LoNyLa launched programming by its TV Group in the fall of 2011. The bi-weekly reading series encompassed the development of several new TV pilots and used the same process as that of the Spring 2011 vLab. The transatlantic hubs – London, New York and Los Angeles – gathered for 3-hour sessions to broadcast readings of selected pilots over the web. An interactive session followed in which LoNyLa artists, local and remote, gave feedback to writers.
“The Rock” by J Dakota Powell, director Wilson Milam.
Logline: Special Agents Naomi Broder and Adam Keitel investigate strange cases in the newly minted Ritual and Occult Crimes unit (the “Rock”) in the FBI.
Cast: Jim Sturgeon, Kristian Hart, Meghan Treadway, Ana Luderowski, Demi Oyediron, Sophie Wyburn, Elliot Barnes-Worrell, Michael Matus Taylor, Kane Surry, Louise Ann Munroe, Nathan Clarke, Zoe Nicole, Ashleigh Cheadle.
J Dakota Powell has written half a dozen TV pilots. The Rock was originally developed with Muse Entertainment, LA.
“Out of Aces” by Kurt Uy, director Nelson Eusebio.
Logline: Leo, an underground Vegas poker player, returns home to NYC to bury the parents he ran away from. Will his sister forgive him? And what happens when Vegas comes calling?
Cast: Dax Valdes, Steven Rishard, Jackie Chung, Jojo Gonzalez, Eileen Rivera, Sarita Covington, Tiffany Villarin.
Kurt Uy is an actor, writer and native New Yorker. He holds a BA in English from Princeton University and received his MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. He studies martial arts, reads comics and loses money playing poker. He, his wife and two fish live in Brooklyn.
“Creamed” by Paul Charlton, director Shane Elliot.
Logline: Creamed is a comedy-drama about a bunch of loveable losers working on a giant ice cream promotion stand touring the North East of England.
Cast: Rick Overton, Shane Elliot, Jeff King, Lucy Griffin, Brianna Brown, Elizabeth Greer, MacLeod Andrews, Alan Smyth, Patrick Hancock.
Paul Charlton trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). He is a member of the BBC writersroom ’10. A graduate of the Royal Court Young Writers Group in 2009/10, Paul is an associate artist of both Iron Shoes Theatre company and the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. He has won two Fringe First Awards for his plays ‘Love, Sex and Cider’ and ‘Crush’- the latter also nominated for the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award before embarking on a sell out national tour. Charlton was the recipient of an international bursary from the MacDowell Colony. He is also the co-writer and performer of the sell out sketch group The Ginge, the Geordie and the Geek which sold 7000 tickets at this year’s Edinburgh festival. They are signed to Shed Media’s Yalli Productions and are currently developing a TV pilot.
“High Crimes” by Kenneth Lin, director Wilson Milam.
Logline: Brilliant psychologist, Stephen Wren, a master of manipulation, joins the FBI to solve impossible cases by unraveling how criminals have turned unsuspecting people into unwitting accomplices in high crimes.
Cast: Claire Dargo, Neil Granger, Christopher Brandon, Daniel Francis, Ana Luderowski, Luke Harris, Daniel Gentely, Sophie Wyburn, Louise Ann Munro, Ashleigh Cheadle.
Kenneth Lin: Lin’s plays Fallow, Intelligence-Slave, Po Boy Tango, said Saïd, Warrior Class, Life On Paper, Agency* and Genius in Love have been seen at theaters including: Alliance Theatre, Northlight Theatre Company, Alley Theatre, People’s Light and Theatre Company, South Coast Rep, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Marin Theater Company and East West Players. Commissions: Ensemble Studio Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Rep, Wilma Theater and Arena Stage. Awards: Princess Grace Award, Weissberger Award, Kendeda Award, Edgerton New Play Prize.) Residencies: Ojai Playwrights Conference, Ucross Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Lark Playwrights Workshop, Interstate 73, McCarter Playwrights Retreat. Education: Yale School of Drama.
“Street to Treat” by Zoanne Clack, director Wilson Milam.
Logline: A new medical procedural.
Cast: Ayesha Antoine, Sophie Wyburn, Nicholas Hart, Christina Chong, Daniel Francis, Adetunji Kasim, Malachi Kirby, Emily Plumtree, James Baxter, Alexis Rodney, Kane Surry, Ana Luderowski.
Dr. Zoanne Clack is a writer and co-executive producer on the award-winning ABC series Grey’s Anatomy. She also acts as a medical advisor, assisting in production of all medical aspects of the show. She has a B.S. in communications from Northwestern, an MD from UT Southwestern, and an MPH in behavioral sciences from Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. She completed a residency in Emergency Medicine, a fellowship in Injury Prevention, and spent a year at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in International Emergency Medicine. She has accepted awards from the Writers’ Guild of America Award for best new series, the Scroll of Merit Award – the highest honor given by the largest organization of African-American physicians in the country, and the Leadership and Legacy Alumni Award given by the Student National Medical Association (SNMA).