SEPTEMBER casting

I’m so excited to share the principal cast for SEPTEMBER: Frankie J. Álvarez and Gustavo Márquez! I couldn’t have asked for better on-screen collaborators and can’t wait to work with them!

Frankie J. Álvarez is a bilingual actor from Miami, best known as Agustín on the hit HBO show LOOKING (Imágen Award nom, Best Supporting Actor). He recently starred opposite Danny Glover in THE DRUMMER, and on stage in the critically acclaimed WET BRAIN at Playwrights Horizons (co-producer of the Tony-winning queer musical A STRANGE LOOP). Frankie recurred on SMASH and BLINDSPOT, and has guest-starred on LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, FANTASY ISLAND, NEW AMSTERDAM, THE GOOD WIFE, and many others. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he received the Raúl Julia Scholarship for Excellence in Drama.Frankie (he/him) is a bilingual actor from Miami, best known as Agustín on the hit HBO show LOOKING (Imágen Award nom, Best Supporting Actor). He recently starred opposite Danny Glover in THE DRUMMER, and on stage in the critically acclaimed WET BRAIN at Playwrights Horizons. Frankie recurred on SMASH and BLINDSPOT, and has guest-starred on LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, FANTASY ISLAND, NEW AMSTERDAM, THE GOOD WIFE, and many others. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he received the Raúl Julia Scholarship for Excellence in Drama.

Gustavo Márquez is a recent graduate of the Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program. A first generation Mexican-American, he draws from his varied life experiences—from caring for his mother as she transitioned after a battle with cancer, to working as a janitor in Antarctica—in pursuit of telling stories that reflect his experience. Screen credits include AND JUST LIKE THAT..., CHICAGO P.D., and BLUE BLOODS, as well as roles at professional theatre companies such as Denver Center Theatre Company and Cleveland Play House.

Production team + dates set for SEPTEMBER

Pre-production for September is in full swing, as evidenced by the Amazon boxes and random props piling up on the floor of my apartment. We’ll shoot October 9th-11th, in Central Park and locations on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

AND, I have a dream team working behind the cameras with me to help make it all happen! Check the list below, and/or visit the New Language Productions website (and scroll down to TEAM) to see their bios and beautiful faces!

Producer - Nat Majette
Director of Photography - Easton Carter Angle
Production Designer - Elizabeth May
Costume Designer - Candida K. Nichols
Hair & Make-up - Agnes Lin

Season 2 of the Aspiring Playwrights Program!

The first season of the Playwrights Realm’s Aspiring Playwrights Program (Content Producer: moi) was full of insight, advice, and real talk. And we’re back for another season!

The AP program an ever-growing, online library of FREE written and video content aimed at those in the early stages of their writing careers (regardless of age), without access or inroads to professional peers or industry leaders. You can see all of the content—73 pieces so far!—HERE

I even contribute a piece myself occasionally, and my latest is a look at the “Who’s-Who-and-What-They-Do” of non-profit theatre companies. ENJOY!

Kudos from WeScreenplay!

While the results of the WeScreenplay Short Script Lab competition won’t be announced until August 15th, I was really pleased by the high praise my short “September” received from WeScreenplay’s coverage staff. The final paragraph of the feedback document reads:

“In conclusion, the script demonstrates exceptional storytelling prowess through its visual and sensory appeal, skillful use of symbolism, profound emotional depth, and the establishment of a poignant and reflective mood. By combining these elements cohesively, the script succeeds in capturing the hearts and minds of its audience, offering an introspective journey that is both emotionally evocative and thematically rich.”

The project is in pre-production, and will shoot in the fall.

About “September”:

Over the course of a decade, a man in a little rented rowboat on Central Park Lake considers what he's let go, and what he should have held onto, in the wake of the AIDS epidemic. Adapted from award-winning author and poet Jennifer Michael Hecht’s poem.

I've Put the "I" in IMDb

My work as Script Coordinator with Film Independent’s Project Involve means I’ve been officially added to IMDb! …Well, “Corey Atkins (II)” has—a pro football player with the same name, who also haunts my Google alerts, beat me to it.

I look forward to growing my list of credits, and getting that STARmeter up from 535,038 :-)