LINDA
& DAVID LAUNDRA
Multi-Camera Live on Tape: Soaps Instructors
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Shortly after they met at Eastern Michigan University, Linda and David Laundra began working together. That meeting was over thirty-five years ago (they celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary in June 2004) and the work continues. They completed their first film production 'Jean' based on a chapter from Mark Twain's autobiography. Linda adapted and directed the fifteen-minute short film and David produced and played the role of Twain's biographer.
In 1975 they founded The Writers Theatre, a company dedicated to writers and the development of new works for the stage. Initially Linda was the Artistic Director and David was the Producing Director. When Linda moved into television, David became the Artistic Director. The Writers Theatre produced nearly forty new plays and assisted in the development of hundreds more.
Linda adapted and directed two award-winning productions for the Company: 'The Gospel According to Mark Twain', which played in
New York at the Manhattan Theatre Club and in Scotland at the Edinburgh Festival, and 'My Own Stranger' based on the writings of Anne Sexton. It played Off Broadway at the Provincetown Playhouse winning the Downtown Villager Award, then toured the country. Linda was also given the Torch of Hope Award for her contribution to emerging theatre artists.
Linda and David also teamed together with The Theatre Guild for seven ‘Theatre at Sea’ cruises. They managed every aspect of production for theatre cruises to the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Alaska. This unique program offered stage productions with celebrities like Helen Hayes, Patricia Neal, Richard Kiley, Lynn Redgrave, Colleen Dewhurst, Milo O'Shea, Ann Jackson and
Eli Wallach, to name a few.
They also worked with the Phoenix Theatre Company, Brooklyn Academy of Music and several regional theatres. Linda was a theatrical agent for three years, a casting director and stage manager.
In addition to dozens of productions on stage, David has acted in
commercials and industrials, appeared on all the New York based soaps, and a variety of films and prime time TV. His voice-over work ranges from ADR sessions on 'Homicide' and 'The Jury' to documentaries and books on tape
David has always blended the technical with the artistic. He served as Technical Director, handling lighting and camera for 26 half-hour episodes of 'The New York Theatre Review' on PBS. He teaches TV production at the New York Institute of Technology and his photographs have appeared in all the New York newspapers.
Linda spent twelve years in daytime television as a producer and
director. She began on CBS's 'The Guiding Light' then moved to NBC's 'Another World'. Most recently she was with ABC's 'All My Children'. She has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy as a director and as a producer. Her directing has also been seen on NBC's 'Homicide'. She was selected by Disney Productions to observe on their sit coms in 1997 and 1998.
David continues to do ADR (voice over) work on NBC's "30 Rock". He played the ghost in Hamlet, recorded Poe's "The Raven" and other poetry in Second Life, an on line virtual world. He also continues to do photo shoots and machinima films in Second Life for ABN Amro, MTV, the Mexican Tourist Board and more.
In Feb. of 2007 Linda was Second Unit Director on the Levinson Fontana pilot M. O. N. Y. directed by Spike Lee. She just served two years on the Directors Council at the DGA and was elected to attend the National Conference in LA last June.
David did Hamlet's ghost in Second Life. It was their first attempt at doing theatre in this virtual world. Bizarre, huh?
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