Do I Need a Star?

Do I Need a Star?

by | Dec 4, 2019 | Inspiration, NPD, Theater, Writing Tips

The Need for Stars?

 

 “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” – Steve Martin

 

Writing a play and then staying the course to see it produced is a daunting task. It requires tremendous focus and 100% dedication to each step in the developmental process.

 Once you think your play “works,” the next step is to have a staged reading to introduce it to the public, either in NYC or elsewhere. A reading is the step before a workshop or a production.

 So if a staged reading is the step before a workshop or production, what is our goal for the staged reading? Getting people to see the reading. And not just ANY people – specifically, people who could help us get to that next step, a production or a workshop. (We also want to get smart, experienced people to the reading for them to give us feedback as well, but for the purpose of this blog post let’s stay with the people who can help us move the play forward.)

 So, who are these people? How can I get them into my reading?

 

 It’s All About Relationships

 

Since everything in this business is about relationships, you should be developing relationships and networking like crazy as soon as you realize that you want to be a playwright. Specifically, you want to cultivate relationships with Artistic Directors, directors, producers, and generally, almost anyone in the industry.

 Sooner or later you realize that everyone in the theater lives or dies by their network of friends and friends-of-friends. And it’s helpful to be friends with or in close association with someone who knows or has access to a “star.”

 

Getting a “Star” Interested in Your Play

 

 I can hear the plaintive cry from many of you: “I don’t have access to a star, and don’t know anyone who does!”

 Sigh. That’s where most of us start, but if you’re in this industry for any length of time and make an effort to network, you’ll inevitably meet someone (or hire someone) who knows someone to make a connection for you. And if your work is good enough (and your price is right), you’ll probably be able to hire someone that’s worked on Broadway before to be in your reading. Often it’s not as expensive as you think.

For a quick answer, you can contact your intended celebrity by signing up for the IMDbPro, which is what most people use. You can also try contactanycelebrity.com.

 BUT the real answer is that quality work shows up very early, in the writing and in the score (if we’re talking about musicals). Sometimes I start to read a script and quickly become riveted to the story. When it’s this good, I smile and say to myself that “the magic is starting to happen.”

Losing yourself in a theatrical world established by a talented writer is a completely magical experience. The “magic” is found on the page long before it makes its way to the stage, and if you’ve read a few hundred scripts or so like many of us have, you know it doesn’t happen all that often.

“Star” actors see the “magic” when they read your script; the same with “star” directors, music directors, and yes, theaters and producers. The cream always rises to the top. Eventually.

 Unfortunately it usually takes its damn sweet time getting there.

 

I Don’t Have a Star – Yet

 

Notice the operative word here – YET.

In order to find that “star” you think you need to attract the theaters and producers that you think you need to help move your script forward – the most important thing you need to remember is that the first star of your show is …. your script. 

Let me say it again.

Your writing should be so good that your SCRIPT is your very first “star.”

 So, while you continue to network and develop each of your plays, remember it’s the constant fine-tuning to your scripts that is the real work.

No amount of networking or self-producing expensive staged readings can substitute for the nitty-gritty down-and-dirty daily work of meeting with yourself every day to sit down and write.

  •  In order to make your writing the true star it needs to be, remember to acknowledge the daily discipline to write (or re-write) every day.
  • Remember to recognize the need for real craft in your work, and
  • Understand the need to constantly keep learning.

You must be a constant student of life and of the craft of writing to master the craft of writing.

 

As Steve Martin quipped, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.”

Want more ideas for writing your script? Sign up for our newsletter

 

 

 

Like talking structure? Sign up for my weekly newsletter for more tips on writing, producing and dramaturgy.

Make Submissions Easy

Make Submissions Easy

by | Nov 14, 2019 | Inspiration, NPD, Writing Tips

‘Tis the (Submission) Season

 

Ah, the coolness of the air, the crisp sound of the leaves rustling underfoot. It’s the time of non-profit galas galore and Christmas party networking.

For playwrights and librettists, it’s also the season of submissions.

I’m sorry to say that some of the major submission opportunities have already passed (the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, the Richard Rodgers Award, the Jonathan Larson Grant, and Sundance Theatre Lab, for instance). If you didn’t apply this year, there’s always next year.

However, there is still time for some other major festivals, like NYMF (which has extended their deadline to November 18).

 

Why Submit to Theaters and Festivals?

 

If you want to get your production on its feet and onstage, there’s no better way to begin the process than by participating in an established theater company or festival’s lineup, if you’re ready for it.

What do I mean by ready?

  • Your script has had at least one table reading and seems to “work”
  • You have had a few theater professionals advise you to move forward with the piece
  • You’re through with the re-writes, and it’s time for your script to live and breathe onstage in order to learn more about it.

I believe we’re living in an Age of the Playwright, something akin to the ancient Greek Fifth Century era, where the power of the theater and its storytelling was at its peak. Never before has there been so many writers and storytelling for production (which includes film, tv, and internet storytelling in addition to live theater). Our society is primed to consume storytelling via visual dramatic action, much more so than in previous eras when vital storytelling was shared primarily through words: through oral tradition or through text (novels, newspapers, poems and radio theater).

I call this the Age of the Playwright instead of the “Age of the Director,” since the ideas come from the playwright’s vision. A director interprets the theme and makes it come alive on stage, but the original vision, intention and form – the raison d’etre of a piece – remains embedded within the meaning endowed unto it by its creator, the writer.

And unfortunately more and more, the costs associated with birthing it to life come from the writer as well.

Enter the non-profit theaters and festivals. Drum roll, please.

 

Creative Playmaking in the 21st Century

 

I’m certainly not saying anything new, but the cost of putting your precious show onstage can be daunting. This is the world that I live in too, as a producer and mentor for many writers.

How do we create opportunities to put stories on stage in the 21st century? How can we produce our work, or help others to produce our work, without needing to take out a second mortgage on our home or risking money that we really shouldn’t risk?

The secret is two-fold of course:

  1. Through constant pitching for OPM (Other People’s Money) and
  2. By consistently submitting your work to as many opportunities as you can.

In a field where it seems as if “they” hold all the power, this is a wakeup call to remind you that YOU hold all the power.

  • This is your “baby,” your creation, and no one will foster it and promote it better than you
  • You hold all the cards, because at some point it is really a “numbers game” and entirely within your power to pitch or not to pitch, to submit or not to submit.

Let me say it again: “they” don’t hold all of the power; YOU hold all of the power.

You create your own opportunities.

 

Pitching and Submitting: Make It Easy

 

There are differences, and you must do both.

By “pitching” yourself and/or your work, usually in person, you are demonstrating that you are a professional artist that believes in yourself and in your work. “Submitting” is the process where you submit your work to a person, theater or festival, and then wait to see if you are selected through their process.

Every artist should have their two minute “elevator pitch” down pat, ready to go at a moment’s notice when fate puts an opportunity smack dab in your face. How many times have you felt yourself unprepared for that moment when the universe put someone in your path who could help you professionally,? Get your elevator pitch ready now.

That’s why I now insist that I constantly have a memorized elevator pitch for the shows I’m currently working on ready to “present” when an opportunity shows itself. You can follow up by email with people you meet in person with “pitching” materials prepared ahead of time, that give information about your show, reviews, a sizzle reel, etc.

Pitching should happen in person and over email if you know someone personally. A “cold” pitch is less effective, unless introduced by a common acquaintance. I try to always remember to follow up with prepared material after meeting someone and speaking about one of my shows. I keep their business card in my pocket or in plain sight as a reminder, so I don’t forget.

That may be a good goal for you in 2020.

 

People Are Interested in You!

 

People are interested in hearing about you and your work. They may also be willing to help you produce it or connect you to others who can, because either the work sounds compelling or, more often, they just really like YOU and want to help you succeed.

It’s up to you to sound articulate and represent yourself and your work really well by being prepared beforehand.

While pitching usually happens in person, submissions are done in the privacy of your own home or office. They rely on your organization of material and the productive use of your time. You MUST set aside a regular time each week to submit. Make it part of your weekly routine to submit to at least 4-5 opportunities a week on a regular basis.

 

You Hold All the Power

 

Writers who make a routine of setting aside a regular time each week to submit create more opportunities for themselves than writers who submit in a haphazard “I’ll get to it when I get to it” manner. Ditto those writers who have their pitches memorized and follow up afterward with pitching materials.

It’s all part of being a professional playwright in the 21st century.

 

It’s my job as a dramaturg and producer to inspire you and to help you in every way I can. I’m constantly trying to think of new ways to do this.

Recently I’ve been sitting down with writers to help them figure out ways to send out submissions more easily and quickly, making it “no big deal” to submit their work. If you make it part of your routine and have the needed documents at your fingertips, it actually becomes no big deal.

And that’s how you create opportunities that come to you.

 

Upcoming Submission Deadlines

 

I always advise my writers to join the Dramatists Guild and Play Submissions Helper to keep up with their submitting goals. I also am now reminding writers of upcoming deadlines in my weekly member newsletters. It helps to have the prodding come from a few different places!

Here are some of the upcoming deadlines for approaching deadlines for November that may be of interest to you:

The Eric H. Weinberger Award for Emerging Librettists at Amas Mustical Theatre

  • Deadline Nov. 29

The Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival

  • Deadline Nov. 30

Lost Nation Theater (see their Artistic Vision)

  • Deadline Nov. 30

Waterman’s Playwrights Retreats (Female Identifying Playwrights only)

  • Deadline 11/30

 

If I can help you dramaturgically with your script, help you achieve your submission goals, or if you would like a production consultation with next steps for your project, email me at cate@catecam.com   I’d love to speak with you.

 

Like talking structure? Sign up for my weekly newsletter for more tips on writing, producing and dramaturgy.

How to Get to Broadway in 3 [Not So Easy] Steps

How to Get to Broadway in 3 [Not So Easy] Steps

by | Jun 24, 2019 | Broadway, Theater

Still Flying After the TONYs?

 

How many of you are still flying high after the 2019 TONY Awards ceremony? The encouragement to all performers to continue the work, to celebrate our diversity, and the overall pure celebration of this art form in general and our NY Theater community specifically was so clearly demonstrated and felt. I want to hold on to this positivity and feeling of limitless potential – especially when life clearly wants to show me the opposite.

Who here wants to feel that you too can get to Broadway? How do we – we, the little people sludging through the theater pipeline – escape the muck and murkiness and come out shining on the Great White Way?

How do WE get go Broadway?

I’ve given this a LOT of thought – after all, it’s what I do – and from where I stand, here are my observations from watching how many of my friends who were present (and on screen) at the TONYs got there.

Here are my three not-so-easy steps on how to make it to Broadway:

  1. Get an idea that’s highly relevant
  2. Be prepared to do the work – for a long time
  3. Don’t be afraid to self-produce your own work.

 

Get an Idea That’s Highly Relevant

 

What speaks to you? What story, mission or message is burning a hole in your heart to get out to the world?

THAT’s the story you need to tell.

Chances are, if it’s burning a hole in your heart it’s burning a hole in many other hearts as well. You’re just the message-bearer meant to bring it to everybody else. And remember, karma’s a bitch.

Now what do I mean by “highly relevant”? By that I mean a message that:

  • Speaks to a larger issue in our culture that is of great concern. By identifying and promoting a larger conversation you are participating in the current cultural conversation and sharing the right ideas at the right time.
  • Topical or Universal. If your story, mission or message cuts across the cultural and chronological divide, you have a timeless human story with a thread that resonates for human beings everywhere. Human beings love to watch inspiring stories about other human beings struggling to succeed with something that’s important to them.
  • Stories that engage both the audience’s head AND heart. As I tell all the writers I work with, write from your heart first and edit with your head afterward.

If the message is important to you and you can answer the question, “Why this story NOW?” then it’s a highly relevant story.

 

Be Prepared to Write and Re-Write

 

Getting to Broadway is a marathon, not a sprint. If you only hold the vision of seeing your work being celebrated on a Broadway stage somewhere in the future, you’re in for many long, dark days stuck in the pipeline. Find joy in the process and understand that not every script needs to find its way to Broadway.

There are many smaller achievements to celebrate as you travel along en route. Learning to recognize and celebrate the little things that put a smile on your face gives you your daily inspiration to keep going.

  • Celebrate every “aha!” moment that comes from the daily work in the trenches (yes, I said daily). There’s joy in that delicious idea that manifests itself
  • Celebrate the YOU that’s becoming. You are DOING what you said you’d do for yourself, and in the promise you are growing into what you said you wanted – someone who writes successful plays or musicals. How many people that you know actually do what they dream? Remind yourself, “I AM a writer/composer/lyricist.”
  • Find the joy that comes with collaborating with other creative people. Part of becoming a successful writer is knowing and working with other creative and brilliant artists. Take joy in immersing yourself in all of the creativity that’s around you, until one day you realize this is where you belong. This is who you are.

A note of caution here: don’t feel compelled to listen to everyone. Not every opinion needs to be addressed by anything more than a brief acknowledgement. “Thank you, that’s interesting. I’ll think about it,” should be your most frequent response. However, if the same comment, in various forms, appears more than three times, it is probably something you should look at.

 

Don’t Be Afraid to Self-Produce

 

THE DREAM: I need to find a [producer, theater] to produce my script. I’m a writer, not a producer.

THE REALITY: You need to be your own producer – at least at first.

How many of you were always the last to be chosen for the softball teams? Doesn’t sitting on the bench suck? It’s the same here. Be proactive in your life. Start the momentum by producing your own work.

Overwhelming, you say? Take it easy. Start baby-stepping your way to success.

  • Save your money. No one is going to love your baby (your work) more than you do.
  • If you don’t have money, be creative about finding people who do.
    • Learn how to start a Kickstarter fund
    • Ask! Start with those who know and love you, and their friends and family.
    • Make relationships with theaters near you. Volunteer, donate, go to their galas. Show up on their social media. Be their local ambassador and build a relationship with them.
    • Find groups, companies, non-profits or institutions who resonate with your show’s message and target audience. Find ways to introduce them to your show.
  • Network! Join communities online (like createtheater.com) as well as your local networking groups. Believe that synchronicities are always around the corner, and they will be.

Whoever promised that achieving a life-time dream was easy? Was anything worthwhile ever easy? Is life really a Staples commercial?

 

If You Are a Writer, You Write.

 

Ask any of the recipients that earned their stripes – er, TONYs. Nothing is easy. Ever! Nothing is promised.

But as trite as it sounds, “the joy is in the journey,” and if this is WHO you are and this is WHAT you do – it’s worth all of it.

Do what you have to DO to BE who you need to be.

DO BE DO BE DO.

 

Ok, let’s get to work! 🙂

Are you looking for more inspiration? Sign up for my weekly newsletters for opportunities and discounts that I only offer to my subscribers.

Best of all, they’re all free.

Sign Up for the Newsletter
Planning For Success Part II

Planning For Success Part II

by | Feb 14, 2019 | Inspiration

Winter Doldrums?

 

Do you find winter to be your most creative season?

It always has been for me. There’s something about being more at home and quiet that ramps up my creative energy to flow into more artistic pursuits.

Maybe because I’m more still I listen more? Who knows. But my best writing, ideas and projects have all had their origins in this time from January to April.

Getting back to my previous post, February is when I’m in the thick of it. Ideas are coming so fast and furious they sweep me away. Like most of us, January’s work on planning our year get down and dirty in February.

The rubber meets the road. It’s do or die.

Sometimes I do… and some years I die. That’s honest.

BUT when I DO – when I take ACTION – it’s a great year!

My whole year is determined by what I do or don’t do in the first quarter.

Is that true for you too?

 

Scripting and Planning Only Go So Far

 

Like actors that blossom when they stand up and step into their character, what makes or breaks us is the discipline to take action and build momentum.

In other words, our routines can make or break us.

I’m working with two writers right now. Both are very talented and full of ideas for the new musical they’re writing.

  • Writer A is mainly a songwriter and performer. He’s never written a musical before, but has a routine in place of coming to the computer every day after he gets his daughter to school. We meet every week like clockwork, on the same day at the same time, interrupted only when he occasionally has to tour. After six months he has an exciting Act One and is working on Act Two.
  • Writer B has extensive musical theater experience as a performer, director and producer. She has a wonderful idea for a new musical and is determined to see it on stage. However, more often than not our weekly sessions are moved or often rescheduled to the next week. Life seems to constantly interrupt her daily writing schedule, rendering it haphazard or nonexistent. After three months of working together she’s still struggling to write her outline.

Your Routine Frees You To Fly

 

I’m the last one to deny that often I’ve been more Writer B than Writer A. But even so, I recognize that my routines make or break me. It’s not what I do now and then that determines my life, but the action I take consistently that creates success, or not.

Writer A is his own hero. He is creating his future as he sees it in his mind.

Determine your own priorities and responsibilities. I know you know this – I’m now acting like that nagging voice in your own head that sounds like your mother. (Annoying, I know.)

If you want to see your plays onstage you must take regular and consistent ACTION to make that happen. No one can do this for you. You can pay someone, but really, it is your baby and it’s up to you.

A Checklist for Success

 

  1. Write every day at the same time in the same place. Establish a routine that works for you. Make it consistent, day in and day out.

Plan for your own success daily. Once you finish one play start the next one, so when an agent or producer inevitably asks to see your other work you have something to show them.

  1. Feed your creativity regularly. Keep a journal or notebook to capture your great ideas before the wind blows them away to someone else. Do interesting things every week to inspire and delight you.

Happiness is a wonderful inspiration of creativity. Keep your inner artist happy.

  1. Network, network, network. Meet people in the industry and learn about what they do. Make friends with people from every walk of life – they feed your writing and may possibly become your chief supporters in the future.

You never know where your next coincidence will come from.

  1. Submit, submit, submit. It’s a numbers game. Keep it a game by challenging yourself to collect the most rejections of anyone you know.

Because the reality is that the more you submit, the more opportunities you’ll create.

  1. Keep learning and growing. Like an actor must continually keep his instrument tuned and available by taking classes and learning different styles of acting, dance, vocal techniques, etc., a writer also must continually keep learning and advancing in his art. Writer’s groups and workshops in person and online are available everywhere. Take advantage of them.

Not only do workshops provide inspiration and knowledge, but they also provide built-in discipline in the form of assignments AND you meet really interesting people from many different walks of life.

 

 

Are you looking for more inspiration? Sign up for my weekly newsletters for opportunities and discounts that I only offer to my subscribers.

Best of all, they’re all free.

Sign Up for the Newsletter
Planning For Your Success Part 1

Planning For Your Success Part 1

by | Nov 19, 2018 | Inspiration

We’ve all heard the phrase “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

What does that mean for us as we begin to think ahead for 2019?

I am a spring/summer person. Born in May, spring not only gives us flowers, warmth, sunlight and new life, but brings along the promise of summer. Summer is fun, vacation, endless sunny days with warm weather spent on the beach or on the back porch with a good book. It means barbeques and volleyball and picnics and time spent enjoying yourself with friends and family.

Then there’s fall…..

Fall is glorious, but it’s the last rallying of nature before the final cycle of winter sets in. It’s taken me many years to appreciate the gifts of winter, and I admit I’m still not totally there. If only life could be an endless summer (without moving to FL or CA)! But since I’m speaking metaphorically, winter is part of our life cycle experience. Like sleep, it’s meant for the renewal of life in order to move forward.

I can appreciate that, and incorporate winter’s lessons to rally my own internal resources. I’ve learned to grow as an artist and as a person in the beautiful respite from the daily hustle called “winter break.”

You know what I mean; it’s when everyone seems to shut down regular life to turn their attention to what really matters. The holidays, close friends, family, introspection. Meditation. Winter’s darkness encourages quiet evenings at home in pursuit of comfort, reading, and taking care of ourselves and our loved ones.

 

What Gifts Are You Giving to Yourself?

 

Amidst the holiday bustle is a parallel intention of showing and giving love to those we love the most.

Are you on your own love list? What gift can you give to yourself this season to show love to yourself? Do you think about that? For many years I was last on my own list, if I even made the list at all.

My love for my family and friends is so strong that I struggle with what to give them. I never have had the resources to truly give the gifts that would help the most: payment for a year of college, a decent car to drive, a clean bill of health from their doctor. Instead I try to create a beautiful family memory of love and connection, and give what I can to surprise and delight them within my budget.

What “dream gift” could you offer yourself this year? What gift given to yourself could surprise and delight you the most? You have the capacity to envision an amazing year for yourself right now, so that this time next year you can acknowledge the gift with gratitude and love. You have the power to give yourself an amazing 2019!

 

The Power of Pre-Paving

 

What if you had the magical ability to write out a scene – and poof! – it would actually happen?

You have that power. Creatively envisioning your future, or scripting out your experience, isn’t exactly magic, but comes darn close.

if you were a character in a play, what would you write for your 2019?

Let’s get to work here and take action.

It may take some time, so I’ve built this series over four blog posts to digest at your leisure over the holidays week by week.

 

Step 1: Your Stasis

 

As every writer knows, the “world of the play” needs to be established first in order for the audience to understand the setting, time period, the main characters in the play and their basic motivations at the beginning. We need to see onstage where the characters live and breathe and see their place in their world.

So, where are you right now?

YOU are the main character in your own play. You know where you live, the culture and times within which you live. You understand how you live and breathe and “have your being” within your own world, and understand your basic motivations and needs. You need to live, have a purpose, make money somehow, be connected to a community or family, etc.

BUT your main character (you) also needs a BIG DREAM to propel themselves into the future (and the rest of the story).

What is your big dream?

What is your super-objective that is big enough to overcome tremendous obstacles and give you the internal power to go the distance? What does “go the distance” even mean to you?

Let’s get to work.

This is going to require some homework from you. Most of my script coaching clients love it when I give them homework and deadlines – it keeps them honest to themselves, to do the thing that may not be done if they didn’t need to hand it in to me! So stay true to yourself and actually do the work, not just “think” the work.

Step 1 is to find an hour a day, preferably at the very beginning or very end of the day, to sit with yourself and give yourself a priceless gift – the delivery of your own dream.

 

Your homework for the week is to understand your hero.

Understand that you are the Hero in your own play.

  • What does your hero look like?
  • How does he or she dress? (I’ll use the feminine going forward since I identify female, but guys, feel free to substitute!)
  • What does their home look like? Where do they work?
  • Do they live alone, or with people? Who are they? What are they like?
  • What do they wake up and do every day?
  • What do they eat on a regular basis?
  • What is their primary emotional experience?
  • Did your hero make certain decisions to arrive where they are at the beginning of the play (now)?
  • Is your Hero living her own life, or a life centered around others?
  • Does your hero experience any pain on a regular basis?
  • When your hero looks into the mirror, is she happy with what she sees? What is her internal dialogue?

Write It Out

Script out your character’s internal dialogue this week, all week, for at least a half an hour each day. Try to keep to the hour as a daily discipline.

  • If you’ve ever tried this exercise you know how much you’ll discover about your characters. Here we’re doing a modified version of the mirror exercise and automated writing techniques in order to get at your Hero’s core.
  • If you resist – and you may – just use this time for quiet meditation (which I swear by myself, since daily meditation has changed my life).
  • At a certain point during the week you’ll switch gears and begin to envision your Hero with her dreams for the future. This is good! You are getting to her DDD (deep driving desires) that will propel her action forward into the rest of the play.

That’s it!

As you explore the external world of your Hero (your own outside world), at some point you’ll click into her own deepest desires. You’ll learn what excites her, what revs up her engines in life and what doesn’t. You’ll see things that she resists, that exhaust her, and that she just doesn’t want to do any more.

Then stop.

Exist in this exercise all week, observing your main character’s world and her participation in it. Get to know her internal world as she looks into the mirror. See what she sees.

Write it down without editing anything out. That’s important – you want your character to be honest with you. Write it all down, the good, the bad and everything in between.

Have fun with this, be disciplined in meeting yourself every day for an hour, and get set for Part 2 next Thursday.

Have a great week!