Jim Gambone and Bob Beverage
Co-Presenters: “Navigating a Successful Writer/Producer Collaboration”
Producer Jim Gambone and playwright Bob Beverage never worked together until they collaborated on the recent historical presentation, The Life and Loves of Sinclair Lewis. The two-year project, commissioned by the Sinclair Lewis Foundation and funded by the Minnesota Historical Society through an Arts and Cultural Heritage Grant, is scheduled to be streamed on the Sinclair Lewis Foundation website by mid-September.
Jim Gambone
Jim has been an award-winning multi-media (including live theater) writer, producer and director for 30 years. He has written seven books, the most recent of which is Ride the Wild Pony and Other Stories From 57 Steuben Street, chronicling his early years living in a Pittsburgh tenement. One of his housemates was his Polish grandmother, notorious as Pittsburgh’s first woman moonshiner and numbers bookie. Jim is a part-time Graduate Professor of Public Health at Capella University, guiding young doctoral students through a variety of evidence-based projects. He teaches courses ranging from Epidemiology to emerging issues in Public Health and Health Care Policy. Jim loves golf, Border Collies and painting with Alcohol Inks.
Bob Beverage
Bob Beverage has written or co-written numerous scripts for the stage and television. His work, frequently featuring historical subjects, has been produced around the country. One play, Sisters of Swing, (co-written with Beth Gilleland), has been translated into Dutch and German, receiving multiple productions in Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands. Bob has also written and/or produced segments for the Discovery Channel, Knowledge TV and Twin Cities Public Television, including award-winning segments for Newton’s Apple. Bob is also a member of Actor’s Equity and has performed at many theaters, including the Guthrie Theatre, The Ordway, Children’s Theatre Company, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.
Bob and Jim agree that, at some point, writers who want to see their work on screen or stage must work with the most powerful individual in those industries—the Producer. The relationship between writer and producer is historically fraught with challenges—many minor and a few major. For the past two years, producer Jim Gambone and writer Bob Beverage have been collaborating on the ground-breaking historical presentation, The Live and Loves of Sinclair Lewis. Originally conceived as a stage production, the duo had to switch gears when the Covid-19 pandemic changed our world.
In their interactive workshop, Jim and Bob will share their ongoing adventure to create this new, multi-media work about the life of “Red” Lewis. They will share the individual roles they played, the creative challenges they faced, how they dealt with a significant change from a stage production to a film, and how they’ve managed to build a positive working relationship without ever having worked together before. Participants will leave the session with recommendations on “best practices” for writers who want to have their work produced as a film or a play.