 Right. Hey, we're going to jump right in. It's five o'clock. Hey everybody, we are, we are watching me work and we are back. We've been away doing some internal, amazing restructuring and reorganizing so we can be even better organized and more available to y'all. We just wanted before we get started. I'm SLP and I want to give thanks to howl round and the public theater and we are now under the care and guidance of the new work development department at the public theater is run by Amritha and it's assisted by Zoe. So you want to say hi before we get started. Nice to meet everyone. Thank you for your patience and grace today as I take this over. So thank you. We're where we should be Zoe and we're so glad that you're helping us now. We're in the new work development department so I know it looks the same. But it's different department. Okay, and I'm with the will who's the head of the new work development department will join us and maybe say hi, but we're not waiting for anybody because we have work to do so we're going to work for 20 minutes. And then we're going to I'm going to talk with you about questions that you have about your creative process. You you you it's all about you that's what watch me work is all about if you can figure that out, you get a prize. If you would like to ask me a question about your creative process. And don't be shy about when it comes to question asking time because always the question you've got about your work is something that we've all been thinking about and it's incredibly helpful to have those conversations that it's so you think it's all going to be oh no I can't because it's all about me and I'm shy or whatever. You know but it's not it's all about. It's all about us. So if you have a question. Zoe will tell you how to get in touch. Go Zoe. Yeah, please just use your raise the hand function and I will ask you to unmute. And is there also there we used to have a, like, anyway, if that's the best way to do we used to have like a Twitter or something or a Insta and not probably not Insta anyway. We don't have that anymore because we no longer have an X account. Okay, well that's fantastic. We're shedding unnecessary things. Okay so just raise your hand and if you have a question in the next 20 and 20 minutes after we've all started working together are we ready. Here we go. All right. All right. That was 20 minutes. That was 20 minutes of work time we're back. We're back. So I'm going to go ahead of new work development you want to introduce yourself and say hello. You're the new the new boss ladies in town baby. Thanks so P. Hey everyone. My name is I'm with the remnant my pronouns are she hers. I'm the director of new work development at the public and sorry for being a little bit late my laptop decided to crash so I had to get on a new laptop to sign in but grateful to now be with you all. So do you want to give, do you want to give your full, you know, my full intro. Sure. Hi, my name is Zoe Kim pronouns are she her, and I am the new work development manager at the public and very happy to be here to support this process. So we're very lucky to be in the new work development department. We belong, and to that we got a lot of new work happening right here watch me work which is the joy of every time we get together we get to talk about your work and your creative process. Anybody have any questions. Good to see some of your spaces I haven't seen something a long time. Yes Larry I see your hands. Hey Larry. Hi how are you. Good to see you. I saw P good to be here I'm glad you started back up. So, literally this morning. I saw that there's an announcement for a play on Broadway. That's like about the thing that's my favorite scene in my place. I feel a little scooped, and I'm feeling a little like I, I'm too late, and I'm feeling like now I got to change everything and like. Yeah, it just, it just messed with my head a little bit. And I wonder if you've ever felt scooped. Wow. Wow. Well, the thing is, it's like all the time we all we all walk around and go oh I'd love to write about such and such and then you. You turn around and see that somebody thought about doing the same thing like three years ago and they got around to doing it. That's a really, that's a really hard feeling to handle, you know like darn I had a really good idea and I guess it wasn't only mine to shepherd, you know, I'm like, feeling like darn with you. I'm feeling like darn darn darn. I mean, here's the thing. Is there any way that you, you could write it anyway. There's that, you know, absolutely and I'll say it's, it's just it's a, it's a scene that I wrote that whenever I get lost in the piece I go back to the scene because the scene represents what I want the play to be. And so it's sort of been a touchstone for me. And then that scene is now like a play, but actually my whole play is not right scene. Right, right. That's a really good point. Your whole, I mean, it's like, it's like if we had maybe say, um, I'm just gonna get it. Is it an historical moment. No. No, okay, but it's a similar like same like someone goes into a shop and and buys a pot of flowers and does a dance. Is it kind of like that. I mean, I'll tell you exactly what it is. It's a play on Broadway with Jenny DeVito and his daughter. And it's the daughter is dealing with his dad being a hoarder. And my little scene is about a daughter with his dad who's a hoarder. You know what, I think that's okay. Because because for you it's a touchstone for them it's their whole like be all Indole, you know, and I think, I think that yeah I mean they're there. That's really intense though I got to say that's really intense. It's like darn darn people will think I copied, you know what we know we know you didn't, we know you didn't. But you think yours is only going to be a blip if we can think of right now all the plays that have like similar, you know, mother daughters who hate each other. You know, kids who want to be stars and end up with broken dream, you know, there are there are themes, you know, and I think maybe by the time your play comes around. Oh yeah. Maybe we'll need more of it, more hoarders. I know it sucks, you can. I appreciate the empathy. I know I feel for you though bro. Has anybody else had something like that happen to them. See some knots. Yeah, yeah. It sucks. It sucks. But I guess that's why I got to write the whole play. So this one scene is not. Right, right, right. Right. No, we won't take you down. But yes you do well yeah you do have to write your whole play I mean is it giving you a little fuel for that. Well, it is in combination with us being back here so yes. Yeah, likewise likewise. Thank you. Well, we're here for you. We'll cheer you on sure man. That's Kimmy I see your hand. Hey Kimmy how you doing. Oh, I don't take that question anymore. I'll tell you my way before I tell you. Wow that's so funny. I can do a stand up over here. It's been a tough year and the last month we had a move so it's. Oh, yeah, it's it's been too much but to Larry's point. I was in Edinburgh and my play is about a woman who didn't commit suicide because the note was she found the suicide note to arduous because she's a writer and you know writing is rewriting because she's like a screw it. She was alive because she didn't get around to doing the note, and then she decided to workshop it at her writer's group. And when I was in Edinburgh, there was a woman who was workshopping her suicide note, and I thought oh crap, it's the same thing, and I went to see it. And it is the same premise in that it's a woman with a suicide note, but it's not at all the same. And, and I know that gutted feeling. Larry and, and, and SLP like it's the same you know so it's not just empathy, but look at how many variations of a theme there are right the duck variations there's you know how many things of Hamlet how many. So, I think we just keep on writing. We just keep writing our plays. And, and the question that I had was, I find that I'm kind of stuck with wanting to use music. And how would I go about like trying to obtain royalties or do I just write the play, and then worry about that later. Great question Kimmy so I'm sound it sounds like you're wanting to use music written and perhaps performed by others. Yes, a Joanie Mitchell song, the later version of both sides now. Great. Okay. Fantastic. Right your play. When it comes to that part you can just, you know, please, please don't be getting involved and getting rights to, you know, somebody's music and imagine imagine here you are you know you're here you are writing away and you're writing. You know, and then you go. Okay, now I have to get the rights to Johnny Mitchell's. Look how far your pencils. And now you're writing emails, emails, maybe because joining Mitchell has lawyers or at least their lawyers have lawyers or whatever, you know, right and look up for you are with you see what I mean. You know how the song goes. It's one song, either you're going to get it or you're not. And in the meantime, you can whistle it. Come to that moment. Yeah, whistle the song. There you go. I mean not in a production of course by the time you get to a production, of course, I mean before you get to a production, after you finish the play after you finish a play the end and maybe a rewrite or two. So it's, it's, I'm writing it for my application for NYU, and I was wondering, would, would that be a turn off if I put that in there with or doesn't really matter. Number one, I'm not in the admissions department in why you so I so my answer is just going to be my opinion. Just so my opinion. No, no, no. If someone doesn't, you know, you can see would say well I don't have the rights to the song yet if you want to hear it. Here's a link. Okay. I mean, you know, you know, it's not about that. Thank you. You're welcome. Love you miss you guys. So good to be back. Maybe a baby. Did you have your hands. Hey, yeah, I had my hand up I have a question or actually to my first question is how much time do you spend in the outline phase for first draft. My second question is, I'm writing a play about how like voodoo and the spiritual world sort of collide with our reality. And it seems really great like in theory. But now as I'm writing I'm like, okay, this is like feeling a little cheesy in some places and like how do I make them intersect in a better way. So, I mean, if it's the first draft would you just write right right and not think about that and sort of like clean it up or make it blend better in the second draft or yeah do you have any advice. Yeah, so great question Davey so on an outline. How much time have you spent already. I think I spent about two weeks. And how far are you. I'm using the five act structure. I'm pretty much all the way. Like I've done 123 and four, and there's a couple there's a few gaps, and then I have to figure out the ending and then I just kind of started writing. Okay, so, so you've already finished your outline. I'm wondering if I need to go back and then if you know certain scenes may be flipped, and then also space between scenes that seem like they're similar in terms of their setup you know if I need, you know, other types of scenes in between them so maybe I'm just overthinking it. Well yes. Yes, yes, and talk to me about why you chose a five act structure. I have tried to write a screenplay with a three act structure and I found things getting a little bit muddy for me. So I decided to try this pathway to see if I got a little more clarity. And it seems to be working a little better for me now what, what structure do you use whatever I know just about you this is about you. I know I'm the, I'm the good girlfriend I make it all about you. No, whatever works by any means necessary I'm just curious to, but that's a great idea is like one way of working on an outline doesn't work for you, you're allowed to try different, different tactics, you know that's great that's really smart. So, okay, so you're, you're done with your outline so you spend two weeks working on your outline if you got done with your outline then I'd say good job, two weeks is long enough, you know you just want to write it and be done. There's no set time limit, I think two weeks is great three weeks, you know, it might all come to you in a rush. And so you you get it all out there and one afternoon and then you don't have to spend the two weeks just right, but I like outlines and they're like you know maps or the GPS or whatever you know you have an idea of where you're going. And this answers your second question, you don't you know you don't want to overthink it too tough. You don't have to know everything. If you knew everything what would you do during the rewrite. You'd be sad and bored and lonely, you know. So if you give yourself something to do like maybe a flip some scenes, maybe write some more scenes in between those two things like that that get that's your rewrite. Right, so get it down and then make it better get it down writing, make it better rewriting right. Does that make sense. You're muted. Oh, did you mute yourself. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Thank you so much. I'm going to put this. Thank you. Great questions. Thank you. Thanks to your hands. Hey, hey, good to see you. Hi, good to see you too, Sophie. Um, so my dilemma is that like, I've been like away from like the computer like for like a month and I, and I just came back from my computer and then like, got an email like yo there's this new play opportunity you should do it. And then so like, I took my like my first play it took me three years to write it. And it was like five days until this next opportunity I'm going to write a new, a new play in five days. Okay, not a new play, but I'm one of the plays that I have been working on, like from like this big list of plays that just I have skeletons of and I keep on changing which which one I'm working on. Okay. Okay. And then during this like, five day like, like battle of like which play to choose to pick on to then submit to this opportunity I just kept on switching and switching and switching to a point where I didn't even focus on one play I just kept on switching to this play and this play and that other play where it ended up where I didn't even get to submit a play. Because one of the, I, one of the things that I got like really stuck in my head that gives me a lot of anxiety when I write, and like when I think about like how other people will like read and how they perceive my writing is that like, sometimes I feel as if like, a writer of color as an Asian American writer is like as if institutions, theater companies, universities, they won't necessarily like, like, I have this in my head like we're like they won't accept my play unless I talk about the Asian American experience, for example, like, I feel as if sometimes I'm more of a cultural product for a means to an end for an institutionals like means to an end, instead of like a person with ideas. And that was sort of that things were like, when I switched from this place of this place of this place like this place more Asian, I should do this play, like no this place like more fun and like more wacky and like I want to do this but then, you know, so it's like that that was just like some like, I don't know, like worm that was like stuck in my head throughout the whole process and like, I kind of need help with like, it kind of goes with the conversation we had way back when or like I think about, like how other people, like there's someone behind me while I'm writing and I'm writing for that person instead of writing for me. And so it's, you know, it's great. Ace, where do you live. I live in Florida. We're in Florida. I live in Central Florida, Saffner, Florida. Say it again. Saffner, Florida. No, no, no, no. I mean, we're so if you were living closer and if it were agreed upon as appropriate, I want to give you a hug. You know, you're really dealing with some stuff. Ace. Thank you. You know, you're really dealing with some stuff and, and like I said before, you know, it's not just, and what's beautiful about and while I appreciate you talking about these things is that you're not alone. Lots of us on this call, lots of us in the arts, we are going through the same thing. We're going through our own product, product button that we help organizations and institutions push when they bring us in, you know what I'm saying so that is a real thing. And that is a thing that has often in my long career made me sad, and sometimes angry. Okay, so I want you to know you're not alone. We're with you on that totally. And I'm giving you a hug. All the way down to Florida. Okay, so now that you know you're not alone. Again, you're in your mind's eye, look around you and you see people on the screen right, but around you in your, you're in your like your room where are you bro, where are you ace right now. Um, it's like, I don't know. It's a room. Okay, okay, you're in a room. Okay, look around you, all around you are your allies, like your people, they might be from your heritage specifically, right. Like we're specifically like are your is your family from, you know, from the Filipino diaspora. Okay, you see your Filipino diaspora, all your people are all around you. And there are a lot of people there you might Oh, oh, okay, you know, not looking like me, you know, but they're my people. So they don't have to be like, racially or ethnically matchy matchy. Okay, but they vibe with you. They're all there. They are visiting you. They want you to put them in a show. That might be a play. It might be a piece of music, it might be a TV show, or a movie, or a Insta post whatever they are there for you. And everybody has this you look around if you look closely people and take your face out of your phone. Right. You're going to hear and feel your people around and that doesn't mean like they're my people and they're not your people I'm not mean that there are a lot of people who are showing up for you every day. I mean, you know, your boss or whatever I mean, your your ancestors if you will, your group, your tribe, they are counting on you, and they love you in the way that makes you go. They so love you that person behind you who you say you're right for you said there was someone standing behind you. They love you. Let them hug you. Do you live near your grandparents or any old people that you like. No, no, okay well the next time you just see someone who's like, you know, you know maybe 78 Florida there might be you know right just imagine that hug that an older person is going to give you. Right they're kind of frail, and they're so glad to see you, and they're so proud of you. Okay, the problem with this this thing you're talking about ace about an institution bringing us on so we can be their fucking postage stamp. I mean don't get me started I'm not going to get on my soapbox. The problem is though, is it separates us, us the person, whoever we are, everybody's got this issue. It separates the person from all that love that is there for us that got us into this field anyway. This is the first place what God is here. I want to be a writer love got you here that's why you're here. That's why you're here, because you have so much love, and you want to share, and the institution that us just wants us to be a postage a poster child or whatever you call it is cutting us off from that love, and they do so willingly and they kind of like they don't know but they know kind of thing and one of those things like they they know what they're doing but they don't know what they're doing. They do that because that's where our power is, and they often want this without the power I'll do it myself, you know what I'm saying without the power they don't want the power. And then they can control you. How great your comment question is so so know that those and know that writing about our issues or whatever. You know what you write about them in a way that is so far beyond what they think they that you're going to do. Right. I mean, top dog fucking underdog right. That's what I'm talking about like you know that's my shit, but it's your shit too. And that's the power that your people your people have to give you. They've got all these gifts. And you're one of the people all y'all and wherever group you're from or whatever wherever you live. You're one of those people that suppose that's that's they called on to carry some shit and show it to the world. So welcome to the club. I know you've been on watch before but now you're formally in the embrace of the tribe brother. Yeah ace okay. You're formally in the embrace and just know that they love you so much. So just when you feel like I can't focus on what I wanted to call on them and keep showing up here, ace. Okay. Thank you. I'm sorry when I went on and on and on but there you go. There you go. Thank you. Beautiful. What a beautiful thing you wanted to talk about or want me to talk about it. Anyway, oh Lord have mercy what time it is what time is it. It is 548 and I see I think we have my list hand next and then Lindy so. Okay I won't be long this time I'll just say yes no yes answer yes yes. Can you unmute. Mila Mila can you unmute I can't hear you sweetie. Oh, do I. Okay let me see. I haven't asked to unmute I'm trying to see if there's a way that I can. Let's see. Let's see so he knows. So he's still there. Are you frozen. No we froze and her computer crash so clearly our department. It's okay. Could you maybe Mila Mila could you put in the chat, we can read it. Is that possible. Can you can you put your oh okay Lindy Linda or Lindy you're unmuted. Yeah, let me try. Let me see if I can I might just have to ask you to unmute again and maybe that'll work so let me. Let's do Lindy right now so we can just have. Okay, awesome. Go. Thank you. I am producing my own play. Yeah, I'm doing a fundraiser through fractured atlas which I highly recommend if someone's going to want to umbrella and do their own 501 C3 and produce our own project. My question is very similar to aces where you know I feel like because my a lot of my writing is just stream of consciousness the ideas come from you know the leaf that floats by that I catch. And a lot of times, it's why this play why you know and I'm a white woman living in Los Angeles and it's like, why this play why now why for these people and I feel trapped because for me I just feel like, I just write plays like I don't know why I don't know why this idea came to me I don't know why I'm doing this particular piece or why I want to do this particular piece like it sings to me. You know, and so I never know because that question comes up all the time of like, why this play, why do you want to do it now what you know and I can really trapped in that. I hear you, I hear you, and I appreciate you saying like who how you identify and where you live. Everything you're just to be just clear as I understand it, everything that you're going through me, I, in my experience, someone like ace. There's all the other stuff on it if you can imagine that specific to an experience that most of us in this country don't have and yet we rely on a to bring it to us and spoon feed it so there's an added complexity or burden, if you will, on an experience of someone who is in the Philippine diaspora so I would spend someone a black person I definitely feel that that thing, you have to be that thing, whatever that is. But I see what you mean and I think you can what you can do if you feel like you're going to be asked those questions when you submit your play or what sounds like you're often running though so congratulations for producing your own work brilliantly. I feel like you can, you know, those questions are, I think, asked of everybody, and they're called press releases, as you know, right. And you're going to have to do that pitch talk, you know you're going to have to get your talking points together, regardless of what you're writing and regardless of who you are and who you're presenting it to. So I wrote a play with, you know, five black characters and I submitted it to a black theater, they would still want me to pitch it, you know what I mean, and the pitch is very important. And it's a good thing to wrap your head around like, well ask yourself why this play why now what's because imagine you're on. Oh I don't know some fabulous talk show and you're talking about your work. And the host, the wonderful host who loves that you're there and they want to talk to you about your fabulous play. They, they'd want to ask you so tell us what that you started writing this play, you know, and that's. So if you think about it more like a fun interview with them, a talk show host that you love. That's a way to sort of generate answers to those questions that help help the marketers help the newspapers and or the online publications or whatever. I encourage people to come and see your wonderful play. Yeah. Okay. I appreciate it. Oh thank you. Good question. It's such a blessing to be here. Thank you so much. Thank you and good luck. Keep us posted. Thank you. Great so I've been chatting with with Mila and we're still having some trouble with the mute so Mila said that she would put her her question in the chat so thank you in advance for that. Okay, and did you. Is it in I don't see it in the chat is in the chat is in the chat. Don't see it yet but we do now have Zoe back so Zoe do you want to try the unmute again in case it's just yes. We love technology this is where we say, oh we love technology. Okay, for you to unmute Mila. Can you do it. Can't. I heard a sound. Okay, did you put your, did you put your question in the chat Mila. Oh my gosh. Okay. Anybody else have a quick we can go to somebody else. We don't have to. Yes, Leah. Oh, he is helping. Okay, well. Hello, I was having the same mute issue. Hi so I'm writing kind of something that I've been working on for like four years loosely very loosely working on, and I've had like different iterations of it I'm like, maybe this is an audio drama maybe this is a novel maybe this is something but at this point, you know, I finally figured it out. And I got accepted to like a screenwriting incubator and I'm just going to do it and get it done with because I'm really sick and tired of it but at this point I've been thinking about it for so long and have all these iterations like it was a musical at one point and stuff you know. So there's like a lot of ideas to draw from but at this point it's a matter of like, you know, I need like some sort of save to kind of, you know, draw out like what's the most important parts that I want to portray in this particular moment but I guess. No great great great and I'm going to I'm going to answer. I think your question which is how do I decide on my many many projects and Mila I hope I'm pronouncing name rights question, which is I'm a beginner. I have so many ideas how do I start. So it could maybe it's the same answer, which could be. You know you have a you can put the quite you can put all the different ideas in a hat and pick them out if it's like which iteration of this project shall I do you can do that. Or you can just write down all of the you can spend a day with your project and say okay, we're going to get in shape before this incubator before I start going to these meetings, spend a day just spend a day with it block off time if you you know, at home after work, or if you have a day that's free and spend a day with it like if you want to just interview it like okay, which are the most important ideas, you got to spend some time on it. I mean, it kind of it's not going to find you if you're undecided and moving around like that right. But the same thing Mila was starting a new, a new play, you can put your ideas in a hat and pick them out sounds silly, or you could just spend a day going okay which one am I really really really interested in it and work on it for a week and see where you go. You know, you can you can try that sorry. We can't we can't see or hear you today. But you know it's all it's it doesn't have to be the only thing you ever write that's the only thing Mila you when you start something doesn't have to be the only thing you ever write it's just the first thing. As you call yourself a beginner right so so just try something for a week and see and see how you go and maybe you say, I'm going to write a play and it's going to be five pages long. I mean, and so write a page a day. And at the end of the week you'll have like five pages and then you can do a rewrite and your first play can be a relatively short play. Or it can be a full evening of theater like Oh what was that fabulous play that Carol Churchill wrote far, far away something like anyway, far away. It was like for it was it was short, but wow, that's all you wanted it was fantastic it was fantastic so you know and I know someone who writes a play a day and they get away with it so you can you know, you can do these things. But also, Leah, spend a spend a day with your work because you know what you want to work on. It just has lots of different forms, just spend a day and let yourself focus. Okay. Myla, can you try on meeting one more time I gave back the authority for people to be able to unmute themselves. She's into the waiting room it says okay okay it's very complicated. Oh, I found out how to meet it. It turns out it was actually my fault. The other news is that it's 559 so quick one minute. So I really liked your response to that and I guess I'm just a person who's really intimidated by the action of just because I have a really great idea it just, I've never written before and I'm kind of just intimidated by it. So just anything that you would say to the someone who just never written before like that. Yeah, sure. Make it, make it fun get a stack of index cards four by five index cards. They look like this and you never seen an index card. Okay, write it out on the index cards. Make it different, you know, hand write it on index cards that you carry around on a clip in your pocket. You know, have you ever gone on a date before. Yes, not to get too personal but okay. Okay, there you go. You're brave enough to write something. Mm hmm. Thank you. It's just dating. Just date. Yeah. Yeah. It's a clock. We've got one more hands. I'm wondering SLP if we can take. I go till six o'clock. I got to go. I'm like, we love you if you can come back next week and we will, we will talk with you then. We love you. We love you. And next week we're going to be as we're going to be at five o'clock. I'm going to be rushing from somewhere else which we all know the workshop. Okay, so we'll see you next week at five o'clock we love you. Okay, mama's got a run. Bye bye. We aren't we don't have it next week. Well, well, it's okay. I'm not too worried. I'm not too worried. I got to go. We'll see you next session. All right.