whose credits span Broadway, off- and off-off Broadway, regional, stock and even children's theatre, as well as independent film and TV - will share the knowledge he acquired over the years. His interactive lecture is designed to help you take charge of your career and create the momentum needed to get on the road to where you have always wanted to be... and stay there.

Topics will include creating your artistic arsenal; dressing the part; memorable headshots and readable resumes; choosing projects and when to choose to say NO; the dos and don'ts of research and networking; audition, rehearsal, and performance etiquette, social media, getting paid; getting an agent; the pros and cons of incorporation; and much more.

For further information, or to make a reservation, please call 646-338-5472 or email wrightgroupny@gmail.com

Jay Michaels' career began as an actor in 1977. Throughout the 80s - to support himself - he worked as a local event producer and trade show liaison. In 1986, he started working for The Joyce Theater in the Production Office for their season of dance productions and their Drama Desk Award-winning American Theatre Exchange program featuring productions from the Long Warf Theatre, Berkeley Repertory, Mark Taper Forum, and the San Diego Repertory. From there, he moved to the position of national tour coordinator for Columbia Artists Management with Cats, Les Miserables, Edwin Drood, and Oliver in his portfolio. All the while, he produced plays in the off & off-off Broadway arenas. He wrote and directed the musical,Critic, which would eventually enjoy a run on Theatre Row. He moved to the promotions department of the Daily News in the early 90s and sat ringside at Madison Square Garden; wrote copy for Dolores and Bob Hope at Carnegie Hall; assisted Robert Maxwell at The United Nations; and handled casting for the newspaper's TV section, NY Vue (appearing in the inaugural TV commercial). By the mid-90s, he was working with the account executives at KSL Media in the New York and California offices. By the end of the 90s, he and partner Mary Elizabeth MiCari founded Genesis Repertory, a classical stage company, and renovated and reopened the historic Jan Hus Playhouse. There they produced a series of widely popular modernized Shakespeare plays, including Hamlet featuring David Canary, The Merchant of Venice with Josh Blumenfeld, Macbeth (with Ms. MiCari as Lady M), and Richard III featuring J. Paul Nicholas and Vit Horejs' Czech Marionettes. He played Dr. Faustus in a production dedicated to Orson Welles.

Since the new millennium, Mr. Michaels has been an integral part of nonprofit performing arts - producing for The NY International Fringe Festival, Midtown International Fringe Festival (serving as associate producer in 2001), Samuel French New Plays Festival, Planet Connections, and Spotlight-On Productions. He ran Kingsborough College's performing arts society, The Bronx Opera's marketing campaigns, and many others. Mr. Michaels wrote speeches and coordinated events honoring or featuring Fran & Barry Weissler, Hillary Clinton, Jon Stewart, James Earl Jones, The Nederlanders, Clive Davis, Alex Shchegol (founder of The College of Advance Technology), Lawrence and Lilly Wajnberg (Novoye Russkoye Slovo), and many others. He produced and edited a short documentary on Time Warner founder, Steven J. Ross; managed a special performance of The Vagina Monologues at Broadway's Town Hall; wrote for (and voiced) numerous PSAs, and appeared in the recent Jewish Community Study of New York television commercial.

His film directorial debut, Slings & Arrows, an edgy version of Hamlet's Nunnery, premiered at the Anthology Film Archives before receiving international distribution. He just completed filming of Metro Cats: Veronica's Party and begins pre-production of Earthmen this summer.