Shiny Objects Updates

Here it is the middle of summer 2011.  We can’t believe it’s been a whole year since we premiered THE EXILE OF PETIE DELARGE at REDCAT in Los Angeles!

And what a difference a year has made!  The company is now based in Brooklyn, NY.   We have expanded our artistic team to include Co-Artistic Director Jesse Geiger and Artistic Associate Nathan Leigh in addition to founder and Co-Artistic Director Elizabeth R. English.  Jesse joins the company after recently completing his MFA in Directing at Brown University and brings experience running companies in New York and Chicago.   Composer and musician Nathan Leigh originally comes from the Boston area, where he has multiple IRNE awards for sound design; as a composer his work has been workshopped and performed in New York, Los Angeles and Boston, and he is a solo artist and member of the bands A Thousand Ships and Super Mirage (with writer/composer Kyle Jarrow).  Liz received her MFA in Producing from the California Institute of the Arts, is currently a member of the 2010-12 Women’s Project’s Producers Lab, and has produced work in Chicago, LA, New York, and at the Edinburgh Fringe.

We’re very excited to let you know that A Collection of Shiny Objects is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the purposes of A Collection of Shiny Objects must be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.  To make a donation, click here.

It has been a busy spring and summer for us.  For those of you who are in New York next week, we’re thrilled to announce our participation in the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Festival, where we will be presenting a ten minute play, THE GOLDEN TICKET, another collaboration with ‘EXILE’ playwright Jennifer Barclay and directed by Jesse.  We’d love for you to come.  The festival runs July 19th-24th, and our presentation will be on the 23rd at 4:30 pm.  For more information and tickets visit: Samuel French OOB website.

And last, but certainly not least, A Collection of Shiny Objects has been given a September residency at SPACE on Ryder Farm to workshop GOODS AND SERVICES, our collaboration with playwright Greg Moss. Part coming of age story and part consumerist fantasia, GOODS AND SERVICES looks at a recent college grad and aspiring journalist who decides to live in a 24-hour Walmart as a 21st century right of passage. We’ll be using our time at SPACE to explore the physical life of our Walmart world, including an object theatre component, choreography and gesture work.  We plan to bring an ensemble of actors, puppeteer, design, and the playwright with us to this fully functioning organic farm in Brewster, NY, for five days of intensive work on the production.  In addition to spending time on the play, we’ll have the opportunity to be a part of the day-to-day working of the farm.  We can’t wait to get in there and get our hands dirty!

So that’s what’s new with us.  If you’d like to see more of the work we’ve been doing, please check out the pictures and music demos of past and current work we’ve got up on our website: www.collectshinyobjects.org  We’d love to keep in touch, you can subscribe to our newsletter on the site, be our friend by “Liking” us on Facebook, or following us on Twitter.

Much love from us,

Liz, Jesse and Nathan
The Shiny Objects Team

Liz writes a rebuttal to Ken Davenport's Rant: 'Stop Telling Me You Can't Afford Theater Tickets!'

 I think this is a rebuttal to @kendavenport, although I agree with him:

So the next time you find yourself saying “Theater tickets are too expensive,” stop yourself.  Man up and admit it.  Say, “I don’t find enough value in going to the theater.”

(via The Producer’s Perspective: ‘Stop Telling Me You Can’t Afford Theater Tickets!’)

I am totally guilty of this. But this week I actually am paying to go to the theater - twice.  Paying more than I usually pay.  And right now I am making less than I need to live on at my “survival” job, so $20/week to see theater is $20/week I don’t have to do something else, like, say, buy groceries or keep the electricity on in my apartment.

I wanted to see ‘American Idiot’ before it closed. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Do I think it was an important piece of theater that will change the American stage? No. Did I think the aerial dream ballet featuring a woman in a burqa was ridiculous? Absolutely. Do I think Jesse was smarter than me by rushing the show and saving $30? Yes, but sometimes you (and by that I mean I) pay for the convenience of not busting my ass to get to Midtown to wait in line and then hang around for a couple of hours instead of going to the gym.

I also just got a ticket to see Lynn Nottage’s latest ‘By the Way, Meet Vera Stark’ at 2nd Stage thanks to the Works By Women Meet Up group.  I work all day Sunday in Brooklyn, so I am not looking forward to rushing over to Manhattan after work, but I love Nottage’s work, and a $32.50 is probably the best deal I am likely to get, particularly if the reviews are good.  Nottage is one of my favorite living playwrights right now, and I feel confident that this new production, directed by Jo Bonney, will be engaging, smart, poignant and enjoyable.  I was really glad I got to see ‘Ruined’ at MTC. It is a performance that has stayed with me, and I regret that I have not had the opportunity to see ‘Intimate Apparel’ or ‘Fabulation’ on stage because they literally leaped into my mind when I read them on the page.

The rest of this post is on tumblr here.

Vacation All We Ever Wanted

Ok, no it's not actually a vacation.

It's the A Collection of Shiny Objects' First Semi-Irregular Creative Retreat!  

The boys and I have traveled to a semi-secret and fairly secluded location (aka Nathan's parents' vacation house in Chatham, MA) for some artistic and company development time.  We've spent most of our time working on the plot and music of DARLING, our hipster/feminist/video game-inspired adaptation of Peter Pan.

There has also been a lot of tea drinking, catching up on sleep, watching YouTube clips, Nathan mashed-up Madonna's 'Express Yourself' and Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' (here), and we even went to the beach (it was cold).  This is our creative process.

We'll be back in the BK in a few days and hope to get to some recording soon.  Be on the lookout for some DARLING demos!

-- Liz E

Guest Blog from Co-Artistic Director Jesse Geiger

Hi guys and gals! Pleased to meet you. I’ll be guesting on the Shiny Objects blog from time to time. Exciting developments are in the works….

First: We have a new website! www.collectshinyobjects.org. Check it out to learn a bit more about where we’ve been and where we’re going. Like all things Shiny, it’s a fabulous work-in-progress. Expect further evolutions, make-overs and re-inventions in the months ahead.

Second: We’re in the throws of planning for this spring’s workshop of THE WALMART PROJECT, the new piece we’re creating with playwright Greg Moss. We’ve begun assembling design collaborators and look forward to announcing more information soon!

Third: If you haven’t already, check out The Momentum, the exciting new piece on self help by our friends at Collaborationtown.  Winner of the Fringe, it’s having a mid-winter revival for the next several Wednesdays. We were extremely fortunate to have a bunch of the CTownies join us for our December workshop of THE HERCULINE/CASTER PROJECT, including our fearless playwright Jordan Seavey. They’ll also be producing THE PLAY ABOUT MY DAD, a new piece by Herc/Caster alum, Townie, and all-round charmer, Boo Killabrew in the spring. We can’t wait to check it out.

And finally: If you haven’t already, buy your tickets for The Wii Plays at Ars Nova, featuring the musical talents of Shiny Object Collector Nathan Leigh and his fantastic band, Super Mirage. Video game theatre at it’s finest.

More soon!    -- Jesse

Happy 2011 from Shiny Objects

Happy New Year from A Collection of Shiny Objects!

It has been an incredibly busy first year for the company. Our first production, THE EXILE OF PETIE DELARGE, had a successful run in Los Angeles at Son of Semele Theater, and an exciting transfer to the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT) to kick-off their 2010 New Original Works Festival (NOW Fest).

A Collection of Shiny Objects and I are back in New York and back in development with new work. I have asked one of my closest friends and favorite collaborators, director Jesse Geiger, to become my partner and Co-Artistic Director. Jesse has directed shows for The Hangar Theatre and Fordham University, among others, and developed work with The Public Theatre’s Emerging Writers Group and The American Repertory Theatre Institute. Recent projects include: THE MISANTHROPE, THE BACCHAE, THORNWILDE (World Premiere) and Chuck Mee’s FULL CIRCLE. He is the recipient of a 2009 Drama League Fellowship, a 2010 New Directors New Works Seed Grant and was a finalist for the 2010 SDC Sir John Gielgud Fellowship. His production of FAN-BOY was a finalist in the 2010 Samuel French Festival.

Jesse and I have multiple projects that we are excited about in development. This December we had an intensive workshop of a project whose working title is the ‘Herculine/Caster Project’ with the support of the Drama League and The Women’s Project. ‘Herculine/Caster’ is an exploration of gender and identity that Jesse is developing with playwright Jordan Seavey, which takes its source material from the memoirs of a 19th century intersex person and the recent investigation by an international athletic body into the gender of South African track and field star, Caster Sermenya.

We are looking for a summer residency for another project, currently entitled ‘The WalMart Project’, which we are developing with playwright Gregory Moss.  We hope to incorporate object theater to explore consumerism, the individual and the new American dream by following the experiences of a young man camping out in a big box store that slowly comes to life.

Additionally, we have applied for fiscal sponsorship from Fractured Atlas. So hopefully soon we will be able to offer you a tax deduction when we ask you for a donation to support our work. In the meantime, we want you to know that we could not have had such a productive and successful first year without your support. We thank you, and hope you will continue to follow our progress!

Best Wishes for a Happy and Prosperous 2011!

Love, Liz E (and now Jesse too!)

'EXILE' continues on at REDCAT

The run of 'The Exile of Petie DeLarge' at Son of Semele Theater was tremendously successful, and I am so grateful to all the friends and intrepid theater-goers who came out to support.

What's that you say?  You were out of LA, or hiding out in June and you missed the excitement of 'Exile' bursting out of the 36-seat Son of Semele Theater?  Well, lucky you, you get a second chance! Because REDCAT (the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater) in downtown LA is kicking of its annual New Original Works (NOW) Festival with our show, July 22-24.

Link to article from LA Times' Culture Monster on REDCAT/NOW 2010

And if you did catch the show at SOSE, come see it again at REDCAT.  As 'Exile' is a work-in-progress, we learned a lot from the 6 performances in June, and have gone back into our rehearsal process.  The result is some big changes, as we adjust to a larger space and get deeper into text and character, improve the mask work and integration of music.  We hope you like the growth of the piece as much as we do!

Now for some cool pictures from SOSE:

(in photo: Erica Bitton, Liam Springthorpe, Alexandra Kustin, Julian Evens)

(in photo, from left: Jiehae Park, Julian Evens, Liam Springthorpe)

(in photo: Julian Evens, Anne Yatco)

(in photo: Alexandra Kustin)

(in photo, from left: Jiehae Park, Julian Evens, Erica Bitton, Liam Springthorpe)

(in photo: Alexandra Kustin, Erica Bitton)

(in photo: Erica Bitton, Jiehae Park)

(in photo: Liam Springthorpe, Erica Bitton, Jiehae Park)

Rock. N. Roll.  C. U. There.

-- Liz E

'EXILE' featured in LA Stage Alliance blog

Maureen Huskey and I sat down with reporter Ashley Steed from the LA Stage Alliance's blog to talk about 'The Exile of Petie DeLarge'.

Here's an excerpt:

" There comes a time when we must grow up and become an adult. But what does that even mean?

Recent CalArts Master’s grad and founder of the production company A Collection of Shiny Objects, Elizabeth English, realized she had been fed a lot of b.s. about life and what it means to be an adult. This was the impetus for searching for a new script and a new way of storytelling.

“I wanted to produce a project of some of the things I’ve been thinking about. Artistically, personally and politically.”

About a year ago English met up with an old college friend, playwright Jennifer Barclay. “Jen said to me, ‘I wrote this play and it’s kind of a cross between A Clockwork Orange, Peter Pan and Lord of the Flies. And Peter Pan is a girl and I think it’s a musical,’” she laughs. “And I said, ‘Well that sounds interesting, I think that might be my play.’” "

Read the full article at LA Stage Alliance blog

Less Than Two Weeks!

That's right.

There are less than 2 weeks left till both THE EXILE OF PETIE DELARGE opens at Son of Semele Theater and HYPERBOLE: origins opens as a part of the Hollywood Fringe at Art/Works.

I admit it, I feel like a proud parent. I've been to rehearsals for both shows and they look fan-freakin'-tastic.

"EXILE" has sex, drugs, rock, crazy masks... and french fries.  It features the acting talents of Erica Bitton, Julian Evens, Alexandra Kustin, Jiehae Park, Liam Springthorpe & Anne Yatco, and design by Kit Stolen, E.M. Gimenez & Bryan Yu.

"EXILE" opens Friday, June 18th at 8 pm, and runs Saturday, June 19th at 2 pm & 8 pm, Friday, June 25th at 8 pm, and Saturday, June 26th at 2 pm & 8 pm.  Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here.

Son of Semele Theater is located at 3301 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90004.

"HYPERBOLE" is the latest creation of award-winning Rogue Artists Ensemble, and they've opened up their process to me as Co-Producer.  "HYPERBOLE" explores a bunch of different origin stories, things that are personal to things that are mythological, with masks, puppets, video and other quirky tech gadgets.  And there are sperm puppets, you've got to see them.

"HYPERBOLE" will be running for TWO PREVIEWS ONLY Sunday, June 20th at 4 pm & 8 pm as a part of the first annual Hollywood Fringe.  Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here.

Art/Works is located at 6567-6585 Santa Monica Boulevard Hollywood, CA 90038.

See you at the shows!  -- Liz E

Announcing Performance Dates for The Exile of Petie DeLarge

Mark your calendars!  The Exile of Petie DeLarge is going into its workshop phase this month!

I couldn't be more pleased on the cast and creative team I've assembled (keep your eyes on this blog for a formal announcement of the cast list soon).

A Collection of Shiny Objects, otherwise known as my little upstart company of one, has entered into partnership with Son of Semele Ensemble through their developmental "SOSEhost" initiative.  We will be presenting workshop presentations of this all new play-with-music June 18, 19, 25 & 26 at SOSE's Silvelake theater at 3301 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles 90004.

Inspired by the iconic novels A Clockwork Orange, The Lord of the Flies and Peter Pan, tells a story of youthful rebellion, lost innocence and dark moral questions.  It features live sound and recorded music, mask and movement work, puppeted objects... and french fries. 

You don't want to miss this show.  I don't want you to miss out on this show.  Son of Semele is a small theater, and we're only doing 6 performances.  Get your tickets here now.

I also continue to be accepting donations to get this project completed.  The goal is in sight, but I am still greatful for all and any support.  If you'd like your name in the program and my serious gratitude please click the button below.

Photo Highlights - Silver Years of Dust at Highways

Magic Framework - Choreography by Stacy Dawson Stearns

(Pictured: Jessica Emmanuel, Stacy Dawson Stearns)





Off The Wall - Choreography by Tymberly Canale

(Pictured: Chris Giarmo)





Snow (a study) - Choreography by Tymberly Canale

(Pictured: Neil Harris, Tymberly Canale)





All photos courtesy of Megan Westerby.

Photographing the Bradbury

My Graphic Designer/Friend/Current Housemate, Anachrolush (aka Zoe), blogs about our photo trip
to the Bradbury Building last weekend.

Research work for the graphic design for 'The Exile of Petie DeLarge'.

More at the link: Bradburying

Silver Years of Dust

Among my many interests in producing I have started to get involved with dance/physical theater, too.

I had the good fortune of meeting Stacy Dawson Stearns and Tymberly Canale while helping out with a residency with NY-based Big Dance Theater at the Getty Villa in Malibu this past February.   Tymberly is a current company member and Stacy is an alum.

Next week we will be putting up 2 performances of some new pieces by Stacy "Magic Framework", and Tymberly "Snow (A Study)" and "Off the Wall" under the title Silver Years of Dust at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica.

What they say about the pieces:

Bessie-Award winning Stacy Dawson Stearns premieres her newest piece Magic Framework, a collaboration with Jessical Emmanuel, Tim Cummings and composer Jonathon Stearns of the Oh Soon Orchestra. Making the invisible visible in a voluptuous cycle of dark properties mingling, we invite you to the Framework. You like to see this.

New York superstar Tymberly Canale brings Snow: A Study, along with the world-premiere of Off the Wall. Bringing her dancers from Tel Aviv and NYC, Canale brings a gift of dance performance to the City of Angels in a rare West Coast appearance. Not to be missed!


There will be a discussion with the performers, moderated by Norman Frisch of the Getty Villa after the Friday, April 9th performance.

First Reading of EXILE

Last Sunday afternoon we gathered together some actors at director Maureen Huskey's home in Los Feliz and heard the script of The Exile of Petie DeLarge for the very first time.  Our composer, Colin, and designers Kit Stolen and Martin Gimenez were also there and we started to play.

It was a very promising first reading and we are excited to continue the workshop in May.

Pictured above (from left): Jennifer Barclay (playwright) & actors: Julian Evens, Ann Yatco, Liam Springthorpe & Erica Bitton

  

Pictured below (from left): Kathleen Heverin, Julian Evens, Liam Springthorpe, Erica Bitton, Ann Yatco, Alexandra Kustin

Hollywood Fringe Town Hall

Good meeting last night, though possibly a fire code violation - oops!  Theater in LA, who knew?

Hollywood Fringe Town Hall Attracts People From All Over LA | Bitter Lemons

Donate for My Birthday! Be My Best Friend!

Thanks for checking out A Collection of Shiny Objects and for reading more about the fantastical trifecta of theater pieces I am developing for presentation in Summer 2010, along with my collaborators Jennifer Barclay, Maureen Huskey, Colin Wambsgans, Katie Shook, Sean Cawelti and Rogue Artists Ensemble, and some yet to be named.

   <--- Please click on this button to go to PayPal.

Also please be sure to leave me a note either here or on Facebook so I can thank you personally!

Happy Holidays and Blessings for the New Year!

"for the glorious vision" -- Liz E

Petie DeLarge

The internet is a fascinating place.  I went looking for inspiration and I found a picture of Petie.

Original artwork by Rik Rawling (via 'Rik Rawling's Psych Skull')

Announcing the Director for THE EXILE OF PETIE DELARGE

Beautiful, exciting, ground-breaking Maureen Huskey, who I had the pleasure of working with previously at CalArts, has agreed to lead the workshop of The Exile of Petie DeLarge by Jennifer Barclay!

More about Maureen:

Maureen Huskey is an award-winning theater director based in Los Angeles since 2006.   Most recently, she was the Assistant Director for Lenka Udovicki for UCLA Live's Medea starring Annette Bening. Maureen received the 2008-09 Princess Grace Honorarium Award for Theater Directing.  As co-creator and director of the New York based, site-specific theater group Red Dive (1996-2006), she brought audiences down Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal via pontoon boat (Peripheral City), through narrow streets of Lower Manhattan, and to historic landmarks like the Lower East Side Tenement Building to re-envision the buried stories of New York landscapes.  This cross-disciplinary, experimental work that incorporated the work of dozens of New York's emerging artists garnered her a Bessie Award for 'performance installation and new media' and support by the Creative Capital Foundation, Franklin Furnace Foundation, The Greenwall Foundation, The Puffin Foundation, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Meet the Composer's Fund, The Heathcote Foundation, and the Foundry Theatre's Emerging Artist Award among others.
 

Maureen's original movement-theater projects in New York have been supported by Voice & Vision's Envision Development Program for Women theater artists, New Dance Alliance, The Brooklyn Arts Exchange and the New York State Council for the Arts, BRIC Studios, the Brooklyn Arts Council and through independent artist residencies through The Field, and others. Her New York directing collaborations with dance artists and small companies have been presented in such venues as The Kitchen, Dance Theater Workshop, Joe's Pub, Joyce SOHO, PS122, New Dance Alliance and HERE Arts Center.  In addition to New York and Los Angeles, Maureen's directing work has been presented in festivals in Chicago, Vancouver, San Francisco and Vienna, Austria.  She is currently a national workshop leader for the Creative Capital Foundation's Professional Development Program.  As a Rotary Fellow she received a Diploma with Merit in Drama from the University of Kent at Canterbury in England.  She holds a MFA in Theater Directing from California Institute of the Arts (2009).

Maureen has taught directing to undergraduate and graduate students at the California Institute for the Arts and led workshops in acting, movement/voice and site-specific installation to students at Western State College in Colorado, Bard College in New York through the Voice & Vision Envision Retreat, and the Brooklyn Arts Exchange.

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I'm tellin' you folks, when we get this whole thing together, it's gonna be a show you ain't gonna wanna miss.   
I'm not sayin', but I'm just sayin'.  -- Liz E

Progress Report, Week #9

Final Project, Week of November 16th:

- Still hashing out a few little details with a director for "Exile" re: duties & responsibilities. I know, developing new work can raise a lot of questions about who owes what to whom, and who is willing to commit what. Trying to lay that out in writing for "Exile" so there will not be miscommunications later. Call me "little-miss-responsible".

- Submitted my first application for some grant money. Hoping for an interdisciplinary grant from the CalArts' Provost's Office for the "Exile" workshop. Every little bit helps.

- Approached video designer Roz Fulton for "Exile" and to engineer and oversee the project as a whole. She's up for it. Now I just need to find her some LA housing/transportation for the workshop & performance period.

- The Hollywood Fringe's application site went live this week. Deadline for applications is April.


And then I came down with some lingering sickness that I could not shake for days and days and days.

Next week is Thanksgiving so I am not optimistic about getting very much accomplished. Mostly thinking of ways to ask people for money.

"for the vision" -- Liz E

Progress Report Week #8

Final Project, Week of November 9th:

This has felt a bit like a "phone tag" week.

- I have engaged in multiple rounds of phone/email tag with various collaborators since last week. Good news is that we have stuff to talk about and want to talk about it. The tricky part is actually reaching each other on top of busy lives and a 3 hour time difference. I hope to actually have some substantive conversations over the weekend.

- I continued researching venues in earnest, and began inquiring about availability and fees. My working assumption is that I am looking for a venue that I can program for the Hollywood Fringe in June. Not necessarily exclusively, but that is the scope. One location, multiple presentatations within it.

- I drafted the following working "Problem Statement" (not that it's a problem, that's just my preferred method of attack) along with a Goals & Objectives/Timetable:

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Project: MFA Final Project, Tentatively Collectively Titled "Elektra, Petie & Other Misunderstood Girls"

Problem Statement: Artists of multiple performance disciplines sometimes need a reason to reach beyond their comfort zone, to collaborate with other artists whom they might not have known or with whom they might not have imagined working. Audiences may not realize that they have an interest in new and experimental work unless something gives them a point of entry, and audience members tastes will vary. Will a variety of offerings stimulate their interest, and encourage their participation?

Questions I Seek to Answer: How can I as a creative producer jump-start new collaboration partnerships and set a tangible destination for a "work-in-progress"? What is a comfortable environment to create and present new work, and to invite participation from audiences at an early stage? And conversely, how can I program multiple performances by artists of different mediums in a "tasting menu" of sorts that an audience will find engaging enough to explore and visit repeatedly? Is this a presentation model that will encourage dialogue and participation across disciplines, backgrounds and the spectator-spectacle divide?

Goal: To commission and collaboratively develop new experimental performances through a workshop process, organized around a theme. To present these new performance pieces together as "works-in-progress" in a shared performance space, along with pre-show art installation and post-show musical entertainment to create a total experience for the audience. To use this informal workshop and presentation model as a means of encouraging interaction and dialogue between the artists working on different projects and between the artists and the audience, and give all a sense of participation in the ultimate event.

Objectives/Timetable:

• Commission of 3 Performance Pieces + 2 Performance Art Installations, Fall 2009-Winter 2010

• One workshop per performance piece to take place April-May 2010
  

-- Includes Writer (for each), Director/Creator (for each), Video Designer, Ensembles of Performer/Musician /Puppeteers (for each)

• Inclusion of post-performance programming (Musical Acts), Spring 2010

• Presentation of All Pieces & Installations together in one venue (possibly as part of Hollywood Fringe), June 2010
  

-- Rotating schedule of performances, presented over the course of approx. 2 weeks

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I continue to be a work-in-progress
-- Liz E

Progress Report, Week #7

Final Project, Week of November 2nd:

- I have working title for the project, "Elektra, Petie & Other Misunderstood Girls". That seems to encapsulate the themes behind the pieces in the project in a way that I can communicate clearly.

- I have a lead on a venue. Need to follow up.

- Jen Barclay (Exile playwright) has a suggestion for a composer/songwriter she has just shared with me. Plan to look him up. I realized that some of my hesitation about working with people I don't know at all, is about expectation. 1) Getting them on-board with my vision, and 2) getting them to go along without any guarantee of financial resources. This has proven to be a stumbling block in confirming a director for "Exile".

- Now I'm working with a tentative budget. That's good, I guess, since now I have a clearer idea of the real scope of the project. And now I need to find away to raise the money. Sean (Rogue Artists) and I have been sending each other messages but haven't had a chance to talk. My assumption has been that we will be able to share the cost of producing their project. I also need to have a budget talk with Katie (puppetry project).

- Fundraising: Years ago I raised some money for a film project with a friend of mine. We never made the film, and we've held onto the money thinking maybe some day we would. It's only a few hundred dollars, but I have been told I can have what's left of the money. Baby steps.

- I've looked into setting up a small business account and made a comparison about creating a "Fictitious Business Name" (aka a D.B.A.) in either Los Angeles County of Kings County, NY. Considering I don't need a fictitious name to open a small business account as a sole proprietor I think it's more hassle to do now than it would be worth. I may change my mind in a few months, who knows?

- Working on a well-written project description to use for potential fundraisers and grant proposals.


That's all for now -- Liz E