Sloan Film Summit 2022

After a prolonged hiatus due to covid, the Sloan Film Summit returned to Los Angeles this past weekend. I was fortunate in 2020 and 2021 to win grants to develop my feature-length screenplay, THE SPACE ABOVE US, and my series pilot, THE BUG WITCH so I got an invite. It was my first trip that far west and my head is still spinning a bit from the weekend. We were treated to panels of both scientists and filmmakers as well as industry meet & greets galore. More information here: www.sloanfilmsummit.org

BE NOT FORGETFUL, recipient of the National Partners of the American Theatre (NAPAT) Playwriting Award 2021

"BE NOT FORGETFUL is the recipient of the National Partners of the American Theatre (NAPAT) Playwriting Award. This comes with a cash award of $500, membership in the Dramatists Guild of America and the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, and a professional development residency to be determined." -Gregg Henry, artistic director of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.

"This award recognizes an outstanding student-written play selected from eight nominations, one from each of the eight regions. Each region will nominate a play of any length representing the best-written, best-crafted script with the strongest writer's "voice." More information here.

CARNEGIE MELLON SCHOOL OF DRAMA PRESENTS 2021 SPRING PERFORMANCE SEASON DIGITALLY

March 2nd, 2021

Original articles linked here and here.

“PITTSBURGH – Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama’s spring 2021 season of plays will be streamed online to patrons free of charge. With the current pandemic prohibiting live theater, the school’s goal is to make its performances accessible to subscribers, supporters of the arts as well as friends and family of students.

“This past year has demonstrated in new ways how crucial art and storytelling is to our society. By making our students’ work accessible online, we hope to fill that need and expand our artistic reach to those who previously have not been able to attend a performance at Carnegie Mellon University,” said Megan Monaghan Rivas, interim head of the School of Drama.

Kicking off the season on March 10 will be the New Works Series of original plays from students in the Dramatic Writing graduate program.”

“The New Works Series is the cauldron in which new ideas, concepts, and performance practices are presented to our audiences by the next generation of dramatic writers. Authored by graduate students in their final year of the Dramatic Writing program at the School of Drama, the series fosters a deliberate collaboration between students of various disciplines, bringing together both undergraduate and graduate students, to mirror the creation of work in the professional world.”

E-Z FIX

BY TRACY HOIDA
DIRECTED BY JACOB MUSGROVE

Wednesday, March 10 at 9:00 PM ET
Friday, March 12 at 6:30 PM ET

Something strange is happening at the E-z Fix Repair Shop for Electronics and Appliances. In the near future, tinkerer and inventor E-z feels trapped running a repair shop in their small town where they are constantly at odds with their best friend as well as their landlord and ex-boyfriend. E-z only finds respite in their invention of various android friends, most recently their buddy KD who despite being only a head, seems to understand and accept E-z more than the actual humans around them. But bigger problems are on the horizon when a clumsy time traveler with a faulty time machine comes crashing into the shop. Can E-z help repair the time machine before it explodes and wipes out all of existence as we know it? As the world literally comes crashing down, will E-z find the strength to take control of their life? E-Z FIX explores the vivid individuals that live outside the gender binary and the importance of having allies in every journey we take across time and space.
Attention: This performance contains strobe light effects.

STUDENT NEWS: DRAMATIC WRITING MFA STUDENTS SELECTED FOR KCACTF

JANUARY 14TH, 2021

ORIGINAL ARTICLE LINKED HERE

Three dramatic writing MFA students from Carnegie Mellon School of Drama were selected to participate in this year’s Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival’s National Playwriting Program.

The National Playwriting Program, which is part of the larger Kennedy Center festival, is being held virtually this year from January 11-15 due to current pandemic restrictions. Annually, the program receives around 300 submissions from student playwrights. “CMU students being invited to the festival for their work is not an uncommon experience. This year is no exception,” said TJ Young, Vice-Chair National Playwriting Program.

To be considered, scripts are read by at least three readers, who read all scripts blind; that is, without knowing the playwright’s name, university, or other contact information. The readers rank the plays and send the results to the Regional Chair, who extends invitations to the selected playwrights.

Invited from the School of Drama were Malique Guinn, a first-year MFA student, Tracy Hoida and Alec Seymour, both second-year MFA students. Each of their plays will receive concert readings during the festival with award announcements on January 15, its final day. Hoida’s full-length play, Be Not Forgetful, was nominated for the National Partners of the American Theatre Playwriting Award (NAPAT) Region 2.

To learn more about the KCACTF National Playwriting Program visit their website at https://www.kcactf2.org/playwrights/

Update January 22: Malique Guinn’s Please Pass the Syrup won the KCACTF Region 2 Planet Earth Playwriting Award for work that addresses issues of climate change, the environment, and surrounding issues of urgent concern.

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From the KCACTF website: The National Playwriting Program for KCACTF Region II is pleased to announce the following plays that will receive readings at the 2021 Virtual Festival:

Ten Minute Plays

* Beautiful People in a Living Room Doing Nothing by Alec Seymour (Carnegie Mellon University)

* Please Pass On The Syrup by Malique Guinn (Carnegie Mellon University)

One-Act Plays

*Killer Hi-Fi by Tracy Hoida (Carnegie Mellon University)

National Partners of the American Theatre Playwriting Award (NAPAT) Region 2 Nominee

*Be Not Forgetful by Tracy Hoida (Carnegie Mellon University)

Recent Collaboration!

I’m so grateful that I got to be a part of the first series of this amazing project! I’m pretty proud of my kid protagonist in Dr. Blackwell & the Time Traveler. Tock Tick is a non-binary student time traveler who is excited to run into Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States. As you can imagine shenanigans ensue.