THE UNBELIEVING - World Premiere at 59E59

My play THE UNBELIEVING had its world premiere at 59E59 in October 2022. A critical hit (including NYT’s Critic’s Pick) it had a sold out run. It was co-produced by The Civilians and co-presented by Daniel C. Dennett and Linda LaScola (who conducted the original research the play was based on). Directed by Steve Cosson. Our stellar cast was Nina Hellman, David Aaron Baker, Jeff Biehl, Sonnie Brown, Dan Domingues, Joshua David Robinson and Rich Topol.

Who doesn’t love pull quotes?

"Smart...inquisitive and welcoming"
"A lot of anguish... a lot of courage, too." – The New York Times, Critic's Pick

★★★★ "The Civilians has a new winner in THE UNBELIEVING" – NY Stage Review

"Fascinating" – Talkin' Broadway

"Superb, thought-provoking play"
"Just the right touches of humor and heart" – Broadway World

"A must-see for both the faithful and the faithless" – Theatre Reviews Limited

From left, David Aaron Baker, Joshua David Robinson, Jeff Biehl, Dan Domingues and Sonnie Brown in a scene from THE UNBELIEVING at 59E59.

My new play The Unbelieving to premiere in NYC in Oct. 2022

This has been a passion project since 2015 when Dan Dennett and Linda LaScola commissioned me to write a play based on their book Caught in the Pulpit - which was a study of clergy who no longer believed in God. I had to pass rigorous screening by Tufts to be able to access the interview transcripts of those in the study. After poring through thousands of pages of interview transcripts and interviewing Dan and Linda about their experience the play began to take shape, with the help of many wonderful actors who gave of their time and talents to help bring it to life at readings and workshops over the years. Eventually we teamed up with Megan Kingery who served as executive producer for Dan and Linda to help get the play to the stage and she connected us with the groundbreaking investigative theater company The Civilians and their artistic director Steve Cosson to further develop the play. Then Covid hit… and I took that time to do some additional interviews of former clergy, incorporating that material into the play. I’m thrilled that we are finally getting a world premiere at 59E59th, with Steve directing. We open October 27th, 2022!

Here’s the official season announcement from 59E59th:

Marin Gazzaniga's The Unbelieving, based on the book Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind by Daniel C. Dennett and Linda LaScola, tells the stories of faith leaders who have stopped believing in God. Dennett, LaScola, and The Civilians will present the play, directed by Steve Cosson, in Theater B October 20–November 20.

Wrapped an inspiring week at New York Stage and Film Filmmakers' Workshop

This year's company of writers, mentors and actors just wrapped an inspiring week of table reads, one-on-one mentor sessions, master classes and panel discussions. The big take-away for me was the importance and challenge of identifying "the why" of the stories we are telling and staying true to that as you get notes and feedback from everyone from managers and agents to development execs to actors to friends. Some of my favorite catch phrases from the week: "Find your tree trunk" (Richard LaGravenese, re: knowing the heart of your story) "Be your own Jimi" (as in Hendrix - Zach Helm, re: knowing your voice) "Give 'em the sizzle not the steak." (Matt Williams, regarding pitching)

This writing business is hard - from the creative to the business side. To be able to spend time focusing on the craft, and getting feedback in a safe place, away from the business world, is special and I'm grateful to be a part of providing that for these amazing talents. 

Producing New York Stage and Film Filmmakers' Workshop

I'm pleased to be returning for a second year as producer of NY Stage & Film Filmmakers' Workshop. Our 2018 writers for the Vassar residency have been selected. Looking forward to spending a week in July with these talented writers and our mentors up at Vassar.  

2018 Writers

Developmental Reading of Caught in the Pulpit with the Civilians

Pleased to be working with producer Megan Kingery, director Steve Cosson, and the Civilians on further development of this play based on interview transcripts with non-believing clergy. A great cast (Caitlin O'Connell, Daniel Jenkins, John Ellison Conlee, Luzer Twersky, Glenn Fitzgerald, Joseph Adams, Danielle Davenport, Jesse J. Perez and Robert Askins) brought the words to life for us and I am working on rewrites towards a workshop this September. 

In Ways Both Frivolous and Deep - Play Reading in Santa Fe

I loved returning to beautiful Santa Fe last weekend to attend the reading of my play In Ways Both Frivolous and Deep, which was selected for Santa Fe Playhouse's "Different Festival." The reading was directed by Barbara Hatch who did a wonderful job working with actors Matthew Montoya and Karen Ryan (with the voices of Ann Roylance, Katie Chavez, Michael Blake Oldham, and Vaughn Irving.) Such a treat to hear the play and the thoughtful responses of the Santa Fe audience. Thanks too to Vaughn Irving, Artistic Director of the Santa Fe Playhouse for selecting the play for the series, and for championing new work.

My only regrets were 1) I couldn't stay for the second weekend of readings to see the second reading of this and the other plays in the festival and 2) in the excitement I forgot to take a photo with Barbara and the cast so you are stuck with this attempt at a selfie that shows the playhouse marquee.

In case you're wondering, the title of the play comes from a line from a Truman Capote novel (one of his "lost" novels) called "Summer Crossing" which is:

“When we change our brand of cigarette, move to a new neighborhood, subscribe to a different newspaper, fall in and out of love, we are protesting in ways both frivolous and deep against the not to be diluted dullness of day-to-day living.”

And here's a description of the play:

When Millicent needs a time-out from her life, she ends up subletting Sparky’s grunge-infested apartment while he’s out on the road. She organizes his home and puts his life under a microscope as a distraction from her own demons. When he returns, she won’t leave. Her constant probing makes the mild-mannered roadie snap, and he unleashes some observations of his own. As the two strangers reach a detente, they help each other in unexpected ways.

Or, as the audience members said in Vaughn's post-show talk back, the play is about "modern relationships," "modern romance" and "communication."

I sure would love for this play to get a full production somewhere!
 

New York Stage & Film Filmmakers' Workshop 2017

I produced the Filmmakers' Workshop for New York Stage & Film's Powerhouse season up at Vassar this summer with NYSAF co-founder Leslie Urdang and artistic director Johanna Pfaelzer.   It's the third year of a relatively new program and it was am amazing experience to play a role in selecting the nine kick-ass screen and TV writers: Azia Squire, Bat-Sheva Guez, Charles McNamara, Denise Meyers, Jed Cowley, Kyle Fried, Melody Cooper, Michael Cooke and Syd Stewart. We all spent a week in the woods at Vassar, joined by an impressive group of 9 industry mentors from NY and LA who volunteered their time and talent to dive into the writers' projects. Throw in a dream-company of 14 actors who brought everyone's scripts to life in table reads during the week, plus guests who came to lead masterclasses and share their experiences on panels - it was an intense, magical week.  Here we are at our farewell dinner. Goodbye for now - but to be continued.  Looking forward to see what's next for this talented group .

Caught in the Pulpit and the Santa Fe Institute

It's not often you get to present scenes of a work-in-progress at a beautiful historic theater (Santa Fe's Lensic theater), to a large crowd, and have world-renowned scientist-philosophers weigh in. OK, one of the scientists was my father, Michael Gazzaniga. The other was my collaborator on Caught in the Pulpit, Dan Dennett. So I had a leg up. But still. It was a one-of-a-kind evening and the audience reaction was heartening for the future of the play. Seems people are hungry for discussion about religion, and hearing the real words and struggle of clergy who no longer believe is a suprising and interesting way in to the conversation.

Thanks to David Krakauer and Jessica Flack at the Santa Fe Institute for the invitation to produce this event. And to the Santa Fe actors Elizabeth Wiseman, Hania Stocker, Charles Gamble, Sabina Dunn and Campbell Martin for giving voice to the clergy in the selected scenes.

A video of the event is available to watch here.

Caught in the Pulpit in Santa Fe

I am heading to Santa Fe in May to take part in a special event, part of SFI’s 2017 Community Lecture Series. Actors will present select scenes from the play I have been developing, Caught in the Pulpit, followed by discussion with cognitive scientist and philosopher Daniel C. Dennett (who wrote the book/study the play is adapted from) and Michael S. Gazzaniga, a cognitive neuroscientist (and, not coincidentally, my father), about what brain-mind mechanisms might be at work in religious belief — and the implications for individuals and society. 

I am excited to see what we learn from the event - and to visit Santa Fe and work with the generous actors who have agreed to take part in the reading. Elizabeth Wiseman, Charles Gamble, Sabina Dunn, Hania Stocker and Campbell Martin.

https://www.santafe.edu/events/caught-pulpit-exploring-journey-religion-reason

"THE LINE" pilot is named finalist for ATX-The Black List TV writing program

THE LINE is a half-hour dark comedy pilot I wrote with Serena da Conceicao. It was just selected by The Black List as part of their ATX partnership, to be sent to studio/network partners at HBO, Bad Robot, Carlton Cuse Productions, Amblin Television, Okay Goodnight, Hazy Mills Productions and Kilter Films for staffing consideration this season.

As part of this ATX- The Black List partnership, the script is also a semi-finalist for the ATX Season 6 Pitch Competition.

THE LINE is about the ghost designer for a celebrity fashion line for a discount superstore.

Read what The Black List founder Franklin Leonard had to say about all this in Variety.

Two Plays Are Finalists - in Ashland and Dallas

My play IN WAYS BOTH FRIVOLOUS AND DEEP was a finalist for Ashland New Plays Festival this year. And while I would have loved to be headed to Oregon for October to spend a week workshopping it, I'm honored it made it that far in the rigorous contest.  And I *will* be going to Dallas to see a reading of 100 DEGREES CELSIUS which was a finalist for Echo Theatre company's Big Shout Out contest - honoring women playwrights.

I tend to be good on cranking material but less good at marketing the wares once they are done. But I have been making more of an effort to send scripts out in the world in the past year or so, and it's nice to see some ROI. Here's hoping there will be more opportunities to get the work out in the world in 2017.

Honoring the filmmakers at the 19th Brooklyn Film Festival

After 12 days of non-stop film screenings, parties and Q&As, the 19th Annual Brooklyn Film Festival wrapped on Sunday night. I learned so much programming the narrative features and met some talented filmmakers. Very grateful to the volunteer screeners who helped me watch films all winter: Matt Brandenburgh, R.J. Foster, Jimmy Gartly, Taneka Morris, Robert Murray, Sarah Pirozek and Laurie Weltz. And glad I didn't have to be a judge but thrilled with the choices the jury (Marilyn Agrelo, David Chachere, Peter Christian Hall, Sarah Pirozek, Laurie Weltz) made.

I'll share more about the experience soon, but in the meantime, check out the winners and watch for their films in the coming year. 

Brooklyn FIlm Festival award winners

With the winners of the Indie Spirit Award for Narrative Feature - the team behind the Indian horror/suspence film Lapacchapi (Hide N Seek)

Celebrating women writers in TV

I was in LA on Wednesday for a celebration of the 2016 WriteHer List. Many thanks to We For She, and it's founders Claudia Maittlen-Harris, Katy McCaffrey, Jenni Blong Livingston and AnnaLea Rawicz Arnold for their advocacy for women in TV.

VH1 and WeForShe celebrate the 2016 WriteHer List on April 27, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. ©VH1/PictureGroup — with Sharon Lawrence, Miura Smith Kite, Claudia Maittlen-Harris, Katy McCaffrey, Maggie Malina, Jenni Blong Livingston and AnnaLea Rawicz Arnold.

It was great to meet so many of the honorees.

2016 WriteHer List writers.

Getting ready for the Brooklyn Film Festival

I've been watching feature films for months - along with the help of my volunteer screeners - to select some great indie films for the Brooklyn Film Festival this June. Very excited to share the line-up soon. In the meantime, here's some news about our theme and programming team.

2016 WriteHer List

My spec pilot YANK is on the 2016 WriteHer List. As Deadline Hollywood reports:  "The scripts were culled from nearly 200 nominations and evaluated based on criteria including diversity of cast, the Bechdel Test, and the number and quality of female roles." Thanks to We For She for advocating for more women in TV.

YANK: When Bollywood Princess Mira Vijay has to flee the Mumbai mob, she must start over in NYC as a bikini wax specialist.

2016 News

It's been a busy few months. A few highlights:

I am in the midst of a development workshop for my play Caught in the Pulpit , getting to spend time with a generous group of creative minds. More on this soon...

I'm pleased to be the new narrative feature programmer for the Brooklyn Film Festival this year.  The 18-year old festival was named one of the top 50 festivals worth the entry fee by Moviemaker magazine. I will be spending this winter watching indie films and am looking forward to sharing the selections this June in Brooklyn.

I have been working on a rewrite of my pilots BABE'S which deals with an anchor baby business in southern California.

And I am continuing to write for Fortune.com and working on some behind-the-scenes pieces for a new AMC show. Stay warm and stay tuned.

Expanding my beat...

From marijuana entrepreneurs to Guerrilla Girls -- these are some hard working women I wrote about for Fortune.

Fighting Discrimination with Coffee Mugs

Meet the women making the 'Shark Tank' for marijuana entreprenuers

Producing my play SO CLOSE for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October

Now that my play SO CLOSE is published on Indie Theater Now, I am making an effort to reach out to those at local theater and colleges to consider producing it this fall for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October.

Read this interview with me on Indie Theater Now about the play, read the play - and help spread the word about doing it near you.

More on Fortune.com

I enjoyed covering the controversies around the US Women's Soccer team and their ticker tape parade, crunching the numbers on the diversity of the Academy of Arts and Sciences newly elected Board of Governors, and taking a look at the finalists for The New MacGyver award to promote a  female engineer protagonist on TV.

Not to mention interviewing Michelle Ashford, the showrunner for Masters of Sex.

Writing for Fortune.com

Here is the first of several pieces I will be writing for Fortune.com. I will be covering women and entertainment, with a business slant.

How these women playwrights are fighting sexism on Broadway.