M U S I C A L
21 Baker Road

P L A Y S

O N E - A C T S

P O E T R Y

VOICE-OVER

VIDEO EXCERPTS

P R E S S

R E S U M E

L I N K S

C O N T A C T

H O M E

J I M . R E Y L A N D

RESUME

I am the writer of many poems, seven one acts and a two hundred page musical, "I'll Take the Crowd," with twenty-one songs and fourteen characters; a play that is currently holding up the back corner of my deck. I've studied English at a small liberal arts college in North Carolina; hosted a national radio talk show and for the past seventeen years I have owned a recording studio/production company, Audio Productions on Music Row in Nashville. My writing career began with thirty-second commercials and evolved to longer form network radio shows.

I have written hundreds of programs for top country and pop artist like Garth, Vince, Reba, Hootie and Creed. My wife Debbie and I have two beautiful girls who take after their mother.

My playwrights' portfolio includes the production of my March 1999 play 'Stuff,' called by Kevin Nance of the Nashville Tennessean "Entertaining, fast-paced and emotionally fearless!" A 2000 entry to the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, 'Article IV,' was a requested script but not chosen. In 2001, 'The Back of the Better Side,' the result of working with the homeless and an interest in making the world an equal place, received warm consideration and is currently in development and in search of a home. Sorry. In 2002, 'A Terrible Lie,' the story of Walker Maxwell, a hack fiction writer who discovers a story within a story; a lie within a lie is currently a requested script at the New Harmony Project in Indianapolis and The Berkeley Repertory.

Coming to a theater near you, "Further Than We've Ever Been," currently under construction.

ARTISTIC STATEMENT

I have always strived to explore and to communicate the dents and blemishes of human nature through my plays. In the past I've approached such societal greatest hits as racial and social tolerance; materialism and greed; homelessness and injustice. With my current play "A Terrible Lie" I hope to visit our deep-seated ability to steal the truth. To explore the intricate levels on which we all lie, and the innate talent we have to save ourselves.

My style is humor mixed with pathos punched with cutting dialoged; a style that is character driven and relies on words and clever situations more than gimmicks and frenetic movement. The characterizations are sharp and quick and the story line is strangely familiar but inevitably unpredictable. (That sounds like a critic) With each new work I find it easier to carve with a finer point and a clearer more directed path.

My goal is to use my writing to explore the human heart, to challenge our global spirit, encouraging active thought and ultimately active improvement.