Raw Word Readings Home Page

Perry Grubin,
Acme Films
(American Cannibal)

Charles Puglese,
Killer Films
(Boys Don't Cry,
One Hour Photo, Happiness)

Jeb Brody
Big Beach Films
(Everything is Illuminated, Little Miss Sunshine)

Ben Stambler
Magnolia Pictures
(The Smartest Guys in the Room, The War Within, The Fastest Indian, Pulse, Bubble)

Wendy Sax
Former Artistic Director, IFP Market
Moving Stories Inc.

David S. Cohen
Writer Pee Wee Playhouse. Twice Emmy Nominated.

The previous Raw Word events 2008 were held "first Thursdays". Our venue, Galapagos Art Space is in transition from Williamsburg Brooklyn to a larger space DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).

While our scheduling is uncertain for the moment, we will keep you posted. If you are not signed up, please do so and we can inform you of our schedule. We do not SPAM or bombard with constant emails.

We are still accepting script submissions, and appreciate everyone's interest!

The featured pieces for May 2008 were:

The Serum by Marv Seigel

THE SERUM is the story of a savant whose interest in genetics propels him to set up a small home laboratory. When he develops a serum that will cure all diseases, he learns that it is easier to make such a discovery than to share it with the world.

Marv Siegel is a playwright/screenwriter. His play THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GOD as told to Mel Schneider was produced in a limited run off-Broadway starring Ron Palillo (Welcome Back Kotter) to sold out houses. ("One of the brightest dark comedies you'll ever see." - New York Theatre Wire). Most recently, his play Generations Apart was produced at the Theatre Conspiracy in Ft. Myers, Florida, where it was submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration ("...hilarious and heartwarming" - Island Reporter, "...entertaining production thanks to Siegel's funny, frothy script." - Naples Daily News). Other plays include Patty and Lainie (2 NYC productions), Moses of the New Millenium, Powerballs and Taking Secrets to the Grave. Screenplays include Senior Citizens, God, Lawyers and Everything in Between and The Good Neighbor's Policy. Marv is extremely excited about the fact that in June, 2008 shooting will begin in New York City for his full-length documentary People in a Chat Room, the story of the relationships that have developed amongst an eclectic group of people who frequent an online chat room.

Catch and Release by Joe Amstater

Greet Flint struggles to find love in a small border town. His extremely overbearing mother isn't helping. "Catch and Release" is a story about xenophobia in a place where physical borders have created social borders mixed with the violent consequences of not getting any.

Joe Amstater was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. He received a degree in the visual arts from Occidental College in Los Angeles and moved to New York upon graduation. Currently working at Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, he plans on directing "Catch and Release" in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico bolstered by the state's expanding film incentives. Joe has been working on a variety of different projects that have been inspired from the work of O. Henry to Gus Van Sant.

The Manicurist by Kevin Davidson

A sociopathic lawyer in New York City finds herself fired from her job, just as she's inherited a beauty salon from her grandmother. She encounters a dysfunctional set of people who help her embrace her own role as part of the human race

Kevin Davidson was born and raised in New York, studying art and film/video at SUNY Purchase. He has worked on various independent films in Art, Locations and Producing, as well as writing/directing several short films over the years. He's also written several feature scripts. Kevin likes rock climbing and outboard motoring, even tho he's never actually done it.

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Thursday, April 3rd:

Russian Blue by Kathleen Cahill
An emotional story about a father and son, classical musicians from Russia, who have come to New York City to make it. In the featured scenes, SASHA meets RAMONA, a beautiful singer/musician he first saw playing in Times Squre while riding the subway to his violin lesson.

Kathleen Cahill’s awards include the Jane Chambers Playwrighting Award, a Connecticut Commission on the Arts Playwrighting Award, a Massachusetts Artists Foundation Award, a Rockefeller Grant, a National Endowment for the Arts New American Works Grant, and a Drama League Award. She has a degree in Musical Theatre from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She works as a writer for Masterpiece Theatre on PUblic Television. RUSSIAN BLUE was commissioned by David Grubin Productions.

Little Altars by Marilyn Fu
Henry is a writer who grew up in a brownstone along Washington Square Park. Tess wins wet T-shirt contests and lives check to check. A tragic situation gives this one-night stand a chance to be something more.

Marilyn Fu is a Screenwriter with two films in development: Riders on the Storm, produced by Jamin O'Brien, and The Sisterhood of Night, based on the short story by Pulitzer prize-winning author Steven Millhauser, and produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher and Jessica Levin. Fu was awarded the Tribeca Film Festival's 2007 Creative Promise Award in Screenwriting and Columbia University's William Goldman Screenwriting Fellowship in 2000. She plans to direct her script, Little Altars.

My Homework Ate the Dog by Paul Travers
For Jacinda, failing biology is the least of her problems. This story follows Jacinda, an over worked but high spirited high school girl from Queens, as she navigates her way through one of those “Should have stayed in bed” days.

Massachusetts native Paul Travers is currently represented by Steven C. Beer of Greenberg Traurig. After his first script “Inside Out” was featured at The Raw Word last year, he received several inquiries from producers, directors and production houses interested in working with him. “Inside Out” was later optioned by a production company out of Philadelphia. Currently working on several full length scripts, Paul Travers resides in NY, NY.

April 3rd Industry Guest:

Pamela Goldstein of Safehouse Pictures
Pamela is a script reader for Safehouse, a New York-based company with a multi-year overhead and development fund. They produce features, documentaries and television projects.

Carly Hugo and Matt Parker of The Group Entertainment were our hosts February 7th.

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