Plays by Marin Gazzaniga
THE UNBELIEVING
World Premiere, 59E59, NYC. 2 W, 5 M.
In the classic tale of religious conversion, finding God holds the promise of a life filled with purpose and meaning. But what happens when this transformation occurs in reverse, and a faith you have built your life around begins to fall away? The Unbelieving takes a penetrating look into the lives of practicing clergy members— Catholics, Episcopalians, Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, Jews, Mormons, Muslims—who have stopped believing in God.
Staged by NYC’s acclaimed downtown theater company The Civilians, The Unbelieving tells the intimate stories of these faith leaders. Using their actual words, obtained during a groundbreaking study by philosopher Daniel C. Dennett and qualitative researcher Linda LaScola, as well as additional interviews by Gazzaniga, the play explores the struggles, courage, and great humor of these “unbelievers” as they face the hardest decision of their lives—whether to continue living in secret or to risk everything by telling the truth. Based on interviews conducted for the book Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind by Daniel C. Dennett and Linda LaScola.
NY Times’ Critic’s Pick. Sold-out run.
“smart….without judgment. Not trying to hit its audience over the head with lessons, it is conducive to empathy.”
—NY Times
In Ways Both Frivolous and Deep
1 W, 1 M (& 3W, 2M recorded voices)
Needing a time-out from her life, Millicent sublets the grunge-filled apartment of a roadie named Sparky. His home provides just the escape she needs: an opportunity to clean and snoop. A comedic drama about two strangers who find unexpected common ground and a way to help each other face the unface-able.
Workshops: Primary Stages ESPA Drills reading series at 59 E. 59th St., featuring Jessica Hecht and Walker Hare. Finalist for Ashland New Plays Festival 2016. Semi-finalist O'Neill Playwrights Festival. Selected for Different Festival, Santa Fe Playhouse, 2017.
100 Degrees Celsius
1 W, 2M
Regina, the daughter or a neuroscientist, Alan, has a theory: Science and religion are similar panaceas that offer their believers a set of rules to live by. But on her way to prove it, she learns her father has a life-threatening brain tumor and stumbles into a love affair with one of her subjects, Carlos, a priest. Forced to navigate life-changing decisions, this trio of know-it-alls grapple with whether any beliefs really help you with grey matters.
Workshops: Producer Jamie Kershaw, NYC (with Larry Bryggman, Vivienne Benesch, Joel de la Fuente); LAByrinth Theater Co. Punch the Clock reading series. Semi-finalist O'Neill Playwrights Festival. Finalist, Echo Theatre, Dallas's Big Shout Out contest for Women Playwrights, reading 2016.
Tiffany's Shower
5W, 2M
Tiffany Tyler believed marriage was a patriarchal construct until she met Ron Wright. Now she’s getting married, on her terms. Her commitment is put to the test at her shower when the penis cake is too sweet, the stripper too short and it turns our Mr. Wright is actually a CIA spy.
Workshops: LAByrinth Theater Summer Intensive, LAByrinth Punch the Clock Reading Workshop.
So Close
4 W, 2M
Showcase production at Walkerspace in NYC produced by Rising Phoenix Rep. Directed by Michael Sexton. Featuring John Ellison Conlee, Marin Gazzaniga, Julia Gibson, Perri Gaffney, Cristine McMurdo-Wallis and Daniel Stewart.
"Marin Gazzaniga's deft dissection of domestic abuse transforms the way you view 'issue drama.'" David Cote, Time Out NY
Nina Hellman and Joshua David Robinson in the world premiere of THE UNBELIEVING.
Walker Hare & Jessica Hecht in a reading of In Ways Both Frivolous and Deep.
Writers Guild Award and Emmy - nominated writer for The Young and the Restless.
Showrunner for the 7-part original webseries HOW WE WORK with AJ JACOBS, for Turner Broadcasting. The series provides a whimsical, science-based look at seven aspects of human behavior: Anger, Love, Conspiracy Theories, Site, Napping, Willpower and Posture.
Wrote and co-produced eight single-topic videos for Turner Networks, in collaboration with Gray Miller at Cinegravy. The videos, branded for their health and wellness online entertainment channel "Upwave," promote connection, health and wellness in an upbeat, whimsical, entertaining voice. Titles included: How to Survive a New Year's Hangover; The Non-Fan's Guide to Superbowl Parties; How to Survive Valentine's Day without a Fight; Does Spring Fever Exist?; Natural Cleaning Hacks; 9 Reasons to Call Your Mother (Mother's Day) and Things You Didn't Know You Did While You Sleep.
As Senior Features Editor for HBO, I was the creative editorial lead on digital content for series, films and documentaries. Favorite projects included written and video interviews with show creators, actors and directors, Inside the Episode features and original in-story web series for True Blood, Big Love, Entourage and Hung. My team used all available digital resources to increase fan engagement and drive viewership for HBO Original Programming on HBO.com, HBO GO, and mobile platforms. As technologies evolved, we continued to innovate, creating one of the first interactive viewer experiences on HBO GO for True Blood and a Webby-award winning interactive feature for Boardwalk Empire fans to explore the behind-the-scenes crafts of the shows.
I co-created the original dramatic series Like So Many Things... with Anslem Richardson for IFC.com. The seven-episode series tells the story of a couple’s two-night stand. At the time web videos were primarily "vlogs" or low budget comedy skits, with little to no script and poor production quality. Engaging indie filmmakers, we applied film techniques to the short narrative format and in a 5-day shoot, we shot over 35 pages of scripted content. We licensed the series to IFC; it was their first series to premiere both online and on-air.
As Senior Features Editor for HBO Digital, I was the editorial lead on True Blood for several seasons, making extra content for super fans of HBO's hit show. True Blood's sites and videos drew the highest traffic for any HBO show at the time. Favorite projects:
Inside True Blood, a blog written by the show’s associate producer Gianna Sobol to provide behind-the-scenes news during production.
Baby Vamp, a blog for the fan-favorite character "Jessica," featuring original videos starring Deborah Ann Woll and other cast members.
Fictional microsites that extended the story of the show online such as Vamps-Kill, Fellowship of the Sun (FoS) and American Vampire League (AVL).
Making True Blood, multi-media audio interviews to explore the craft behind the production.
Inside the Episode featurettes with the writers and directors that aired on-demand and on online.
One of the first interactive viewing experiencess on HBO GO with behind the scenes info and commentary for devoted Trubies.
I was a staff writer for the online re-boot of ABC’s classic soap opera, One Life to Live (produced by Prospect Park Networks). During our seven months of production I wrote 15 of 40 episodes in the show’s final Emmy-nominated season, generating up to 140 script pages a week and co-created the bible for an additional unproduced season.
I began my career in journalism at NBC News, moving on to be an assistant editor at Vogue. I've co-authored non-fiction books including Maverick Mind: A Mother's Story of Solving the Mystery of her Unreachable, Unteachable, Silent Son (Putnam). I've written for Fortune.com, MSN.com, Women & Hollywood, and Cafe.com.
Favorite recent articles:
Meet the Women Running ‘Shark Tank’ for pot entrepreneurs
How Bonnie Baskin, biotech entrepreneur, is making kids fall in love with STEM
Get Ready for the Boom in Female Divorce Comedies
Meet the Woman Behind Masters of Sex
How this group of playwrights is fighting sexism on Broadway
After premiering season one of our original webseries on IFC.com, ThisThing Films raised the money from fans through Kickstarter to shoot a second 7-episode season of Like So Many Things. As showrunner for season 2, I oversaw writing, production, and post; wrote and directed two episodes; and edited six episodes.
Like So Many Things...
Season 2: Episode 1
I wrote, co-produced and acted in the independent film So Close (based on my original stage play). Inspired by interviews, So Close tells the story of a violent relationship from multiple viewpoints. The play was named a "Don't Miss Pick" by Time Out NY, and had a sold out run at Walker Space in downtown Manhattan. The film screened at Cinewomen and New Filmmakers in New York and is available on Amazon VOD and iTunes.
