Theater Resources Unlimited announces Producer Development & Mentorship Program Submission Deadline September 1, 2020

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU), in collaboration with four-time Tony Award-winning producer Cheryl Wiesenfeld (The Heidi Chronicles, Rocky, All the Way, The Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess, Vanya & Sonya & Masha & Spike, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, The Exonerated), announces the Producer Development & Mentorship Program (PDMP), which provides ongoing training for serious producers and self-producing artists taught by Broadway, Off-Broadway, and other industry professionals. Classes will be held virtually until the shutdown ends, and students from beyond the New York area may continue to attend virtually. The submission deadline for both classes is Tuesday, September 1, 2020. For information on class schedules, curricula, and tuitions, please visit truonline.org/tru-event-category/pdmp/.

A FREE introduction to the program will be held virtually on Thursday, August 20, from 5pm to 7:30pm, an opportunity to learn first-hand about the two programs we offer, from instructors R. Erin Craig, Jane Dubin and Jennifer Isaacson. Reserve at truonline.org/events/intro-to-pdmp20/.

PDMP consists of two levels: Foundations, which is open to everyone interested in producing, and Master Class, which is open for graduates of the Foundations course, with limited openings for people who have taken previous TRU workshops, the Commercial Theatre Institute 14-week course, or a combination of other CTI courses. To request an application for Master Class, or to inquire about the program, email TRUMentor@gmail.com.

The Foundations Course
The Foundations course will be led by producer/consultant/former general manager R. Erin Craig of La Vie Productions (Himself and Nora, Stalking the Bogeyman, Mr. Rickey Calls A Meeting, Austen’s Pride, Academy, Right Before I Go benefit in October 2017). For more detailed information, visit https://truonline.org/tru-event-category/pdmp/#basic.

The Master Class
The Master Class, for PDMP Foundations graduates and other eligible candidates, will be led by Broadway producer Jane Dubin (The Prom, Tony-winning The Norman Conquests, Farinelli and the King, Bandstand, Peter and the Starcatcher and An American in Paris; plus Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, The 39 Steps, Ann; upcoming: Fingersmith) and Jennifer Isaacson, producer (Moulin Rouge!, An American in Paris, Hedwig and the Angry Inch starring Neil Patrick Harris, ANN, 
The Norman Conquests; off-Broadway The 39 Steps, Beebo Brinker Chronicles). Students must have a specific project they are moving towards production. Self-producing artists will be considered if they are working on a specific project. For more detailed information, visit https://truonline.org/tru-event-category/pdmp/#master.

What PDMP Graduates Have Said:
“I wanted to let you how much I enjoyed Master class this year. It was a very special group of amazing people. I felt we all grew a lot together. I have grown to love each of my classmates. I haven’t felt that in years past. I call it a blessing. Rachel and Jane were awesome. Such bright spirits. So supportive. Thank you for making it happen.” ~Jessica Sherr

“I wanted to take a moment to personally thank [Jane Dubin and Van Dean] for your wisdom and guidance, and especially for your generosity of time, and your commitment to supporting new generations of producers, and showing them it really is possible to play in this arena and make some wonderful things happen. You know, back when I first started investigating producing, I felt so out of my league, so small and insignificant, and ignorant. But thanks to people like you both, and Bob and Gary, and so many other producers I’ve met through TRU, I feel part of a very kind family. And that it’s ok to not know everything. But it is remarkable to me how much I’ve learned so far.” ~Frank Avellino

“I can’t tell you how smart you are to have conceived PDMP. It’s the best learning experience in theater. Martin, Dave and Jana are incredibly helpful. Thank you.” ~Toni Hart

“I wanted to reach out and thank you so much for being my mentors for the TRU 2015/2016 Master Class. I don’t think I realized how much you taught me until I presented my business plan at the last session. It was the Master Class application that motivated me to commit to my very first project! Ten months later I’ve navigated from option agreements to hiring a director to staging a successful reading with four Tony-nominated actors! Having access to the caliber of theater professionals you brought us was invaluable. Having mentors to talk to and listen to in class, and forming relationships with my other theater mates has been invaluable….  I would recommend this program to anyone who wants to learn producing, because you learn by doing.” ~Wendy Leopold

“Since joining TRU and participating in PDMP for four years, I have learned a great deal and seen movement in our organization. We have expanded our season to include three productions a year and theater camp in addition to our fundraiser.  We have built a website and are now in the process of producing a marketing 3 minute film about Polaris.  Finally, we have expanded our enrollment enough to keep us in business.  We are on our way. While it is true we haven’t completely reached our goals and there is much work to be done still, it is also true that we have a path to achieve our goals.  We are in a very different place from where we were when you and I first met.” ~LeCee Johnson, Polaris Productions

“Through TRU’s commercial producer training program I was able to work on my first Broadway show as a producer, be mentored by a multi Tony awarded producer and work with a well known and highly respected dramaturge/creative consultant from MTC on my current musical project.” ~Jayne Ackley Lynch

“As an actor/playwright I finally found a supportive program that not only helped me achieve my goals but taught me the business of the business.  Thanks to TRU, I now have a concrete knowledge of how the business of theater works and a supportive community to turn to when I need advice!” ~T. Cat Ford 

About the Faculty
R. ERIN CRAIG/La Vie Productions LLC | Since 1997, Erin and her company, La Vie Productions LLC, have helped to nurture and build new artists and new projects in theatre, film and music through their work as a General Manager, Production Manager, Marketing / Branding Consultant, Executive Producer and Producer. Current projects include: Austen’s Pride: A New Musical of Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Rickey Calls A Meeting, Academy, Village of Vale, Into The Wild, Right Before I Go. Previous projects include: The Exonerated, In The Heights, High Fidelity, Irena’s Vow, Easter Mysteries (live film), Himself and Nora, Liberty: A Monumental Musical, Stalking the Bogeyman, Velocity of Autumn, How We Got Away With It (film); and with Houses On The Moon Theatre Company, The Assignment, DeNovo, The Santa Closet and gUN COUNTRY. Erin is a member of The Broadway League, The Off-Broadway League, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU). LaVieProductions.com

JANE DUBIN is a Tony Award-winning producer and the President of Double Play Connections, a theatrical production and management company committed to supporting emerging artists and playwrights in the creation and development of new works. Jane is a graduate of the Commercial Theatre Institute’s 14-week (NYC) and O’Neill Center Intensive (CT) Producing Workshops and past Director of Theater Resources Unlimited’s Producer Development Program, and current Director of the program’s Master Class. Broadway/OB: The Prom (Best Musical – Drama Desk Award), Farinelli and the King (5 Tony nominations), starring Mark Rylance, Bandstand, An American in Paris on Broadway (4 TONY Awards), National Tour and in London, Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey (Off Broadway and on Tour), Peter and the Starcatcher (Broadway, Off-Broadway, National Tour), winner of 5 TONY Awards; Ann, starring Holland Taylor (Lincoln Center); The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (London); The 39 Steps (OB, Tour); The Norman Conquests (TONY Award, Best Play Revival), Groundswell (the New Group), Beebo Brinker Chronicles (2008 GLAAD Media Award for Theatre). Other: OPA! at TBG Theatre (Best Commercial Production, MITF 2008), Take Me America (Best Musical, MITF 2007), Count Down, (Bank Street Theatre) and the one-woman show that started it all, MentalPause by Margaret Liston. Ms. Dubin is a full voting member of the Broadway League. She is co-President of the Board of Directors of Houses on the Moon Theater Company and a prior Board member of the League of Professional Theatre Women. For two years she was co-curator of the Hudson Valley Writers’ Center New Play Reading Series. She co-produced Hudson River Rising, presenting events for One Billion Rising (V-Day) 2013 and 2014 and was a member of the Grand Jury for New York Musical Festival’s 2015 – 2019 seasons.

JENNIFER ISAACSON is a two-time Tony Award winning producer. She is currently the Executive Producer for WalkRunFly, a production company co-founded by Warren Adams and Brandon Victor Dixon. WalkRunFly has several new musicals and a TV series in development. WalkRunFly is also partnered with International Theatre Fund as a co-producer on Moulin Rouge! on Broadway.  Broadway producing credits include: An American in Paris, Hedwig and the Angry Inch starring Neil Patrick Harris, Of Mice and Men starring James Franco and Chris O’Dowd, ANN: The Ann Richards Play starring Holland Taylor, and The Norman Conquests. Off-Broadway producing credits include: The 39 Steps and Beebo Brinker Chronicles. Prior to joining WalkRunFly, Jennifer was a producer with Harriet Leve Productions where she was part of many critically acclaimed productions including The Mountaintop starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett, La Cage Aux Folles starring Kelsey Grammer, and A Little Night Music starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury. Jennifer co-founded the Broadway Women’s Alliance, a community supporting, connecting, and empowering women on the business side of Broadway. Jennifer also serves as a board member of Houses on the Moon, a not-for-profit theater company dedicated to amplifying unheard voices. Jennifer is a member of the steering committee for Maestra, a not-for-profit community providing support and visibility for the women who make the music in the musical theater industry.

Theater Resources Unlimited
(TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a twenty-seven-year-old 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of the arts. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies. TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program taught by prominent producers and general managers in New York theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop business skills. TRU serves writers through the TRU Vices Play Reading Series, Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop, How to Write a Musical That Works and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include the Annual Combined Audition. Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by the Montage Foundation and the Leibowitz Greenway Foundation. For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org.