FROM THE PAGE TO THE STAGE Kicks Off ASJA Writers Conference Today

The 41st Annual ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) Writers Conference features over 80 workshops and panels, plus networking opportunities, geared toward freelance writers and authors.

ASJA is the only professional association focused on independent nonfiction writers. Members share expertise, ideas, opportunities, and inside information critical to success in a constantly changing environment. ASJA also helps current and aspiring independent journalists, both to further their careers and better inform and educate the general public.

Visit http://www.asja.org for conference details.

FROM THE PAGE TO THE STAGE: TURNING BOOKS INTO PLAYS -- Part of ASJA 41st Annual Writers Conference
Roosevelt Hotel, NYC
April 26 – 28th, 2012
http://www.asja.org

Description: If you love theatre, the notion of spinning material from your book into a play is one you might explore. In this panel you'll learn what makes for compelling material, the art of playwriting, ways to adapt books to a suitable play format, and how to shop your book to playwrights. The idea of seeing your name in lights doesn't have to be a pipe dream. Learn from this esteemed panel how plays come to be from books.

Session to be held --
April 27th, 11:30am - 12:30pm
Moderator: Robin Gorman Newman

“This is the first year ASJA is featuring a discussion relative to theatre at their annual conference. I’m thrilled to have proposed the idea to ASJA and to have recruited such esteemed theatre professionals to participate,” says Gorman Newman. “The notion of a book being spun into play form is an exciting one, and attendees at this session will have the opportunity to pose questions and learn how it may be viable for them to bring their work to the stage, if that is something they aspire to do.”

Robin Gorman Newman, a member of ASJA, is associate producer of the play Motherhood Out Loud, which recently had a successful run at Primary Stages in NYC and plans to tour worldwide. She is also the author of How to Meet a Mensch in NY and How to Marry a Mensch. She's been seen on CNN and The Today Show, and has spoken at venues including Canyon Ranch and Mohonk Mountain House and Off Broadway at such shows as I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Dinner with Friends, and Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating and Marriage. She is currently adapting the material from her books as an Off-Broadway musical.

Panelists:
Susan R. Rose is an award-winning theatrical and film producer. She has produced Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and was the youngest person to have produced a Broadway show. Her other Broadway producing credits include David Rabe's Hurlyburly, Athol Fugard's Bloodknot and Larry Shue's The Nerd. Susan joined forces with Dan Paulson in 1996, and they have produced movies for CBS, NBC, Showtime and Lifetime. She is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America.

Rose Caiola is founder and executive artistic director of Manhattan Youth Ballet and Manhattan Movement & Arts Center. She is the Producer and co-author of Freckleface Strawberry. She's also a producer of Godspell on Broadway and the film First Position.

Michael Zam wrote the book for the acclaimed off-Broadway musical The Kid, based on the book by Dan Savage, which won the 2011 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway musical. Tony winner Jerry Mitchell will direct his stage adaptation of Bob Smith's comic novel Selfish & Perverse. He is also currently working on a play about Cecil Beaton as well as a musical bio of Damon Runyon for director Andy Fickman. His co-written screenplay Best Actress (co-written with Jaffe Cohen) was on the prestigious 2010 Black List of best new screenplays, and will produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B and Ryan Murphy. He has since written Wife Vs. Ninja and the remake of Jerry Lewis's The Family Jewels. He teaches screenwriting at New York University, as well as Modern British Drama every August for NYU in London.

Hunter Bell earned an OBIE Award, a Drama League nomination, and a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical all for the original Broadway musical [title of show]. Other credits include the books for Silence! The Musical, Bellobration!, Villains Tonight! and Now. Here. This. He has created and contributed original material for numerous benefits and events as well as specialty material for the 53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards, The Actor's Fund's 125th Anniversary Gala, and NYCLU's Broadway Stands Up for Freedom. Hunter is a co-creator of the web series "the [title of show] show" and recently co-created and wrote the half-hour pilot "Glass Houses." He is a distinguished alumnus of Webster University, a proud member of WGA, Actors Equity, the Dramatists Guild, and AFTRA, as well as an honorary member of the Yale Dramat and a MacDowell Fellow.

Photo Credit: Monica Simoes