Jay Michaels News

Anthony Laura and the company of Face to Face Films, enjoying great success with their virtual reading series, Theatre Interrupted, now expand their reach with a new film festival.

A regional favorite for some time, the play has been turned into a screenplay and is currently in development as a motion picture. In the meantime, playwright/screenwriter Doug DeVita has reworked the piece into a joyous radio-style play

Doug DeVita's witty exploration of homophobia and ageism in the ad world becomes a radio play. Premiering in March. Doug DeVita's fast-paced comedy, The Fierce Urgency of Now, has multiple lives across the country. A regional favorite for some time, the play has been turned into a screenplay and is currently in development as a motion picture.

Today on Friday, October 16th at 7pm, a special virtual reading of 'One Empire, Under God' - Anthony J. Piccione's new full-length drama exploring religious extremism & right-wing populism - will be broadcast via Zoom to monthly patrons on Patreon, as well as selected invited guests. Immediately after the reading, there will be a talkback - moderated by co-producer Jay Michaels - featuring the playwright, director & cast.

On October 16th at 7pm, One Empire, Under God - the new full-length play by Anthony J. Piccione - will be presented as a dramatic reading to an intimate audience online via Zoom, in advance of a full production being planned for when theaters reopen. Following the performance, attendees are invited to stay for a talkback - moderated by co-producer Jay Michaels - featuring the playwright, director & cast of the reading.

Former Artistic Director for Westside Repertory Theater, Doug DeVita has had work produced in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, New Jersey, Connecticut, and London.

Doug DeVita's one-person film, 'Nigel, Guys, and Dolls' will be presented as part of the Fresh Fruit Festival's filmed monologue series (showing dates TBA). Atmospheric and compelling, DeVita's NIGEL... is the story of a young boy whose life was manipulated by his mother who decided exactly how she would like her son to be.

TerrorTV.com - a premier channel for independent horror films - is accepting submissions until September 22 for BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: The Terror TV Short Film Festival.

Phoenix FearCON, a staple for horror fans in the Southwest for years, bringing horror fans an eclectic variety of celebrity guests, panels and an independent film festival touting cutting-edge cinematic works of all varieties from around the globe, will now go online with a program of events and movies.

IM Filmworks will premiere a new film, written and co-directed by Lenny Schwartz and edited and co-directed by Nathan Suher, filmed during and focusing on event during the pandemic.

July 4 marked the formal launch of an ongoing fundraising effort to bring One Empire, Under God, the new full-length drama by writer/producer Anthony J. Piccione - to the stage in 2021, with an announcement forthcoming for a staged reading this Fall, in advance of a full production.

Shakespeare Sports, a company dedicated to presenting the works of William Shakespeare in styles similar to the performance styles of his time, in association with Jay Michaels will present Hamlet as an online reading in preparation of their production scheduled for The Clemente in NYC's Lower East Side when the curtains rise again.

Shakespeare Sports, a company dedicated to presenting the works of William Shakespeare in styles similar to the performance styles of his time, in association with Jay Michaels will present Hamlet as an online reading in preparation of their production scheduled for The Clemente in NYC's Lower East Side when the curtains rise again.

TERROR TV, a channel rapidly becoming a leader in presenting indie genre films by emerging filmmakers, is taking its original programming to the next level. TERROR TALK, hosted by Jay Michaels, an ongoing series of 60-minute specials featuring a rotating cast of horror icons discussing not only all things horror and genre, but contemporary topics such as politics, violence in media, racism and gun control in truth and fiction, will now take to the internet for online interviews. The program is inaugurating a new feature as well. A special interview series, also hosted by Michaels featuring the filmmakers on the channel discussing what it took for them to create their films.

Francis Mabborang, a Filipino thespian, Content Creator and Artist continues to create art and theater during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being in quarantine in compliance the local directive's to address the current pandemic.

Earlier this month, it was announced that Indie Art Today, a new podcast dedicated to covering independent, non-commercial artists - including those in the Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway communities - was launching in the midst of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

In response to how the global pandemic has affected the theatrical world, writer/director Lenny Schwartz and producer/director Nathan Suher of IM Filmworks have created Far From Perfect: Life Inside A Global Pandemic. 'What was supposed to be a short-subject, turned into a feature film featuring more than 100 actors from all regions of the country,' said Schwartz, an award-winning playwright and screenwriter.

A nightmare in the form of a virus has hit our dimension and compromised the World of the Arts: film, theater, music, dance, art, as well as all conventions and expos. Gigi & Reggie Bannister choose to fight nightmare with nightmare. Utilizing the cult-classic and phenomenal franchise, Phantasm, they present Phantasm-Con 2020©!

TERROR TALK, TERROR TV's first original project, will begin airing monthly specials as of Friday, the 13th of March 2020. Each 60-minute special features a variety of guests – known for their work in the macabre media – discussing the genre's reaction to everything from how fandom has changed to violence and sexual content in film to how the industry has affected world affairs – then and now.

Master Teacher SUSAN MERSON is founder and moderator of both the Los Angeles and New York Writers Bloc which has supported the work of fiction standouts Janet Fitch and David Bezmozgis; Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies, Emmy winner Jane Anderson, popular nonfiction authors Jamie Cat Callan and Laurie Graff, and YA standouts Kim Purcell and Barbara Bottner will be conducting another series of writing workshops in New York this Spring.