DEL SHORES FOUNDATION WRITERS FESTIVAL
FEBRUARY 23-25, 2024 Atlanta, GA
the second
DEL SHORES FOUNDATION
WRITERS FESTIVAL
took place February 23-25, 2024
Atlanta, GA at Out Front Theatre Company
THREE STAGE READINGS of the Writers Search Winning Scripts.
THREE PANELS with experts in Theatre & Film.
Southern Baptist Sissies screening featuring Stars from the film.
One-On-One with Jack Heifner of Vanities.
ONE GREAT WEEKEND CELEBRATING LGBTQ+ WRITERS!
Our second DEL SHORES FOUNDATION WRITERS FESTIVAL was a HUGE success! THANK YOU to all of the writers, winners, artists, speakers, Board members and audience members who came to be a part of this special weekend.
The actors for all three stage readings were INCREDIBLE and we discovered one moved from India to be a part of telling these stories! Jack Heifner was fantastic in his one-on-one with Del opening night, sharing hilarious stories and thoughtful advice from his storied career. Our guest artists provided invaluable specific and direct experience. The Saturday night screening of Southern Baptist Sissies was a special revisit of this incredible film with Del, Emerson, Ann Walker & Bobbie Eakes. The WORLD PREMIERE cast of Lee Osorio's A THIRD WAY did their first public reading as an official cast and Actor's Express' world premiere production, with our $10,000 production grant, opens October 5, 2024, in Atlanta.
A specific and special thanks to Paul Conroy and Out Front Theatre for being incredible partners to the Foundation and amazing hosts for our entire weekend.
ALL READINGS AND PANELS WERE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!!
ALL EVENTS took place at our theatre partner OUT FRONT THEATRE COMPANY.
999 Brady Ave NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
William Avery Mettlach
"Smoke Breaks"
OPENING NIGHT!
A two-part evening centered around a stage reading of the Del Shores Foundation Writers Search Short Film Award winner Smoke Breaks by WILLIAM METTLACH.
The evening closes with "One-On-One with with Jack Heifner" a fun and free-wheeling interview with the acclaimed playwright of the long-running off-Broadway smash hit Vanities.
SMOKE BREAKS reading starring
LIAM GARDNER, JASON JAMAL LIGON,
SHELBY McCALL, LISA BOYD & ISAAC BREIDING
We have THREE daytime panels with a range of topics related to writing and working to get it made featuring experienced professionals in theatre and film! All panels include a Q&A at the end. **All panels are Free, but you must register through the links below to attend. If you want to attend all three, register through each link. We will have breaks between each panel and a one hour break between the final panel and the 3PM Play reading! Guests subject to change.
10AM - BRINGING YOUR STORY TO LIFE
A panel on finding your story, the right medium for it and what to do when your story meets the real world of film production and coming to life on the stage! Moderated by DEL SHORES
with playwrights JACK HEIFNER & TOPHER PAYNE and screenwriter AVA DAVIS
11:30AM - MAKING IT HAPPEN YOURSELF
A panel of writers who have produced their own work in short film, film and theatre sharing their experiences of making it happen on their own! Moderated by EMERSON COLLINS
with screenwriters MAT HAYES & AVA DAVIS and playwrights LESLIE KIMBELL & KAYLA PARKER
1PM - MEET THE PRODUCERS
Meet Producers from our Del Shores Foundation Theatre Partners, Film Festivals and Atlanta companies as they share how they choose the work they produce. Moderated by DEL SHORES & EMERSON COLLINS
with Artistic Directors FREDDIE ASHLEY, PAUL CONROY & JUDE JAMIL, associate producer KAYLA PARKER
and Out On Film Festival Director JIM FARMER
WEEKEND SPECIAL GUESTS & PANELISTS INCLUDE:
Playwrights Del Shores, Topher Payne, Leslie Kimbell, Kayla Parker and Jack Heifner
Screenwriters Chad Darnell, Ava Davis, Mat Hayes, and Jeffrey Reddick
Producers Emerson Collins, Freddie Ashley, Paul Conroy, Jim Farmer and Jude Jamil
Actors Dale Dickey, Bobbie Eakes and Ann Walker
Lee Osorio
"A Third Way"
SATURDAY AFTERNOON, 3PM!
A stage reading of the Del Shores Foundation Writers Search Play Award winner A Third Way by LEE OSORIO.
Presented in association with Actors Express, Artistic Director Freddie Ashley. Actors Express will present the WORLD PREMIERE production of A Third Way, directed by Lauren Morris, with the support of our Play Production Grant, in honor of Leslie Jordan, running October 5-27, 2024. To purchase tickets to the world premiere production in Atlanta in October CLICK HERE.
A Third Way reading features the WORLD PREMIERE CAST
BRANDON LEE BROWNING, BRAIAN RIVERA JIMÉNEZ,
ERIKA MIRANDA & IAN SAWAN with ALEJANDRA RUIZ
Directed by LAUREN MORRIS
SATURDAY EVENING
We are presenting a special screening of Del Shores' film of the play SOUTHERN BAPTIST SISSIES. The film was entirely crowd-funded and shot as hybrid piece of theatre/film to allow it to be made at all.
Q&A After with DEL SHORES
producer and star EMERSON COLLINS
and stars DALE DICKEY, BOBBIE EAKES & ANN WALKER
Timothy Jay Smith
"Istanbul Crossing"
SUNDAY MATINEE CLOSING!
A stage reading of the Del Shores Foundation Writers Search Screenplay Award winner Istanbul Crossing by TIMOTHY JAY SMITH.
ISTANBUL CROSSING reading starring Ian Sawan, Manahar Kumar, Ahmad Ghafouri,
Laurie Shireen Sanii, Mohamad Khatib, Mona Amein, Sameer Vivek Mahtani,
Angel Fabián Rivera, Luisean Manrique, Nadia El-Tawansy, Lilly Heidari, Savio,
Donald Ome, Layah Shirazi
