'The Biz Of The Musical Theatre Biz' Conference To Be Held 7/23-25

Are you sitting at home with the Perfect Musical, wondering how on earth to get producers to notice it? There might be some answers for you at this summer's conference for musical theatre writers in Los Angeles. It's called "The Biz of the Musical Theatre Biz: a Conference for Writers" and it just might be the key to figuring out how to get your musical produced.

This summer, a three-day conference for musical theatre writers brings together producers, agents, managers, writers, union reps, artistic directors and other theatre artists to address the complex issues of marketing new musicals. The third bi-annual conference will take place on July 23-25, hosted by the Academy for New Musical Theatre at the NoHo Arts Center in North Hollywood.

"Getting musicals in the hands of producers is such a tricky, complex business," says the Academy's Executive Director, "It gets more difficult every year. We've hosted two national conferences, in 2006 and again in 2008, but in this one in 2010, we're going to explore the nuts and bolts of marketing musicals from the writers' standpoint, as well as how to get producers' attention. There are good ways to do it, and there are really bad ways which can hurt a writer's career in ways he has no idea. This conference should give a writer some really practical guidance about what to do with a new musical."

The Conference is a combination of panels, schmoozes, and networking events, and is designed to bring writers together with producers, and vice versa. One of the panels is called "Pitch Me: Producers and Executives Who Actually Want You to Email Them."

As a bonus for everyone who's registered for the conference, ANMT has compiled a long list of producers and agents who've agreed to receive an email pitch. Writers send in two paragraphs -- one about themselves, and one about their musical -- and ANMT will send it directly to them. The regional theatres and commercial producers who have already agreed to be part of the list include 321 Theatrical Management, 5th Avenue Theatre, Abrams Artists Agency, Arizona Theatre Company, Dallas Theater Center, Ford's Theatre, Junkyard Dog Productions, McCoy Rigby Entertainment, Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago, Theatre Under the Stars, The Public Theatre, Village Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, and many more. Between them, they have developed and launched such shows as:

Wicked
Shrek
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Vanities
Memphis
Million Dollar Quartet
Catch Me If You Can
Next to Normal

The conference will take place the weekend of July 23-25. For an up-to-date schedule, list of this year's panelists, fees, and info on registering, visit www.anmt.org