Heather Dunoon has been tapped to receive the Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting from the Writers Guild of America East Foundation.
Her fellowship project "Remember Me?" is about an orphaned woman's journey of self-discovery through the first interactions with her birth mother, who has Alzheimer's.
WGA East president Michael Winship will present the fellowship to Dunoon at the WGA's East Coast awards ceremonies Sunday in New York City at the B.B. King Blues Club.
Dunoon is a senior in film studies at Columbia College Chicago. She receives a $10,000 stipend to write an original screenplay under the mentorship of a prominent screenwriter.
Collyer Fellow James DiLapo finalist for 2012 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting
via Deadline Hollywood - October 3, 2012
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Ten finalists, consisting of nine individual screenwriters and one writing team, have been selected for the 2012 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition. Their scripts will now be read and judged by the Academy Nicholl Fellowships Committee, which may award as many as five of the prestigious $35,000 fellowships.
This year’s finalists are (listed alphabetically by author):
Nikole Beckwith, New York City, NY, “Stockholm, Pennsylvania”
Ryan Belenzon & Jeffrey Gelber, Los Angeles and Sherman Oaks, CA, “X”
Robert Carter, Red Bank, NJ, “A.W.O.L.”
Sean Robert Daniels, Laezonia, Gauteng, South Africa, “Killers” James DiLapo, New York City, NY, “Devils at Play”
Allan Durand, Lafayette, LA, “Willie Francis Must Die Again”
Laurel Minter, Seattle, WA, “When Thunder Sleeps”
Bob Roden, Berkeley, CA, “Return of the Dipsticks”
April Rouveyrol, Glendale, CA, “Life Copy”
Michael Werwie, Los Angeles, Calif., “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile”
"Devils at Play" is James DiLapo's Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship script which he worked on with Richard LaGravenese. You can read more about the finalists via Deadline Hollywood here. Congratulations and much continued success to James!
Film senior Hailey O'Brien becomes Wayne State's next winner of natl. screenwriting fellowship...
Variety, Broadway World.com
The Writers Guild of America East Foundation named Hailey O'Brien, a senior at Wayne State University studying film and psychology, to receive its Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting. O'Brien’s fellowship project, "Losing Grace," is about one woman's struggle and search for penance after an accidental drowning of a young neighbor while in her care. Video and pictures are below:
This marks the second time a Wayne State student won the Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship. The award was given to Antal Zambo in 2010. (Read More)
A cast of stars descends on Lafayette High School
Students get a treat in event to promote storytelling, reading
By: Brian Meyer
News Staff Reporter
It's not often that high school students get to spend a morning picking the brains of an Emmy award-winning writer, a critically acclaimed novelist and a TV star who has appeared on the hit series "30 Rock."
Clearly, it wasn't your run-of-the-mill morning at Lafayette High School on Friday.
Screenwriter Tom Fontana, novelist Thomas Kelly and actor Dean Winters held court in the library of the West Side school. It was part of an ongoing outreach effort by the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation to encourage reading and promote the craft of storytelling.
About 50 students received some sage advice from the trio.
Tenacity, being willing to start at the bottom and practicing one's craft on a daily basis were among the tips served up during an event that was billed by the school district as a "celebrity workshop."
Changing technology has made it possible for budding filmmakers to snare attention regardless of where they live, said Fontana, a Buffalo native who has written and produced television series that include "St. Elsewhere," "Oz" and "Homicide: Life on the Street." He told his captivated audience that there are "enormous opportunities in Buffalo.
"You can get a camera. You can write a story. You can get some actors. You can shoot a film," Fontana said. "It can become a calling card for you to get people to pay attention to you."
Lafayette High School Students Host Celebrity Workshop
Juniors at Lafayette High School enjoyed a workshop today, Friday, February 3rd, with a nationally known writer and producer, an author and an actor.
The celebrities came to Buffalo’s Lafayette High School as part of an educational outreach program through the Actors and Writers Book Club of the Writers Guild America East (WGAE) Foundation. The rest is a Buffalo story; writer and producer Tom Fontana is from Buffalo, his parents graduated from Lafayette, and he attended Buffalo State College... the same as Mayor Byron Brown, who he has become friends with. When it came time for novelist Thomas Kelly, the chair of the book club, to choose a school to visit, Fontana steered Kelly toward Brown, who in turn steered him to the Buffalo Public Schools.
After a quick trip to the “Wall of Fame” to see his father’s picture, Fontana, the son of 1942 Lafayette High graduates Charles and Marie (Internicola), and his friends made their way to the 2nd floor library to meet with students.
Joining Kelly and Fontana was Dean Winters, an actor who stars as Ryan O’Reily on HBO’s Oz and Tina Fey’s boyfriend on 30 Rock. Winters read a passage of The Great Gatsby, the students’ current literature assignment. Winters shared his thoughts on reading with the students, saying it was a necessary evil until he was 14 years old. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Gatsby hooked him, Winters said, and then he went right on to Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Winters graciously answered a few questions about the craft of acting (and Angelina Jolie), but for the most part, he deferred to the writers, Kelly and Fontana, saying “these guys are the geniuses.” Winters stressed the constant need to practice and expand one's craft.
WGA East org honors Hailey O'Brien
Foundation Hands out Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship
By Dave McNary
The Writers Guild of America East Foundation has tapped Hailey O'Brien to receive its Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship.
The $10,000 fellowship, funded by the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation, is awarded to a student planning to pursue a career in screenwriting. The stipend is given to write an original screenplay under the mentorship of a prominent screenwriter. (Read More!)
Broadway World, February 8th, 2012
Writers Guild East Foundation Awards 2012 Screenwriting Fellowship
By BWW News Desk
Hailey O’Brien has been selected to receive the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation's (WGAE Foundation) Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting. The fellowship, which is funded by the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation, is awarded to a student who plans to pursue a career in screenwriting upon completion of his/her undergraduate course of study. The recipient receives a $10,000 stipend to write an original screenplay under the mentorship of a prominent screenwriter. Michael Winship, WGAE President, will present O’Brien with her fellowship at the 64th annual Writers Guild Awards on Sunday, February 19, 2012 in New York City at the B.B. King Blues Club. (Read More!)
WGA News: End of Year 2011 - Caregivers Writing Workshop
On November 4 – 5, 2011, the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation held its Helen Deutsch Writing Workshop in Manhattan. During the two-day workshop, more than 20 WGAE Foundation members, including Marsha Norman, Jenny Lumet, and Tom Fontana, mentored 40-plus caregivers brought to New York City with the support and assistance of the Wounded Warrior Project. These caregivers are assisting or providing care for service members who have been wounded either with physical or psychological damages of war. They face layers of bureaucracy, stalling assistance, as well as feelings of isolation and unworthiness. The workshop helped them connect with other caregivers facing similar challenges and with mentors eager to help them express themselves and empower them to write about their personal journeys.
The Helen Deutsch Writing Workshop Initiative (named after Helen Deutsch, the late librettist/screenwriter who is the benefactor for this program) initially worked with veterans and conducted several workshops in Columbus and San Antonio. In 2011, the program decided to focus its efforts on caregivers, who were equally affected by the wars but more often overlooked and very isolated. The first caregivers workshop was held in June 2011. The November workshop was the second time these groups met, although many mentors and caregivers had stayed in touch over the summer.
During the two-day workshop held at the WGAE offices in New York City, mentors and caregivers worked in small groups of 2-3 mentors working with 4-5 caregivers. The mentors helped the caregivers find the courage to write their stories, as well as gave them insight into the process of writing, how to develop characters, dialogue writing, creating visuals with words, and the keys to success for different types of writing, including screenplays, novels, short stories, blogs, and poems.
Other mentors included Chris Albers, Stephen Belber, Jessica Blank, Amy Cohen, Rick Dresser, Anne Fltt-Girodano, Gina Cionfriddo, Craig Mums Grant, Dave Hackel, Lulie Haddad, Erik Jensen, John Markus, Willie Reale, Susanna Styron, and Michael Weller.
“The WGAE Foundation is a group of volunteer writers, some of the most successful and celebrated in the country, who share our skills with underserved populations of people who for whatever reason have not had an opportunity to learn how to tell the stories they wish to tell about their lives. We have mentored injured veterans and now caregivers of severely wounded service members. The time spent with the caregivers has been profound for all of us, mentors and caregivers alike. For the professional writers to hear stories of the courage and devotion of these caregivers, and for the caregivers to have encouragement for writers whose shows they watch on television, movie screens, and on stages, is special. It as inspiring to watch the incredible eagerness and hard work from everyone involved, all of who donate their time and talents. It is a time together that none of us will ever forget,” said WGAE Foundation President Michael Weller.
Emerson College, November 9, 2011
Emerson and Writers Guild of America partner
By: Carole McFall
Five Emerson College students have been selected for a Mentoring Program with the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) Foundation for screenwriting, television writing, and playwriting. Emerson faculty chose eligible upper-class students and recent graduates based on their individually submitted scripts and synopses. Then, WGAE [Foundation] identified five professional writers based on their writing specialties to mentor the students.
The five teams of professional and aspiring writers will meet for four 90-minute, one-on-one, online sessions over the course of the semester. Based on notes and feedback from their mentors, the students will complete three drafts of their screenplays, teleplays, or theatrical plays by the end of the semester.
Emerson College has three departments that offer writing concentrations: Visual and Media Arts (VMA), Performing Arts (PA), and Writing, Literature and Publishing (WLP). Daniel Tobin, Interim Dean of the School of the Arts, sees the Mentoring Program as a natural extension of Emerson’s relationship with WGAE. “The idea came from alumnus and writer, director, and Guild member Richard LaGravenese '80, H '11” said Tobin. “It’s an amazing opportunity for our students to interact with professional writers in the Writers Guild—an organization that emerging writers strive to be accepted into because it can open so many doors.”
Touch of Southie in Brooklyn as Donnie Wahlberg and Michael Patrick MacDonald speak to students
By: Tom Deignan
What do a former teen heartthrob and a son of Southie have to say to roomful of Brooklyn high school students?
Plenty it turns out.
Last week, an extraordinary meeting of minds took place in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
One thing Kelly and Wahlberg share is a desire to remember where they come from.
Both currently make fine livings in show business, but their beginnings were humble, to say the least. So they understand that kids in traditionally underserved communities sometimes need different kinds of motivation.
That’s where the Actors and Writers Book Club of the Writers Guild Of America East (WGAE) Foundation comes in.
The club sends actors and writers to high schools to read and discuss works of literature to get students excited about reading, writing and story telling.
So Kelly asked if my students would be interested in a program featuring Wahlberg, as well as the acclaimed memoirist Michael Patrick MacDonald, whose book All Souls: A Family Story of Southie, is perhaps the definitive look at that most Irish of cities, South Boston.
In the past I’d taught MacDonald’s book in my English classes. Though it is about poor and working class Irish Catholics, the book’s themes have always resonated deeply with my students who are largely black and Hispanic.
Queens fifth-graders get face-to-face with their famous entertainment industry pen pals
BY CLARE TRAPASSO
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Saturday, May 21, 2011
These kids' pen pals are really something to write home about.
A group of Queens fifth-graders came face-to-face with their famous entertainment industry pen pals, including screenwriter and director Nora Ephron.
The Public School 16 students have been exchanging handwritten letters with television and film writers since the beginning of the school year through the Screen Actors Guild Foundation's PencilPALS program.
Yesterday, the writers visited the Corona elementary school, the only city school chosen for the prestigious program.
"These kids are wonderful," said Ephron, who wrote the screenplays for "When Harry Met Sally" and "Julie & Julia." Her pen pal is "the only person who writes me letters besides the electric company and the phone company."
Dramatic Writing Student James DiLapo Wins Writers Guild of America, East Foundation Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting
By: Richard Pierce
James DiLapo, senior in the Department of Dramatic Writing at the Tisch School of the Arts, has won the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation's (WGAE Foundation) Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting. The fellowship, which is funded by the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation, is awarded to an undergraduate student who plans to pursue a career in screenwriting after graduation. The recipient receives a $10,000 stipend to write an original screenplay under the mentorship of a prominent screenwriter.
DiLapo received his award at the 63rd annual Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 5, 2011 in New York City at the AXA Equitable Center. His project, Devils at Play, is about a Soviet detective and enforcer of Stalin's Great Terror who finds his life destroyed after he is accused of treason. (Read More)
WGAE Foundation Names Screenwriting Fellowship Recipient
By: Sonia F. Fernandez
The Writers Guild of America, East has awarded its Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting to James DiLapo. As part of his prize, the New York University student will receive a $10,000 stipend to write an original screenplay under the mentorship of a prominent screenwriter.
DiLapo's fellowship project, Devils at Play, is about a Soviet detective who finds his life destroyed after he is accused of treason.
DiLapo will be presented with his fellowship at the Writers Guild Awards on Feb. 5.
Moving Pictures Network Online, January 28, 2011
DiLapo Chosen for WGAE Foundation’s Collyer Fellowship
By: Moving Pictures Network Staff
James DiLapo has been selected to receive the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation’s (WGAE Foundation) Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting.
The fellowship, which is funded by the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation, is awarded to a student who plans to pursue a career in screenwriting upon completion of his/her undergraduate course of study. The recipient receives a $10,000 stipend to write an original screenplay under the mentorship of a prominent screenwriter. (Read More)
Vineyard Gazette Online November 26th, 2010
Jules Feiffer’s Broadway Benefit Has Pages Dancing Across Stage
By LAUREN MARTIN
Like an elongated dancer in one of his drawings, lanky Jules Feiffer loped in, stretched out his fingers and curtseyed to the standing ovation that greeted his arrival on the Broadway stage last Monday night. Knees bent, he cocked his head and lifted his eyebrows,simultaneously sheepish and soaking it all up.
As soon as the applause died, of course, he stuffed his hands in his suit pockets, shuffled off to the side and muttered into his microphone a warning to himself not to take a pratfall off the stage.
The man who began his career with A Guide to Non-Confident Living (that was the subtitle to his longrunning Village Voice comic strip Sick Sick Sick) knows his schtick.
“Self-deprecation is a way that we show off,” he said, taking his central contradiction head-on as he settled in to give a benefit performance for the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation.
The trick is to make it seem effortless, easy, like Fred Astaire, who has been a lifelong inspiration for Mr. Feiffer’s pen, often drawn in his barn-like Vineyard studio. “Astaire always danced with a sense of, ‘Who, me?’”
And so began the purposefully non-bravura story of the bravura career of this cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, children’s book illustrator, author and memoirist. It was the first ever benefit for the foundation, which among other works offers writing mentoring to war veterans, some of whom attended.
The event brought together many strands of the life-in-progress that is Mr. Feiffer.There was his daughter Kate, with whom he has collaborated on children’s books; his daughter Halley, who was on a night off from appearing on stage herself in Tigers Be Still; his publisher Nan Talese and her husband, the legendary writer Gay Talese; John Lahr of The New Yorker; comedian Robert Klein, who marveled at how Mr. Feiffer managed to have “both an inferiority and a superiority complex at the same time.”
Mr. Feiffer’s sister Alice was there with her husband, Hal Korman, and she joked, “I can pinpoint exactly when Jules became famous: in 1955 he was my brother, and in 1956 I was Jules Feiffer’s sister, which I’ve been ever since.”
Susanna Styron, whose father, Bill, was part of Mr. Feiffer’s Vineyard circle, is on the board of the guild. She called the evening not just a performance by, but a tribute to, the artist. Her mother, Rose, and sister, Alexandra, attended, as did Vineyarders Mary Wallace and John and Goldie Siffert.
One of the most moving moments of the evening came from another familiar Island presence, Mike Nichols, who began, “A man who doesn’t have an enemy in the world, one who takes joy in the success of others . . . it would be so much easier if we were honoring a man like that.”
After the laughs, Mr. Nichols, who directed Mr. Feiffer’s screenplay Carnal Knowledge, said, “Truth is, working on a movie and three plays with Jules is as happy as I’ve ever been.”
He called Mr. Feiffer his oldest friend “in every way.” He shrugged as he said, “Talking about my love for Jules is as awkward as talking about my love for my wife, my children, my dog.” The filmmaker who two years ago had bypass surgery finished by telling his friend that he had, “one refurbished and strong heart that is yours forever.”
Mr. Feiffer too put his heart on his sleeve.
Another introduction had come from clowning legend Bill Irwin, who held up Mr. Feiffer’s book Backing Into Forward and said he went straight to “one of the darkest chapters . . . I don’t mean McCarthyism, I mean the making of Popeye.”
Though the film got decidedly mixed reviews, Mr. Feiffer said that the daughter of E.C. Segar, the author of the original Popeye strip, had called him up to say he was the first to ever capture her father’s voice in another form. “I hung up the phone and I cried,” said the 81-year-old.
He’s a man who reveres his predecessors. He tried to explain to the audience at the Samuel J. Friedman
Theatre on West 47th street just how comics affected his childhood in the Bronx. Back then, he said, he would steal newspapers from the super. He would read them on all fours on the floor of the building. He would save them for years.
Remember, he said, there was no television, there was not yet color in the movies. “These color comics were movies on paper,” he said, and he wanted to make them.
“The only thing I lacked was facility,” he deadpanned. He claimed the only reason Will Eisner hired the 16-year-old Feiffer — who cold-called for a job in what he considered his calling — was “as a groupie.”
“But will can make up for a lot,” Mr. Feiffer said. And he has willed himself an incredible career, winning many awards, including a Pulitzer and an Obie and more, none of which he mentioned during his 90-minute performance.
This presentation, entitled Jules Feiffer: Funny Side Up, began with a short history of comics, including Mr. Feiffer’s first efforts ghostwriting Eisner’s Spirit and the first strip of his own, Clifford, but it concentrated heavily on the Village Voice years.
These were the neurotic, the political, the satirical, the unrelenting and groundbusting works that showed up just as Cold War America was showing its fissures.
The strip, eventually called Feiffer, was blown up in black and white behind him on stage (although he drew in color for other media, “I never felt the color was comfortable or necessary,” he said). He dissected his selection of cartoons aloud, giving voice to the appealing fragile lines on paper. He voiced, with surprising accuracy, Lyndon Johnson, Henry Kissinger, Sigmund Freud, Gandhi and others as they appeared in his drawn boxes. He kept the audience spellbound. In the dark, he was a man telling stories.
And that’s just what he was with his daughter, Julie, when he realized he could write children’s books. She demanded that he make up a story each night, which he did before promptly falling asleep himself, remembering nothing the next morning. However, the night he made up Bark, George — a story about a puppy who does not sound like a puppy no matter how his mother demands that he bark — he knew he had a good one, and forced himself up for long enough to jot down the idea. Just as well, he said, because in the morning he remembered nothing until he saw the notes that became one of his most beloved books.
Cartooning is solitary work. The fun of writing for the theatre, he recalled, was the collaboration. But he’d left playwrighting and never dreamed he would again find the fun of collaboration which he did in children’s books. He has drawn with his author daughter, Kate Feiffer, Henry the Dog with No Tail, Which Puppy? and another called My Side of the Car, which will be released next April.
He danced through them all before taking questions with the help of playwright Marsha (’Night Mother) Norman and actor Eric Bogosian. One questioner asked about his expertise in drawing hands and feet. “Astaire danced with his hands . . . good actors act with their feet . . . these add theatricality to the cartoon,” he said.
But when he’s drawing, he has no idea what his hands are doing, he said. “I’m not in control of it . . . when it’s really good I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Maybe that’s why he’s happy to be where he is now, where “I am more eager to learn now, I value stupidity more.” And with that, he stuffed his hands back into his pockets and nodded, sheepishly and soaking it all in, as the audience rose again in applause.
For one-night only, Jules Feiffer will perform his show "Funny Side Up" in New York City. The benefit performance is a 90-minute autobiographical tour of his life as a celebrate author and cartoonist, followed by a Q&A session. The evening is a one-of-a-kind celebration of one of the great artistic lights of New York City.
Theater Mania, November 9th, 2010
Robert Klein, Bill Irwin, Mike Nichols to Join Jules Feiffer in Funny Side Up Benefit
By Dan Bacalzo
Robert Klein, Bill Irwin and Mike Nichols will make guest appearances alongside the previously reported Jules Feiffer in a performance of Jules Feiffer: Funny Side Up on November 15 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, according to Variety. The event will benefit the Writer's Guild of America, East (WGAE) Foundation, an organization of professional writers who volunteer their writing skills in the service of underserved populations.
In the piece, Feiffer will take theatergoers through his extraordinary career using a slide show of comic strips, both his own and his contemporaries and the masters who inspired him as a boy. He will also highlight some of his artwork that has never before been shown in public. A brief question and answer session will follow the presentation.
Feiffer's Pulitzer Prize-winning comic strip ran for 42 years in the Village Voice as well as 100 other papers. Among his plays are the Obie Award-winning Little Murders, as well as the Tony Award-nominated Knock Knock. He is the author of the screenplay for the film Carnal Knowledge and the Academy Award-winning animated short Munro, and has written numerous books.
Variety, November 8th, 2010
Insiders: Upcoming Events
By Variety Staff
...NOV. 15: WGA East Foundation host a benefit perf of "Jules Feiffer: Funny Side Up," with appearances by Robert Klein, Bill Irwin and Mike Nichols. Samuel J. Friedman Theater. Wgaefoundation.org...(Read More!)
The New York Times, November 7th, 2010
Arts, Briefly
By Rachel Lee Harris
Career Transition for Dancers will celebrate 25 years of helping performers on the road to post-stage careers with a gala on Monday at City Center. Angela Lansbury will be the host, with a performance lineup that includes dancers from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and American Ballet Theater, along with numbers from “42nd Street” and “Chicago.” Tickets and more information: careertransition.org. ... Jules Feiffer, the creator of the long-running Village Voice comic strip, will give a tour of his life using a slide show of his own comic strips, as well as those from his mentors and contemporaries, during a presentation to benefit the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation. Mr. Feiffer won a Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for his work as a cartoonist and was nominated to the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004. In March his autobiography, “Backing Into Forward,” was published by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday. The benefit will be held at 8 p.m. on Nov. 15 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater.
Village Voice, November 3rd, 2010
LAUGH LINES
Take a Tour of Jules Feiffer's Life
By Angela Ashman
What's better than reading Jules Feiffer's recently published Backing Into Forward: A Memoir? Having the man himself tell you about his life as a Pulitzer Prize–winning cartoonist for the Voicein his 90-minute autobiographical one-man show Jules Feiffer: Funny Side Up. Using a slideshow of comic strips, Feiffer will take the audience through his career in comics and highlight some of his artwork that has never before been seen in public. The evening, a benefit for the the Writer's Guild of America, East Foundation, also features appearances by Robert Klein, Bill Irwin, and Mike Nichols.
Mon., Nov. 15, 8 p.m., 2010
Playbill, October 22nd, 2010
Funny Side Up to Land at Broadway's Friedman Nov. 15
By Adam Hetrick
American cartoonist and Tony Award nominee Jules Feiffer will perform his autobiographical show Funny Side Up on Broadway one-night-only as a benefit for the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation.
Feiffer is the creator of the self-titled Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoon series that ran in the Village Voice and syndication for 42 years. The 90-minute solo evening will take place Nov. 15 at Broadway's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
According to the Writers Guild East Foundation, Feiffer "will take the audience through his extraordinary career using a slideshow of comic strips, both his own and his contemporaries and the masters who inspired him as a boy. He will also highlight some of his artwork that has never before been shown in public. Feiffer has specially crafted his solo performance for this benefit and it will be the first time he has performed it in New York! The evening is a one-of-a-kind celebration of one of the great artistic lights of New York City."
Feiffer earned a Tony Award nomination for his play Knock Knock and also penned Grown-Ups. His short story "Passionella" inspired a portion of the Broadway musical The Apple Tree. His books include "Harry, the Rat with Women" and "Ackroyd."
Honorary chairpersons for the event are Alan Arkin, Candice Bergen, Kristen Chenoweth, Paul Dooley, Art Garfunkel, Elliott Gould, John Guare, Sheldon Harnick, Hugh Hefner, Bill Irwin, Robert Klein, Arthur Kopit, John Lithgow, Emily Mann, Bill Moyers, Richard Nelson, Mike Nichols, Oliver Platt, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, Gay and Nan Talese and Robin Williams.
Proceeds from Funny Side Up will benefit such WGA East Foundation programs as Veterans Writing Workshops, Actors and Writers Book Clubs and WGA fellowship programs.
Tickets, priced $100-$250, are available by visiting Telecharge. The Friedman Theatre is located at 261 West 47th Street.
Broadway World, Octber 14th, 2010
Writers Guild, East Foundation Presents Jules Feiffer: FUNNY SIDE UP 11/15
By BWW News Desk
On Monday, November 15, 2010, the Writer's Guild of America, East Foundation will host a benefit performance of Jules Feiffer: Funny Side Up. The benefit performance will be held at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street, at 8:00 pm. Tickets are now on sale for the performance and are priced at $100 through Telecharge (www.telecharge.com). VIP Orchestra seating, which includes a pre-show reception with Jules Feiffer and other celebrities, is $250. Discounted tickets are available for mezzanine seating. All proceeds will benefit the Writer's Guild of America, East Foundation.
Funny Side Up is a ninety-minute autobiographical tour of the life of celebrated author and cartoonist Jules Feiffer. In it, Feiffer will take the audience through his extraordinary career using a slideshow of comic strips, both his own and his contemporaries and the masters who inspired him as a boy. He will also highlight some of his artwork that has never before been shown in public. Feiffer has specially crafted his solo performance for this benefit and it will be the first time he has performed it in New York! The evening is a one-of-a-kind celebration of one of the great artistic lights of New York City. A brief question and answer session will follow the presentation. (Read More!)
Theater Mania, October 14th, 2010
Jules Feiffer to Offer November 15 Benefit Performance For Writer's Guild of America
By Andy Propst
Jules Feiffer will offer a performance of his solo show Jules Feiffer: Funny Side Up on November 15 at the Samuel J. Friedman. The event will benefit the Writer's Guild of America, East (WGAE) Foundation, an organization of professional writers who volunteer their writing skills in the service of underserved populations.
In the piece, Feiffer will take theatergoers through his extraordinary career using a slide show of comic strips, both his own and his contemporaries and the masters who inspired him as a boy. He will also highlight some of his artwork that has never before been shown in public. A brief question and answer session will follow the presentation.
Feiffer's Pulitzer Prize-winning comic strip ran for 42 years in the Village Voice as well as 100 other papers. Among his plays are the Obie Award-winning Little Murders, as well as the Tony Award-nominated Knock Knock. He is the author of the screenplay for the film Carnal Knowledge and the Academy Award-winning animated short Munro, and has written numerous books.
Playbill, October 22nd, 2010
Funny Side Up to Land at Broadway's Friedman Nov. 15
By Adam Hetrick
American cartoonist and Tony Award nominee Jules Feiffer will perform his autobiographical show Funny Side Up on Broadway one-night-only as a benefit for the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation.
Feiffer is the creator of the self-titled Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoon series that ran in the Village Voice and syndication for 42 years. The 90-minute solo evening will take place Nov. 15 at Broadway's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
According to the Writers Guild East Foundation, Feiffer "will take the audience through his extraordinary career using a slideshow of comic strips, both his own and his contemporaries and the masters who inspired him as a boy. He will also highlight some of his artwork that has never before been shown in public. Feiffer has specially crafted his solo performance for this benefit and it will be the first time he has performed it in New York! The evening is a one-of-a-kind celebration of one of the great artistic lights of New York City."
Feiffer earned a Tony Award nomination for his play Knock Knock and also penned Grown-Ups. His short story "Passionella" inspired a portion of the Broadway musical The Apple Tree. His books include "Harry, the Rat with Women" and "Ackroyd."
Honorary chairpersons for the event are Alan Arkin, Candice Bergen, Kristen Chenoweth, Paul Dooley, Art Garfunkel, Elliott Gould, John Guare, Sheldon Harnick, Hugh Hefner, Bill Irwin, Robert Klein, Arthur Kopit, John Lithgow, Emily Mann, Bill Moyers, Richard Nelson, Mike Nichols, Oliver Platt, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, Gay and Nan Talese and Robin Williams.
Proceeds from Funny Side Up will benefit such WGA East Foundation programs as Veterans Writing Workshops, Actors and Writers Book Clubs and WGA fellowship programs.
New York Post, May 21, 2010
Starr report
By Michael Starr
Nora Ephron and 30 writers/actors meet their PencilPAL 5th grade class for the first time today (PS 16 in Corona, Queens) . . . Cory Monteith, Mary Salling ("Glee") at Blue Fin . . . Con grats to Andrea Canning (ABC News) and husband Tony Bancroft on the arrival of Charlotte Brewster.
With many high schoolers looking forward to proms and graduation, reading great works of literature is rarely a priority at this time of year.
But Friday, at Mt. Lebanon Senior High School, a popular actor and screenwriter will read a John Steinbeck literary classic with the hope of reinvigorating high school students about the importance of literature and the art of storytelling.
The event is paid for by the Actors and Writers Book Club, a national program which brings an actor and a writer into high schools to read and discuss works of literature. It's an initiative of the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation, which is part of the union that represents writers in news and entertainment industries.
The foundation's goal is to encourage reading, writing and storytelling among high school students -- a generation more familiar with the language of social networking, text messages and Tweets.
Students in English and advanced theater classes at the high school will gather at two assemblies Friday morning for the event at the school's Fine Arts Theatre. It is not open to the public.
Actor and producer William Baldwin, who played roles on the television show "Gossip Girl" and in the movie "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" as well as others, will read a selection John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" to students. Then, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker Susanna Styron, whose work includes scripts for Lifetime movies and the documentary "Shadrach," will discuss literature from a writer's perspective.
Book club founder Thomas Kelly said he came up with the idea to reach out to high school students because of his own experiences growing up in a blue-collar family.
Although Mr. Kelly said he wouldn't necessarily expect Friday's event to change lives, he said it could influence students' views on literature.
"It doesn't take a huge event to change a kid's perspective on things," he said.
Adolescents who might not be motivated to read in school might instead read magazines, e-mails and websites outside of school, according to a 2007 National Institute for Literacy study. The challenge, then, is to bring that interest into the classroom.
James Walsh, who supervises Mt. Lebanon School District's English curriculum, said that it's important for young people to appreciate the art of storytelling.
While young people are savvy consumers of media and Hollywood productions, Dr. Walsh said educators might be "losing" young people when it comes to literature and the power of language.
"Having a professional actor take some of his experiences with high school literature could add elements of importance and value to what we're doing with them on a regular basis," he said.
Mr. Baldwin chose to read a book that he said was an important part of his education in literature. Similarly, Mt. Lebanon students have John Steinbeck's works as required reading: "The Pearl," "Of Mice and Men," "Grapes of Wrath" and "East of Eden."
Dr. Walsh estimated about 150 students will attend.
Mr. Kelly said he chose to ask Mt. Lebanon to host the event because Pittsburgh is a location that might not have as much access to arts programs, as do cities such as Los Angeles or New York. Although this is the second Book Club event, he hopes eventually to host them monthly at high schools around the country.
AFL-CIO Blog, May 12, 2010
Former Baltimore Sun Employees Find Voice Online
by James Parks
A new website gives voice to the more than 60 Baltimore Sun writers and staff who were laid off in massive cuts during the spring of 2009. At Telling Our Stories: The Days of the Baltimore Sun, launched May 12, the former Sun employees share their stories and bittersweet memories.
The site grew out of a project conceived and funded by the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) Foundation fellowship program in collaboration with the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild (WBNG).
The fellowship program gives the laid-off Sun workers an opportunity to tell a story arising out of their personal experiences during their time at newspaper. Participating fellows include reporters, editors, critics, copy editors, photographers, designers, advertising salespeople and market researchers. In addition to the essays, poems, photos and videos featured on the site, former Sun employees also designed the website and edited the submissions.
Here’s Steve Auerweck, a 24-year Sun employee who first worked as an editor on the business desk and then as a manager of newsroom technology:
I think the important thing about this site is that it puts real people behind the numbers. It will let the readers of Baltimore know what they’ve lost.
The Sun fellows were encouraged to express their feelings in their own way, resulting in a site that’s an often moving compilation of personal memoirs, says former WBNG President William Salganik..
Submissions include copydesk chief John McIntyre’s essay on how it feels to have to look for a job after more than 30 years in journalism and graphic artist Fe Fung Hung’s artistic meditation on the perfect vacation. There’s Ebony Page-Harvey’s poem about her last day as a classified ad salesperson and photojournalist Elizabeth Malby’s video profile of a longtime Sun photographer.
WGAE Foundation President Tom Fontana says:
The Baltimore Sun fellowship embodies the Foundation’s mission-to perpetuate the art and craft of storytelling. By publishing their personal stories on this site, the fellows’ voices can now be heard loud and clear by people not only in Baltimore but around the world. As writers, we understand the power of words. We’re happy this fellowship program and new website are helping these fellows harness the power of words to get through this difficult time.
Christopher Meloni and the Oz Cast Stage a Reunion, Hold the Nazi Rape
On Sunday night, Oz creator Tom Fontana reunited the old prison gang from his hyperintense HBO drama onstage at 59E59 Theaters for a special production. The erstwhile Emerald City bunch (including Law & Order: SVU's Christopher Meloni and 30 Rock beeper salesman Dean Winters) took their places onstage to Oz's clanging, percussive theme song, which elicited screams of delight from the crowd of die-hard fans who were now Pavlovianly primed to see some cell-block violence. But this would be no rape down memory lane; rather, the actors would be playing themselves — kinda — in a reading of Fontana's new metafictional one-act farce, The Godfather, Part IV, all for a benefit for the nonprofit theater company Primary Stages and the Writers Guild of America East Foundation.
Eamonn Walker (who played activist Muslim prisoner Kareem Said on Oz) narrated the action of the play, which centered around a coffee-shop get-together of real-life friends Terry Kinney (who played Oswald Correctional’s do-gooding liberal administrator Tim McManus), Winters (inmate Ryan O’Reilly), Lee Tergesen (milquetoast turned menace Tobias Beecher), and Meloni (Beecher's cellmate/lover/betrayer Chris Keller). The bull session eventually finds Winters and Tergesen plotting to re-create The Godfather’s famed horsehead-in-bed scene, with the egomaniacal Meloni as the victim, and Kinney volunteering to film the action for an upcoming documentary.
Why? Because (in the play, mind you) it turns out that in the years since Oz’s 2003 sign-off, Meloni has become a preening Master Thespian, who in front of his sporadically employed buddies feigns exasperation at having to work every day for the past eleven years on a hit. (After the show, Tergesen’s would-be tormentor emphatically sought to set the record straight: “That wasn’t the real Christopher Meloni!” Tergesen jokingly disagreed: “He’s such a dick!”) In the production’s most hilarious art-imitates-life-imitates-art turn, Tergesen remains in thrall to Meloni just as his Beecher was to his Keller. “It’s about putting our characters on display, in terms of Chris manipulating me, and me being all sweet and innocent … 'cause I’m definitely not sweet and innocent,” Tergesen later elaborated. “But it shows how tight we were and how we just beat the shit out of each other, and always just having a laugh, no matter what.” Alas, all of Godfather’s violence was comic, verbal, and passive-aggressive — no stabbings, stranglings, or forced sodomy for nostalgia's sake. But that, as well as the casts’ repeated cutups and flubbed line readings, were not only tolerated but relished by the equally tickled audience.
Post-show, Meloni attempted to nail down the show’s enduring devotion among both its fans and its ensemble. “There was something very visceral about the show," he said. "Oz was a combination of brutality, imagination, poetry, and humanity all rolled into this thing. It was groundbreaking.” The show's creator and Emmy-winning guiding force, Fontana, hilariously subbed in for Julianna Marguiles at the last minute; she was to play herself as Tergesen’s former and Meloni’s current squeeze, but got held up in D.C. after attending the White House Correspondents' Dinner. He said he wrote the play five years ago “for the guys” (the cast also included Zjelko Ivanek, who played diabolical Maryland governor James Devlin on the show) and decided to mount it for the once-every-seven-years benefit. Asked how he enjoyed breaking down the fourth wall for the riotous production, Fontana quipped, “I think my whole life is metafiction, but what do I know?”
More Godfather Press:
'OZ's Meloni, Winterset al. Lead Primary Stage's GODFATHER IV Benefit, 5/2
by BWW News Desk
Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Founder & Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director) concludes its celebratory 25th Anniversary Season with a special celebrity benefit stage reading performance of Godfather IV written by Emmy Award-winner Tom Fontana ("St. Elsewhere," "OZ"), with original music by Stephen Elkins. The reading is a collaborative effort between Primary Stages and the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation, for which Fontana is Foundation president. Proceeds from the reading will benefit both organizations.
The celebrity cast features Christopher Meloni ("Law & Order SVU," "OZ"), Lee Tergesen (HBO's "Generation Kill," "OZ", "Desperate Housewives"), and Dean Winters ("Life on Mars," "30 Rock," "Rescue Me," "OZ"). Directed by Linda Laundra, the celebrity ensemble will feature Mike Doyle, Zeljko Ivanek, Terry Kinney, David Laundra, Kristin Rohde, Eamonn Walker, and Catherine Wolf, with a special appearance by Mr. Fontana (all subject to continuing availability).
The special two performance fundraising event is set for Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street).
Godfather IV finds three actors from the HBO Series "OZ" sitting in a diner, talking about their careers and the works of various screen immortals. When one of the trio (Chris Meloni) attacks the plausibility of the Jack Woltz scene in the movie The Godfather, the other two (Lee Tergesen, Dean Winters) decide to "re-enact" the
Playbill, Wednesday, April 21, 2010
"Oz" Stars Meloni, Tergesen and Winters Test Horse-Head Ploy in Godfather IV Readings
By Ernio Hernandez
A horse head will come into play when former "Oz" stars Christopher Meloni, Lee Tergesen and Dean Winters play themselves in a celebrity benefit staged reading of Tom Fontana's Godfather IV May 2 at 59E59 Theaters. Primary Stages and The Writers Guild of America, East Foundation team to present the fundraiser and will share the proceeds. Linda Laundra will direct the work that features original music by Stephen Elkins.
Meloni ("Law & Order SVU"), Tergesen ("Desperate Housewives") and Winters ("Life on Mars,"30 Rock") will lead a celebrity ensemble that also features Mike Doyle, Zeljko Ivanek, Terry Kinney, David Laundra, Kristin Rohde, Eamonn Walker and Catherine Wolf with a special appearance by Fontana (artists are subject to availability).
Godfather IV “finds three actors from the HBO Series 'Oz' sitting in a diner, talking about their careers and the works of various screen immortals," according to an announcement. "When one of the trio (Meloni) attacks the plausibility of the Jack Woltz scene in the movie 'The Godfather,' the other two (Tergesen, Winters) decide to 're-enact' the scene by sneaking a horse's head into Meloni's bed. Unexpected complications arise."
Two performances of Godfather IV will play May 2 at 3 PM and 7 PM at Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters.
Tickets ($75 for premium seating, $50 for general) can be purchased by contacting development assistant Rebecca Aparicio at (212) 840-9705, ext. 223 or via email to rebecca@primarystages.org.
For more information on Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters, at 59 East 59th Street (between Park and Madison Ave.), visit primarystages.org.
ANTAL ZAMBO OF WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY RECEIVES
WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA, EAST FOUNDATION
MICHAEL COLLYER MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIP IN SCREENWRITING
Zambo receives his screenwriting fellowship at the 62nd awards event
at the Hudson Theatre on February 20, 2010
NEW YORK CITY – Antal Zambo has been selected to receive the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation’s (WGAE Foundation) Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting. The fellowship, which is funded by the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation, is awarded to a student who plans to pursue a career in screenwriting upon his/her undergraduate course of study. The recipient receives a $10,000 stipend to write an original screenplay under the mentorship of prominent screenwriter and WGAE Foundation board member, Marshall Brickman.
“The Foundation’s purpose is to discover voices that have previously been unheard, and the Collyer Fellowship helps us find and support young talent that can potentially become the next generation of screenwriters,” said Tom Fontana, President of the WGAE Foundation. “Antal’s work gives vivid expression to the lives of the people with whom he has lived and worked in Detroit’s complex urban environment.”
Zambo is a senior in the Film Studies program at Wayne State University in Detroit. He was born and raised in Detroit, where his grandparents emigrated from Lithuania immediately after World War II to work in the industrial plants there. Both his father and his uncles worked on Detroit’s automobile assembly lines. Lithuanian cultural traditions were proudly maintained within his family household and Zambo embraced both his Lithuanian and American cultural heritages.
After graduating from high school, he traveled extensively throughout the country for a few years, then returned to Detroit to attend college. His interest in film was sparked while watching 200l: A Space Odyssey and Apocalypse Now at a young age, and he pursued that passion in his studies at Wayne State. His fellowship project, When the Sparrows Come Home, is loosely based on an old Lithuanian folk tale, a reflection of his immigrant roots.
Marshall Brickman says, “Antal has a fresh voice with a unique point of view, rare in someone of his relatively young age. His sensibility is informed by his immigrant background and expressed though an impressively large talent. I look forward to working with him on his screenplay project, When the Sparrows Come Home, and hope I can learn something from him, because it’s not always the teacher who does the teaching or the mentor the mentoring.”
Eleven universities and colleges participated in this year’s Collyer Fellowship nominating process. They are: Binghamton University, Boston University, Buffalo State College, Columbia College Chicago, Georgia State University, Howard University, University of Miami, New York University, Savannah College of Art and Design, Washington University in St. Louis, and Wayne State University. The Collyer Fellowship, founded in 2009, honors Michael Collyer, a distinguished entertainment attorney in New York City who for four decades practiced primarily at his namesake firm Kay Collyer & Boose and specialized in television financing and production. Collyer was perhaps best known as a pioneer in devising legal structures for television syndication distribution, and for international co-productions taking advantage of favorable tax credits and other incentives.
The Charles & Lucille King Family Foundation was established in 1988 to support educational excellence and professional development in the film, television and related media fields, and has provided scholarships to hundreds of outstanding U.S. undergraduate students in these disciplines.
The Writers Guild of America, East Foundation is created to perpetuate the art and craft of storytelling, either by professionals or amateurs, through education and practical experience, on local, national and global levels; to find the next generation of writers in fiction, non-fiction, television, radio, film, theatre, and new media; to encourage WGAE members and staff to contribute their expertise to Foundation activities, thereby expanding the base and breadth of knowledge, as well as increasing the solidarity and power of the writing community in the larger world; and to work with other like-minded organizations in order to facilitate and expand the needs and goals of writers everywhere. Among the Foundation’s other programs are the Helen Deutsch Writing Workshops, the Brazil Global Initiative, the Actors and Writers Book Club, the Free Speech Leadership Initiative, and the Baltimore Sun Fellowships. For further information about the Foundation’s programs, go to www.wgaefoundation.org.
Anonymous donor funds project for laid off journalists
by Liz Farmer
Rashod Ollison, who was laid off as The Sun’s pop music critic in April.
More than seven months after The Baltimore Sun laid off more than one-quarter of its newsroom, some are perusing higher education, some have found journalism jobs or are freelancing, some have left the field and others are still unemployed.
It was one of the biggest layoffs in the paper’s history and shocking to some for the number of high-level managers let go — and it caught someone’s attention.
This summer, an anonymous donation was given to the National Writers Guild of America, East Foundation, with the instruction to use the money to help laid-off Sun employees.
Partnering with the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, a Baltimore Sun Fellowship was created and applications sent to those who had been laid off during the last few years (it is not available to those who took buyouts).
Twenty-eight people are participating in the fellowship, which pays a one-time stipend of more than $2,000. A Web site dedicated to chronicling their experiences at the paper is being created. According to the writers guild foundation, there is room for five or six more fellowships.
One of the fellows is building the site, which is expected to launch early next year, and another is copy editing the content. The remaining 26 are creating projects — photo essays, poems, short stories — that depict their memories of working at what many considered a Baltimore institution.
“It feels like a history project, even though The Sun is still there and operating,” said former City Hall reporter Doug Donovan, who left the paper in 2008 after more than five years. Donovan now freelances and is exploring documentary production.
While emotions ran high this spring during the layoffs, which were part of sweeping cuts by Chicago-based parent Tribune Co., the projects are more a collection of “bitter-sweet” memories, said the newspaper guild’s immediate past president, Bill Salganik, a former reporter who took a Sun buyout in 2008.
“It’s a good way for people who went through the layoff to sort of process their experience,” he said. “It’s not, ‘I hate Tribune.’”
Marsha Manns, executive director of the writers guild foundation, said the fellowship is the first of its kind for the organization, which offers writing workshops, runs television and film-based educational projects and offers a screenwriting fellowship.
Manns said she and others have talked about future uses of the project material beyond the Web site, but nothing has been decided yet. Any new project for another newspaper, for example, would need funding, she said.
“It is sort of an organic process, and we’re waiting to see where it evolves naturally,” said Manns.
Those who participated said the process was therapeutic.
Rashod Ollison, a pop music critic who was laid off in April, wrote “The Invisible Black Homo Blues” — a series of snapshots in time of how his job and the paper changed during his six-year tenure.
“I wanted to talk about how I felt, particularly in the last three years I was there, I was rendered invisible,” he said. “[In the beginning], the editors were very happy to have my voice there. They didn’t quite get it but they knew it was important.”
But after a “change of regimes” when then-editor William K. Marimow was fired in 2004, “the people in charge didn’t really get me,” he said.
Ollison has been freelancing but is venturing into academia and developing a history of rhythm and blues course for Temple University.
Julie Martin, a writer and producer for “Homicide: Life on the Street” and co-executive producer for “Law and Order,” said leaving a newspaper (or television show) can be highly emotional because people invest much of themselves in their work.
“When everyone’s job is to create a product together — a living, breathing, constantly changing product — there’s creativity to it and an emotional aspect to it … that naturally lends to a bonding,” she said.
Martin and Tom Fontana, foundation president and executive producer/writer for “Homicide,” and others (including David Simon, creator of “The Wire” and another Sun alum) hosted a workshop for the fellows last month in Baltimore. Those who attended shared their project ideas.
“Everyone wanted to honor the past and honor the memories but not get stuck,” Martin said. “There was a sense of trying to use this as a way to move forward.”
Texas Observer, November 26, 2009
Post-Traumatic
Three Texas Veterans on the Road to Recovery
The following narratives were written by Texas veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition that affects a growing number of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. As part of their recovery process, they are writing about their lives and combat experiences as part of the Veterans Writing Project. Our special thanks to Ben Snyder, an Austin playwright who mentors the veterans, for his editing assistance.
Clayton Griffin
When I was born in Texarkana in October 1975, the country was still reeling from losing 50,000 of its best and brightest to the most unpopular war in American history. Who would have ever imagined that only 30 years later the same country would send this baby boy to Asia to fight another war? But they did and that is my story.
Growing up in and around Texarkana was just like any other place, I guess. Visiting family when we got the chance, making fun of your little brother because that's what your older brother did to you, worrying about everything but grades in high school and later wishing you had worried about grades more.
By the time I did graduate from high school, I decided to take some time off from school. After a string of minimum-wage jobs I knew I wanted more, but I didn't want to take out a huge loan for college, so I enlisted in the Air Force.
In 10 short years [beginning in 1997], I deployed five times, twice to Saudi Arabia. My last mission was to Iraq [with the 101st Airborne], where I served as a convoy commander, completed over 65 combat patrols and experienced many combat engagements. I saw it all firsthand: mortars, bombs, firefights ... everything.
Actress visits city school to spark interest in literature
Kathryn E. Erbe of 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and writer Thomas P. Kelly take questions from students Monday at the launch of the Actors and Writers Book Club at Watertown High School.
Actress Kathryn E. Erbe of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" discussed literature with Watertown High School students Monday, kicking off the Actors and Writers Book Club.
The book club is a new organization that will send an actor and a writer to high schools to discuss works of literature with students, in an effort to get students excited about reading and writing. Ms. Erbe said she decided to get involved with the book club because she loves to read and she thought it would be a good opportunity to talk to youths.
"I've been a voracious reader since I was 13, so that's why I got involved with the book club," Ms. Erbe said. "And I know high school can be hard, so I wanted to talk to kids of that age, too."
Book club founder Thomas P. Kelly discussed literature with Watertown students. Mr. Kelly is a novelist who wrote the book "Payback," and is the literacy director for the Writers Guild of America, East.said.
Watertown High School was chosen for the launch of the program because of a collaboration between Mr. Kelly and Watertown English teacher Emily G. Sprague. Watertown is also the type of location the book club wants to target, because it's far from a major metropolitan area, Mr. Kelly said
"We're staying away from places like New York City, because there, you can throw a stone 10 feet and hit actors and writers," he said. "We want to go to places like Watertown, where it might be more exciting for someone to come to talk to students."
Ms. Erbe read an excerpt from the book "The Rules of the Game," written by Amy Tan. Then Mr. Kelly discussed the piece from a writer's perspective. The book centers on a young girl whose family moved from China to San Francisco's Chinatown.
Ms. Erbe used books as an escape when she was growing up, and as a way to better learn about herself and other people, she told students.
"I love this book because the way she talks about the emotions of these characters and their interactions with family members moved me," Ms. Erbe said.
English 12 students read part of the book during a short-story unit, Mrs. Sprague said. Mr. Kelly and Mrs. Sprague chose that book because the English students are familiar with it, and because Ms. Erbe loves the book.
Mr. Kelly and Ms. Erbe took some questions from students after their talk.
Students asked Mr. Kelly: "When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?" and "Can you explain your writing process?"
Mr. Kelly told students that he decided to become a writer when he was 16, and that he wakes up every morning to write when he's working on a novel because they take years to write.
Students asked Ms. Erbe about her acting career with questions such as: "What was it like to be in one of the 'Mighty Ducks' movies?"
Ms. Erbe told the students that making the movie was a lot of fun, and that she had to be careful in a lot of scenes so she didn't look taller than her co-star, Emilio Estevez.
After just a few questions, the bell rang and students filed out of the auditorium to their next class. Even though the speakers had less than an hour with the students, Mr. Kelly was happy with the first meeting of the book club.
"We want to spark the interest of students in reading, writing and storytelling," he said. "And to let them know that these things can be fun."
Fox 28 WNYF, November 16, 2009
'Payback" Author & "Law & Order" Actress Meet With WHS Students
Watertown High School seniors received a visit from a well-known actress a high-profile author, who were on hand to get students excited about reading, writing and story telling.
Katherine Erbe, who stars in the television drama "Law & Order: Criminal Intent", and Tom Kelly, who wrote "Payback", "The Rackets" and "Empire Rising", helped launch the Actors and Writers Book Club Monday.
"We felt it was a good team to send a writer and an actor out to talk about a work of literature, to talk about the process," said Kelly.
During two assemblies, Erbe read a story to students, Kelly discussed the writer's perspective and then held a question and answer session.
"I hope that they can go on to see the importance of story-telling and hearing stories in their families and telling their own stories," said Erbe, who is known for her role as Detective Alexandra Eames on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."
The Actors and Writers Book Club is a program which targets under-served areas in the country.
SAN ANTONIO — In a bare-walled room at the main library here, Kris Rodriguez, a military veteran, was struggling to explain his confusion as a new writer.
A first step, Jenny Lumet suggested, might be to choose a format. Writing a novel might be different than, say, a cookbook, said Ms. Lumet, a screenwriter whose credits include “Rachel Getting Married” and who was there to offer help
“A book is pretty thick,” said Mr. Rodriguez, who, at 30, has served in both the Marine Corps and the Army. “I don’t know if I can come up with that much material.” He had started writing down thoughts as therapy, after a brain injury caused by a roadside bomb in Iraq left him temporarily paralyzed. “In the hospital I had lost my vision and my speech,” he said.
So began a free weekend workshop, the fourth in an open-ended series to which those schooled in war, some of them wounded, came to learn craft from writers for screen, stage and the publishing world. This session, on Friday evening, was organized by the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation, which sponsored an earlier workshop in San Antonio and two in Columbus, Ohio. Attended by about two dozen veterans, the session received support from the Wounded Warrior Project and the National Endowment for the Arts Operation Homecoming.
Along with Ms. Lumet, out-of-towners like the playwright Michael Weller (“Loose Ends”), the television writer Anne Flett-Giordano (“Desperate Housewives”) and the former Black Hawk helicopter pilot Ryan Kelly (whose letters from Iraq were published in The New Yorker) were joined as mentors by a handful of local writers.
The meetings grew from an effort by guild writers to get in touch with what Tom Fontana, president of the foundation, likes to call “America’s stories.” The plan is to train those who wish to write — with no vetting for talent or professional ambition — in settings far from the entertainment corridors of New York and Los Angeles.
Speaking briefly before the latest workshop began on Friday, Mr. Fontana, a writer-producer on “The Philanthropist,” “Oz” and other series, said that Mr. Weller had urged the foundation to begin with military veterans. The next step might be to counsel auto workers in Detroit.
Of course the world has had its share of military writers. “Since Homer,” Ms. Lumet joked at one point. Still, the choice laid bare an inherent conflict.
“In the military, as I’ve learned, you’re selfless when you’re part of a unit,” Mr. Fontana said. “But writing is a selfish act.”
In small groups, with mentors sometimes outnumbering the mentored, the writers and warriors spent Friday night feeling their way toward common ground.
Among the bolder aspirants was Emily Embree, a Vietnam veteran who arrived pushing a walker but was not one to be pushed around by her coaches.
“I’m not going to tell you that, because you all are going to read it,” Ms. Embree said, when prodded by Mr. Weller to put her thoughts about a character into words. They were speaking about a fictional high school counselor named Flo, whom Ms. Embree has been developing since an earlier workshop.
Her real aim, Ms. Embree told the group, is to sharpen her writing skills for what she considers to be her life’s work: the compilation of a history that will describe her family’s place in America since the 1600s, and even earlier, where her American Indian ancestors are concerned.
“I want my family to have a living family history of who we are, where we come from, and why America plays such a big role in our lives,” said Ms. Embree, who noted that her forebears had served in the country’s armed forces since the Revolutionary War.
In the various groups on Friday there was surprisingly little talk about war stories, at least of the kind that have informed the movie “The Hurt Locker” or the television series “Over There.”
One group kicked around the ins and outs of a blog by a military woman — not present at the session — who has been grabbing attention with her public reports about a never-ending series of bad dates, often with civilians.
Another heard Teresa Dear, a former Russian linguist in the Air Force and a mother of four, lay out plans for a piece of Christian devotional literature, aimed at helping women who are going through marital problems.
In a separate room Ms. Dear’s husband James, another former Air Force linguist who served with the National Security Agency, was scratching on a pad and trying to figure out what exactly it was that he wanted to say. (Ms. Dear’s father, Vince Giammalvo, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Army for 23 years, was in yet another of the writers’ rooms.)
“I’ve got 150 things, all over the place,” Mr. Dear said. His current job as a landscape designer keeps him busy, he added.
“But there’s something in my heart,” he said, speaking after a session with Mr. Kelly and the television writer Chris Brancato. “I feel like it’s a calling to write.” Read More on the Writing Workshop
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, September 24, 2008
WGAE picks fellowship schools Ten colleges and universities to participate in program
By Leslie Simmons
The WGA East Foundation has selected 10 colleges and universities to participate in its pilot Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting named after the late veteran New York entertainment attorney.
Nominees will be in the running for a $10,000 stipend to write an original screenplay under the guidance of a mentor selected by the foundation’s board. The award will be presented at the WGAE ceremony on Feb. 7 in New York City.
"Apprenticeship is a time-honored -- and still the best -- approach to learning and refining one's skills," said WGAE Foundation chair Marshall Brickman. "No amount of classroom or technical study can replace a stimulating one-on-one relationship between apprentice and mentor in which basics, such as structure, symmetry, architecture, character and dialogue can be discussed; of even greater value is the opportunity to watch an experienced practitioner identify problems and design solutions in vivo."
The participating schools include Boston University, Columbia College Chicago, Drexel University, Georgia State University, Howard University, New York University, Savannah College of Art & Design, Tulane University, Washington University in St. Louis and Wayne State University.
The fellowship is made possible by a grant from the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation.
Variety, September 23, 2008
WGAE FOUNDATION sets screenwriter grant King Family Foundation donate $10,000
By N'NEKA HITE
The WGA East Foundation has established the Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting, to be awarded to a student from one of 10 collaborating institutions on Feb. 7 in New York.
The Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation donated the $10,000 grant for the 2008-09 pilot year.
Each institution will nominate one student who plans to pursue a career in screenwriting. The winner will use the grant to write an original script under the guidance of an established screenwriter mentor appointed by the foundation’s board.
Among the collaborating schools are Boston U., Columbia College Chicago, Howard U. and NYU.
TV WEEK, September 22, 2008
WGA East Foundation Creates Screenwriting Fellowship
By Vlada Gelman
Ten U.S. colleges and universities will compete in the Writers Guild of America East Foundation’s first Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting.
Each school will nominate one student who plans to pursue a career in screenwriting.
The winner of the fellowship will be announced at the WGAE awards ceremony scheduled for Feb. 7 in New York City.
The fellowship recipient will receive a $10,000 stipend to write an original screenplay with help from an established screenwriter selected by the Foundation’s board.
The participating schools are Boston University, Columbia College Chicago, Drexel University, Georgia State University, Howard University, New York University, Savannah College of Art & Design, Tulane University, Washington University in St. Louis and Wayne State University.
