First Meeting Notes: July 11, 2009

Present
Arvin Donner
Chris Shaw Swanson
John Swanson
Holly Magnani (and baby Xavier)
Robert Foor
John Dranschak
Philip Montell
Tom Shafer
Kat Fralick
Amy Talbott
Rose Ann Kalister
Diana Daily

Agenda
General items
Group Format
Critiques
Etiquette
Casting
Next Meeting

General

- DF may allow precasting until more actors start to attend.
- The mission statement of DF needs to be published somewhere.

- The Drama Foundry is a functional group geared toward writers and having their work critiqued.

- Keep in mind that the group is for learning. We are all here to learn and it is OK to make mistakes. This is where we come to practice and improve our craft.

-Arvin is not able to do everything. “It’s not all on me.” He’s looking for help in getting things started. He will remain a facilitator of sorts and be the final word on issues especially when the group is unable to come to a consensus.

- This is a writer’s group. Writers come first.

- Phil asked what the future plans and the focus of the group would be. Arvin said that for right now we are going to focus on getting the writers’ group going and that he had other ideas but did not want to distract the group with those ideas at this time.

Group Format

- Meetings will start out with welcome

- There will be introductions, announcements/shameless promotions, business, and a run down of the evenings work.

- There should be a timekeeper/God who keeps things rolling.

- There will be a rotation of responsibility for certain roles like the time keeper.

- There will be a meeting guide book with a meeting script, rules of etiquette and submission guidelines for participants at each meeting. These documents will also be published on the web.


- The group consciousness should be decided by a simple majority. Keep in mind that new ideas will be a trial and error process.

Critiques

- There should be a laid out structure to critiquing:


The writer shall choose the focus and discussion of the critique. During the initial critique the writer will not speak and shall listen to the participants of the critique. After the initial critique the writer can ask questions to the critique participants.

- The writers who are being read are responsible for the food and drink for the evening.


Etiquette

-When critiquing a writer’s work Arvin suggested these criteria:

The critique participant needs to remember we are all here to learn. The critiques are not for helping the writer rewrite their work. The critiques are not about telling the writer what you like and do not like. The critiques are about helping the writer see what works and does not work in their piece. When critiquing a work always start with the positive and then bring up something that needs improvement.

- Holly suggested that we keep critiques all positive.

Submissions

- There will be a checklist of criteria for submissions of scripts

- There should be nothing that would enthusiastically espouse the virtues of white supremacy, homophobia, violence against women, pedophilia, ect. If unsure, ask.

- Script submissions are open for the first couple of meetings.

Casting

- The larger variety of actors, the better.

- If writers need help with casting, John Dranschak will help writers get actors for their reading.

- Writers can choose actors and or can throw it open.

-How shall actors be cast? Shall casting be left up entirely to the writers? Can actors be picked from a hat? Several participants shared their view on these questions including Holly, Robert, Phil, Chris, John, Rose, and Cat. This is all still up in the air:

Arvin decided due to the time left for the meeting that for right now the group will try and schedule 3 readings per meeting and to try and have at least one reading per meeting be a “showcase” reading. A showcase reading will have the actors picked from a hat. This decision will be reviewed at the next group conscious after our third meeting. Arvin stated that if a compromise is not reached by the group he will make the decision that he thinks will best serve the writers and allow writers to choose how they cast their pieces.

- A reading sign-up sheet and group contact list was passed around for participants.

Next Meeting

- The next two meetings will have scheduled readings. Arvin will serve as the timekeeper for the first few meetings.

- Aug 1st and 22nd 5 pm same place as of now. However, this might change.

- Scripts submissions are open for first couple meeting

-Info for each meeting will be posted on The Drama Foundry blog and Facebook