DON'T STOP BELIEVING

"I've written a play. Can you direct it?"

AN OFFER!

It was 2013. Two friends of mine recommended to playwright, Robin Pond, that he approach me to direct his play, 'The Retirement Plan', which had been selected to appear at The Toronto Fringe Festival.

I had directed plays before, but all of them had been from scripts I had written. However, I was intrigued, and asked Robin to send me his script. I read 'The Retirement Plan', a dark comedy that dealt with a retiring couple being offered a plan, giving them everything they dreamed of, but it would come with a deadly price. I thought the play had potential, and accepted the offer.

BE READY FOR THE CURVEBALLS!

I managed to assemble a cast of five actors, and we were going to have a reading at my home before starting rehearsals. Just before everyone arrived, I received a call from one of the leads, informing me she had to drop out of the play. My wife, Ray, who had never acted before, offered to read for the role, but only for that night. We did our reading, everything went well, but what was said next took the play in another direction....

"I really liked Ray's reading", said Robin. So did the rest of us. I asked Ray if she wanted to be in the play. "Well...." she said, "acting was one of the things on my bucket list." So, Ray was on board, too. Then something else happened....

Just before rehearsals commenced, the actor playing the other leading role dropped out. Ray suggested I should play the role of her husband. Even though I had performed before, I had never acted in a play where I was the director as well, I wasn't sure if I was capable. But then I thought, "We're a real life husband and wife, the chemistry would be there, and we can work on our lines together at home. Go for it!"

Rehearsals went well. The cast was very good with Ray, and gave her their full support. The stage manager did a great job in giving me notes on my acting, but here was the problem; I was on stage most of the time and not getting a clear view on how the play was looking, how was an audience going to respond to it? Then, the play opened and we were surprised to discover....

LITTLE DID WE KNOW

The play was really funny, receiving huge laughs and applause. Audiences loved it, and Ray's performance, claiming she was a "Natural". The play sold out quickly for the rest of its run, and became one of the "PICKS" of the Fringe. Critics loved the play too, and, what one critic wrote, led the play to another level....

WRITE A SCREENPLAY?

The critic declared the play would make a great movie. Immediately, I contacted Robin and pitched him the idea of writing a screenplay. I had written a couple of screenplays, and had a sense of structure and how the story should flow. So, I wrote a rough draft, and Robin and I went back and forth with rewrites. Over the next couple of years nothing really happened with the play or the screenplay, until....

We remounted the play in 2017. This time our son, Edward, also an actor, got to play our son in it, making it a real family affair. We rented a theatre and ran the play for a week. We sold out and received another great response. But this time, someone really took notice....

AN OPTION!

Writer and producer, Melanie Unger, loved the play. The next day Melanie called me, wanting to option the screenplay, and Robin and I accepted.

Over the past five years, Melanie and I have had meetings with producers, directors, story editors and hit some snags. However, we now have a distribution deal in place, two Canadian stars that want to play the lead roles and another producer who is setting up the financing.

In the meantime, I have been able to write and direct four short films, receiving multiple awards at festivals worldwide, had another screenplay, Millennial Hell*,* optioned, and received a double recommend for Drama Queen Grandma from Sarah J. Cornelius, an executive working through Stage 32. Ray has gone on to a second career, acting in commercials, movies and television, and just landed a principal role in a made for TV movie.

IT ALL STARTED WITH ONE PHONE CALL

So, pull out that script that's been sitting there, and put it up on the stage. Rent a theatre, present it in a church basement or perform it in a park. Adapt your screenplay, make it into a short or proof of concept, even shoot it with a smart phone. Improvise, adapt, whatever it takes to get your vision out there. Stick to your dream and persevere, anything is possible. BE SEEN, BE HEARD!