LEON KAYE -- DEAD AT 44!!
GREATEST LIVING PLAYWRIGHT DIES!
Okay, so I'm not dead. Sh-h-h. Most people don't read anyway. They see the big caption and they don't bother with the article. I'm really not dead, maybe a little bored. Maybe a little lazy. But pretty much alive, technically speaking.
But death is a really good thing when it comes to artists. Painters make millions after they die. Sculptures, furniture makers, potters.... ever see Antiques Roadshow? Some of those ornate lamps aren't that great, but they're pulling in five figures. So what happens to my plays now that I'm gone and I can't keep churning out great work after great work. They become far more valuable. That's the plan here. I'm buried now so I'm bound to be writing less often. And earning a whole lot more.
Plus, I don't think you pay taxes after you die.
Leon Kaye commemorative tees and tanks are now on sale for twenty five bucks. An original page of Leon Kaye dialogue now sells for 100. And if you want "The Lost play of Leon Kaye", you're talking some major moolah. And I'm sure where one lost play is sold, many more can be found and sold as well. So there's "The Lost Play I." And then "The Lost Play II," etc.
Even though I am dead, you may make checks out to me, or to cash. Whichever you prefer.
The Kaye Story (unabridged)
Leon started writing in 1992, when by an act of God, a neighborhood computer programmer gave Leon a very old computer. That week, Leon read the minimum cash paid for a full length screenplay in a weekly magazine. Soon Leon was clicking away. (Which is unusual because he wasn't using a typewriter.) That year, Leon wrote three screenplays, got an agent and the agent sent the screenplay "Gefilte Fish Outta Water" to; Reese Witherspoon, Moira Kelley, Alicia Silverstone, and Jennifer Connelly.
Next year, a new agent. And three more scripts. A few years later, a nibble from a small production company (which was treated with a healing salve.) Then a year later, and a prodco was interested in Leon's script, "Murder with Grace." The producer had planned for a five million dollar budget to make the film, and Leon scrambled to get a bigger agent.
A month later, the deal fell through. Another prodco was interested in his script, "Starchild". Another in "Aliens Across the Lake". A director was attached to "Plain as Jane". Leon placed highly in contests. Lots of positive feedback, but never a payday! Then Leon watched "The Piano Lesson" on PBS. Why not write a play?, Leon thought.
So here he is. Fifteen screenplays and five full length plays under his belt. His plays are getting published and produced. A t-shirt was made for one of his plays! Now all that's left is a fan club.
RECENT PRODUCTIONS --
MURDER WITH GRACE Feb 26 2014 at SOUTHERN UNION COMM. COLLEGE ( 6 shows)
Leon's One Act - THE SHAKESPEARE-CIST availabe at Playscripts!
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 Read Leon's Monolog from his unfinished play, "Backwater" | Young Women's Monologs From Contemporary Plays: Professional Auditions For Aspiring Actresses by: Gerald Lee Ratliff |
