MITF Executive Producer, came to the New York area to participate in theatre as a playwright (Frankenstein: The Musical Drama, Beyond the Veil) in 1993. To get producers to return his phone calls, he started oobr (“the off-off-broadway review”), the only publication devoted exclusively to reviewing Off-Off-Broadway plays. When the Present Company started FringeNYC in 1998, an oobr reviewer said that “someone” should start a Midtown fringe festival. Of course no one did, so John started the Midtown International Theatre Festival, in 2000. It has grown steadily over 17 seasons. John (who sometimes styles himself as a “theatrical entrepreneur”) also started Where Eagles Dare rehearsal studios and theatres, which offered low-cost space to the Off-Off-Broadway world for 7 years. Out of Where Eagles Dare grew the Short Play Lab, which presents some 20 10-min. plays several times a season. These festivals have been absorbed into the MITF: Spring (March), MITF: Summer (July), and MITF: Fall (November) festivals. For the time being, MITF: Spring and MITF: Fall comprise only short plays, either 30-60-min. long or 10-min. long (in the Short Play Lab). MITF: Summer contains short plays, a Short Play Lab, and full-length plays and musicals.