The Name Of The Game Is Collaboration
The Name Of The Game Is Collaboration
Nora and I write our interactive murder mystery plays 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.
Nora and I wrack our brains to make the crime scenes challenging and give the audience those delightfully nagging questions that need to be answered. I love to write murder mysteries with Nora. She is a wonderful writing partner. She always sees
something I missed and adds a fresh perspective. The power of collaboration makes results far exceed expectations.
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 play back in New York City and had them produced in little theaters Off 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 L.A. 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.
That wasn’t working out too well for me but I happened to stumble upon what was for me a brand new concept: Collaboration! I had somehow managed to get Alphy Hoffman to be my manager and he had set me up with the Pat Bigley agency for acting work but things were slow getting starte and I was restless. I casually handed a rough draft of a play I had written to Alphy.
He called me a couple of days later and suggested we re-write the script and make a presentation to Garry Marshall who he knew from Happy Days. This was very exciting news but he had used the word, “We.” This was a brand new concept for me and was extremely painstaking. I re-worked the script with the suggestions in mind and then Alphy and I brought in Scott Jacoby, who was an Emmy award winning actor and Phil Pelletier who
was a terrific accomplished composer. Alphy wanted to produce the script as a pilot and have Scott Jacoby star in the lead role. I couldn’t give up the part. I had written it as a vehicle for me. Scott graciously agreed to direct. Amazing. Scott was a joy to work with. All of us had many creative arguments along the way which I have learned is standard operating procedure on many studio sets but everyone was fighting for the same thing: To turn out the best possible product. Alphy Hoffman deserves a lot of credit for assembling a cohesive team that had great chemistry. I am amazed that he was able to attract so much talent considering the budget we had to work with!
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. Alphy recently told me on Sharpo.am radio that he thought our pilot was a stepping stone for all of us. For me it was the best education on how 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 murder 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!
Eric Howell Sharp is a proud member of the Mystery Writers of America, the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, & the American Society Of Composers, Authors and Publishers and the Society of American Magicians.
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