Theater Resources Unlimited Announces Next Writer-Producer Speed Date

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces a one-on-one networking event with commercial and indie producers, Writer-Producer Speed Date onJuly 15, 2018 with coaching sessions at 4:30pm and 5:30pm at Studios 353,353 W 48th St, NYC. For more information, visit https://truonline.org/events/speed-date-07-18/. Application extended to July 5, 2018. Application must be accepted before purchasing tickets. Tickets are available for purchase for accepted applicants on July 7, 2018. Tickets are $75 for TRU Members; $85 for non-members, $25 per additional collaborator. Tickets may be purchased at https://truonline.org/events/speed-date-07-18/.

You meet a producer at a party and have two minutes to interest him in your work. Do you have the skill to sell yourself? Here's a chance to practice your pitching with real producers who are open to and looking for new work. Okay, they probably won't option you on the spot, but you'll meet them and have the opportunity to start developing a relationship. And that's what this business is all about. Relationships.

I participated in TRU's Writer's Speed Date Pitch session last year, and got a LOT out of it! I found it so motivating to have a deadline to create production assets and prepare myself for meeting producers. My partner and I worked tirelessly for days before the event to make sure we were in top form before presenting (as writers) to the "producers" on hand. My experience was one of the rare occasions where several producers expressed real interest in my work. Later, one attended my reading, and followed up with a coffee meeting to talk financing. We're still in touch. Again, this is never promised, but it does happen for some of us. In my opinion, the price of $85 for all that value is a BARGAIN! ~Ed Zareh

The speed date was essential to my production, helped me learn how to communicate about my work. ~Yaakov Bressler

I've had follow-up meetings with two people I met from the event. and provided scripts to three others. I also met some fellow playwrights, and through a chain of introductions coming out of that, I'm now working on a possible film deal in Los Angeles. If you have a project where you'd like to practice and receive feedback on your pitch; potentially make some connections that would be useful for script development or early production; and meet some other playwrights - this is an ideal opportunity. ~William Roetzheim

There will be eleven producers lined up, from both the commercial and not-for-profit worlds, all with an interest in new projects; there also may be eleven aspiring producers, including some from our Producer Development program. So you'll be pitching to as many as 22 producers in total! Come with a willingness to learn, because the real value is the chance to practice your pitching. And you'll be getting invaluable coaching from experts, as well. And did we mention the wine and snacks afterwards?

Confirmed producers include:

Margot Astrachan, producer (A Gentleman's Guide..., Ghost the musical, Around the World in 80 Days, Nice Work If You Can Get It, On a Clear Day...);

Patrick Blake, producer (The 39 Steps, Bedlam Theatre's Hamlet/St. Joan, My Life Is a Musical, Play Dead, The Exonerated);

William Franzblau, producer (Rocktopia, TONY Nominated Best Play Say Goodnight Gracie, American Buffalo and Wonderland on Broadway, the tour of Little House on the Prairie the Musical; off-Broadway This One's for the Girls, Sistas, Jewtopia, Evil Dead the Musical, Illuminate);

RK Greene, producer (Peter & the Starcatcher, Cougar, Room Service);

Cooper Jordan, Producer of Live Entertainment for New York, Atlantic City and Northeast Touring Productions (The Rat Pack Undead, Dex! a killer musical);

Cody Lassen, producer (Indecent, Significant Other, The Band's Visit);

Lawrence D. Poster/Asparagus Entertainment, producer (Rags, Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging, Fingers and Toes);

Markus Potter - producing artistic director NewYorkRep, producer (The Velocity of Autumn, Stalking the Bogeyman);

Shela Xoregos, artistic director of Xoregos Performing Company;

Ken Waissman, producer (original Grease, Torch Song Trilogy, Over Here!,Agnes of God);

Frank Zuback, producer (Taking Leave, American Soldier, Roof of the World)

Coaches: Sharon Albert, Bailie Slevin and Gillien Goll. Trailing producers will include Mark Butler*, artistic director of The Wild Whatever; Mike Griffiths, producer and managing director of marketing at Dixon Place;Jeffery Lyle Segal*, writer/producer.

* member or graduate of TRU's Producer Development & Mentorship Program (PDMP)

Sunday July 15th
Session 1: coaching at 4:30, pitching at 5:30
Session 2: coaching at 5:30, pitching at 6:30

Deadline to apply extended to July 5th at 6pm. Visithttps://truonline.org/events/speed-date-07-18/ for application. Please fill out and email to TRUStaff1@gmail.com (put "Speed Date" in the file name). Late applications will be considered subject to availability. Store will open for purchase on July 7th, after the 22 writers have been selected. If you are coming in from out of town, you may request early acceptance.

PRODUCER BIOS:

Margot Astrachan is a commercial theatrical producer based in New York. Producer: the National Tour of Ghost the Musical, the Tony Award winning Broadway musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and the Broadway play The Realistic Joneses, as well as the recent Nice Work If You Can Get It on Broadway; in addition, she was a producer of the musical Busker Alley and the revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever among others. She was the American Artistic Director of the Jermyn Street Theatre in London, and The Kings Head Theatre in London, and has had over 30 years' experience producing special events for Arts Organizations such as The York Theatre Company, The Theatre Museum, and BritArts of The St. George's Society, which featured British and American theatre professionals in readings and panels in New York. She is a Director of The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), a Director of The League of Professional Theatre Women, a Director of The Episcopal Actors Guild, a Director of the Theatre Wing Board of the Kaufman Cultural Center, and a Director of The American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Ms. Astrachan is a member of The Association of Performing Arts Presenters, The National Alliance For Musical Theatre, The Broadway League, The Dramatists Guild, the Advisory Board of TRU, British American Business, Inc. and BAFTA. She is a graduate of CTI (The Commercial Theatre Institute).

Patrick Blake is a writer/producer based in New York and San Francisco, and Founding Artistic Director of Rhymes Over Beats, a hip hop theater company. In New York Theater, he is a producer of the off-Broadway revival of The 39 Steps, the off-Broadway transfer of Bedlam Theater Company's dual productions of Hamlet and Saint Joan, and is currently producing My Life Is a Musical (from the TRU Voices series) which had a debut production at Bay Street Theatre. He was one of the producers of Play Dead! at The Players Theatre, he has produced In the Continuum at Perry Street Theatre, Noah's Archive, Joe Fearless, The Exonerated (Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Court TV's Scales of Justice Award) and The Soap Myth at Southstreet Seaport. He also produced Dirty Works at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He was Executive Producer for the short film, The Igloo, and the feature film Mr. Smith Gets a Hustler. Patrick is a proud board member of TRU.

William Franzblau produced the recent Broadway Rocktopia. He created and produced the Tony Nominated Best Play Say Goodnight Gracie, produced David Mamet's American Buffalo on Broadway, and the tour of Little House on the Prairie the Musical starring Melissa Gilbert. He also served as the Executive and Lead Producer for Broadway's Wonderland. He licensed and produced the off-Braodway shows, SISTAS the Musical (recently shot and broadcast on BET, now in its sixth year off Broadway), This One's for the Girls, Jewtopia, Evil Dead the Musical, the male intellect: an oxymoron, Respect and ILuminate (America's Got Talent Finalist) while developing several Broadway shows including Paramount's Crazy People and the new Rupert Holmes play, Kennedy/Reagan. As Chief Executive Officer of the high technology company, KATrix Inc. he created strategic alliances with the Walt Disney Company, Microsoft Corporation, MGM and the Intel Corporation. In the early nineties, Mr. Franzblau co-founded Interfilm Inc., a publicly traded company combining interactive technologies with cinematic art. He was the driving force in putting together an $18 million initial public offering underwritten by Smith Barney and subsequently facilitated the sale of the company via a reverse triangular merger with Palatin Technologies, Inc. From 1990 through 1992 Mr. Franzblau served as producer of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles touring show, a 21-month tour involving 500 appearances in 200 cities and 10 countries, for which he managed all aspects of the business development and operations. The tours grossed over $60 million in sponsorships, ticket sales and merchandising as well as spinning off a double platinum record and a national pay-per-view. Previous to the above Mr. Franzblau served as Executive Producer of three tours of the Moscow Circus on Broadway and North America and produced the touring productions of BEATLEMANIA.

RK Greene is a producer of the Broadway and off-Broadway hit Peter & the Starcatcher as well as Terms of Endearment and Cougar The Musical. As an entrepreneur, R.K. has started several businesses over the years. A theatre professional since 1978, he was a founding member of the Seattle Group Theatre, a multi-cultural ensemble that produced its own work. As an actor, he appeared in numerous productions Off-off Broadway, on tour and in regional theater, producing several projects including a multi-state tour of Mass Appeal. In 2000, he founded The StoryLine Project, LLC, a commercial theater Production Company, to develop new plays and musicals. SLP made its debut as an above line producer for the Off Broadway hit, Room Service, and went on to produce Love Child and A Time to Kill. In the non-profit world, R.K. is the Marketing Director at The Directors Company and helped to transfer Irena's Vow to Broadway and produce several shows at 59E59 Theaters. His most recent production was Farinelli and the King at the Belasco.

Cooper Jordan is one of New York's youngest up and coming producers. Creator/Producer of The Rat Pack Undead, Cerisaie Film's Life in a Box (Executive Producer), Premiere Off-Broadway play at Times Scare - The Deathly Ones: A SuperNatural Thriller(Producer), Deathbed at Theater Row (Production Manager), Sex on Trial (General Manager). Currently producing The Rat Pack Undead, Boogie Stomp, Sweethearts of Swing, and DEXTER: The Unauthorized Musical Parody. Prior to producing, Cooper performed in Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Chernuchin Theater, Circle in the Square Theater, HERE Mainstage, and with Blood Manor NYC for three seasons. Cooper is a member of Theater Resources Unlimited and currently serves on the Advisory Board of Ripple Effect Artists and last year served as Event Coordinator for SOUL DOCTOR on Broadway.

Cody Lassen is a Tony-nominated theatre producer and live entertainment consultant. Broadway productions include The Band's Visit, the Deaf West Theatre revival of Spring Awakening, Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, Paula Vogel's Indecent and Joshua Harmon's Significant Other. Upcoming: Untitled #4 off-Broadway and in LA Holding the Man, with The Australian Theatre Company and a revival of Merrily We Roll Along directed by Michael Arden. In addition to producing his own projects, Cody consults for producers, theaters and agencies to help them discover how they should market their shows for the best chance of financial and critical success. Previously, he oversaw marketing efforts for Los Angeles' Center Theatre Group and its three theaters: the Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre. He is an active member of the Broadway League, the National Association of Musical Theatre, and serves on the Board of NY's Vineyard Theatre. More info at codylassen.com.

LAWRENCE D. POSTER is the Founder, Managing Member and Lead Producer of Asparagus Entertainment, LLC. He has been Associate Producer of 4 Off-Broadway Shows: Forbidden Broadway, Alive and Kicking - on almost everyone's Top 10 List (2012-13); Forever Dusty (2012-13); Becoming Dr. Ruth (2014); and Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging (2014). He also was lead Producer of Fingers & Toes, developing it in New York and licensing it for 2 Regional Productions (2013, 2014). He is currently assisting Producers with several new plays and Musicals and is Lead Producer of The Harlem Ladies' Knittin' and Bitchin' Society (www.harlemladies.com), now in development. His producing debut began with Rags, the 1986 Charles Strouse, Stephen Schwartz, Joe Stein musical of immigrants on the Lower East Side, which Mr. Poster hopes one day to return to Broadway. In addition to theater, Lawrence has also pursued a career in Management Consulting, Executive Search and Investment Banking. Lawrence is an Alumnus of numerous CTI courses, including the 14-Week Program, which at the time he attended was 16 weeks. He is or has been a Member of the Off-Broadway Alliance, The Off-Broadway Theatre League and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT), and has been a supporter of the New York Musical Festival (NYMF) - Platinum Supporter - 3 years; Playwrights Horizons and Amas Musical Theatre. He is also a veteran Member of the Amateur Comedy Club performing on its stage, most notably as Sergeant Match in What the Butler Saw.

Markus Potter is a NYC based director, and the producing artistic director of NewYorkRep. Recent directing: Stalking the Bogeyman off-Broadway at New World Stages (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination, NYtimes critics pick), Lost Boy Found In Whole Foodsby Tammy Ryan at The Portland Stage Company, Why You Beasting by David Don Miller (Best of FringeNYC - Time Out NY critic's pick), North Carolina Stage Company, Luna Stage and the Weston Playhouse. As a former actor: Guthrie Theatre, Long Wharf, American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Rep, San Francisco Shakespeare, Cherry Lane Theatre, Tour of Death of a Salesman with Christopher Lloyd, Studio Theatre DC, Denver Center and many more. Potter received his MFA from Columbia University and has taught and guest directed at many MFA/BFA programs around the county including the Guthrie, The Denver Center, AMDA, and Adelphi University. He is currently a mentor to the MFA playwrights at the New Hampshire Institute of Art.

Ken Waissman is one of only two producers in the history of Broadway to have a musical run over 3000 performances and a play run over 1000. (The other producer he shares this distinction with is the legendary David Merrick.) Waissman developed and produced the original Broadway production of Grease as well as two of Broadway's longest running plays, Agnes of God by John Pielmeier and Torch Song Trilogy by Harvey Fierstein.Waissman's first Broadway credit was the 1971 Paul Zindel play And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little with Estelle Parsons and Julie Harris, and his prolific Broadway efforts have resulted in four motion picture features, a PBS TV special, 25 Tony Award® nominations, and 5 Tony Awards® including a Tony Award® as 'Best Play Producer.' His new musical, Josephine, inspired by Josephine Baker, had its World Premiere in April at the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, Florida. Deborah Cox played the title role and Joey McKneely directed and choreographed.

SHELA XOREGOS began life and her dance training in Mississippi. She studied ballet, tap and modern dance techniques. She moved to San Francisco's North Waterfront area, opening the Attic Studio and Theater and incorporated her newly founded Xoregos Performing Company which became known for combining dance, plays, music, poetry and song in various permutations, for commissioning new works of music, choreography and theater as well as for dancing early American pieces. Writers from whom she commissioned scripts for the Xoregos Performing Company included Leonard Cahn (The Picture of Dorian Gray, L'Histoire du Soldat), Rick Foster (Birthday of the Infanta, Shadowfall, Love Isadora) and Curtis Zahn (Zahn Street). Choreographers who created distinguished dance works included Carolyn Carlson, Welland Lathrop, Rael Lamb, Nancy Spanier and stage director David Ostwald. She was invited to become Producing Director of Dance for the Atheneum Arts Foundation and produced concerts for them with ballet and modern companies, flamenco dancers and dance soloists including Ruth St. Denis and Noel Parenti. Duke Ellington composed Psycheledic Suite for her, which she performed with him and his orchestra; the Duke then invited her company to dance in his Second Sacred Concert at Grace Cathedral. She moved to New York City in the 1980's, where she continues to work as a free-lance director and choreographer for New York and regional companies. She directs classical theater (Euripides, Shakespeare, Wilde) as well as new plays and musicals. She continues to find and commission original works for the Xoregos Performing Company and maintains its important historical dance repertory: works by Charles Weidman, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Katy Litz and Loie Fuller.

FRANK ZUBACK was the Lead Producer for Moolah, a new comedy by Arje Shaw (The Gathering). Currently he is helping develop three new works: Taking Leave, American Soldier and Roof of the World. Frank has also had the great privilege of working on a number of shows and projects with the late director Tom O'Horgan (Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair). In addition, he has worked on over twenty musicals and was involved for thirty years on the Tony Awards. Also involved in the music and entertainment industry, Frank has worked with luminaries as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, conducted the Count Basie Orchestra, and the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and consulted on nine Super Bowl half-time shows. Mr. Zuback founded Frank Zuback Productions, which provides a wide range of services in the music and entertainment industry. Website - http://fzpi.com

COACHES

SHARON ALBERT has spent her career as a strategic marketing professional assisting global organizations in promoting their brands/services/products through the development of targeted messages to reach the right person, at the right time, using the right tactics. One of her main passions is all aspects of theatre - from a supporter of playwrights to a maniacal theatre-goer, attending over 100 performances a year. She is delighted to be part of the TRU team, and celebrates the creativity and hard work of all of its staff and members.

Gillien Goll

is both an acting teacher & acting coach. As a teacher, she can help you connect emotionally & truthfully to your role. As a coach, she can guide you to an audition that is truly exceptional and unique to showcasing your strengths and talents. With an additional background in coaching presentation techniques, she can help you overcome stage fright and nerves. As a produced playwright and TV & Film Story Editor (for Emmy winning producer Linda Yellen), she is adept at cutting & pasting dialogue together to create original monologues. She has taught courses in monologues, acting technique, scene study, voiceover, & on-camera acting, and has taught and/or lectured at Fordham University, AMDA (where she has been teaching since 2001), The Centaur Stage (at which she is Artistic Director), Barnard College, Wellesley College, and for ACTRA (the Canadian Actors Union), among others. She has also been an on set coach and cast a PBS movie. Having worked as a Casting Assistant for TV pilots and as a director (M.A. in Directing), she has been on the other side of the audition process and has a clear idea of what does and doesn't work. (She has watched literally thousands of hours of acting presentations at AMDA over the years!) Her clients appear in every medium: Broadway, films, TV shows, soap operas, commercials, first national tours, etc. An actor herself, she has appeared in film, television, and on stage; check out her website at www.gilliengoll.com

Bailie Slevin

is the founder of Entertaining Finance, a financial consulting and consulting firm geared specifically towards freelancers, specifically those in arts and entertainment. With 13 years of experience as a financial adviser and a hefty resume in theater, she is redefining planning for artists and entrepreneurs. She's worked with Certified Financial Services and Forest Hills Financial Group in finance and teaches Financial Literacy and Well-being workshops and speaks throughout the region on the specifics of Financial Management for Artists. As a stage manager, general manager, and producer on Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway, Tony Awards, Drama Desk, OBIE Awards, and IT Awards pepper Bailie's resume. Some of her favorite projects include The Norman Conquests, Altar Boyz, Naked Boys Singing!, Pursuit of Persephone, A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant, and Popesical in Concert at Joe's Pub. She currently serves as a board member for The PATH Fund and "Rockers on Broadway, a non-profit Arts organization committed to bringing arts education to all. Visit www.EntertainingFinance.com to learn more

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a twenty-five 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 the arts. 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; 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, How to Write a Musical That Works and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include the Annual Combined Audition, Resource Nights and "Speed Dating" as well as actor workshops.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, as well as the Montage Foundation and the Leibowitz Greenway Foundation.

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