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Engine28.com, a "pop-up" newsroom covering
theater news and events in Los Angeles, went live
in June 2011.

About the Institute

The NEA Institute in Theater and Musical Theater is an 11-day intensive fellowship for writers, editors, broadcast and online producers from the 50 states and Puerto Rico. Based in Los Angeles, the Fellowship provides a total immersion experience that includes attending as many as ten performances or rehearsals. Participants meet theater professionals ranging from directors and administrators of L.A.’s primary theater companies to critics of national stature, who engage them individually for writing instruction and exercises. Professional sessions addressing changes in the media industry are offered and special attention is paid to multimedia skills and storytelling. Staff journalists and freelancers who work in print, radio, TV or online media are welcome to apply. View the Frequently Asked Questions for more information about applying to this program.

Important details

Institute dates: June 13-22, 2011
How to apply : We are no longer accepting applications for 2011. Email neainst@usc.edu to request to be added to our mailing list for future updates.
Individuals living or working outside of the United States are NOT eligible to apply. Click here for all eligibility requirements.
Location: USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, downtown Los Angeles.
Cost: Most costs are covered by the Institute, including travel to and from L.A., hotel, Internet at the hotel, transportation within the city and most meals.
Click here to learn more about the Institute.

Festivals & Conferences in L.A. coinciding with 2011 NEA Institute

2011 TCG National Conference
From June 16–18, in Los Angeles, the 2011 TCG National Conference will kick off a year–long celebration of TCG's 50th anniversary. This historic convening will provide the theatre community with a unique opportunity to explore what the field has achieved, the challenges we face in this moment and where we hope theatre will be in 50 years. How might we paint a vision for the future of our field, and what will it take to turn that vision into reality?

The Hollywood Fringe Festival
An eleven-day invasion uniting hundreds of performers and producers of over 175 exhibitions of dance, theater, comedy, cabaret, music, visual art, circus, and other entertainment. Over 30 venues, including a number of Hollywood’s premiere theaters and clubs as well as unorthodox spaces like parks and churches, will play host throughout the festival.

RADAR L.A. Festival
From June 14–26, an international festival of contemporary theater, influential theater ensembles from Chile, Mexico, Japan and Australia are among the companies to be featured alongside Los Angeles artists at REDCAT. REDCAT serves as one of several venues for the groundbreaking festival, which will feature more than 15 productions that are fueling the dialogue about the evolution of contemporary theater.

3rd National Asian American Theater Conference & Festival
Over 10 days, the Festival will present approximately 16 productions by Asian American companies and individual artists across the country, in conjunction with the Third National Asian American Theater Conference, June 16-26, 2011. This much-anticipated event, titled New Directions, expects to lay the groundwork for the next five years for the Asian Pacific American (APA) performing arts as a national movement toward a richer and more multicultural America.

Comments from past fellows and their editors

"I couldn't have asked for a better mix of the sweepingly theoretical and the palpably concrete. One day would see furious discussion over the ways that technology has impacted the journalistic landscape, the next would offer fresh ideas for approaching, and advocating for, the arts in my community."
~ Glen Weldon, Washington City Paper and npr.org, D.C.

“I use things I learned through the Institute every day.”
~ Sharon Eberson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pa.

“Amazing, inspiring and career-changing.”
~ Bridgette Redman, Lansing State Journal, Mich.

"The Institute helped me make crucial connections with other writers and editors. It surely opened my mind about the myriad ways to cover the arts, and I’ve definitely made the jump from ink on paper to blog, voice and video.”
~ Wendy Rosenfield, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pa.

Other related events

A National Summit on Arts Journalism
The NEA was a major sponsor of the first-ever virtual National Summit on Arts Journalism held at USC Annenberg in October 2009. A partnership of the four NEA Arts Journalism Institutes and the National Arts Journalism Program, the summit explored new ideas for arts coverage and journalism business models in front of a live and virtual audience of nearly 20,000 people.

Flyover: Art in the American Outback
Inspired by their NEA Theater Institute experience in 2007, four fellows launched "Flyover: Art in the American Outback" on ArtsJournal.com. The blogsite focuses on the "flyover" states and the distinctive issues facing the nation's theater critics and artists outside major cities.

Institute leadership

Sasha Anawalt, Director
Douglas McLennan, Associate Director (digital media)
Jeff Weinstein, Associate Director (editorial)
Arianna Sikorski, Program Coordinator

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