LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles New Play Project (LANPP), launched earlier this year, has awarded $20,000 to each of three local playwrights at a reception hosted by the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television (TFT). Grant recipients Carla Ching, Josh Wilder, and Carolyn Ratteray will have their plays produced by three local theatres, each of which will receive an additional $20,000 toward the cost of production.

“This award goes right to the heart of lifting up Los Angeles artists, centering the voices of our local creators and amplifying them on our city’s stages,” said Brian Kite, interim dean of UCLA School of TFT, in a statement.

LANPP was created by director Paula Holt and associate director Nathan Birnbaum to help put a financial floor under riskier theatrical ventures offered in L.A.’ intimate theatres. LANPP received 50 original scripts, along with proposals for their productions, last summer as part of this program’s inaugural year. The selected theatres have 18 months to premiere the plays in a Southland venue. Carla Ching’s Revenge Porn will be produced by Ammunition Theatre Company, Carolyn Ratteray’s Both And (A Play About Laughing While Black) will be produced by Boston Court Pasadena, and Josh Wilder’s The Hands That Could will be produced by Watts Village Theater Company.

“We were pleased to be able to select from such a talented group of writers and producers,” said Holt in a statement. “Very exciting work is being created in our community.”

In addition to the playwriting and production awards, LANPP supports a student intern program at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, which places graduates of the UCLA Department of Theater in positions at the Geffen. The grant, which focuses on strengthening the relationship between the university and the professional theater, was generously matched by the UCLA Chancellor’s office. 

LANPP encourages the production of challenging new work on local small and mid-size stages. The premiere of the play must take place in Los Angeles County and be presented by a small-to-mid-sized theatrical producing entity (under $2 million annual expenses). To be eligible, plays may have been presented as a workshop but must not yet have been fully produced. Playwrights do not need to be Los Angeles-based. The deadline for submissions for next year’s awards is June 15, 2022.