TRU to Host Producers Bootcamp, 9/21-22

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is offering some much-needed guidance for anybody who is thinking about putting up a showcase production in New York: the 2013 TRU Producer Boot Camp: Weekend Intensive for Showcase Producing on Saturday and Sunday, September 21-22, 2013 from 10am-6pmat The Players Theatre, 115 Macdougal Street, 3rd floor, NYC. Details and application can be found at http://www.truonline.org/BootCampWeekend13.htm. Early bird registration is extended to 09/14 and is $210 ($175 for TRU members). After 09/14, registration is $260 ($225 for TRU members).

Keynote speeches will be given by Broadway producers Dan Markley (Damn Yankess revival, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, plus off-Broadway's Stomp, The Vagina Monologues, Shockheaded Peter and Oleanna), David Garfinkle (Spider-man: Turn off the Dark, Ghost the musical) and Cheryl Wiesenfeld (Tony award winner for Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, The Gershwin's Porgy & Bess and Elaine Stritch: At Liberty; plus Legally Blonde and A Steady Rain, and off-Broadway's The Exonerated and In the Continuum).

"While these are producers who generally work at a much higher budget level, they each bring a valuable perspective on aspects of smart producing and a genuine appreciation of the vital importance of the showcase as a developmental step for new works," explains TRU executive director Bob Ost.

This essential TRU Boot Camp for producers as well as self-producing actors, writers and directors offers training geared to those working at the reading and Equity Showcase level, and perfect for anyone planning to produce either in festivals or independently. This two-day course will cover everything from production timeline and budgeting to raising money and marketing. Industry experts from various fields will be on hand for step-by-step guidance, offered in accessible modules.

"So many people who jump into the murky waters of producing really need help navigating. TRU has identified some basic teachable skills to help them manage both their productions and their expectations, as well as save them a whole lot of time, effort and money," says Ost. "I can't tell you how many early-career producers have told me they wish they'd found TRU before attempting their first showcase."

The 2013 TRU Boot Camp faculty includes producers Patrick Blake (The Exonerated, In the Continuum), Patricia R. Klausner (Pippin, Trip to Bountiful, Scottsboro Boys, Stick Fly), John Lant and Cheryl Wiesenfeld (Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, Porgy & Bess, A Steady Rain, The Exonerated, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty), general manager/producers Emileena Pedigo and Michael Roderick, casting director Jamibeth Margolis, marketing whiz Rick Berube, TRU publicist Michelle Tabnick, and lawyers Erach Screwvala, Esq. and Lisaroxanne Walters, Esq. Each day ends with a networking wine reception. For the schedule of presentations, visit http://www.truonline.org/BootCampWeekend13.htm.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-one year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-Producing Artists as well as career producers and theater companies.

TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; TRU offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include an Annual Combined Audition and quarterly Resource Nights and "Speed Dating" as well as free monthly actor workshops, in partnership with Weist-Barron Studios.

Built in 1907 and converted into a theatre in the late 1940's, The Players Theatre, host of the monthly TRU panels, has been a jewel in the midst of beautiful Greenwich Village, serving as a magnet for performing artists and their audiences. The mainstage theatre has been home to such long run productions as An Evening with Quentin Crisp, Psycho Beach Party and Ruthless starring an 8 year old Brittany Spears, Natalie Portman and Legally Blonde the Musical's Laura Bell Bundy. The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, a 60-seat loft space on the 3rd floor offers an intimate home for TRU's panels, as well as a range of new works. For more information, please visit www.theplayerstheatre.com.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens and Council Member Christine Quinn; The Montage Foundation, as well as generous support from the Friar's National Foundation Association.

For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.