Outfest has announced the 2013 Screenwriting Lab Fellows, with 5 individuals selected for the 11th year of
the program: Adam Baran, Rosie Haber, J. Michael Feldman, Pete Mercurio and Julia Dwyer Sullivan.
“The fellows selected for the 2013 Outfest Screenwriting Lab have written fresh, exciting LGBT stories that depict the complexity and beauty of LGBT lives,” said Executive Director Kirsten Schaffer, in a statement. “The lab mentoring process has helped dozens of writers hone their craft and I am very proud of the three films that premiered at film festivals this year originally developed through the Outfest Screenwriting Lab.”
Since 1997, over 2000 scripts have been submitted to the Outfest Screenwriting Lab with a record number of over 170 submitted this year alone. To be held in June, the workshop will include “sessions with other industry professionals, structured career development opportunities and participation in ongoing festival events.” Recent scripts mentored through previous Screenwriting Labs include Yen Tan’s “Pit Stop” (Sundance 2013) and George Northy’s “G.B.F.” (Tribeca 2013).
J. Michael Feldman
We are particularly excited to learn that one of this year’s recipients is out Jewish writer and actor, Michael Feldman. Feldman grew up on the mean streets of Brooklyn, which were only ‘mean’ because he was a nerdy Jew with gastrointestinal issues. He is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he created and performed numerous solo pieces, including Diagnosis: Jew Pain, about growing up gay in a conservative Jewish family. The show went on to tour fringe festivals in New York and San Francisco and garner multiple Audience Favorite awards.
Feldman’s screenplay Be Well was selected for the Outfest Lab and is described as:
The story of Josh Birnbaum, a hopelessly idealistic romantic who faces an unexpected breakup as his 30th birthday approaches. Now, after 6 years of being in a codependent relationship, he’s thrust back into the unforgiving gay dating scene in New York City. Alone and stuck in a painfully uncreative job as the writer of summaries of early-reader children’s books, Josh goes on a journey of self-discovery and humiliation (mostly humiliation), as he attempts to find out if an authentic connection is possible in a world dominated by pumping techno and meaningless online hookups.
We asked Michael a couple of questions about his writing, the Outfest fellowship, and his personal role models:
1. One of your first major successes was a solo piece called “Diagnosis: Jew Pain” about growing up gay in a conservative Jewish family. Was this based on personal experience?
Yes, very much so. It was so personal that I actually didn’t tell my parents about it for awhile. I was in the closet when I first created it and kept it a secret from my family. After a successful run at NYU, and with encouragement from some of the faculty there, I applied to several theatre festivals across the country, including the NYC International Fringe Festival. I got in, and several NY-based publications started interviewing me about it. Not wanting my parents to find out by accidentally coming across one of these articles, I came out to them.
2. We’ve also come across a biography in which you are described as “[growing up] on the mean streets of Brooklyn, which were only ‘mean’ because [you were] a nerdy Jew with gastrointestinal issues.” Do those terms still apply when describing yourself?
Pretty much! I’ve been a practicing Buddhist for the past 6 years, but culturally speaking I’m still very much Jewish. And regardless of religious faith, I still suffer from nerdness and gastrointestinal issues.
3. How have these experiences growing up contributed to your writing in your new screenplay, “Be Well” which will be part of the 2013 Outfest Screenwriting Lab?
Well, much like Jew Pain, “Be Well” is based a lot on actual experiences. But while Jew Pain was about my childhood and coming to terms with my sexuality, Be Well is more about my experience in the NYC gay scene, and how utterly ridiculous and humiliating that scene tends to be. (Yes, I’ve entered a hairy ass contest once… and I wasn’t even drunk enough to use that as an excuse).
4. What do you hope to gain from the program?
I would love to hear all the feedback I can possibly get from the mentors, seeing as how this is a script that’s been floating around in the lonely confines of my brain for the past several years. I want to take the script to the next level and having outside eyes on it is invaluable.
5. Who are your artistic role models? Why?
Seeing Lily Tomlin in Search For Signs of Intelligent Life In the Universe on Broadway was one of the experiences that made me realize I want to be a writer and performer. All of John Leguizamo’s one-man shows as well. His work reminded me how deeply moving comedy can be and taught me a valuable lesson: the more you make people laugh, the more they listen.
Also Woody Allen, George Carlin, and more recently, Louie CK. I find their work so honest and inspiring.
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