Master Class: Is This My Story To Tell? with John Cameron Mitchell
Master Class: Is This My Story To Tell? with John Cameron Mitchell
2 Sessions: Saturday + Sunday, August 9 + 10
3:00-4:30pm ET
John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell wrote/directed/starred in the rock musical and film Hedwig and the Angry Inch for which he won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, a Special Tony for his performance, an Obie Award, the Best Director award at the 2001 Sundance Festival and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor, along with 25 other awards. He wrote/directed the improv-based film Shortbus (2006); directed the film adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winning play Rabbit Hole (2010) which garnered a Best Actress Oscar nom for Nicole Kidman; and co-wrote and directed the YA punk romance How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017) starring Kidman and Elle Fanning. He executive-produced (with Gus Van Sant) Jonathan Caouette’s Tarnation (2004) which was the most decorated documentary of 2004.
John spills his guts on what he's learned as a multi-hyphenate polymathematical writer (drama, screen and prose), director, performer, songwriter, podcaster, memoirist, producer and DJ in his 42 years of storytelling. He will discuss different forms of approaching narrative writing (autobiographical, adaptations of pre-existing texts, stories based on real-life figures, improv-based development as well as stimulate cross-format creation. Eg, could your novel begin as an audio-based format (like a fictional podcast), could dialogue in a novel or play be improved through improvisation with actors? He'll also get into the challenges of telling a story in a culture that asks, "Is that your story to tell?" When does well-intentioned identity politics come into conflict with an author's informed imagination of characters and settings that they have less personal experience with. He will also encourage input and discussion with participants in the masterclasses.
John’s recent Op-Ed in The New York Times captures the spirit of this class.
This course has 1 full and 2 partial scholarships available. To apply, please fill out this form by Thursday, July 31.
John wrote/directed/starred in the rock musical and film Hedwig and the Angry Inch for which he won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, a Special Tony for his performance, an Obie Award, the Best Director award at the 2001 Sundance Festival and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor, along with 25 other awards. He wrote/directed the improv-based film Shortbus (2006); directed the film adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winning play Rabbit Hole (2010) which garnered a Best Actress Oscar nom for Nicole Kidman; and co-wrote and directed the YA punk romance How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017) starring Kidman and Elle Fanning. He executive-produced (with Gus Van Sant) Jonathan Caouette’s Tarnation (2004) which was the most decorated documentary of 2004. John was in the orginal casts of Tony-winning Big River, The Secret Garden, and Six Degrees of Separation; as well as Hello Again (Drama Desk nom) and Larry Kramer’s The Destiny of Me (Obie Award). TV roles include: Girls, Shrill, The Good Fight, Mozart in the Jungle, Yellowjackets, The Sandman, City on Fire and Joe Exotic in Joe Vs Carole. He wrote and directed two scripted podcast series: the musical Anthem: Homunculus (2019) starring Glenn Close, Cynthia Erivo, Patti Lupone and Laurie Anderson; and the satirical sitcom Cancellation Island (2025) starring Holly Hunter. He received the 2007 Dorothy Hirshon Award for Cinematic Achievement from New School University and the 2019 Excellence in Acting Award from the Provincetown Film Festival. For his work on gay/trans rights he received the New York State Senate Democrats’ 2004 Special Human Rights Award. He is presently working to create a nonprofit artists residency, Temple House, in his new home in New Orleans and is presently developing LSM, a play about anti-Nazi Surrealist artist Claude Cahun and a feature film based on the life of AIDS activist Peter Staley. He regularly tours as a speaker and musical artist, and is working on a memoir entitled Holding My Heart Outside My Body.
