Friday, May 23, 2008

ROUGH DRAFT

So I finished the play. Well, finished is not the right word. I finished the first draft.

It's 52 pages long. A page should be about a minute if performed on stage. So it's a one hour or so play. Humor. Tears. Tragedy. Life. It's written from the heart. It's working title is "On the Nod". I'm going to get some feedback on it and then do another draft or two. Then, my plan is to get two actresses in New York City (since I live in NYC, why not take advantage of the resources here?) to read the play aloud. Rewrite again after hearing it. Then submit it to theaters for readings, and God willing, a performance down the road. It's a two character play. Two sisters. Two choices that change the course of their lives.

Anybody know great actresses in NY looking to do a reading? Or a director? The hunt begins.

Happy Memorial weekend, people.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Screen Play

I'm two scenes from finishing my first full-length play. The first draft, that is. It's very exciting to work in this new format for me. Dialogue is always my favorite part of writing scripts and writing a play gives me the freedom to write lines without worrying about screenplay format constraints.

The hardest part of writing play scenes is writing about things that perhaps HAPPEN off stage (since we can't stage every element of the story) and yet keeping it in the moment for the actors. It's a fun challenge. I plan to have a table reading of the play someday in the fall. It only has two characters so it shouldn't be too difficult to cast in NYC. If anybody knows a dynamite stage director close to NY, let me know.

Tribeca Film Festival is wrapping up here in NYC. This year I only was able to see one of the documentaries -- Madonna's "I am Because We Are" which is a very inspirational and heartwrenching look at the battle of AIDS and poverty in Malawi. It's worth seeing if you get the opportunity.

"BABY MAMA" was pretty good -- love Tina Fey & Amy Poehler -- but the story fell a little short for me. Too bad Tina Fey didn't write the script, but it does have some laughs. Amy Poehler has one of the funniest lines about what it feels like to give birth...

... it's a lot like writing a screenplay.

Happy May!