Mommy’s Mask Feedback Winner!

laundomatBooks-lrThank you to everyone that provided feedback on Mommy’s Mask at the 2014 Hamilton Fringe Festival.  We collected the names of the people that provided feedback on our web page, sent email, sent facebook messages, scribbled notes or rambled drunkenly.  We put the names in a hat and randomly selected a winner.

Congratulations to Jo Anne Stoddart!  She will receive a copy of Laund-o-mat at the End of the World and Other Fringe Favourites by Peter Gruner.

If you’re disappointed that you didn’t win a copy of this book, have no fear.  You can buy a copy!  You can either purchase a copy from Renurg Productions here or you can purchase a copy from Amazon.com.

Again, thank you to every one that provided feedback and also to everyone that came out to see our show.

 

 

We Open in a Week!

MM-poster-02-lrMommy’s Mask opens on July 18, 2014!  After months of preparation, the day is finally arriving.  Just a couple more rehearsals and then we perform in front of an audience.

As the writer and director, I find myself feeling more nervous than I usually do when I perform on stage. I’m not worried about my team.  The actors are all wonderful.  And the crew is top notch and reliable.  But I still have a nagging feeling of unease…

Will an audience like this play?

It is a darker play than most of the other ones that I’ve written and had performed, but it does touch on a lot of the same themes of my other works.  Even though it won the Playwriting Contest, I don’t know how it will “play” in front of an audience.

Part of me can rationalize that however it goes over with an audience, it will be a learning experience.  If an audience hates it, I will have learned something, right?  So it wouldn’t be a failure.  But let’s face it, it would feel like a failure.

“Failure” is part of the process.  Not everything we try will be successful, but we have to keep trying if we want to improve our skills.  If we want to get better at our art, we will “fall” down occasionally.  We just have to remember to get up after we fall down.  And learn from what it was that knocked us down in the first place.

I get it.  I understand it.  I accept it.

But, man, I hope it succeeds…

However, an audience’s reaction is out of my control.  What is in my control is focusing on making the show as good as I can make it.  I can also control how I react to negative feedback, if we get that.  Hopefully, I will have the grace to be positive if if/when there’s comments I don’t agree with.  I can also make notes on what I need to do to improve the play so that it can get better.  It is a work in progress.

So, when the butterflies come into the belly or the anxieties start to fester, I have to take a deep breath and focus on what I can control.  It’s hard.  But it beats freaking out over things that you can’t do anything about.

Second Project Comes First

MM-card-03-lrRenurg Productions’ first project is the production of Mommy’s Mask for the 2014 Hamilton Fringe that takes place in the second half of July. However, our second project is a collection of one-act plays by Peter Gruner and should be available just before the Fringe starts. Sometimes second comes in first…

The Collection of plays is called “Laund-o-Mat at the End of the World and Other Fringe Favourites”. The three plays in the collection are:

Laund-O-Mat at the End of the World

  • Brian is convinced that it is the last night of the world.  There won’t be a tomorrow; but he’s got nothing better to do, so he’s doing his laundry.  Carmella, on the other hand, believes nothing of the sort.  It’s Friday night.  Laundry night.  Over soap and sarcasm, two strangers grapple over the relevance of love and family, God and miracles, coincidence and fate, spelling and the end of the world.
  • Part of the Freshwater Pearls series at the Pearl Company
  • Best in Venue (HTI) at the 2009 Hamilton Fringe Festival
  • Part of Theatre Aquarius’ Best of Fringe 2009 (Stagewrite Series)
  • Feedback from The Hamilton Spectator: “part morality play, part cautionary tale, part love story…this is a gem.”

Minced

  • Take a cantankerous mother who wants to pass on the secret family recipe to her daughter and a guilt-ridden daughter who wants to mend her relationship with her mother.  Add past hurts and an uncertain future.  Sprinkle in some tears and laughter.  And you get the makings of Minced.
  • Second runner up in the Hamilton Fringe Playwriting Contest
  • Ontario Arts Council supported reading
  • Best of Hamilton Fringe 2011
  • Feedback from The View Magazine: “Peter Gruner has created a lovely little one-act play about a mother and daughter’s peppery relationship… Not to be missed.”

Mommy’s Mask:

  • When your child is abducted, how do you keep up your hope when there are no answers?  What becomes your new normal?  Mommy’s Mask explores the journey of Kathy and Tom as they try to live with their daughter’s disappearance.
  • Winner of the 2014 Hamilton Fringe Playwriting Contest

 

To order, click here!

 

Who Am I?

Who am I? I’m Jean Valjean? Uh, actually, I’m Peter Gruner. I recently started Renurg Productions as an independent content production company. Well, I created it as an independent “television” production company, but who knows where TV is going these days? And there are so many ways to get your “stuff” out there (like youtube, netflix, amazon, etc) that it seems a bit limiting to identify myself as a TV producer.

My dilemma is that I don’t have a lot of experience in the film or TV industry. Zip. Nada. I do watch a lot of TV and film, however…

Although I identify myself as a playwright, I have yet to have a play of mine produced by professional actors at a professional theatre. I do feel that I’m zeroing in on that goal, though. I’ve had one of my plays workshopped by professional actors at a professional theatre (Theatre Aquarius). And I have been a professional playwright since 2009 (i.e. I’ve gotten paid by people to put on my plays).

Originally, I considered making this website appear much more sophisticated and experienced to give the impression that Renurg Productions was a “player” in the field. But this industry is all about relationships and I’m a firm believer in honesty in relationships. I don’t like pretending to be something I’m not.

So, I am a newbie, embarking on this journey. I expect to gain expertise and abilities as my experience grows, I should also be able to leverage skills that I developed while working in IT for twenty years.

This blog will chronicle some of my experiences as I continue to develop as a creative producer of content. Currently, I’m preparing to direct my play Mommy’s Mask for the Hamilton Fringe (July 17-27, 2014). I’m also working on a rewrite of my play Out to the Folks (sorry Luke, I’m still working on it!) and developing my play Torn Coupons as a musical. And I’m developing a TV series tentatively called Almost Righteous. And I’m trying to find ways to get into this business and make some money!

My name is Peter and I’m a content creator.

Why Renurg Productions?

My grandfather was an engineer, but his real passion was movies.  He was an avid home movie film maker.  He put a lot of effort into the films that he made.  All of his movies started with the title:  Renurg Films.

During the holidays, all of us grand children would watch these home movies that our parents and uncles and aunts were in and marvel.  A couple of family favourites were “Hocus Pocus Kalamazoo” and “Genies at Work.”  They were fun little stories made in the late 1930’s or early 1940’s.

When I got old enough to start making home movies of my own, I asked my grandfather if I could call my films “Renurg Films” also.  He looked at me sternly and said, “It had better be a damned good film if you’re going to call it a Renurg Film.”  No pressure.

When it came time to name my production company, Renurg Productions was the only thing I could think of.  I can hear my grandfather saying, “It had better be a damn good production…”

Welcome to Renurg Productions

Welcome to Renurg Productions!

Renurg Productions is an independent television production company that develops scripted comedy series. The first project of Renurg Productions is a thirty minute sitcom created by Peter Gruner. Peter Gruner is an award winning playwright and is a member of both the Playwrights Guild of Canada and the Theatre Aquarius Playwrights Unit.

Other projects that Renurg Productions will develop will be plays written for the Theatre. Current plays that are in various stages of development are Mommy’s Mask, Out to the Folks, and Torn Coupons. Mommy’s Mask will be produced for the 2014 Hamilton Fringe Festival in July. Out to the Folks had a professional workshop at Theatre Aquarius in January 2014 and the next draft is currently being worked on. Torn Coupons is being developed as a musical with composer Steve McRae.

Renurg Productions came about through the Independent Television Producer (ITP) program which is part of Ontario Self-Employed Benefit (OSEB) program. The SEB program helps people start their own businesses while providing them with some support during the first few months of business.

Renurg Productions is currently a sole proprietorship with Peter Gruner as the owner.

Renurg Productions’ long term objectives are to continue to develop scripted content and branch into drama and genre (science fiction and fantasy) shows. Renurg Productions also plans to expand from a home based location to an office space, incorporate and have a full time support staff when projects that are being developed and/or produced warrant the additional growth over the next 3 to 5 years.

Future blog posts will be devoted to giving updates on the status of projects that are being developed by Renurg Productions and passing along information related to the business or aspects of running a business.  If you are interested in finding out more about Peter Gruner, please check out his blog at petergruner.com.