Speed Date has Zoomed into the Virtual World! More tech, less noise – each writer will be in an individual breakout room with each of our 11+ producers. 

Sunday 05/31/26
Submission deadline 5/15.
Early submissions will be given priority consideration!
Session 1: coaching at 2:00, pitching at 4:00 ET (there will be an hour wait time between coaching and pitching)
Session 2: coaching at 3:00, pitching at 5:30 ET (there will be a 90 minute wait time between coaching and pitching)

You meet a producer at a party, and have two minutes to interest him in your work. Do you have the skill to sell yourself? Here's a chance to practice your pitching with real producers who are open to and interested in meeting you. Okay, they probably won't option you on the spot, but they'll give you valuable feedback about your work and your ability to talk about it. And you'll have the opportunity to start developing a relationship. And that's what this business is all about. Relationships.

The Speed Date is the only event I know of that gives writers the chance to meet high level producers one-on-one in a room. To me, that's what makes the Speed Dates so valuable. And you do it with kindness, which I value in life. ~Vincent Amelio (How Alfo Learned to Love)

Click here: WriterSpeedDateApp-95-75(rev5) for application. Please fill out and email to TRUStaff1@gmail.com (PLEASE - add your name to the document name, and put your name FIRST when you "save as").

We'll have eleven+ producers lined up, from both the commercial and not-for-profit worlds, all with an interest in new projects; we also may have eleven aspiring producers from our Producer Development program. So you'll be pitching to as many as 22 producers in total! Come with a willingness to learn, because the real value is the chance to practice your pitching. And you'll be getting invaluable coaching from experts, as well.

Confirmed producers include (subject to change):

• Susan L.  Cohen, Performing Arts Coordinator, Sandwich (MA) Arts Alliance, producer (Money Talks the off-Broadway musical; What They Said About Love in NY and London; Oy, What They Said About Love in Falmouth, Cape Cod MA);
• Merrie L. Davis, creative producer (Just In Time, 2 Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), Giant, Liberation, Alice In Never Land;  ART; Tony nominated Dead Outlaw; Tony award for Parade, Tony award for Company Broadway, Olivier award for Company; DATA;  London, Cabaret, The Who’s Tommy, 6 Tony nominations for Eclipsed, Gigi; off-Broadway: Himself and Nora; Museum of Broadway; upcoming: Working Girl; London: Avenue Q:  Farewell Mister Haffmann, The Code, The Talented Mr. Ripley);
• Jane Dubin, producer (Still off-Broadway, Is This a Room, Dana H., The Prom, Tony winning The Norman Conquests, An American in Paris, Farinelli and the King, Bandstand, Peter and the Starcatcher, Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, The 39 Steps, Ann; upcoming: The Village of Vale, an original fantasy musical);
• Claire Feuille and Josh Dooley of Feuille Dooley Productions (I Was a Teenage She-Devil and How Not to Fund a Honeymoon at the Ed Fringe, upcoming Relative Motion at London's Southwark Playhouse; co-producers on Operation Mincemeat);
• Sharon Fallon/Sharon Fallon Productions, executive producer, general manager and consultant (Indecent, Beautiful Broadway, London & National Tour, Matilda the Musical, Lysistrata Jones);
• Don Frantz,  Town Square Productions, formerly with the Walt Disney Company (associate producer Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King), producer (off-Broadway Disenchanted);
• Alexa Kelly, founding artistic director of Pulse Theatre;
• John Lant, producer/director/showrunner/consultant specialist for musicals/plays off-Broadway;  (17 off-Broadway shows including Frankenstein, Wicked Frozen, It Came from Beyond, Wicked City Blues, Fabulous; Earnestly LGBTQ+, XIMER), artistic director Write Act Rep NYC/LA (20 years); 2-time NAACP, 4-time DramaLogue & 4-time CA for the Arts Winner; PM Carnegie Hall (13 years), TV/Film Studio Operator for 2 Studios for stage to screen or film productions NY & NJ;
• Cody Lassen, producer (Othello, The Wiz, The Notebook, The 12, How I Learned to Drive, Indecent, Deaf West's Spring Awakening, A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, Hyprov, Some Lovers; upcoming: Damn Yankees);
• Tamra Pica, TV, film and theater producer and casting director for Write Act Repertory - "My work centers on developing writers in theater, film and television. Though I tend to produce more musicals, I am interested in writers in all genres with a strong voice who write the stories they are uniquely meant to tell.";
• Ken Waissman, producer (Josephine, original Grease, Agnes of God, Torch Song Trilogy, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little);
• Lauren Yarger of Gracewell Productions, writer, director, critic, producer of the Outer Critics Circle Awards, the "Table Readings at the Palace Theater" series in Waterbury, CT, "Staged Intent" Series in Ivoryton Playhouse and "Women of a Certain Age" in Westport County Playhouse;
• Aly York, indie producer, LA and Philadelphia area.

Coaches: Gary Hughes, Emileena Pedigo, Bailie Slevin

Training Producers: Marilyn Anderson*, Barbara Blumenthal*, Danny Bolero, Thomas Copeland*, Hal Diamond*, John Ewing III*, Tom Hyndman, Eric C. Jones*, Patricia Krahnke*, Gina Marten*, Kathryn Schmidt*

[*members and alumni of TRU's Producer Development program]

At TRU they not only provide you with the opportunity to meet 11 different producers, but they also provide you with tools and coaching to make your pitch night a success. They also bring producers that love the educational aspect of the pitch night and genuinely love meeting new writers. So, even if you don’t walk away with an option, which they tell you not to expect, you walk away with a better pitch, new ideas, and a bigger network. ~Kenady Sean, musicalwriters.com 

I really am impressed with the info and support from TRU. I've done several of these with [another] group. I quit last year. With you guys it's like you're setting us up for success, what a concept. ~Kurt Johns (Hello Kitty Must Die)

I just wanted to relay a huge thanks to you and everyone at TRU for this experience, it was awesome! We really felt supported the whole way through, and we feel so much better prepared to market our show after getting the chance to practice pitching. If there's anywhere we can write a review or something for this experience, please let us know. And thank you and the rest of the team for all the tech effort behind this. ~Daniel Rosen & Alara Magritte (Safe Hands)

Just wanted to say “thanks” for your Herculean efforts in making the event so worthwhile.... Honestly, I much preferred pitching via Zoom than in person. ~Sam Affoumado (Panic Defense)

I participated in TRU's Writer's Speed Date Pitch session last year, and got a LOT out of it! I found it so motivating to have a deadline to create production assets and prepare myself for meeting producers. My partner and I worked tirelessly for days before the event to make sure we were in top form before presenting (as writers) to the "producers" on hand. My experience was one of the rare occasions where several producers expressed real interest in my work. Later, one attended my reading, and followed up with a coffee meeting to talk financing. We're still in touch. Again, this is never promised, but it does happen for some of us. In my opinion, the price of $95 for all that value is a BARGAIN! ~Ed Zareh (Long Lost John)

I've had follow-up meetings with two people I met from the event. and provided scripts to three others. I also met some fellow playwrights, and through a chain of introductions coming out of that, I'm now working on a possible film deal in Los Angeles.  If you have a project where you'd like to practice and receive feedback on your pitch; potentially make some connections that would be useful for script development or early production; and meet some other playwrights – this is an ideal opportunity. ~William Roetzheim

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  GARY M. HUGHES

  Co-founder, program director, and former board member of Theater Resources Unlimited. Alumni of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop. Studied set design at Parsons School of Design, and is a graduate of NSFIA. Designed key art graphics and marketing materials for numerous theatrical events. Corporate Creative Director and Creative Manager within the beauty and consumer goods industry for various companies, including the Fortune 100.
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  EMILEENA PEDIGO

  Emileena's work focuses on building sustainable careers #AnotherWay, using entrepreneurial strategies that prioritize the artist over their art.  Her company, The Show Goes On Productions provides coaching and artist management, as well as produces workshops, showcases, and events.  Before that Emileena was managing producer of the Midtown International Theater Festival.  She helped expand the annual festival into seven venues, presenting up to 60 shows in one month during her seven-year tenure.  Emileena also general-managed for several nonprofits, assisted Stewart F. Lane on four Broadway shows, including the Off-Broadway transfer of The 39 Steps, and worked on various film and music festivals.  She toured theaters, music arenas, and schools across the country, working with artists from all artistic disciplines.  Emileena has served on the board of Conscious Capitalism NYC, and helped to build Arts programming within the Chelsea Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce.  She is a graduate of the Commercial Theatre Institute, SUNY/Kaufmann's Fasttrac program for entrepreneurs, and a Purdue University alum. 
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  BAILIE SLEVIN

  is the founder of Financial Wellness Companion, Entertaining Finance, and is the current Sales Trainer at MediaRadar. She has made a study of language and how people communicate value, be it screenwriting, playwriting, sculpting, performing, painting, or commercial sales. Bailie helps to translate the creator’s passions to others in a business setting. With her15 years in the personal financial planning industry, Bailie developed a niche in the arts and freelance communities, specializing in working with people with an uneven income. She has also spent significant time in the theatre industry as a stage manager, general manager, and producer. She is a Life Purpose Life Coach and a New York Mental Health Peer Specialist. She lives in New York City with her rescue pup, Lorelai.

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  SUSAN L. COHEN

  is a producer whose career has spanned the industry from casting to stage managing to international ticketing. In her current role, she is Performing Arts Coordinator at the Sandwich (MA) Arts Alliance and producer of Oy, What They Said About Love on Cape Cod. Her plans include producing the new comedy Working for Crumbs by Kate Danley. Susan produced Steve Budd's show in New York and London, and online via Cate Cammarata's CreateTheater. Susan was a coproducer of Money Talks the musical, by Peter Kellogg and David Friedman, at New York’s Davenport Theater. A Broadway investor, Susan is a graduate of the Broadway League’s Commercial Theater Institute 14-Week Program and Dartmouth College. She earned an MBA in Finance and Theater Management at Columbia University, where she attended weekly seminars taught by Gerald Schoenfeld and Bernard Jacobs in the Shubert’s offices. 

   

   
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  MERRIE L. DAVIS

  is a Tony & Olivier Award-Winning Creative Producer New York & London. Her award-winning productions include: Parade, Broadway, Best Musical Revival 2023; Company Broadway, Best Musical Revival 2022, West End, Olivier Award Winner Best Musical Revival 2019. Other Broadway Productions: Just in Time; 2 Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York); Cabaret; Dead Outlaw; The Who's Tommy; Working Girl; Giant; Liberation; Eclipsed with 6 tony nominations; Gigi, the Musical. London: The Code; Farewell Mister Haffmann; Dr. Semmelweis; The Picture of Dorian Gray. National/ International Tours: Dear Evan Hansen; Company; Parade; Moulin Rouge; To Kill a Mockingbird; Come From Away; The King and I; The Talented Mr. Ripley. Merrie is also a Co- Producer on the Museum of Broadway. She is an Out-of-the-Box Marketer who founded Next Act 2 Follow, a marketing /producing company, utilizing her unique creative talent to help generate inventive ideas that introduce fresh concepts to the Broadway scene. For over 20 years, prior to her career change into producing, Merrie owned her own Visitor Magazine Publishing Company, IN New York and WHERE Magazines,  which were distributed in the Hotels, Cunard Lines, British Airways and over 300 other points of distribution. She had the pleasure of working with New York City's Tourism & Hospitality industries, including the Theatre agencies and the Concierge Community.  Merrie is an Honorary Concierge and continues to support the Concierges in their interactions with the visitor markets and theater community. Merrie is on the Board of TRU, Abingdon Theatre Company, The Broadway Association and Big Apple Greeter.  Merrie thoroughly enjoys working with students and newcomers to the Theater world to help welcome them into a world she has always loved. 
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  JOSH DOOLEY

  As a principle in Feuille Dooley Productions, Josh recently brought two shows to the Edinburgh Fringe (I Was A Teenage She-Devil and How Not to Fund A Honeymoon), with plans for bringing Relative Motion to London's Southwark Playhouse in 2026. He is a co-producer on the Broadway Tony-nominated Operation Mincemeat. 
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  JANE DUBIN

  is a Tony, Drama Desk and Drama League Award-winning producer and the President of Double Play Connections, a theatrical production company committed to supporting the development of new work. Jane is a graduate of the CTI 14-week (NYC) and O’Neill (CT) Producing Workshops and Director of TRU’s Producer Development Master Class. Ms. Dubin is co-Chair of the Board of Houses on the Moon Theater Company, a past Board member of the League of Professional Theatre Women and was a Tony voter for seven years. She is a member of the Broadway Women’s Alliance, Off-Broadway Alliance, LPTW and Off-Broadway League. She serves as an evaluator for Bethany Arts Community’s residency program. She is a frequent panelist and guest lecturer on theater-related matters. Jane serves on the advisory boards of Elizabeth Mascia Child Care Center, Axial Theatre and Dirty Laundry Theatre. Jane has an MBA in Finance from NYU and was a partner in an investment advisory firm prior to her theater career. Productions: Recent: The Village of Vale – an original fantasy musical (Adirondack Theatre Festival), Still, starring Melissa Gilbert and Mark Moses.  Broadway: Is This A Room, Dana H., The Prom (Drama Desk Best Musical), Farinelli and the King (Mark Rylance), An American in Paris (4 TONY Awards, London, National Tour), Ann, (Holland Taylor) (Lincoln Center), Bandstand, Peter and the Starcatcher (5 TONY Awards), The  Norman Conquests (TONY). Other: Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, Beebo Brinker Chronicles (GLAAD Media Award), Groundswell, The 39 Steps, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (London). Film: Radium Girls. 
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  SHARON FALLON

  founder of Sharon Fallon Productions, Inc., is an independent theater producer, general manager, and theatrical consultant with over two decades of experience in commercial and non-profit theatre. In 2015, Sharon established her theatrical production and general management company with a mission to bridge the gap between art and business — ensuring productions are both financially sustainable and artistically fulfilling. She takes a holistic approach to her work, overseeing all stages of production from initial concept to final performance. Sharon works closely with early-career producers and artist-driven projects, providing guidance across readings, development workshops, and full productions to help bring new theatrical works to life. Her career spans roles as actress, director, general manager, managing director, and producer. Broadway credits include Indecent, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Matilda The Musical, and Lysistrata Jones. She has also served as Associate General Manager for both the Helen Hayes Theatre and the Lyric Theatre in New York. Sharon is currently working as executive producer and/or general manager on several projects in development. She serves on the Board of the National Alliance of Musical Theatres (NAMT), co-chairing the Member Resources and Conference Committee, and is a member of the Off Broadway League.
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  CLAIRE FEUILLE

  As a principle in Feuille Dooley Productions, Claire recently brought two shows to the Edinburgh Fringe (I Was A Teenage She-Devil and How Not to Fund A Honeymoon), wth plans for bringing Relative Motion to London's Southwark Playhouse in 2026. She is a co-producer on the Broadway Tony-nominated Operation Mincemeat. She started as an actor, focusing on Shakespeare, andy training at Dartmouth, LAMDA, and the Powerhouse Theater Company at Vassar in Classical Acting. She branched into Sketch Comedy at UCB in New York, which lead to a deep love of comedy of all kinds! As a writer, she takes inspiration from historical fiction and classical plays with a passion for adaptation, using old stories to say something new. She brought a historical fiction cabaret to Edinburgh Fringe in 2022 Like Other Girls, a sensible roast of musical theater's finest historical women. 
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  DON FRANTZ

  owner of Town Square Productions, is an eight-year veteran of the Walt Disney Company where he was instrumental in creating Walt Disney Theatrical Productions and served as the Associate Producer of Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Prior to these assignments he produced and directed productions at Walt Disney World, including the Magic Kingdom's spectacle “SpectroMagic,”  parade.  Following Disney Theatrical, Don general managed the Ragtime national tour for Livent, and Broadway’s Soul of Shaolin, A Class Act and Tale of Two Cities. Don performed directing and/or management roles at Universal Studios Hollywood, Busch Gardens, XXIII and XXV Superbowl Half-Time Shows, Liberty Weekend, and the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition.  Since 2001 his company Town Square Productions, Inc. logged credits for Broadway, Off-Broadway, Touring and Regional productions including lead producer of Disenchanted now licensed worldwide. For theme parks, Don developed and produced Katonga for Busch Gardens, Tampa, Winner of IAAPA’s BIG E award for the Best Show and Believe, a re-imagining of Seaworld’s killer whale show in the Florida, Texas and California parks which also won the BIG E Best Show award as well as the THEA Award for Best Live Show.  He served as COO of Broadway China Ventures for Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment to initiate theatrical presentation and theater management in China. Under the first joint venture endorsed by the PRC’s Ministry of Culture, Don presented 42nd Street in 9 cities to 100,000 spectators, followed by tours of Fame and Elton John’s Aida. Don was executive producer of the award winning documentary “Road to Fame” about the first Broadway musical staged in mandarin at the Central Academy of Drama. Since 2010 Don has produced, directed or managed 19 original productions on China, 7 of which continue to operate.  Don received an MFA in Theater Management from UCLA and then served on the faculty of UCLA’s  Department of Theater, Film and Television followed by general managing the Los Angeles’ Ensemble Studio Theater/LA, and George Schaefer’s Musical Theater/LA at the Doolittle Theater.  A three-time winner of the Guinness Record for the World’s Largest Maze, Don developed a new, outdoor, family game called the “Amazing Maize Maze®.” His American Maze Company has built hundreds of projects, entertained millions of players, instigated a world-wide maze fad and has given him the label of “Father of the Corn Maze.”   For Hyperion Press he authored the book “A Celebration of the Broadway Musical, Beauty and the Beast.” Current projects include the musical Sound of the Silk Road being developed for Broadway, Little Stars, a small musical opening in Beijing in September, four annual farm maze attractions, and a collaboration with the regional theater in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. 
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  ALEXA KELLY

  Acting Coach, is the Founder and Producing Artistic Director for Pulse Ensemble Theatre. She has worked as an acting teacher and director for the past 30 years. She taught acting and directing at the University of North Carolina, University of Michigan, Alliance Theater Acting School, Walnut Street Theatre Acting School, Harlem Theatre Company. Since being in New York City, Alexa has directed extensively at Pulse Ensemble Theatre, Adelphi University, and Tisch School of the Arts, Playwrights Department. She founded and directed 15 seasons of the very popular Harlem Summer Shakespeare in Harlem. She coaches acting for graduate school admissions, scene work and play performances. Her acting coaching focuses on all aspects of the craft: the voice, the body and the technique. She works extensively with acting coaching for Shakespeare, and has made many students who thought they could not handle Shakespeare at all say “Wow! That really was easy!” www.AlexaKellyDirector.com
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  JOHN LANT

  Producer/Director, Consultant specialist for musicals/plays off-Broadway and TV/Film Studio Operator for 2 Studios for stage to screen or film productions NY & NJ. 43-year veteran in the entertainment in over 750 television, film, theatre/music tours, and live theater. Production Manager at Carnegie Hall since 2006-2020 season for over 2,000 events. Award-winning producer, director, writer, lighting/set designer; Interlochen, Cal Arts, Ricardo Montalban, Hollywood Playhouse, Long Beach Playhouse, Glendale Center, Jewel Box Theatre Center and Write Act Repertory garnering DramaLogue, Diamond, ADA, NAACP Awards, LA Weekly and Backstage Pick of the Week, Garland and Valley Theatre (LA) nods. Executive Radio Producer New Frequency - Theatre of the Mind for SIRIUS/XM Radio - Ranked #1 Radio show. Mentored with Jonathan Sanger/Chanticleer Films for two shorts (Emmy & Oscar Winners), Howard Storm CBS Radford and TRU PDMP Master Fellow under Jane Dubin and Jennifer Issacson. Directed TV / Pilots Symphology, Carrot Talk, BET JAZZ Master Awards (1&2), Toronto Independent Shorts Awards, Funiki-Jam Season 2, and Anonymous Confessions. 17 Off-Broadway Lead Producer / Director (AEA/Non-union) credits include Fabulous!, 2By Tennessee Williams, Lili Marlene, Frankenstein, It Came from Beyond, Wicked Frozen, Teen Party Massacre, Swing!, Wicked City Blues, Geeks! TV/Film Credits include King of New York, The Freshman, Army of Darkness, Renegade, Power Rangers, and HBO Max's The Flight Attendant (CCO Supervisor). Tours include Phantom of the Opera, Singin' in the Rain, Gypsy and Evita. Current money raise - Pearl Bailey Musical (with Tony winning team members of Dreamgirls! and Hamilton). Development Director/Consultant for TV Film - Twisted Media NYC, Nathan Murphy Prod, Gatehouse Entertainment, Tin Mirror Prod and Trinity Theatrics network and streaming content for 3 TV pilots & 2 feature film currently in pre-production. COVID Compliance Supervisor certified for Film/TV/Broadway Theatre.
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  CODY LASSEN

  is a Tony-nominated theatre producer and live entertainment consultant. Broadway productions include Indecent, the Deaf West Theatre revival of Spring Awakening, and the revival of Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive. Recently off-Broadway A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet was the first new musical to open since the pandemic began. He has been part of the producing team for other Broadway productions including Tootsie, What the Constitution Means to Me, Torch Song, The Band's Visit, Macbeth and Significant Other. Upcoming: the first revival of Titanic, The Flamingo Kid, Steven Sater & Duncan' Sheik's Alice By Heart and Burt Bacharach's Some Lovers. In addition to producing his own projects, Cody consults for producers, theaters and agencies to help them discover how they should market their shows for the best chance of financial and critical success. Previously, he was the director of marketing for Los Angeles' Center Theatre Group and its three theaters: the Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre. He is an active member of the Broadway League, the National Association of Musical Theatre, and serves on the Board of NY’s Vineyard Theatre. More info at codylassen.com
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  TAMRA PICA

  producer and casting director for Write Act Repertory. Tamra's theater and television work spans 33 years and over 250 productions as a prop designer, AEA Stage Manager, producer and casting director of plays, musicals, dance and ice shows. She produces both Off Broadway, as well as, managing the Los Angeles theater presence for Write Act.  Recent credits include the long-running Frankenstein, Wicked City Blues, and Swing.  Other credits include: Lili Marlene, Caldwell’s Bomb for the New York Venus/Adonis Theater Festival, Renewal, Your Name on My Lips at Theater for the New City and the long running musical Fabulous! Queen of the New Musicals where she served as a casting director and producer.  Alongside theater, Tamra’s work production, casting, and development television work can be seen for companies such as Disney, Sony, Cartoon Network, NBC Studios, TBS, CBS, MTV, ABC and FOX.  She currently works on the animated Disney series Mira, Royal Detective.
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  KEN WAISSMAN

  is one of only two producers in the history of Broadway to have a musical run over 3000 performances and a play run over 1000. (The other producer he shares this distinction with is the legendary David Merrick.) Waissman developed and produced the original Broadway production of Grease as well as two of Broadway’s longest running plays, Agnes of God by John Pielmeier and Torch Song Trilogy by Harvey Fierstein.Waissman's first Broadway credit was the 1971 Paul Zindel play And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little with Estelle Parsons and Julie Harris, and his prolific Broadway efforts have resulted in four motion picture features, a PBS TV special, 25 Tony Award® nominations, and 5 Tony Awards® including a Tony Award® as ‘Best Play Producer.’ His new musical, Josephine, inspired by Josephine Baker, had its World Premiere at the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, Florida. Deborah Cox played the title role and Joey McKneely directed and choreographed.
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  LAUREN YARGER

  With her company Gracewell Productions, Lauren produces the Table Readings Series at the Palace Theater, CT; "Staged Intent" Series Ivoryton Playhouse; Women of a Certain Age in Westport County Playhouse. She is the executive producer of the Outer Critics Circle awards, co-founder of the CT chapter of the League of Professional Theater Women and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
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  ALY YORK

  holds a bachelor’s degree in theatre from Syracuse University and is an alumni of the prestigious Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Additionally she is a member of the Classical Theatre Lab in Los Angeles, Ca. Aly is an indie producer and has produced several plays throughout the Los Angeles and Philadelphia area. She has produced 4 of Phil Olson's plays; 2 of which were world premieres -- additionally she produced Phil's short film he wrote with Paul Lazarus called Graham: A Dog's Story starring Tatyana Ali and Chris Williams. Recently Aly produced Neil Simon's London Suite at the GRT in Los Angeles, Ca. Aly has worked with the great Tony Tanner, Louis Fantasia, Richard Digby Day, Howard Fine and Jay Goldenberg.
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  MARILYN ANDERSON

  is a writer/producer/ performer of How to Live Like a MILLIONAIRE When You're a MILLION Short, Santa Monica Playhouse - Fan Favorite 10 seasons in a row; writer-producer of How to Beat a Bully, family comedy feature film. Plays: Not Tonight, Vito!, As Good as Gold, a comedy about women & gender parity in Hollywood; writer-producer of Time and Again, finalist in the Neil Labute Playwriting Contest. LUMINAS Award for Positive Depiction of Women in Film & TV:  Honored by WGA as writer of one of the 101 Best Written TV Shows of the Past Seven Decades: Murphy Brown. Other TV: FAME, Sherman Oaks, Friday the 13th- the Series, and on writing staff of Carol & Company, starring Carol Burnett, Richard Kind and Jeremy Piven. Also, author of 4 published books. Member of TRU Foundations Program.  
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  BARBARA BLUMENTHAL-EHRLICH

  is a member of the TRU Producer Development Program and founding member of NJ’s Swan Dive Theatre Collective, devoted to advancing the work of Women+ artists. An award-winning playwright with a 2024 NEA-funded joint commission and a 2025 recipient of an Individual Artist Grant Fellowship from NJ Council of the Arts. Produced off-Broadway, internationally, and nationwide in Seattle, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, L.A. NYC development at Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, Rattlestick, Roundabout, Urban Stages; regionally at The Kennedy Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Geva, Victory Gardens, Palm Beach Dramaworks. Nominated for Edmonton’s Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award and honorable mention, The Kilroy list. Published by Smith & Kraus and Applause. 
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  THOMAS M. COPELAND

  is a playwright, actor, and producer. He has six full length and one-acts in various stages of development and production. He is currently producing a staged reading of his new play LOVEBOMB scheduled for August 1st, 2026 at the Playwright’s Theater at HB Studios. His first fully self-produced project, One in Twenty-Five, received its world premiered at Theater for the New City in September 2025. Sidewalks received its first public reading in April 2026, and Shav versus Whitmore will receive a full production with Long Beach Shakespeare Co. in September 2026. He lives in Edgewater, NJ with his growing family and spends as much time as possible developing his and other’s new works.
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  JOHN EWING III

  is an alumnus of TRU's producing program and masterclass. He is well versed in entertainment production with credits in film (The Redemption of a Dog, The Marriage Chronicles and The Last Letter) as well as theater and concert promotion. Live entertainment plays and concerts include Love Jones The Musical, Ronnie Bobby Rickey and Mike, The Festival of Praise. 
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  ERIC JONES

  (composer, lyricist & librettist) He has been involved with the Christian theater circuit since 1995 as a writer, actor, director and composer. Writing credits: Children of the Passage, Three Crosses, Postcard Journeys though Christmas, Hallelujah Follies, Sweet Freedom, American Skin Freedom Quilt, Liberators and Fired! The Musical; American Rifle at the Fade to Black Theater Festival, Audition at the Fragmentation IV. Acting credits include: Children of the Passage, Three Crosses, Winter Garden, Postcard Journeys though Christmas. Film Credits; Mortal Love for the 48 Hour Film Project Houston 2011 (Screenwriter & Actor), Curveball for the 48 Hour Film Project 2012(Story Writer, Actor & Producer) winner of 5 awards for Best of Film ceremony Dreamland Murders (Story & Co-Scriptwriter, Actor & Producer); winner of 6 Awards for Best of Film including Best Screenplay Nomination. Dreamland Murders also won the 2015 Silver REMI Award at the 2015 World Fest Houston Film Festival for Best Dark Comedy. Directing credits include: Children of the Passage, Miracle at Nativity Park, co-directed Liberators a New Musical. Currently Emancipation will be premiering at the Atlanta Black Theater Festival.
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  GINA MARTEN

  is an NYC-based Associate Producer for an Off-Broadway production, fundraising consultant, laughter practitioner, clown, mosaic glass artist, and former nonprofit executive director. She currently works alongside The Last Rat as Associate Producer of Development and collaborates with Laughter League, NYC Kids Project and Circus Evo as a fundraising consultant. Gina also earned her Laughter Yoga Leader Certification and has completed more than 500 hours of clown training in New York City. She graduated with a BS in Marketing and has 30+ years experience in nonprofit management, marketing and sales at companies including Xerox, Corning and Procter & Gamble. She earned awards including President’s Club. As an Executive Director she raised over 1M and expanded services from a local to international presence. Two years ago she attended a clown retreat where she experienced joy and authenticity in a new way. Today, she’s combining her professional experience and artistic passion with the goal of helping organizations make a deep and lasting impact through the arts. When she’s not clowning, she’s with her kids and dog Presley.
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  KATHRYN KOMSA SCHMIDT

  is a graduate of 2025 TRU Producer and Development Program with Blair Russell. Playwright and Lyricist for Green: The Musical, winner of  5 adjudicated awards including Best Musical at Create Theater's 2025 New Works Theater Festival, and inspired by the intrigue, humor and fantasy in the medieval legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Previously a decades-long human resources executive for NYC-based Fortune 200 companies including Chief Diversity Officer at Marsh & McLennan Companies. Kathryn lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey and has enjoyed the Catskills and Cape May with her husband for over 40 years, but visits Houston and Seattle regularly to see her children and their families.