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Vic Sage Aug 02 2005 03:41 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Aug 07 2006 05:23 PM

]Dramatists Guild Makes Staff Changes {vic sage} steps in as acting Executive Director after Christopher C. Wilson departs; search begins to find permanent replacement After serving as the Executive Director for the Dramatist Guild of America for the last nine years, Christopher C. Wilson has left the Guild to pursue new opportunities. The change was made effective after the expiration of Mr. Wilson’s contract, in a decision mutually arrived at by the Guild’s governing council. {Vic Sage}, the Associate Director and Director of Business Affairs of the Guild since 1997, has been named acting Executive Director. The Guild Council is delighted to have someone with Mr. {Sage's} skill, experience, and commitment to run the organization while a search for a permanent Executive Director takes place. Rebecca Frank will join Mr. {Sage} in August, 2005, as the Director of Business Affairs. Ms. Frank previously worked as the Guild’s legal intern in 2003, and has recently graduated from New York Law School. Before coming to the Dramatists Guild in 1997, {Vic Sage} worked as the Director of Business Affairs for the Broadway producers of BIG The Musical, Bill Irwin & David Shiner’s Fool Moon and Julia Sweeney’s God Said, HA! Earlier in his career, he worked for Sony Pictures, Cinema 5 Films, and New Line Cinema in motion picture marketing, distribution and finance. He has a B.A. from The State University of New York at Stony Brook, a J.D. from the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law and has been a member of the BMI/Lehman Engle Librettists Workshop since 1999. Rebecca A. Frank, the new Director of Business Affairs for The Dramatists Guild, received her Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Media Law & Policy Journal and was awarded the Media Center Award for Excellence in Media Law. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Management from Columbia University and her Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors from Mount Holyoke College. She worked in theatre management for several years prior to attending law school. Christopher C. Wilson was the Executive Director of the Dramatists Guild from 1998 through May 30, 2005 (Director Of Business Affairs—1996; Associate Director—1997). Prior to joining the Guild, Mr. Wilson practiced in the Business Reorganization Department at Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Mr. Wilson received a B.A. from Duke University and a J.D. from the University of Toledo. The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. is the professional association of playwrights, librettists, lyricists and composers writing for the stage. With over 6,000 members around the world, the Guild is guided by an elected Council of writers that gives its time and support for the benefit of dramatists everywhere and, since the Guild’s inception in 1912, has worked to advance their rights. The Guild’s president is John Weidman, and its other officers are vice-president Marsha Norman, secretary Arthur Kopit and treasurer Jonathan Reynolds. Past presidents have included Robert Sherwood, Moss Hart, Oscar Hammerstein, Alan Jay Lerner, Sidney Kingsley, Frank Gilroy, Robert Anderson, Steven Sondheim, and Peter Stone. The Guild’s membership over the years has also included such distinguished dramatists as George Bernard Shaw, Noel Coward, Eugene O’Neil, Tennessee Williams, Richard Rodgers and Arthur Miller.

Edgy DC Aug 02 2005 03:44 PM

Wow, great! Now you have to tuck in your shirt and all. But the upside must be great.

metirish Aug 02 2005 03:46 PM

Is that you?, if so congratulations, if it's not you then congrats anyway.

Edgy DC Aug 02 2005 03:51 PM

Rebecca Frank:

Vic Sage Aug 03 2005 04:28 PM

i should be so lucky as to have THAT Rebecca Frank around the office...

Edgy DC Aug 03 2005 04:34 PM

Well, I've been hitting them recently. She was in theater, so...

Johnny Dickshot Aug 03 2005 05:03 PM

]Christopher C. Wilson has left the Guild to pursue new opportunities. The change was made effective after the expiration of Mr. Wilson’s contract, in a decision mutually arrived at by the Guild’s governing council. My internal Bizspeak-to-English Dictionary defines this passage as: "Wilson was unceremoniously shitcanned the other day, and not a moment too soon." Congrats on the new position!

KC Aug 03 2005 05:20 PM

Congrats Ralph.

Vic Sage Aug 04 2005 10:37 AM

]My internal Bizspeak-to-English Dictionary defines this passage as: "Wilson was unceremoniously shitcanned the other day, and not a moment too soon." insight, my boy... you've got wonderful insight. But there some things that severance agreements prohibit you from saying, or at least from putting in print. It was basically a macchiavellian power play on my part, which is not like me at all. So, i felt bad about it, actually... for about a minute. Then i realized the organization was better off, and i both earned it and deserved it. So fuck it. Here's to me. And thanks to all for the congrats.

Edgy DC Aug 04 2005 10:46 AM

seawolf17 Aug 04 2005 10:49 AM

I vote for the first Rebecca Frank.

Edgy DC Aug 04 2005 10:50 AM

Apparently wasn't on Vic's interview list.

Iubitul Aug 04 2005 01:06 PM

Ralph - Congrats!

Vic Sage Aug 04 2005 03:47 PM

Edgy, you found her!

Edgy DC Aug 04 2005 04:11 PM

Squinty.

TheOldMole Aug 05 2005 10:18 AM

I vote Vic for permanent replacement.

Edgy DC Aug 05 2005 10:56 AM

I applaud the guild. I applaud them for supporting the writers' and publishing houses who crack down on the wildcat theaters who perform their plays unlincensed, and cry that art and free speech is being suppressed by the tyranny of license fees. I also applaud the guild for supporting the authors and publishing houses (and estates) who say, "No, you can't do Fifth of July with a giant robot in the role of Ken. I don't care if it's a statement on AIDS or the war in Iraq. No, it doesn't make me a fascist." You're not going to lead them away from that, are you?

cooby Aug 05 2005 12:24 PM

Vic, she looks very happy to be working with you!

Vic Sage Aug 05 2005 03:44 PM

]You're not going to lead them away from that, are you? if i did, the organization would have absolutely no purpose whatsoever. The Guild is based on the premise that writers should own what they write and control what they own. Without that, we might as well lock the place up and go on home.

Edgy DC Aug 05 2005 04:09 PM

Well, good. Let me tell you --- out in the field, a lot of companies think mighty differently. You guys are not treated as the good guys.

TheOldMole Aug 06 2005 01:55 PM

What Edgy said, all the way.

ScarletKnight41 Aug 06 2005 03:06 PM

Mazel Tov Ralph! The entire Diamond Knight family is thrilled for you!

Vic Sage Oct 14 2005 04:18 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Aug 07 2006 05:26 PM

Well, they finally made it official. Which is why i haven't been around here much. Too freakin' busy. They actually expect me to work now. Be careful what ye wish for...

Vic Sage Oct 14 2005 04:26 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Aug 07 2006 05:26 PM

The following is an editorial appearing in the November issue of THE DRAMATIST MAGAZAINE. ]FROM THE DESK OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR It was 1972, and my mother was the Ethel Merman of the Brighton Beach “Y.” In anticipation of an extended career in community theater musicals, Mom made me take piano lessons, so I could eventually function as her rehearsal pianist. This worked out fine when she was cast as the lead in Annie Get Your Gun and all I had to play were Irving Berlin songs – nice, simple melodies, in the key of C, played in 4/4 time. But when she was cast the following season as Sally in Follies, I threw up my chubby fingers in frustration, after trying to play Mr. Sondheim’s songs, each invariably containing key signatures with seven sharps or six flats. “He writes between the notes,” Mom would proclaim, with deep admiration. After that, I stuck to painting sets, pulling curtains, and playing first base for my Little League team. Flash forward 25 years … It’s 1997, and I am the in-house counsel for a Broadway producer who has managed to pull off the estimable accomplishment of bombing on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and on tour in Germany with three different shows during the course of a single theatrical season. So, with a baby on the way, I had to find a new job. That is when I had the great good fortune to become the Director of Business Affairs for The Dramatists Guild of America. Working at the Guild was a revelation to me. Never having been entirely comfortable representing producers, I found myself on the other side of the table for the first time, advising writers and composers about how to best defend themselves and their works. As a result, my stomach pain subsided for the first time in years and I began to sleep well. It is important, I learned, to know what side of the table you belong on. And for me, helping an artist fight for the realization of their vision was a profoundly rewarding way to spend my day. Flash forward another eight years … It’s June 2005, and the Council of the Guild, searching for fresh leadership, has named me executive director. I thereafter begin restructuring the staff, revising and expanding programs and services, and planning for the future. But rather than go into the details today about your new Dramatists Guild, I’d simply like to take a moment in this, the Thanksgiving issue, to give thanks for the opportunity to fight this good fight in your company. And rest assured that, for as long as I have the chance, I will pursue your interests with passion and tenacity. In the coming issues, I’ll be discussing the range of activities we’re engaging in on your behalf, and I hope you’ll come along with us and help spread the word about what it means to be a member of The Dramatists Guild of America. Very truly yours, {Vic Sage}, Esq.

ScarletKnight41 Oct 14 2005 04:55 PM

Mazel Tov Ralph, from the entire Diamond Knight clan!

Rockin' Doc Oct 14 2005 05:59 PM

Great going Vic. Try not to work too hard.

SwitchHitter Oct 14 2005 08:15 PM

They'll be glad to have you running the show.

seawolf17 Oct 15 2005 08:23 AM

Very nice! Congrats!

Edgy DC Oct 15 2005 09:23 AM

]The Council of The Dramatists Guild of America concluded a 4-month search... C'mon. How far did they search? Did you write this release? Anyways, congratulations. Be unmerciful.

soupcan Oct 15 2005 10:03 AM

Nice job Mr. Sevush. Can you do anthing about getting that godawful Chitty-Citty Bang-Bang production off the stage?

Johnny Dickshot Oct 15 2005 10:04 AM

The Ethyl Merman of Brighton Beach gives birth to the Donald Fehr of Broadway. Give 'em hell!

silverdsl Oct 16 2005 07:44 PM

Congrats! :)

KC Oct 17 2005 01:00 PM

I need to open this forum more often - congrats Mr. Radd.

Vic Sage Oct 17 2005 01:19 PM

]C'mon. How far did they search? Did you write this release? They didn't search very far, and yes i did write the release. And CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG is doing poorly enough that it won't need my help to get gone pretty soon. and a question... is "Ethyl Merman" a belt of booze or a belter of tunes?

Edgy DC Oct 17 2005 01:37 PM

Ooh, that Ms. Page sure seemed like an uncomfortable correspondent.

Centerfield Oct 25 2005 11:35 AM

Awesome Ralph. Sorry I missed this before. First Perlozzo, now Ralph...interim labels being shed left and right...