Why I started Act Write Here

Raised in a rehearsal room, I worked nearly every seat in the house: first as a child actor, then as a producer, now as a founder, and always as a fan. I got my first full-time acting job at age of nine with over 300 performances at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre before I turned twelve. That’s where I learned early that good art takes practice, notes are part of the process, and somebody eventually has to make the schedule.

So then, I did what many working actors do… added slashes. Actor became screenwriter, playwright, director, editor, producer, and now entrepreneur.

While I had never taken a business course when I started this, I did know how to bring a story to life. Given 24 hours at the Techstars Startup Weekend Pitch Competition to create a company, I turned to my creative community and asked 40 working creatives what our craft needed most. Writers needed to hear their words performed. Actors needed room to practice and build their range. Both needed opportunities to collaborate, not another profile page waiting to be discovered. This solution became the winning idea.

Act Write Here is a virtual playhouse that connects actors with writers for table reads. It’s the single, universal platform to workshop ideas, develop new scripts, and build your creative network. For the first time, you can host and perform in a table read without having to share your screen, juggle everyone’s schedules, or figure out how to fit 30 characters across a handful of actors.

This is what I wanted to use when I wrote a script, when I wanted to expand my performance repertoire, and so did others. When I realized nothing like this existed, I decided to build it.

Welcome to Act Write Here.

P.S. I was even a contestant with my mom on Let’s Make a Deal (which did not become my big break) but did confirm that I will commit to the bit.