THE BIZ OF THE MUSICAL THEATRE BIZ
CONFERENCE 2024
April 19/20/21 and the week of April 22-26
ONLINE via ZOOM VIDEO CONFERENCING
PITCH, PITCH, PITCH!
Back by popular demand, NMI’s Virtual PITCH Conference for Musical Theatre Writers will take place in April 2024.
Imagine an opportunity to spend a weekend preparing, honing, and practicing a pitch for YOUR new musical, and then live pitch that musical to a bunch of producers all in the same Zoom room. New Musicals Inc. has created that very opportunity, just for you.
The combo PITCH Conference weekend and Pitch Week are only $225 per writing team. ONLY 12 spots left for registration! Registration will close when we reach 50 teams.
2024: A Virtual PITCH Conference for Musical Theatre
NMI’s Virtual PITCH Conference for Musical Theatre will consist of a weekend of preparing, honing, and practicing your pitch (with feedback and guidance from NMI Staff and Industry Guests); followed by the opportunity for at least TWO live virtual pitch sessions to a panel of industry professionals from around the globe.
Here’s how it will work:
Friday evening April 19 (6pm to 9pm PST) — NMI Executive Director Scott Guy will call upon his many years of experience in the world of television and Emmy nominations to give you insight into the pitching process, from the writers’ and producers’ perspective.
Saturday April 20 (8:30am to 7:30pm PST) — You’ll try out your three-minute pitch on NMI staff for feedback who will help prepare you to meet producers. Teams will divided into three group and will get to pitch during one of these three time slots:
9am to 11:30am PST
11:45 to 2:15 PST
3:00 to 5:30pm PST
There will be a wrap-up and discussion session 5:45 to 6:30pm PST, and a chance to meet your fellow participants in break-out rooms until 7:30pm PST.
Sunday April 21 (10am to 7pm PST) — You will pitch to our incredible industry guests Michael Alden, Brian Graden, and Rebecca Lowrey, who will give constructive and specific feedback on improving your pitch.
Each team will get two chances to pitch (to two different guests) during these time slots:
10:30am to 1pm PST
1:30 to 4pm PST
This will be followed by a wrap up and Q&A about the coming week of pitches (from 4:15 to 6pm PST), and another chance to interact in break-out rooms from 6pm to 7pm PST.
Week of April 22-26 — During the week of April 22, each participating team will be given two separate opportunities to pitch live to a wide group of industry professionals. There will be a morning (10am to 12pm PST) and an afternoon (2pm to 4pm PST) pitch session from Monday to Friday during the week. Participating teams will be pre-assigned to specific sessions.
As part of the entire process, all participating teams will be given the opportunity to create a web page on the NMI website (facilitated by NMI staff) that will include a logo, demo sound file, description and other information about their show (including links to outside websites/materials). These pages will be made available to all of the industry professionals who have taken part in the conference; as well as a much longer list of industry professionals across the country.
NOTE: A maximum of 50 participating writing teams will be able to sign up for the full conference. We are also accepting auditors for the conference who will not get to pitch live, but will still get the opportunity to have a webpage that will be circulated to the same list of industry professionals after the conference.
ADDED BONUS: You can also take advantage of Scott Guy’s PITCH BOOT CAMP (prior to the Conference) - see details by opening the toggle below.
PITCH BOOT CAMP
PITCH BOOT CAMP
Instructor: Scott Guy
SIX 30 to 60 minute online sessions - scheduled around YOUR schedule
(five sessions PRIOR to the April 19/20/21 Conference Weekend; one follow-up session 2-3 months after the conference)
Course Fee: $595 (OR save $100 if also registering for the BIZ OF THE BIZ Conference)
You’ve written a great musical….now what? How do you get producers to give your musical a look? What do you need before you’re ready to approach producers and theatres?
This six-session Boot Camp is designed to get you up and running in about a month and a half. (One session a week.) You can complete the Boot Camp faster if you like…but not slower. You can start any time you like, but once you do start, there’s no procrastinating. New Musicals Inc.’s Executive Director Scott Guy will put your feet to the fire as you complete and polish the following, all of which you’ll want:
One-sentence elevator pitch
One-minute pique pitch
Five-minute hook pitch
logline
100 word synopsis
half-page synopsis
Madison Avenue paragraph pitch
song-synopsis (“record jacket”)
demographic description
query letter
authors’ bio
You’ll also get all the knowledge and materials you need to prepare:
a successful demo (how many songs? how well produced?)
logo/artwork
website to present your musical
legal protection/copyright
a targeted list of producers and theatres to approach
secondary targets: festivals, workshops, contests
a timetable of your next steps
Here’s how it will work:
Session One: Planning Ahead
This session is all online. A pre-taped lecture, introducing you to the syllabus, the worksheets, and a list of things to do/write before your next session.
Session Two: Taking Stock
A one-on-one session with Scott (one hour via teleconference), going over your preliminary pitches and half-page synopsis. Discussion about demographic and spin. Goals and timetable for demo, website, launch of pitch campaign.
Session Three: Polishing Materials
Teleconference (half hour) with Scott, discussing your 100-word synopsis, Madison Avenue synopsis, elevator pitch. Review/reiterate your theme and demographic.
Session Four: Practice Pitch
Pitch to Scott. Tips, tricks, feedback. The query letter. Half-hour teleconference.
Session Five: Marketing Campaign
One hour teleconference with Scott, reviewing timetable and targeted producers/theatres. Realistic goals and next steps. Final practice pitch.
Session Six: Follow-Up
2-3 months after you’ve launched your campaign, you’ll have a follow-up half-hour teleconference with Scott to determine what’s working and what’s not; how are producers responding to you and your musical…what steps of your campaign warrant revising?
$595; includes all six sessions, five teleconferences, handouts, worksheets and pre-taped lectures.
OR
$495 if you take the Pitch Boot Camp along with registering for the 2024 Pitch Conference.
Feedback from Past Pitch Sessions
“I couldn’t believe the quality of producers that we had the opportunity to pitch our show to. They were some of the top producers in the industry. I’ll be back next year to pitch my next show!”
“The NMI team helped us strengthen our pitch and then gave us the opportunity to present our show to some of Broadway’s top producers. If you are developing a new musical, don’t miss this opportunity!”
“I not only learned an enormous amount about presenting a pitch, but a producer got in touch with me after my pitch, and wants to talk about the project!”
“I’ve been a librettist/lyricist for many years now, and the NMI Pitch Conference was one of the most valuable things I’ve ever done. The conference was a masterwork of efficiency and organization, and Elise and Scott’s generosity, intelligence, good-nature and expertise infused the experience. I look forward to participating in anything they do in the future.”
“I had some general ideas about how to pitch my musical before the conference, but the conference clarified them and made my pitch super-effective and reflective of what was uniquely appealing about our musical.”
“The NMI Biz Conference represents a tremendous opportunity for pitching, learning, and networking for any writer hoping to advance a new musical. It forced me to distill my two hour musical into a 4 minute pitch, which was initially terrifying but ultimately extremely useful. The conference price is a bargain for the wealth of information provided, and the organizers and panelists are all at the top of their game.”
“The New Musicals, Inc Biz conference was the most valuable two days I spent all year for the promotion and development of our musical. It was well worth the time spent and the price of admission. I came away with contacts, valuable insights and feedback, and charged up with positive emotions.”
THE PITCH WEEKEND INSTRUCTORS
On Friday evening, participants will be treated to a keynote address by NMI Executive Director and Lyric Lab Creator Scott Guy.
On Saturday, each team will get the chance to practice their pitch twice - and receive feedback and guidance from Scott and NMI’s Artistic Director Elise Dewsberry.
Sunday will consist of two feedback sessions where teams will get to work directly with our industry professional guests Michael Alden, Brian Graden, and Rebecca Lowrey.
By the end of this intensive weekend, all participating teams will be ready to enter into Pitch Week where they will get the chance to pitch directly to panels of multiple industry guests. Scroll further down to see the list of possible guests for Pitch Week.
ELISE DEWSBERRY
Artistic Director of New Musicals Inc., Elise has been involved in the development of new works for over forty years: as an actor/singer, as a director, as a dramaturge, and as a writer. While living in Toronto, Elise served as the Assistant Artistic Director of the Muskoka Festival; the Co-Ordinator of the festival’s annual Musical Theatre Writer’s Colony, the Associate Dramaturge of the Canadian Stage Company; the Resident Dramaturge of the Smile Theatre Company; and was the co-founder of Toronto’s Script Lab. Elise joined ANMT as Associate Artistic Director in 2003; joined Founding Artistic Director John Sparks as Co-Artistic Director in 2010; and became Artistic Director of New Musicals Inc. in 2013. Elise is also the author and evaluator of the Book Lab and the Outlining Lab, offered online through www.writingmusicaltheatre.com, and publishes a monthly blog on the craft of musical theatre available at https://nmi.org/elises-video-blog/.
SCOTT GUY
Scott has been actively involved as a writer and producer in both theatre and television. He has six Emmy nominations, and over 100 produced television scripts for Warner Bros., FOX-TV, Disney, Discovery Channel, PBS, etc. Scott is the Executive Director of New Musicals Inc. where he supervises the development of musicals for live and digital platforms. He created the Lyric Lab over fifteen years ago and has supervised the development of hundreds of musicals. He has been Winner/Finalist for the Richard Rodgers Award, Eugene O’Neill Musical Theatre Award, four-time winner for Stages Musical Theatre Festival, and many other accolades. His theatre scripts, including The Fish Whisperer, Just-So Stories, Der Strunkenwhitenlieder, and Rootabaga Stories have had multiple productions throughout the United States. He is also the author of a new series of TEXTBOOKS for WRITING MUSICAL THEATRE.
MICHAEL ALDEN
A native of Southern California, Michael Alden began his career on stage and motion pictures at an early age. As a child actor, he appeared in numerous family shows during the late fifties and early sixties. In 1977 Mr. Alden stepped behind the scenes working in various aspects of production.
In 1984 Mr. Alden joined Cannon Films in their post-production department. Quickly moving up the ranks, in 1986 he was made supervisor of the department, overseeing the creative and technical post-production of over one hundred feature films.
Mr. Alden assumed Vice Presidency at Pathe Communications in 1989, where he headed their public post production facility, Pathe Services. He served as a corporate officer of the newly formed company taking them into profit in their first year. During his term, Mr. Alden was instrumental in locating, analyzing and supervising the rejuvenation of over 1,500 feature film elements that had been stored worldwide which comprised the company’s film library. These feature elements served as the equity foundation for Pathe’s purchase of MGM/UA where Mr. Alden went on to serve as their vice president of post-production.
As a producer, Mr. Alden has been represented in the West End with Come From Away, (Olivier Award for Best Musical), David Seidler’s original play The King’s Speech and Bat Boy The Musical. On Broadway: Come From Away (2017 Tony Nomination & Olivier Winner for Best Musical), Disgraced (Pulitzer Prize – Drama), Grey Gardens, and Bridge & Tunnel (Special Tony Award).
His off Broadway and regional works include; The King’s Speech, Not That Jewish, Becoming Dr. Ruth, Admit One, the Brochu-Schalchlin musical The Last Session, Spalding Gray: Stories Left To Tell, the Los Angeles productions of Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs Fly, and Theresa Rebeck’s Bad Dates.
Alden’s film works include: From The Shadows, Studio One Forever, Estella Scrooge: A Christmas Carol With A Twist, Death Metal, My Beautiful Stutter, Just Cause with Sean Connery, the fashion forward documentary UnZipped for Miramax, Stephen Daldry’s The Hours, the multi-award winning feature comedy Kissing Jessica Stein and Ralph Ziman’s foreign feature film The Zookeeper starring Sam Neill.
His current 2023/24 film production works include the supernatural thriller, 5 Must Die; When Reagan Killed Roosevelt, a film chronicling the community of Roosevelt Long Island from their heydey in the 1950’s to the slow dismantling of a community that gave birth to Public Enemy, Howard Stern, Eddie Murphy, LL Cool Jay and more; and The Griots of Hip Hop!, the never before told story of the rise of MTV Raps and their place in the rap revolution.
BRIAN GRADEN
Brian served for 13 years as the President of Entertainment, MTV Networks Music Channels and President of Logo until December 2010. As President of Entertainment, Mr. Graden lead and provided programming over- sight to all the MTVN music networks including MTV, VH1, MTV2 and CMT. While there, he developed such cultural phenomenon as The Osbourne’s, P Diddy’s Making The Band, Wild and Out, Run’s House, Pimp My Ride, Newlyweds, Punk’d, and Jackass, to name a few. He also developed and green-lit MTV’s musical flagship, Total Request Live, which helped propel countless artists to stardom. Additionally, he oversaw flagship events like the Video Music Awards. He also green-lit MTV’s biggest hits of recent years, Jersey Shore and 16 and Pregnant. MTV remained the #1 destination for viewers ages 12-24 throughout Brian’s entire tenure. He similarly engineered a ratings turnaround at Vh1 with programs like I LOVE THE 80’s and Best Week Ever.
His most recent venture is the production company Brian Graden Media. In 2013, Brian Graden Media received significant attention and their first Emmy win for their innovative series HitRECord, a new take on the variety show produced with and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The show is made collaboratively by a community of hundreds of thousands of artists from all over the world via the web, and it features short films, live performances, cartoons and much more. In nine years, BGM has delivered 20 seasons of television, including: two seasons of Instant Influencer for YouTube Originals, two seasons of Create Together for YouTube Originals, Band Together with Logic for YouTube Originals, four seasons of Escape the Night for YouTube Originals, Temmoraland for Lifetime, The Disappearance of Natalie Holloway for Oxygen, The Todrick Show for MTV, Walk of Shame Shuttle for VH1, Finding Prince Charming for LOGO, Animal Crackers for CW, Gnarkatz for Rated Red/Go-90, Men Of The Strip for E!, Lance loves Michael for E!, Buying the Business for CNBC and Secret Genius for Spotify. BGM has also developed and delivered pilots for over 30 networks including Netflix, NBC, Oxygen, Peacock, Lifetime, History, BET, A&E, Disney Channel, Bravo, and POP TV and many others. In 2020, Brian Graden Media snagged its second Emmy win for Create Together with Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
In 1996, Brian Graden’s first production company was also a success. He commissioned a video Christmas card from two upstart talents Trey Parker and Matt Stone called “The Spirit of Christmas.” The five-minute short quickly became the underground secret vice of Hollywood, and spawned a little series called South Park, which Graden developed and Executive Produced with Parker and Stone. South Park has received Emmy’s in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 for outstanding animated program; a 2007 AFI Award for Program of the Year; 2006 Peabody Award to name just a few. Today, now streaming on HBO Max and celebrating its 25th year, South Park is also one of the biggest financial successes in TV history.
Starting in 1989, Mr. Graden spent his early years in television working at Fox, a new network at the time, rising to SVP of Development and overseeing such venerable franchises as Cops and America’s Most Wanted. He also created the smash syndicated relationship-show hit, STUDS. Mr. Graden has also continued to consult for clients like the NBCUni Cable family and other networks.
Graden’s interest in music dates back to his days performing in his 80’s cover band, Ace Oxygen and The Ozones, during college, which continues to perform today.
Mr. Graden holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. Other awards and honors include an EQCA (Equality California) Award for Commitment to Advancing LGBT Equality, GLAAD Media Vito Russo Award for Excellence in Media, and multiple years on the board of the Hollywood Radio & Television Society. He is also a frequent speaker, most recently keynoting The 4th Cellcom Media Conference in Tel Aviv. He’s also been a keynote speaker at the 2008 Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus Annual Commencement, the Reaching Out MBA conference, and as an ambassador for MTV’s Fight For Your Rights: Take a Stand Against violence campaign, which he spearheaded while at the network.
REBECCA LOWREY
Rebecca Lowrey, Owner and CEO of MusicalWriters.com, is passionate about creating new works and has spent the past 17 years as a premier music director, vocal coach, and accompanist in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, New York City and everywhere in between. The impressive ability to play anything put in front of her has gained her entry to elite casting rooms, production meetings, rehearsals, and beyond, resulting in a unique skillset that spans more than just music — simply put, she knows what works for a musical. A director and producer as well, Rebecca is adept at getting new shows up on their feet in record time, all while efficiently coordinating the long list of to-dos required to prepare a show for an audience
Rebecca is a champion of diverse casting and production teams (#WomenDirect) and has the pull and connections to assemble unforgettable, live, onstage bands. In 2017, Rebecca began producing a series of intimate productions known as the Living Room Concerts. Starting with simple piano-only performances in her living room with friends, the series expanded to poolside parties and festive holiday gatherings. Her recent credits include the critically acclaimed production of the rock musical Lizzie at Imprint Theatreworks in Dallas, a lauded run of Gutenberg! The Musical! at Amphibian Stage in Fort Worth, and a Rocky Horror Show and 9 to 5 that celebrated the uniqueness of its performers.
You may recognize Rebecca from TikTok, where her popular #DuetWithMe videos encourage thousands of performers to #KeepSinging. Rebecca earned her bachelor of arts degree in music (with a minor in business administration) from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas.
Here is a list of some of the industry professionals who have been part of past Pitch Week sessions:
Marleen Alhadeff (Producer, Junkyard Dog Productions)
Margot Astrachan (Owner, Margot Astrachan Production)
Michael Baron (Producing Artistic Director, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma)
Roger Bean (President, Steele Spring Stage Rights)
Jane Bergere (Producer, Jane Bergere Productions)
Victoria Bussert (Director, Music Theatre Program, Baldwin-Wallace University)
Cate Caplin (Director/Choreographer)
Sean Cercone (President, Broadway Licensing)
Kathy Evans (Founding Executive Director, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat)
Allison Fifield (Artistic Programs and Events Manager, Philadelphia Theatre Company)
Marco Gomez (Producer, DOMA Theatre Company)
Brandon Ivie (Associate Artistic Director, Village Theatre)
Michael Jackowitz (Founder/Managing Member, WitzEnd Productions)
Joshua Katzker (PiTCH Coordinator/Artistic Associate, The Rev Theatre Company)
Cody Lassen (Producer, Cody Lassen and Associates)
Roy Lightner (Artistic Consultant, Red Mountain Theatre)
Carolyn D. Miller (Co-Founder, Creative Endeavor Office)
Soren Moller (Creative Director / Producer / Partner at Monday Live)
Joey Monda (Partner, Sing Out Louise Productions)
Kevin Moore (Artistic Director, Human Race Theatre)
Kent Nicholson (Director of Musical Theatre, Playwrights Horizon)
Ann-Carol Pence (Co-Founder/Associate Producer, Aurora Theatre)
James A Rocco (Director, Theatrical Consultant, Writer)
Stuart Ross (Writer/Director/Producer (Forever Plaid, Fun with Dick and Jane))
Michael Rubinoff (Producer)
Blair Russell (Associate, Show Shepherd)
Jen Sandler (Associate Artistic Director, New York Theatre Barn)
Giovanna Sardelli (Director of New Works, TheatreWorks)
Matt Schicker (Founder and President, Show Shepherd)
Christopher Sepulveda (Producer, Apples and Oranges Arts)
Sara Skolnick (VP of Production, Stageworks Productions)
Johnna Tavianini (Associate Professor of Musical Theatre, Ball State University)