The New School for Drama has announced that award-winning playwright Jon Robin Baitz  will be the distinguished Artist-in-Residence for the 2009-10 academic year. Baitz is a Pulitzer finalist, a Guggenheim and NEA fellow, and winner of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award. A founding member and former artistic director of New York’s Naked Angels theater company, Baitz has written a number of acclaimed plays, including The Film Society, The Substance of Fire, Three Hotels, A Fair Country, Ten Unknowns, Mizlansky/Zilinsky, and The Paris Letter. His new play, Love and Mercy, will be produced next season on Broadway. Baitz’s experience in television includes creating the hit ABC show Brothers & Sisters and serving as executive producer for the first two seasons. He has also written episodes of The West Wing and Alias. His PBS film version of Three Hotels won a Humanitas Award. His other screenplays include The Substance of Fire, based on his play, and People I Know, which starred Al Pacino. Baitz is currently writing and executive producing a mini-series for HBO entitled Bush’s War.

“Jon is such a versatile and accomplished playwright for both film and television,” said Robert LuPone, director of The New School for Drama. “The fact that he has bridged these worlds is wonderful for our students to see. We are very fortunate to have him on hand to mentor our students.”

Baitz is the fourth artist-in-residence at The New School for Drama. This program provides students with the opportunity to work with leading luminaries in the fields of playwriting, directing, and acting. Past artists-in-residence include John Turturro, Doug Hughes, and John Patrick Shanley. “Teaching, for me, is a way of reexamining old definitions of theatricality, and of narrative, of exploring which conventions to defy, and how and why, and sharing with writers who have as much to give as I do,” said Baitz on hearing of his new position. “I am humbled and honored to serve on The New School faculty in the company of playwrights, actors, and directors whose work I have always admired.”

As artist-in-residence, Baitz will teach a year long-course on writing for television and will address the school as a whole in several town hall meetings where he will speak of his playwriting experiences and answer student questions. "We're honored and excited that Robbie will be joining Drama as artist in residence this upcoming academic year,” said Playwriting Chair Pippin Parker. “His incredible talent, devotion to the theater, experience in film and television, and well-known support of fellow writers and artists make him a fantastic teacher and invaluable addition not only to the Playwriting department but the entire school.”

Previous Artists-in-Residence