Announcing our 2023 Mentor and Final Call for Submissions
NEWS RELEASE
Contact: O’Bayley Communications – Bob Bogard 760-464-0182 • bob@obayley.net
PS•YPF – David Youse 310-428-3368 • david@davidyouse.com
Phinneas Kiyomura, PS•YPF 2023 Mentor
Palm Springs, CA – March 1, 2023: The Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival (PSYPF), which promotes and encourages theatrical creative writing to all elementary, middle, and high school students within Riverside County, announced that playwright, screenwriter, and actor Phinneas Kiyomura will serve as the festival’s 2023 mentor.
As mentor, Kiyomura will provide professional guidance to the winning student playwrights and coach them through the entire process of finalizing their plays for the staged reading that will be held in Palm Springs later this year.
“We are honored that Phinneas, who is a highly respected in his field, has agreed to mentor this year’s winning playwrights,” said David Youse, Executive Director of the Festival. ”
Submissions for the 2023 festival will be accepted through March 31. When the submission window closes, a selection committee will review all submissions and choose the most outstanding plays. Each winner will receive a mentorship to enhance their play, a free public staged reading by professional actors, and a $500 scholarship to help further their career in the arts. Winning plays will be announced in April. The 5th Annual Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival will be held in June of 2023 at The Palm Springs Cultural Center.
Additionally, the festival announced that philanthropist and business leader Harold Matzner has become the festival’s Premier Sponsor for 2023.
Harold Matzner,
PS•YPF Premier Sponsor
“Phinneas is extremely passionate about the impact that theatre can have on youth and his insights and guidance of the student playwrights will be invaluable. We are especially grateful that Harold Matzner has committed to supporting our growing festival. His support will be invaluable.”
About Phinneas Kiyomura
Phinneas Kiyomura is a playwright, screenwriter, actor and former skate punk from Long Beach, CA. His plays (LYDIA IN BED, PHRAZZLED, SUPPER, NIMROD) have been produced at Theatre of NOTE, Padua Playwrights, Sacred Fools, and Bespoke Plays. He is a FIND Screenwriters Lab Fellow, an ABC Disney Writers Lab Alum, and has written for television (ABC, Freeform) and streaming (Amazon, Netflix). Variety has called him an “impressively original voice.” His graphic novel, “442” -- based on the real exploits of the 442nd RCT (the all-Japanese American fighting force that helped liberate Europe during the Second World War) -- is available now.
Recently PSYPF partnered with The Riverside County Office of Education to expand its outreach to young playwrights to include not just the Coachella Valley but all of Riverside County. PSYPF is supported by Louisa Higgins, Visual and Performing Arts Administrator for The Riverside County Office of Education.
PSYPF is funded by Harold Matzner, The Western Wind Foundation with Jeremy Hobbs, Gus Van Sant, Tom Valach, Jason Smith, Chuck Yates, Deborah Harmon, Mel and Dorothy Lefkowitz, Paul Reid and Thomas Hartnett, and David Williams and Tim Holmes. PSYPF is a nonprofit organization. To lend support or review the mission statement, visit www.psypf.org.
About PSYPF
The Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival promotes and encourages creative writing- in the theatrical form - open to all students in the elementary, middle, and high school level within Riverside County, California. The Festival provides a scholarship to further education in the arts, mentorship, and a public reading to young playwrights of chosen plays. More information is available at psypf.org.