It's been a long time since I blogged and I'm not even sure how this is supposed to work. I know it's good to be stay classy oops, I mean classy. Now I remember, this is classy.

Speaking of classy, the weekend before last I went through the NYMF boot camp for shows that were accepted to the 2007 festival. Yes, my writing partner Rachel Lampert and I submitted one of our shows to the festival and we were chosen! I can hardly believe it happened. So mark your calendars for September/October to see "The Angle of the Sun". Anyway, NYMF put together an information-packed weekend where we learned everything that you need to do to be successful at the festival. We all thought just writing a good show was all that's required. But no! You need staff and money and logos and websites and producers and money and sets and costumes and money... As each of the panelists were talking, I would feel greater and greater admiration for all of the things that Hunter and Jeff brought to the festival.

First, they wrote a show that they could be proud of. Second, they knew how to bring together a lot people to see their show and celebrate it. (Let's start a new game: four degrees of Hunter and Jeff. I would bet that you can link almost everyone in New York theatre to Jeff and/or Hunter in four steps.) Third, they talk to each other a lot about how shows present themselves - through logos and ad campaigns and interviews - so they always have great ideas for how to do that. Fourth, in the tradition of The Secret, they are truly interested in and enthusiastic for many other people's projects. They keep up with what everyone is up to and go see things. Finally, Hunter watches a LOT of television and Jeff watches a LOT of birds and that seems to keep them grounded. (I went from past tense to present tense in that paragraph but I can't seem to straighten it out right now, so there it is...)

One thing that Isaac Hurwitz said at the boot camp was that the festival was not only designed to help people's shows take the next step. It was also designed to empower artists to develop a mindset where they can promote their work and to martial the resources necessary to get your ideas out there. Jeff and Hunter learned that skill very quickly and my hat is off to them.