PRACTICAL PLAYWRITING:
How to Write for Commercial Production
A ONE-DAY INTENSIVE for writers presented by
Theater Resources Unlimited and The Drama Center

Saturday October 24th, noon to 6pm
The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, Studio 2D

What often holds playwrights back is that they rarely consider the person who will buy and produce their product: the producer.  With all the work, hope and sweat they invest in considering character, theme and plot, playwrights rarely take into account produceability.

This half-day intensive will be taught by Diana Amsterdam of The Drama Centre, TRU's new Program Director for Playwrights. With segments of the workshop taught by presentation coach Roy Havrilack, who will help writers capture the essence of their piece in an effective synopsis, and learn how to present themselves successfully; and a panel of commercial producers including Patrick Blake, Cynthia Stillwell, Jeremy Handelman and others to be announced will offer feedback on writers' pitches as well as suggest appropriate markets for the works.

• WHAT IS PRODUCEABILITY? The fact that producers always ask this question, and playwrights hardly ever do, causes a serious disconnect between the commercial producer and most playwrights.

• WRITING TO A MARKET - We will ask each playwright questions he or she has probably never considered before: Who is your market? Who is going to buy tickets? Who is this play written for?

• WRITING VIABLY - Creating writing that holds the attention of the audience with a strong storyline and defined events. This module will cover such primary writing elements as: arc, desire, motivation, conflict, and the clear delineation of theme.

• WRITING ECONOMICALLY - Number of characters, number of sets, extravagance of sets: all these are serious considerations for most commercial producers.  Does the play require a casting director, or can it be done successfully by seasoned unknowns?  Is there a  chorus of thirty that can be pared down to two?  Are you kidding yourself when you think one actor can play eight parts?

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TRU WORKSHOP FACULTY
	DIANA AMSTERDAM is the CEO and Artistic Director of The Drama Center which originated at the Writers’ Voice at the West Side YMCA, where she taught playwriting for four years, and founded the Master Playwrights Class.  She also taught an original and highly popular dialogue-writing class.  TDC’s reading series was standing-room; and the development of the play The Prophet of Borough Park culminated in a showcase production.   Diana continues to coach playwrights through The Drama Center; and she is intensively developing plays with three outstanding student playwrights.  Diana is the originator of the Story Construction method which will soon go live at The School of Story Construction. www.thedramacentersite.org
	PATRICK BLAKE is a writer/producer based in New York and San Francisco. In New York theater, 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.
	CYNTHIA FRITTS STILLWELL, partner STILLWELL-LESTER, a full-service intellectual properties development company, specializing in the page-to-screen process of bringing the written word to life in film and television. Cynthia Fritts Stillwell brings years of experience to the company, with a firm belief in the power of the story. A good story sticks. It has the potential to open new windows, stimulate constructive thought, give hope, revolutionize, transform, inspire and provide a view into ever-widening horizons. A good story is all. Our mission and philosophy is to take our clients and their stories to the outer limits of possibility with no limitations. Stillwell-Lester also provides consultation and a wide range of value-added services in other areas of intellectual property, including theatrical properties and production, as well as presentation, business planning, branding, and marketing/public relations. We work with writers, editors, producers, creative artists, performing artists, directors, and others in the broad range of the arts and media. We serve our clients based on the variety of services they are seeking. We are able to manage, direct, mentor, advise and guide in all aspects of the creative process, based on the core question: “What do you need?” We believe in creating a supportive environment of trust. We work to ensure that our collaborations are partnerships which lead to the achievement of mutual goals and desires. Ultimately, Stillwell-Lester is about finding the promise, building confidence and conviction, nurturing talent, stimulating self-valuation and belief, exploring all options, and motivating our clients to always reach their next level of success.
	JEREMY HANDELMAN (Off The Leash Productions) has produced and managed many New York productions including Assholes & Aureoles, F*!king Up Everything, The Bronx Balmers, CYCLE: A Vaudeville Comedy, The Aspern Papers, Scapin, Five by Tenn, Fritz & Froyim, Following the Yellow Brick Road…Down the Rabbit Hole, and The ARTC Spring Reading Series. He is the author of The Bronx Balmers, Tic-Tac-Toe and numerous short plays. Jeremy is the founder of Off The Leash Productions, where he also produces and edits film and video. He is a proud member of TRU, in the TRU Producer Mentorship Program, and a member of the American Renaissance Theater Company, where he also serves as Outreach Coordinator. He is the former Marketing Adviser for Turtle Shell Productions, and is the facilitator and board member of the Turtle Shell Playwrights Platform. In a previous life as a television executive he was Vice President, Programming for CBS Sports.
	ROY HAVRILACK has been training attorneys and executives in presentation, marketing and management skills for several years.  He has taught and coached attorneys and partners at top law firms including Sullivan & Cromwell, Milbank Tweed, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Brown Rudnick, Allen & Overy, Shearman & Sterling, and White & Case.  He has also worked extensively with senior executives at leading financial institutions such as Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank.  Other clients include Avon Products, Inc. and Gemini Systems.  Roy has worked as a Client Services Manager for BusinessTalk, Inc., a training consultancy whose clients include Microsoft Corporation and leading accounting firms.  Roy is co-president of SkyTown Entertainment, LLC, a video and film production company that produces corporate sales and industrial videos, as well as short and feature-length films.   In addition to his experience as a trainer, Roy is also an actor in NYC. He starred in the award-winning independent film, “Say That You Love Me”, and was a recurring character on “One Life To Live”. Roy holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Oneonta State University.

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