In the last few months, my website has gone through a renovation and update.  I am still in the process of transferring my old website onto this new site and there are aspects of this new site that will change.   I have not been able to update for a while as the transfer was a long process, so here’s a little sum up of what I’ve been up to creatively.

First off, I wrote and am now in the middle of directing a new Easter Production called Mercy and Love. I’m working with 7 actors, and the composer from my last production, James Macknight.  We are about half-way through the rehearsal process and will present the play to the public on Sunday March 29 @ 11am.   The play revolves around a counseling session involving 3 individuals.   All of them are going through a form of grief and the story shows how mercy and love play a role in their healing.    Visit the Mercy and Love page to learn more about the play.  Meet the cast…

The Cast of MERCY AND LOVE

Play Ball updates….my producer Pat continues to explore avenues to raise funds and potential investors for Play Ball.   She had a successful reading of the script in New York back in January and received a ton of audience feed-back from the reading.  Pat sent me a link to the reading and I was able to see my screenplay read aloud – a real treat.   I also heard audience reaction following the reading which was interesting to hear people’s perspectives on the script.   Pat passed on lots of notes to me from the audience and I’ve communicated with her as well about re-write ideas.

Back in February, my script Who is Molly Steele? placed in the top ten of The Chronos Prize in Screenwriting.   The award was handed out on February 6 and I was not chosen as the $50, 000 prize winner.  I had a gut feeling after I wrote the initial draft that I had something in the story that would resonate.  When I re-wrote the script and submitted it to Chronos, I thought I had a good chance of placing.   Following that top 10 placement, there has been some interest in Who is Molly Steele?  It is premature to say anything else at this time, but I’m hopeful as I move forward on re-writes of the script.

These last couple months I’ve been working on a new 90 minute play which will be mounted at the Fringe Festival in Toronto.  The tentative title of this play is Overtime.  I’m on a tight deadline as the first reading of this new work will happen sometime early in April.  I originally had 5 characters in the cast, but I cut that number down to 4 (thanks to my friend and director of Blue, Jane Miller).  I sat down with Jane a month ago and talked to her about the play.  At that time I was brainstorming ideas, plot character, etc..  When she heard my pitch, she felt one of the characters was not needed.  I’m glad I cut this character out because, one, there was no room for him in the story and two, he really did not serve a purpose.  As it is, there is a lot going on in Overtime, so it will be interesting to see what the re-writes of this play look like in the months ahead.  The play has to be ready for rehearsals by the end of May, beginning of June.

Yesterday, when I was working on Overtime, I was stumped for a good portion of the day, until I finally had a break-through.  Sometimes it just takes one piece of dialogue that gets you over that hump and move your story forward.  But it’s not fun getting to that point. You have to sit, think, be bored, un-inspired and oftentimes you must walk away before looking at it again with fresh eyes.  The key is be persistent, don’t give up and the idea will eventually come.  It may not be perfect, what you come up with, but it doesn’t have to be.  At least it’s something to get you going in the right direction.

“Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life.”
Lawrence Kasdan, writer of The Big Chill, Grand Canyon, The Empire Strikes Back