busy bees

maybe we didn't exactly know how busy we would actually be when this production got started. I know I really had no clue.

I now dream lines from the play.

We only have two shows left and I'm actually sad that we didn't try to book a longer run.

I have to pinch myself when I think about the fact that we were able to get a show up and onstage in 3.5 months. Maybe because we'd never done anything here in NYC before, we didn't clog ourselves with the word NO. Maybe we just approached each problem with the question "how can we make this happen?"

I don't even know how to begin thanking everyone that worked so hard on this play. Cast and crew, everyone really brought it.

This post isn't even doing justice to the wonder I feel about this project. And now, we are starting to get reviews. . .nice ones at that. It seems that other people like our project too. Maybe the project is rough, but even so, it certainly doesn't suck, and this experience definitely has given me the momentum to want to push forward with this and other projects.

It's a really great feeling.

mama said there'd be days like this

WOW. well kris and i are in agreement: this week was a hard week. there's just so much to keep straight and make decisions about. i think i'm becoming ADD because of this play. i start one thing and as i'm doing that thing, i remember i have to do something else. so then i stop the original thing before i finish it and move on to the new thing. as i'm doing the new thing, i realize i haven't done a third thing, so i stop the second thing and move on to the third. i continue this process all day long. never finishing anything, but always busily doing stuff. and underneath the surface of all this activity is the very real fear that i'm gonna totally drop the ball on something and look like i don't know what the hell i'm doing. and then, just for fun, there is the normal day-to-day life maintenance like jobs, showering, working out, sleeping, etc that have taken a serious hit by all this theatre activity.

and just to make things even more crazy, we started rehearsals this week so now 4 hours a night i'm rehearsing b/c i had the brilliant idea of casting myself as the lead. rehearsals are actually going quite well. the cast we have assembled is simply amazing (with the exception of that douche we got to play the lead) and it's fun to sit and watch everyone work the material and bring this thing to life. when i take a step back and think about the team we've assembled for this it really amazes me. everyone is working so hard to make this play happen and that makes the hard week a little softer.

Producer Boot Camp

first of all, having a blog about the steps to get a play up and running is almost antithetical to getting a play up and running.

Things are happening so fast that there has been no time to keep up with a blog.

Firstly, press kits and releases have gone out. That was awhile ago.

The branding and logo has been designed, postcards have been printed. The Writer's Block website was made.

here is the graphic



We have had our first successful FUND RAISER!!! Our Writers Block Mad Lib (and Darts) Challenge had a great turn out and we did clear some cash.

We will have another Mad Mad Mad Lib event at the Blind Tiger on Sunday June 29th from 11am to 6pm. Come and drink beer, play mad libs, and win prizes!

Lastly, if this whole experience was not boot camp like enough, I spent last weekend attending Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) Producer's Boot Camp. We had great speakers such as Cheryl Weisenfeld, tony award winning producer of Elaine Stritch: At Liberty and New York Magazine Theater Critic Jeremy McCarter.

I learned a lot. The biggest take-away for anyone looking for advice, is get familiar with the Actor's Equity Association Basic Showcase Code. Not knowing it could seriously jeopardize your production if you are working with equity actors. Also, PR & Marketing? There is no such thing as too many impressions.

If you are new to producing or are a self producing artist, I heartily recommend this boot camp and TRU. What a great resource and community!

the path to production is through the bowling alley

I feel sad that we haven't been able to chronicle the steps we have gone through with this production as was theoriginal intent with this blog. Frankly this whole thing is a whirlwind really and sometimes I feel like I'm holding on with my nails.

A band teacher of mine used to have a visual analogy he would throw out whenever the tempo would get ahead of us. He would say the tempo was controlling us and we were being dragged behind as if your finger was stuck in a bowling ball. Then he would pantomime someone trying to bowl and being dragged along behind by the ball.

hmmm. that was a long drawn out description of something that might not really make sense to anyone who didn't know Sal Smith, may he rest in peace. Loved that guy.

back to the bowling ball. sometimes the momentum of this play is like being dragged along behind the bowling ball. For newbies doing this in NYC however, I think we're kicking along pretty well. I never realized how far common sense and good friends could take a person.

speaking of friends, I need to send out a special word of thinks to our friend Jaye Maynard who has been working with us and guiding us from the beginning. Without her, we would have never got going. Well. We probably would but it would have been a hell of a lot slower with way more fits and starts. Without her there wouldn't be any bowling balls.

das boot camp

I have just sent off my application and check to Theater Resources Unlimited to attend Producers Boot Camp.

Suddenly I hear Mathew Broderick's voice ringing in my head.

Do you think Producers Boot Camp will have harsh drill instructors? Will we have to do 50 push-ups if we do not grasp equity codes and contracts?

I am scared.

One of the questions on the application was "Do you see yourself producing as a career eventually?"

Good question. Wouldn't that be a strange turn of events.

Everything will be all write

This weekend, I plan to begin a critical stage in this production: the rewrite.

I have identified holes and weak spots and I've even gone so far as to figure out the solutions to these problems. I've got it all figured out. So why am I a tiny bit scared?

Well, I'll tell you. There's a big difference between actually figuring out the path you want to go and then actually walking down that path. When I revised this play into the draft it's in now, I outlined it last Memorial Day. Everything was figured out. It was exciting. I was ready to go. And then I sat in front of my computer for six months unable to write a word.

This time, I don't have the luxury of saying "eh, I'll give it time to simmer." It has to be done. Like now. Like right now. People are off in some corner of the theatre, tapping their feet and looking at their watch, waiting.

The other side of the scary coin is me wondering if I just got lucky on the humor part of the draft. What if I'm not funny anymore? What if I stood too close to the microwave last night and it zapped all the funny out of me?

Maybe I'll make myself a Shirley Temple when I write. If a Shirley Temple won't make me funny, I don't know what will.

life on a moving train

So far the production seems like hurry up and wait. Sometimes the activity is so frenetic and other times we are sitting waiting for things to happen.

At this very moment I can't tell which end is up so I am guessing this moment is frenetic.

Here's the scoop so far on the production.

We have confirmed cast for all but two of the parts.

We have a confirmed stage manager.

We have a director - I'm reiterating this because if I go over the checklist enough times in my head I will drive it all in there and not feel like a chicken with no head. Chickens with no heads are scary things.

We have rehearsal space set up and paid for. In full.

We have a MySpace Page!

We have a Facebook page! Look for Writer's Block or me, Kris Fortney. I'm friends with Writers Block. We're buds. We hang out.

We have a WEBSITE!

We have a design for the postcard. Don't laugh. I did it. I'll talk more about it in another post.

We have small rewrites in progress which make the play stronger and give it more depth which is extremely exciting.

So far everyone working on this project has kicked it up a notch. I can't believe the amount of energy which surrounds it. I feel blessed. I think Master G does too.

hitting the ground running

Hey followers of this blog. Cheerio and all that.

A lot has been happening while I've been kicking it across the pond so let me fill you in on all the fantastic work that has taken place. Kudos once again to Master G and Katherine for dealing with the details and meetings about the details and meetings about meetings about the details. . .

We have on board at this moment:

Shaun Gunning - playwright. Jeez I hope he's on board. You already know him so I'll move along. I can't keep stroking the guy's ego.

Mike Kimmel - director. Mike has an impressive resume which you can check out on the Push Productions website. Too bad it's a flash site otherwise I'd link you to his profile directly. (Sorry that was my other job talking.) If you'd like to see what Mike has been up to prior to signing on for Writer's Block click on his name under staff. It's pretty tight and we're pleased to have him.

Katherine Kyle - producer. Ms Kyle is riding alongside me making sure we get butts in seats and props in hand, and press releases released and whatever else needs to be done to make this thing a success.

Katie Gunning - costume designer. Katie brings her training and background in costume designery to the table and lays the smack DOWN. Go Katie. PS - my ideas are below. ;-)

We have a few actors who have committed but I will post on that at a later date. Shaun mentioned we have a stage manager who Mike has recommended as well.

Wow. This thing is crazy.

We've secured rehearsal space, come up with a rehearsal schedule AND we now know our show's dates. I'll post all of that in the next post.

Two days until I return to New York . . .and jump on the treadmill. I'm ready to go.

Done and done and done

Yesterday was a great day for the production. We finally have a director who is 100% on board and ready to go. We also are about 90% in for cheap rehearsal space in midtown. As if that weren't enough, we also found a stage manager.

So in about 12 hours, three stressful things were resolved. Now I can worry about the design elements and fundraising for this thing.

marketing 101

Hello from Jolly old Londontowne.

First of all, a shout out goes to Shaun for making his first ever blog post ever.

Second of all, I was chatting with a colleague in Israel and telling her that my job this weekend is to write a marketing plan. She responded with "I thought this was art?"

My question to that questions was, "If a tree falls in the woods or a play goes onstage and no one is there to hear it. . . what is the point?"

Since I have a full time job, I don't have a chance to walk around with a sandwich board like the town crier saying "hear ye hear ye, Master G has a new play! Come see his play mates!"

Also, try convincing New Yorkers to spend a piece of their already overbooked lives watching your show. You have to have a plan to get their attention, don't you?

I was going to make this a post about art and commerce but that's fodder for another discussion.

Cheers,
Kris