Perry T. Schwartz
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Perry T. Schwartz is the Producing Director of Ol' Black Bear
Productions. He has been producing and directing theatre and film in
the metropolitan Washington, DC area since 1971. He has directed over
100 theatre productions at the college and professional levels.
Professionally, he has been the artistic director for two theatre
companies, Playwrights' Co-op and the Washington Theatre Wing. In the
late 70's he directed "The Square Root of Soul" starring the late and
great Adolph Caesar. This production ran in New York and Washington and
then later toured nationally. In 1989 the film and video company Ol'
Black Bear Productions was formed. Mr. Schwartz directed and produced
"Soap Opera," a video adaptation of a play, which won a Rosebud Award
in 1992 as Best Feature and the concert video, "Shizumi Dance Theatre"
and "The Boarding Party." He has written, produced and directed two
short films,"Leo and Mars" and "Call Crystal. He is presenting working
on a third short film, "Snake. In 2005, "Rats," an adaptation of the
short play by Israel Horovitz was completed and is now available on DVD
with two other short play adaptations, "Soap Opera," by Ralph Pape; and
"Our Little Trip," by Lawrence Ferlingetthi. "Rats" won a TIVA Peer
Award for Best Experimental Short Film in 2007. He has adapted and
directed several evenings of short stories for reader's theatre. Neil
Gaiman, Alison Baker, Richard Bausch and Robert Day are some of the
short story authors whose works have been produced in these readers
theatre productions. He has written the recently published "Enjoying
Theatre Arts" a text on film and theatre appreciation. His readers'
theatre scripts are available through Ol' Black Bear Productions at
olblackbearproductions. Mr. Schwartz holds an MFA from Ohio University in
theatre and filmmaking and an MA from the University of Kansas in
theatre. He is the chairman of Communication and Performing Arts at
Montgomery College in Takoma Park, MD. He is also the coordinator of
the American Film Institute's Professional Training Division Workshops
held at Montgomery College. Mr. Schwartz also teaches film at the
college and a professional moviemaking workshop for AFI.