FINAL DRAFT DISCOUNT & TEMPLATES

This just in...

Now that Final Draft (the leading software company for script writing) will include the DG Format for Plays and Musicals, we are pleased to announce that our friends at Final Draft have graciously awarded our members a substantial discount for the software.

On the market cost: $229

Discounted cost to Dramatist Guild Members: $109
That’s a $120 savings, folks!

DG Members are being afforded the full-functional, downloadable educational version of the software.

For DG members to order at a discounted price they may go to:

https://www.finaldraft.com/specials/specials-orderprod.php

and enter the code: dramaguild8

Once you’ve downloaded your version of Final Draft, you can visit the company’s template library to add the DG Formats directly into your software by visiting: http://finaldraft.com/support/software/templates/

Can they do that?

Just got back from Laramie a few days ago. If you've never attended a regional festival for KCACTF, or any festival/conference like ATHE or MATC or SETC or...whatever, it's a thrilling experience. For one, you get to hang out with a whole bunch of theater folks, making conversations over beer or coffee, making friends, meeting old friends, but also the chance to attend classes, forums and panels. I met a lot of great playwrights, both students and faculty, and also met some folks from the "real world", like Kate Snodgrass at Boston Playwrights.

This is why we need an annual conference for The Dramatists Guild of America (and we're working on it! Really!)

I had been invited there by the Northwest Drama Conference (NWDC) as an invited playwright and representative of the Guild. I was there to teach a Monologue and a “Business of Playwriting” workshop. Here's the blurb for the latter:


“Can They Do That? The Business of Playwriting”
Playwriting is a business. Once your play is selected by a theater or university for production, you need to know much more than how to craft a scene. Do you know what a director can and can’t do with your script? Do you know the difference between a dramaturg and a co-writer? This class answers those questions and more We’ll cover the Dramatists Bill of Rights (or what should be in any contract) as well as discuss other production aspects including copyright, casting, rehearsals, billing, subsidiary rights, and compensation. We will also introduce you to the oldest organization advocating for your rights, The Dramatists Guild of America.

I was surprised to see The Business workshop overflowing—kids were sitting on the floor. As I went through my notes and talked about the Bill of Rights, I at first thought, “I’m not a lawyer and don’t know all that much…” then quickly realized, “Holy crap, these students are being taught absolutely NOTHING about new play development ins and outs”. They still thought playwrights could be banned from rehearsals and that the directors had the right to change stage directions without asking the playwright. This was a bit eye opening to me, especially since there was even a faculty member in the audience asking me questions.

I prefaced the class that though I was talking about contracts primarily, what we're really talking about is relationships. We're talking about how to work together in a way to make the show a success. Because the producers, directors, actors--we all want to put up a brilliant show. But sometimes we all have different ways of getting there and different needs. And its about opening the conversation so that there aren't misunderstandings later. It's not about being the Playwright Police, but about being included in the production process.

Afterwards a student said to me, "Man, I didn't know ANY of that stuff." And I replied, "How would you?" When I first started writing plays in college, I knew nothing about marketing, copywright, contracts, and other business stuff. I just wanted to see my play put up. I joined the Guild in NYC only after some really bad experiences and getting contracts in my face and me not knowing what industry standards were. I had no idea of the amount of things I didn't know.

And I think most of us are in that category.

I plan to present this workshop here in this region to our members as one of our free seminars. Likely that will be in April, but will keep you all posted.

So if this is something that you're interested in and want to see, let me know. Shoot me an email or give me a call.

Festival of Northwest Plays

Festival of Northwest Plays
co-sponsored by NPA and the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts & Univ. of Puget Sound
Discounted Festival Passes Available Now!

Four new full-length plays
three evenings of ten-minute plays

Including works by
C. Rosalind Bell, Brent Hartinger, Ki Gottberg, John Longenbaugh, Gregory Hischak, Kamarie Chapman, Paul Mullin, Bryan Willis, Beth Amsbary, Phillip Atlakson, Sol Olmstead, Eva Suter, Glenn Hergenhahn, Dan Erickson, Jon Haller, Sean Walbeck, Bryan Willis, C.P. Stancich, Emily Freece, Michael Gaiuranos, Lindsey Newman, Gregory Youtz, Adam Quesnell, Terri Clark, Jon Haller, Dano Madden....

Buy your pass now and
See Every show for only $50!

Where: Theater on the Square, Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, Tacoma
When: Feb. 22 - March 2, 2008
Tix: Reserve you pass with a $50 check payable to "Northwest Playwrights Alliance."
Group Rates available.

Mail orders to:
Bryan Willis
NPA
P.O. Box 1088
McCleary, WA 98557
for more information contact willis@olynet.com

KC/ACTF Regional Festival Next Week

Just FYI for all, I will be attending the KC/ACTF Regional Festival in Laramie, WY next week, hosted by the University of Wyoming.

So if you don't hear from me for a little while, that's where I'm at.

If you're going to be at the festival for some reason, please let me know and maybe we can get together and chat.

Congrats to Sean Walbeck

Sean's got two premieres at the Bellinghamster One-Act Theatre Festival 3!

ROVER'S GOT ISSUES, how Mission Control handles a newly self-aware Mars Explorer and EXIT, CHASED BY A BEAR, a bear-human collision in Montana told in iambic pentameter are both produced by ANBAHAR's Black Market Theatre and directed by Shawn Fuller.

Also, the BOAT3 Festival is Whatcom County's only fringe-style festival, with 11 companies producing 16 works.

Festival dates are February 25-March 8, 2008.

Single tickets $4; passes for everything $10.

Questions? www.bellinghamtheatreguild.com

NPA Call for Scripts for NorthNorthwest

NPA and the WWU Theater Arts Dept. are collecting submissions for the third edition of "NorthNorthwest," an anthology of ten-minute plays. Many of these plays are later included in the NPA/WWU/KCACTF touring program. These scripts are also being integrated into the curricula of several colleges and universities.

Deadline: Scripts must be received by March 15, 2008

Previously produced: OK! You don't have to lie this time about that "workshop" production you had in Nebraska.

Multiple Submissions: Fine, but don't get too whacky

Script length: 1-10 pages

Cost: Cost? This is NPA, what do you mean "cost"?

Format: please send hard copies to:

Bryan Willis, NorthNorhtwest WWU Theater Dept. 516 High Street, M.S. 9108
Bellingham, WA 98225.

Please include an SASE if you wish to have your script returned.

E-mail submissions are even better: NorthNW@hotmail.com

Notification: June '08.

Questions: please contact Sam Abraham: sambraham@hotmail.com

The Waiting Game

So you’ve waited six months to hear from the theater and no response.

What do you do?

a) Write a hateful email saying how disrespectful they are and hope someone drops a piano on their mom
b) Write a nice email reminding them about the script they requested and asking where it might be in the process
c) Call up the theater and start yelling at whoever answers the phone

Okay, so the obvious answer is b.

And actually, maybe that isn’t so obvious (as someone who’s worked in a literary office, I’ve actually had hate mail addressed to me…you haven’t lived till you’ve been personally lambasted by a frustrated playwright…).

NEVER ever send any emails or call anybody with any kind of emotional response, like anger (crying isn’t good either—just makes you seem unstable).

A DG member recently asked me a great question about handling response times from theaters. He’d recently been requested to send some scripts out to some big places and was wondering, among a host of other things, if it would be appropriate to contact the Literary Manager or Associate about the play at the end of the response time (which is typically anywhere from 4 to 8 months).

My response is that it’s perfectly reasonable to contact the name of that person on that letter or email.

I had actually said, you can call them.

Now, some Lit. Mgrs probably may not prefer that. They’d rather deal with you only via email. Sure. But if they’ve requested the script from you, they’ve obviously shown an interest and I think it’s only fair, professional and business-like that someone can tell you what the status is of your play. So call them and see if even an intern can spare five minutes to let you know if its been read or what.

But remember, BE NICE.

Everyone in a the literary office is overworked and underpaid and they do want to find a brilliant script that’s right for their theater. It just may not be yours at that place in time. So respect that.

And also, they may love your script but it just doesn't fit. So they'll ask to see what else you have...if they do, congratulations! Like I said, they're overworked and no one will ask to add more to their reading pile unless they really mean it.

What you want to do is establish a relationship with the Literary office. And like all relationships, they take time.

So be patient.

For more about submissions, go to this great link at Playwrights Center.

NW Regional Meeting 2-1-08 Minutes

THE DRAMATISTS GUILD OF AMERICA
Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting
Saturday, February 2nd
Seattle Center House, 4th Floor, Room I
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

MEETING MINUTES
Administered by Dennis Schebetta, Regional Representative


The meeting began with introductions by myself and all the other members present (see attendees list at end). It was clear that we all have various backgrounds and levels of experience, showing the inclusive nature of the Guild.

Guild Updates• Portland Regional Rep—unfortunately, we have no rep for the Portland area but we are working on it.
o This delved into a quick discussion of the fact that the Regional Representative is such a new role—a year ago only Dan Berkowitz was in L.A. and now we have them in almost every major city. The job duties are still being defined and the Regional Reps are even now still learning how to efficiently utilize each other as resources.

• Friday Night Footlights—This was an open discussion on the plan for monthly staged readings and to get further input from members on questions about it.
o Sean, Duane and John all commented on seeing readings at various other venues and wondered about how much of an audience there would be.
o Karen asked for what purpose? My answer was that it could be used however the dramatist deems—as a showcase for a finished work, a development reading, an early draft reading, for a full-length play, a series of short plays, etc.
o La’Chris asked a wonderful question about publicity and getting the word out. Does the Guild have funding in place for any marketing? At this point, I don’t know what our funding parameters are for the region. I know we have some funds available but not sure how anything has been earmarked and I suspected that it may vary region by region.
o Duane also mentioned how difficult it is to get people to readings—they are much more likely to come to productions. But the question remained, was it because the readings had a ticket price? Will we have the same outcome for free readings? My other point was that it’s the hope that these readings will somehow lead to productions, not more readings.

• Points discussed about Friday Night Footlights:
o The readings will be FREE. Free for DG members to participate (though they will have to self-produce it) and free for all audience members.
o Because the readings are free, and because the playwrights aren’t getting paid, neither are the directors and actors.
o It was suggested that the two playwrights could join forces for utilizing actors and/or directors for the one evening (one evening being two slots)
o It would be beneficial to have a list of actors/directors who are interested
 Possibility of using UW students or working with Freehold in order that the readings could be educational as well as promotional (teaching actors/directors how to work on new works)
o What would be beneficial is to have a venue that could be part of a partnership with another group or theater (Theater Schmeater, LiveGirls, Next Stage, etc.?). This would be great if we could always have it at the same space.
 Duane mentioned that perhaps ACT might be a possibility, as well.

Town Hall Meeting• Drama Guild/NPA/Seattle U. Playwriting Forum will be May 11th and 12th. Gary Garrison, Ralph Sevush and David Faux will be visiting Seattle.
• The forum and the Town Hall meeting will be free
• There will be an “In Conversation With…Steven Dietz”. This is also free.
• There will be workshops with Dietz and Braden Abraham (directing a new play). These will cost $75.
• Bryan Willis of the NPA is still finalizing the agenda and once we know more details, we’ll let you know. Unfortunately, he could not make this meeting to answer questions.
• At the end of the meeting, someone suggested a social function before the forum and the Town Hall, which is an excellent idea. I would love to see if we can find a bar somewhere on Friday night for some kind of “cocktail reception”, an informal way of meeting each other and meeting Gary, Ralph & David (depending on when they fly into town).

Goals for the region• Discuss regional meetings—we had skipped over this and briefly touched on it at the end of the meeting
• Education—I stressed the importance of the shift the Guild is making, in its language in the Bill of Rights, but also as it targets educational institutions like universities and high schools. This launched a discussion of directors and actors ignorant on how to work on new works.
o This is a vital part of some of the changes happening in the Guild. I, myself, will actually present on the Guild and the Bill of Rights later this month at the regional Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival.
o Many of us traded a few war stories about director/playwright collaborations gone wrong.
o John asked an excellent question, though, of “how do you get directors and actors to come to a workshop, even if its free, that talks about the Bill of Rights, basically saying, this is what you can’t do with the play…?” To which, I replied, “well, obviously, that’s not how we talk about it, because its not about that…They can talk to us about changes and talk to us about what’s going on…We need to ensure we’re part of the conversation. We need to make sure directors know how to collaborate with living playwrights.”
o Literary Manager Forum—only briefly talked about this. No details or date has been set.
o “Business of Playwriting”—this was tied into our conversation about working with directors and actors.
o Self-Producing Workshop.
 John, La’Chris and Sean have all self-produced and had opened the idea of mentoring other playwrights in order to teach them how to put up their own show.

• TPS at Bumbershoot.
o Sean asked about what that was, what it meant and I said I was going to talk to someone about the submission process of this for 2008 or 2009. Would it be beneficial to create a showcase of DG member works? Short comedies? Samples of work?
o John had produced in it before and said it’s a festival so there’s almost always a guaranteed crowd. Comedies work best.
o The space they use is the big one at Center House.
• Sean asked another great question; “How does a regional playwright get an agent if they are all in NYC or L.A.” This opened up a discussion about agents here in Seattle (there are none) and/or also getting your work in the door of larger institutions. Is it possible to get a NY agent to visit the region?
o I had mentioned that some DG members have taken advantage of the free space in the Loewe room in NYC, rehearsing a show out of that town and bringing it in to NYC as a showcase, and not sure how that might work in reverse.
o I offered that the DG National Meeting/Conference is in the works for next year and perhaps this could be something to think about for that? If there is a way to bring agents and literary managers to that meeting?
• Steve mentioned the idea he had brought up at the last meeting regarding having a website with a list of plays and synopsis and/or play samples (similar to Playwrights Center or New Dramatists).
o Perhaps this is something we might even be able to do with TPS?
o Later someone mentioned that we might even be able to do an online script library (possibly even work with Rain City Projects).

• John mentioned that there are two things that many playwriting organizations talk about but never do:
o 1) A social event. This could be meet for drinks at a bar or something along those lines. It is important to meet each other in friendly, relaxed surroundings, not just in meetings, readings, etc.
 This is where Sean gave the idea that an excellent opportunity to meet would be prior to the Town Hall Meeting in May.
o 2) A group that meets possibly bi-weekly to read scripts-in-progress or new scripts. This is relatively an easy thing to do, but is rarely done. Can the DG do something like that? Each playwright could have 20 pages each (or 30 minutes) and we could do 6 or 9 playwrights per session?
 Steve mentioned that they have a writer’s group in Pt. Townsend but many others did not have anything like this.


Conclusion/Remarks:

The meeting concluded with a strong sense of agreement about the types of programs we’d like to see in this area. Many members at this meeting echoed what has been said by others at the first meeting. Several of the challenges we face are simply challenges that all dramatists are facing in every region. However, the fact that the Dramatists Guild has been around for so long and is not a “start-up” liable to fold for lack of money or resources is assuring to most. The challenge, as I stated, is that even though we can trust the sustainability of the Dramatists Guild, the programs we establish in this area must be equally sustainable.

As I said at the beginning of the meeting, change is gradual, but it is happening. The Dramatist magazine is far different than it was a year ago. Members have noticed and appreciate that. In addition, all the members were enthusiastic about the new layout and categorization of the Resource Directory.

Being the second regional meeting of the Dramatists Guild, I was pleased with the level of attendance and engaging discussions, but would love to see and meet more of our members. Several had prior commitments, but it is my hope that we’ll be able to show our numbers at the Town Hall in May. That will serve as our next regional meeting, with a meeting to follow in July or August.


Attendees
Ramon Esquivel
La’Chris Jordan
Karen Kantor
Duane Kelly
John Longenbaugh
Kevin O’Morrison
Louisa Rose
Dennis Schebetta
Steve Treacy
Dave Tucker
Sean Walbeck