Nora and I write our interactive murder mystery scripts together.  Sometimes I write an outline and she fleshes out the story and sometimes it is the other way around.  We bounce ideas off of each other throughout the writing process:  We try to not get too bogged down in the details because we also collaborate with the audience at our murder mystery parties.  The interactions of the participants in the mystery are a huge part of the event.  By the way, we trust our cast to improvise their dialog.  We are often thrilled at the innovation and clever contributions made by our talented team.

I wasn’t always open to the idea of writing with a partner.  I came to Hollywood in 1992.  I had already written three stage plays and my first murder mystery plays back in New York City and had them produced in little theatres Off Broadway.   I was very stubborn back then and thought that everything I scribbled on a cocktail napkin was art and shouldn’t be changed one iota.  When I came to LA I hit the brick wall of show-biz. The doors of the studios were firmly closed and it would take lots of muscle to break in as a writer or actor.  Breaking in to show biz sounded very violent to me so I decided to sneak in, quietly instead.

What we turned out was a fun, entertaining, low budget half hour sit-com pilot that had terrific production values  and a great score.  We didn’t sell the show to the networks but we made many connections and everyone involved in the effort went on to bigger and better things.  For me it was the best education on how things get done in Hollywood. Collaboration is the name of the game.  

Right now, Nora and I are working with Janice Fischer.  She wrote the fantastic vampire movie, ‘The Lost Boys’ for Warner Brothers.  We have given her one of our scripts to re-write and adapt for an upcoming   mystery party in Hollywood.  It took many years for me to let go and Share and learn that teamwork is the essential factor in producing great entertainment productions.   I can’t wait to see what twists and turns Janice brings to the murder mystery.  Maybe you will join us there and create the show with us!