A New TV Series Highlights New Play Readings by Diverse Playwrights with Diverse Stories

The Highlighter Reading Series: New Plays / New Media, is raising $11,000 for this exciting new production. The fundraiser is raising money to film a pilot to pitch, as a series, to various media outlets like PBS, Hulu, Amazon, etc. Artistic Director Christian Haines (Shotz, Winner at NYC FRINGE Fest) has partnered with Producing Artistic Director Mark Vashro (Sundance Grand Jury Prize for "Thunder Road", Bike Against the Wind) to bring this series to life.

Through this series they aim to expose a larger audience to amazing plays by modern playwrights, inspire artistic directors to see and take on new material, encourage more people to see live theater, engage audiences in a larger dialogue about storytelling, inspire theater artists, connect young audiences to new plays and increase diversity (ie racial, gender and LGBTQ representation). Further, their goals are ?to produce high quality filmed readings of new plays, find the best new plays out there, bring together the best talent and find a distributor for this series.

The pilot episode will feature Steven Cole Hughes' (Fight or Flight Theater Co, Regis University, Denver Center Theater Company) A Good Indian. Set against the background of the Wounded Knee massacre of 1890, and idealistic Indian Agent must balance the tension between his unhappy wife, a bloodthirsty US army captain and a Lakota medicine man who wants his people to dance The Ghost Dance.

The Indiegogo campaign for, The Highlighter Reading Series: New Plays / New Media, runs through February 11th. Different donation levels offer recognition and a Highlighter Series Highlighter. For more information please visit www.highlighterreadingseries.com or visit www.IndieGogo.com and type in the word "Highlighter". For any questions please email highlighterreadings@gmail.com.

Christian Haines is the founding Artistic Director of AmiosNYC and the Producing Artistic Director of ShotzSF. He has been seen in Value Over Replacement (TBA Award for Featured Actor), Romeo & Juliet, Miss Julie, Death of a Salesman, Aloysius in New York, The Affair, Escape from Roosevelt Island, Bartleby the Scrivener, Cloud 9, Macbeth, King John, 5th of July, This is Our Youth, The Altruists, Murder, Woyzeck, Snake in Fridge, Richard III, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Trip to Bountiful and dozens more. Directing credits include: The Guys (The Pear), Boeing Boeing (RVP), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Tides), A Message (Arabian Shakespeare Festival), Heroes and Other Strangers (Best of FRINGE NYC), Strictly Convenience (Fourfold Productions), Icarus' Mother (Actors Theatre of San Francisco) and a bunch of Shotz plays. Ensemble creations include: Brundibar (The Actors Center), Aloyisius in New York (Amios), Woyzeck, Three Weekends in June, and Water Freezes Hexagonally or the Five Star Hotel (Wits End). He holds an MFA from the National Theatre Conservatory.

Mark Vashro is an actor and filmmaker originally from Boise, ID and now calls the San Fransisco Bay Area his home. He graduated from Emerson College with two majors, one in acting and one in film production. He works as an actor and producer on commercials, industrials, short films, feature films, as well as live theater. He has produced several feature films including a cross country bicycling documentary titled "Bike Against the Wind" and many short films including "Thunder Road" the 2016 Sundance Grand Jury prize winner. As he continues to learn about the world around him, he is always excited to find new stories.

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