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Event Details
  • Writer-Producer Speed Date (do not purchase until accepted)
     June 5, 2022 - June 6, 2022
     2:00 pm - 7:15 pm
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Writer-Producer Virtual Speed Date 06-05-22

We're Zooming ahead into the Virtual World - Speed Date has been reformatted for Zoom! More tech, less noise – each writer will be in an individual breakout room with each of our 11+ producers. 

Sunday 06/05, 2022 - submission deadline 05/25
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-85-75virtual-rev2 for application. Please fill out and email to TRUStaff1@gmail.com (PLEASE - add your name to the document name, and put it 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:

  • Margot Astrachan, producer (Diana, The Prom, A Gentleman's Guide..., Ghost the musical, Around the World in 80 Days, Nice Work If You Can Get It, On a Clear Day...);
  • Patrick Blake, producer (The Exonerated, In the Continuum, Bedlam's Hamlet/St. Joan, founding artistic director of Rhymes Over Beats);
  • Merrie L. Davis, producer & out of the-box-marketer (winner 4 Olivier awards for Company London, 9 Tony nominations for Company on Broadway, 6 Tony Nominations for Eclipsed, Gigi; Museum of Broadway coming to Times Square; off-Broadway Himself and Nora);
  • Robert Driemeyer & Morgan Sills of Driemeyer/Sills Productions, producer (off-Broadway Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging, Party Face, The Two-Character Play, Shear Madness; Broadway EllingLa Cage Aux Folles revival);
  • Jane Dubin, producer (current: Is This A Room, Dana H.; The Prom, Tony winning The Norman ConquestsAn American in ParisFarinelli and the KingBandstandPeter and the StarcatcherAbsolute Brightness of Leonard PelkeyThe 39 StepsAnn);
  • William Franzblau, producer (Rocktopia, Tony Award-nominated Say Goodnight GracieAmerican Buffalo and Wonderland on Broadway; tour of Little House on the Prairie the Musical; off-Broadway Sistas, Jewtopia, Evil Dead the MusicalRespect, Illuminate);
  • Neil Gooding, producer (Australia: 33 Variations, Sweet Charity, Drummer Queens, The Bridges Of Madison CountyGutenberg! The Musical!, Dogfight; New York: Church and StateHandle with CareThe 39 Steps, Alan Cumming’s one-man Macbeth on Broadway; upcoming productions: Back to the Future in London, What’s New Pussycat in the UK and Harmony in New York);
  • John Lant, indie producer & director (15 off-Broadway shows: Frankenstein, Wicked Frozen, It Came from Beyond, Wicked City Blues, Fabulous; current Earnestly LGBTQ+), producing artistic director Write Act Rep NYC/LA (18 years); 2-time NAACP, 4-time DramaLogue & 2-time California for the Arts Winner - "I specialize in the development of new works and am a theatrical show runner for financed projects wanting to come to Off-Broadway.";
  • Dominick LaRuffa Jr., producer (Betrayal revival, American Son, Lifespan of a Fact, On the Town revival, You Can't Take It With You revival, Deaf West's Spring Awakening, The Realistic Joneses);
  • Barbara Manocherian, producer (Tony Awards for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Oklahoma! revival, Hair revival, The Norman Conquests; Tony Nominee for Next Fall Lead Producer; numerous other shows);
  • Tamra Pica, producer and casting director for Write Act Repertory, and the new Park Performing Arts Center’s (PPAC) in Union City, NJ - "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.";
  • Aly York, indie producer, LA and Philadelphia area.

Coaches: Diana Calderazzo, Emileena Pedigo, Joanne Zippel

Observing Producers: Anton Chesnokov, Larry Daggett*, Phil Darg, Melvina Douse-Manuel*, Michael Grover, Randall Huskinson*, Nico Juber*, David Quang Pham*, David Stamps*, Tracy Swedlow*, Patricia Zehenmayr*.

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


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 with everyone else within earshot. ~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 $85 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

Faculty
  • DIANA CALDERAZZO

    is an adjunct instructor of Theatre at Fordham University, teaching Invitation to Theatre. She earned a PhD in Theatre with a focus in Cognitive Studies from the University of Pittsburgh in 2012 and a Master’s Degree in Theatre from the University of Central Florida in 2005. She has taught Theatre and/or Communications at both of those universities, as well as Central Texas College and Bronx Community College. Diana was also a scholarship recipient at Smith College, where she completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre. Diana has published peer-reviewed articles in such journals as Theatre Topics and Theatre Symposium, and has presented papers at national and international conferences such as the American Society for Theatre Research and the International Federation for Theatre Research. She is also a member of Wardrobe Local 764 in New York City, where she works as a wardrobe technician for various Broadway shows. She worked as a full-time dresser for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark on Broadway from 2010 to 2013. Diana is a former Tour Actor/Director for the Missoula Children’s Theatre and has taught Theatre to over 2,500 children around the country with this company. She has also toured in Europe as a performer with Music Theatre Bavaria.
  • 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. 

  • JOANNE ZIPPEL

    is a collaborator and communicator who has an extensive network of relationships in both the creative and corporate worlds. She has over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, working in theatre and live event production, promotion, sponsorship, B2B and B2C sales and marketing, creative development, literary management and creative coaching in the entertainment business. Joanne ‘s creative coaching business evolved out of her work as a manager of playwrights and screenwriters – guiding their careers and helping them to pursue their passions in what is well known as an often difficult, changeable and sometimes arbitrary business. Through her company Zip Creative, she works with clients helping them to open themselves up to their creative capacity, build a solid foundation from which to make authentic work and life decisions and take practical action on them. For more information go to www.zipcreative.net. Joanne graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and did graduate work at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She is a graduate of the Hoffman Institute.

Producers
  • MARGOT ASTRACHAN

    is a Tony Award winning commercial theatrical producer based in New York. Broadway: Diana, A New Musical, The Prom, Tony Award winning A Gentleman's Guide to Love and MurderThe Realistic JonesesNice Work If You Can Get It, the revival of On a Clear Day You Can See ForeverBonnie & ClydeBusker AlleyGhost the Musical National Tour, and the only staging of Stephen Sondheim’s Evening Primrose. She also produced The Sting starring Harry Connick Jr. at The Papermill Playhouse. Margot wrote, produced and performed five one-woman cabaret shows.  New York: Danny’s Skylight Room, Judy’s, The Plaza Hotel, The Oak Room of The Algonquin Hotel, the Triad, The National Arts Club, and Don’t Tell Mama’s, among others. With dancer/choreographer Carmen de Lavallade, she wrote the book of a new Jazz musical, which has been read at Lincoln Center and at The York Theater. Margot was the American Artistic Director of the Jermyn Street Theatre in London and The Kings Head Theatre in London, and has had over 30 years’ experience producing special events for Arts Organizations such as The York Theatre Company, The Theatre Museum, and Brit-Arts of The St. George’s Society, which with Jim Dale, featured British and American theatre professionals in readings and panels in New York. She was the Vice Chair of The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), and is a board member of The Alumni & Friends of The LaGuardia High School for the Arts, Chair of the Theater Advisory Committee of the Library For the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, a Board Member of The Transport Group and Co-Chair of the Rachel Crothers Award of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a graduate of CTI (The Commercial Theatre Institute) and is a member of The Association of Performing Arts Presenters, The National Alliance For Musical Theatre, The Broadway League, The Dramatists Guild, the Advisory Board of TRU, British American Business, Inc. and BAFTA East Coast. She is the past chair of The American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Upcoming: Radio Galaxy by Michele Aldin Kushner (found in the TRU Voices series). She is a graduate of CTI (The Commercial Theatre Institute) and is a member of The Association of Performing Arts Presenters, The National Alliance For Musical Theatre, The Broadway League, The Dramatists Guild, the Advisory Board of TRU, British American Business, Inc. and BAFTA East Coast. She is the past chair and current board member of Theater Resources Unlimited and The American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. 

  • PATRICK BLAKE

    is a writer/producer based in New York and San Francisco, and Founding Artistic Director of Rhymes Over Beats, a hip hop theater company. In New York theater, he is a producer of the off-Broadway revival of The 39 Steps, the off-Broadway transfer of Bedlam Theater Company's dual productions of Hamlet and Saint Joan, and is currently producing My Life Is a Musical (from the TRU Voices series) which had a debut production at Bay Street Theatre. He was one of the producers of Play Dead! at The Players Theatre, he has produced In the Continuum at Perry Street Theatre, Noah's Archive, Joe Fearless, The Exonerated (Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Court TV's Scales of Justice Award) and The Soap Myth at Southstreet Seaport. He also produced Dirty Works at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He was Executive Producer for the short film, The Igloo, and the feature film Mr. Smith Gets a Hustler. Patrick is a proud board member of TRU.

  • 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. 

  • ROBERT DRIEMEYER & MORGAN SILLS

    credits include shows on Broadway, Off Broadway, and in regional theatre. Most recently, they were lead producers of the award-winning Off Broadway hit Party Face at New York City Center Stage II, starring Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA winner Hayley Mills and directed by Amanda Bearse. They were on the producing team of the NYC production of the worldwide phenomenon Shear Madness at the Davenport Theatre and New World Stages. Also at New World Stages, they produced the critically acclaimed revival of Tennessee Williams’ The Two-Charcter Play starring Tony and Emmy winner Amanda Plummer and Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee Brad Dourif. Individual Broadway and Off Broadway credits include La Cage Aux Folles starring Kelsey Grammer, Of Mice And Men starring James Franco, and Forbidden Broadway. Morgan is Executive Producer of Judson Theatre Company in Pinehurst, NC and has also been involved in the New York production of The Fantasticks. Driemeyer-Sills Productions focuses on new works and classic revivals, and offers producing and executive producing services.

  • 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

  • WILLIAM FRANZBLAU

    created and produced the recent Broadway Rocktopia, the Tony Nominated Best Play Say Goodnight Gracie, produced David Mamet’s American Buffalo on Broadway, and the tour of Little House on the Prairie the Musical starring Melissa Gilbert. He also served as the Executive and Lead Producer for Broadway’s Wonderland. He licensed and produced the off-Broadway shows, SISTAS the Musical (recently shot and broadcast on BET, now in its sixth year off Broadway), This One's for the Girls, Jewtopia, Evil Dead the Musical, the male intellect: an oxymoron, Respect and ILuminate (America’s Got Talent Finalist) while developing several Broadway shows including Paramount’s Crazy People and the new Rupert Holmes play, Kennedy/Reagan. He produced and Co-Directed Rocktopia for the 2016 PBS National Pledge Broadcast with a 2017 tour. As Chief Executive Officer of the high technology company, KATrix Inc. he created strategic alliances with the Walt Disney Company, Microsoft Corporation, MGM and the Intel Corporation. In the early nineties, Mr. Franzblau co-founded Interfilm Inc., a publicly traded company combining interactive technologies with cinematic art. He was the driving force in putting together an $18 million initial public offering underwritten by Smith Barney and subsequently facilitated the sale of the company via a reverse triangular merger with Palatin Technologies, Inc. From 1990 through 1992 Mr. Franzblau served as producer of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles touring show, a 21-month tour involving 500 appearances in 200 cities and 10 countries, for which he managed all aspects of the business development and operations. The tours grossed over $60 million in sponsorships, ticket sales and merchandising as well as spinning off a double platinum record and a national pay-per-view. Previous to the above Mr. Franzblau served as Executive Producer of three tours of the Moscow Circus on Broadway and North America and produced the touring productions of BEATLEMANIA. In 2021 he produced MANSlaughter (episodic podcast) which reached  # 1 podcast in the US, Canada, UK and Australia. 

  • NEIL GOODING

    As a director, Neil was nominated for a 2009 Helpmann Award and a 2009 Green Room Award for the Australian premiere of Gutenberg! The Musical!. He has also been nominated for a Sydney Theatre Critics Award for his direction of the Australian premiere of Dogfight. Directing highlights include the Australian premieres of Stalking The Bogeyman and The Bridges Of Madison County and the World Premiere of Paris (in concert), The Red Tree and Becoming Bill. Other highlights include the New York Production of Church And State (Asst. Director), Passion, The Hatpin (Asst. Director). Neil was also assistant director to Gale Edwards for the launch concert of Kookaburra Music Theatre Company. As Producer / Director Neil has created many productions including Sing on Through Tomorrow (a song revue of the music of Matthew Robinson); LOVEBiTES by Peter Rutherford and James Millar; Love Letters (starring Ian Stenlake and Rachael Beck), Truth Beauty And A Picture Of You and High Fidelity (Hayes Theatre Co); the national tour of Thank You for Being A Friend; as well as Side by Side by Sondheim and Diciasette (starring Mark Vincent). His producing work internationally includes the New York productions of Church and State, Handle with Care; The 39 Steps; Alan Cumming’s one-man version of Macbeth on Broadway; as well as being a financial investor in It’s Only A Play and The Ferryman. In London’s West End, NGP has produced the hit Australian play, Holding the Man, Cyrano and the upcoming Back to the Future. 

     

  • 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.
  • DOMINICK LARUFFA, JR.

    is a well known film & television actor, a sought after acting coaching & script consultant and 6-time Tony award nominated producer. His theatrical accomplishments include Off-Broadway appearances in How Alfo Learned to Love, My Big Gay Italian Midlife Crisis, My Big Gay Italian Wedding, My Big Gay Italian Funeral, Spring Awakening and dozens more. As a Broadway co-producer, his body of work includes All The Way (Tony Award), You Can't Take It With You (Tony Nomination), On The Town (Tony Nomination), An American in Paris (Tony Nomination), Deaf West Theatre's Revival of Spring Awakening (Tony Nomination), The Realistic Joneses, China Doll starring Al Pacino, Six Degrees of Separation (Tony Nomination), American Son starring Kerry Washington, The Lifespan of a Fact starring Daniel Radcliffe, Cherry Jones, and Bobby Cannavale, and 2019's lauded revival of Betrayal starring Tom Hiddleston, Zawe Ashton, and Charlie Cox. His next co-production, The Kite Runner, begins performances at the Helen Hayes theatre on Broadway July 6th 2022. 

  • BARBARA MANOCHERIAN

    Barbara's record of accomplishment as a theatrical producer establishes her as a well-respected professional in her field. She is the founder of Primeiro Productions, LLC, and over the past 12 years has accumulated five Tony Awards (Oklahoma! revival, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Hair revival, The Norman Conquests) and many nominations (Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andonicus, Indecent, Evita revival, The Best Man revival, Next Fall, The 39 Steps, Sunday in the Park with George). She is currently board president for New York Stage and Film, and was previously involved with the American Museum of Natural History and the board of the Public Theater. Manocherian has been a partner in her family’s real estate development and management company for more than 30 years. Raised by a Brazilian mother and an Iranian father, she traveled frequently to Brazil and speaks conversational Portuguese. She is passionate about the Amazon, and has an affinity for the Arctic and polar bears. 

  • 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, RenewalYour 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.

  • 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.

  • LARRY DAGGETT

    is a multi-hyphenate: actor, producer, composer, lyricist, and musical director. Graduate of the Asolo Theatre (M.F.A), the Grove School of Music (Piano/Composition major), and the Lehman Engel Workshop for the development of new musicals, Larry is also CEO of New Tune Entertainment, LLC, a company built for the production of original short musical films. His latest film, "Better Dead Than Red", a film noir musical comedy about Russia’s attempt to influence the 1952 presidential election, has won multiple awards and “Best of Fest” at numerous film festivals. For more information visit www.NewTuneEntertainment.com and www.LarryDaggett.com He is currently completing the book, music and lyrics for Bullet Points, a musical about tribal thinking and school violence. His New York acting credits include Ragtime (original Broadway cast) and Candide (NYC Opera). Regional credits include straight plays and musicals at over 50 regional theatres. Larry is a graduate of TRU's Producer Development and Mentorship Program, master class.

  • NICO JUBER

    (she/her) is an award-winning writer and producing artist known for bold, pop-driven musicals. Named to the Broadway Women’s Fund’s Women to Watch on Broadway list, she created Millennials Are Killing Musicals, which had an Off-Broadway developmental production with Out of the Box Theatrics, further development with IAMA Theatre Company, a cast album release, and has its world premiere directed by Tony nominee Kristin Hanggi (Rock of Ages) at The Colony Theatre in Los Angeles in spring 2026. She is also co-writer of Winner (with Joe Barros), developed at New York Theatre Barn, Blindspot Collective, and Goodspeed’s Johnny Mercer Writers Grove, with a concept EP released last year. She is a Drama League Songwriting Contest and NAMT Challenge winner, and her work has been seen on stages across the U.S. and London. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, ASCAP, Maestra, and graduate of the TRU PDMP producer programs.
  • DAVID QUANG PHAM

    is a musical theater science communicator from Wyoming, Michigan. His purpose is to guide scientists to the fourth wall and theatre artists to the fourth dimension. After completing an astrophysics and theatre education at Michigan State University, he created the universal musical ELLIPSES as the second apprentice of Working Title Playwrights, Atlanta. He is the Literary Fellow of Playwrights Foundation, San Francisco. He is a critic in Kennedy Center’s BIPOC Critics Lab whose work is published in TheaterMania; a moderator at LMDA; a founding member of CreateTheater and the International Dramaturgy Lab; a member of ΣΠΣ, ASCAP, and the Dramatists Guild; an alumni of Theater Resources Unlimited Producer Development & Mentorship Program. Be up to lightspeed at davidquang.com
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