SAG Script to Screen Team presents Clayton Film Script

Screenwriter Shares Script with Houston Audience

Houston (July 22, 2009) - The Houston Script to Screen Team presents another LIVE film script reading event with Kevin A. Mahoney’s Clayton. The general public is invited to join actors, writers, producers, directors, and film aficionados at 7 p.m. Monday, July 27, at Stages Repertory Theater, 3201 Allen Parkway, Houston, Texas. Admission is free.

Clayton is the story of Eli, a young boy forced to live with relatives he has never known in 1952. Over one summer he must come to terms with his tragic loss, gain the acceptance of a new family and survive the eccentricities of a rural Oklahoma town.

An ever-growing independent film market has enticed WGA writers and professional performers to create a new avenue in presenting their ideas to area investors, directors and producers. The Houston Script to Screen Team, in cooperation with the Screen Actors Guild, regularly presents script readings before live audiences, leading to renewed interest in scripts as well as local collaboration.

"Writers and performers benefit from exploring the life of a project. Our live reads give the investor, producer and director a fresh look at a project and a performer's potential,“ said Robert Nelson, SAG National Board member in Houston. "Our Script to Screen performances help bring more of the creative community together. With over 100 Writers Guild of America members in Texas and the recent increase in the Moving Image Industry Incentive Program, it’s important to stay in touch.”

Clayton screenwriter Kevin A. Mahoney received his M.F.A. from Indiana University, and has worked for CBS Entertainment, Columbia Pictures and film producer Scott Rudin. After twenty years in Los Angeles, Mahoney returned to his hometown of Norman, Oklahoma, to serve as the interim executive director of the Sooner Theatre and to teach screenwriting at the University of Oklahoma. He currently serves as the coordinator of the Film, Video and Theatre Programs at the University of New Mexico—Taos.  His play, Sorority Queen in a Mobile Home, written with Michael J. DiGaetano, is scheduled to make its off-Broadway debut at the historic SoHo Playhouse in August.

For more information on the Script to Screen program and its Texas film industry connection, contact Trish Avery, Screen Actors Guild Houston Branch assistant executive director at (972) 361-8185 or tavery@sag.org.

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About SAG
Screen Actors Guild is the nation’s largest labor union representing working actors. Established in 1933, SAG has a rich history in the American labor movement, from standing up to studios to break long-term engagement contracts in the 1940s to fighting for artists’ rights amid the digital revolution sweeping the entertainment industry in the 21st century. With 20 branches nationwide, SAG represents nearly 120,000 actors who work in film and digital television programs, motion pictures, commercials, video games, music videos, industrials and all new media formats. The Guild exists to enhance actors’ working conditions, compensation and benefits and to be a powerful, unified voice on behalf of artists’ rights. SAG is a proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO. Headquartered in Los Angeles, you can visit SAG online at www.sag.org.

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