Rik Deskin/Green Theatre Productions

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: Hello: : I posted this yesterday locally in Seattle at tpsonline.org to try to enlist aid to my situation, this is my first national posting. If anyone has suggestions or business advice, I am open to suggestions, and if anyone can help, that would be great(continued after original post): : Hello Everyone: : I wanted to update all my fellow colleagues and those of you that may not know me on the events that have led to now. I will try to make this brief, but I hope it gives you a little insight about me. Some of this might get non-linear, so please forgive. : I will preface this with the fact that I began comic-book collecting in 1976. I began my adventures in Theatre & Indie Film in 1982 while in High School in Houston, TX. Immediately after graduation in 1984 I went into Basic Training for the Air Force (I wanted to train in Broadcasting, but they gave me my second choice of Security Police), that led to a 2-year assignment in The Netherlands which in my spare time, I spent experimenting with Super 8 film & photography as well as script-writing & drawing. My next assignment was in Rome, NY. There I ended my 3-year hiatus from theatre & began working with The Rome Community Theater while at the same time forming my first Theatre Troop: The Griffiss Players. That was 1987. In 1988 I was Honorably discharged and went back to Houston, immediately re-establishing connections with fellow theatre artists and working in community theatre. I also began training in Comedy Improvisation at The Comedy Workshop & performed in my first "Professional" gig there in 1989. In the years between 1989-1994 I had the opportunity to Act, Direct, Produce, Design Scenery and began taking Theatre Classes at the local Community College & then at the University of Houston. I also began working as a touring actor/teacher with the Children's Theatre Of Houston. I began working with a playwright by the name of Rosemary Poole-Carter and helped her to stage new works and am committed to producing her work. In 1993 I met Kim Little, an actress recently separated from her mean husband and supporting two children on her own: Thomas & Lorrie, ages 4 & 2. We began dating & then in 1994 wed on the stage where she had frequently performed on. We then moved here to the Seattle area, residing on the Eastside in Kirkland. I began working locally with Theatre in the Wild, Burien Little Theatre, Camlann Medieval Faire, Debut Theatre, Windowlight Productions, toured locally & in Minneapolis, Virginia & California in 1996 for Small Change Original Theatre and Theater Schmeater Twilight Zones in 1996/1997. During this period, Kim & I had two more sons: Richard & William, bringing our tally of children to four. In the Fall of 1997 I began the BFA in Acting Program at Cornish College of the Arts. To back up a little I had worked on some low budget horror films in Houston from 1992-1994 and while here got extra gigs on Northern Exposure, Pandora's Clock, Prefontaine, The Highway. : While at Cornish I had the opportunity to study video production as my Arts Electives (I have always been interested in film-making). The year before attending Cornish, I had been hired at a Comic-Book store called Rain City Collectibles in Woodinville. It was owned by a very nice guy by the name of Jim Beattie. While at Cornish I became a Vegan (I had been a vegetarian since 1991). In 2000 I had a Performance Art assignment which led to me forming Green Theatre Productions. In 2001 I co-produced with Liziah Woods Between Life & Death, which was our Senior Project. I also in 1999 began to have representation by a very sharp, proactive young lady named Liza Maslow at TCM Models & Talent. So while at Cornish, I also had the opportunity to work on some student films and began working as a summer intern for 911 Media at the Seattle Arts Academy (Now I have been a full-fledged teacher for the last 3 years). Now we cut to 2001 where I found myself immediately stage-managing, running spot and co-producing at my oldest son's Junior High School after working with BlackBird Theatre Company, Bellevue Civic Theatre & Book-It Repertory respectively. I began acting again in Stepping Stone Productions' version of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and have not stopped (I am currently touring with Open Door Theatre). Last year was a successful year for me both as Actor and as Artistic Director of Green Theatre Productions. Stepping Stone Productions gave me the opportunity to fill their performance slot with VEGETABLE & DR. JOHN and allowed me to share producing duties with The Poet's Theater (a fine company run by a brilliant young lady named Jamalieh Haley). Note: I still owe the actors & designers that worked for me the other half of their stipends and have still to pay 3 of them anything. This puts my company in the red for $1800 which I fully intend to pay to them before Green Theatre produces any other shows. I I wrapped up my prime-time performances(temporarily) with LITTLE WOMEN on November 24. Okay get ready, here is the sad part. : On November 30, Jim Beattie, age 39, married with two daughters age 16 & 12, the Owner of Rain City Collectibles, a great friend and supporter of my artistic endeavors, died in a car accident. December 1, I went from a 15-hour a week survival job at a comic-book store to 40+ hours a week managing the shop. Now in my plans for the future, I had entertained the notion of eventually running the shop and buying it from Jim. But not in these circumstances. So now we are here today, Jim's wife wants to sell the shop, preferably to me. I want to buy it, it is my intention to continue running it, because I know Jim would have wanted that, plus I have a clientele that has become a community in the 10 years that Rain City has been open, but as you might imagine, as a struggling actor/family man, I don't have any investment capital other than a huge comic-book collection of my own. I don't expect that any of you would have investment money either. And in our current economic climate, what with the problems facing ACT, 911 Media and even my own company Green Theatre, it will be difficult, but I do not believe impossible.That said, if anyone can forward this to someone that may be interested in investing in a comic-book store, please do. I have not fully exhausted all possibilities for finding financing, but I wanted to throw out this info in the hopes that someone may have some ideas for me, or may want to be part of an investment team. Or perhaps a shareholder. I am open to ideas. Some ideas that I had brought to Jim's attention before his death were expanding what we carry to include scripts, plays, theatre & film books. We currently carry comic-books(new & back issues), trade paperbacks, a few books, plays & How to Draw books, Trading Card Games (Magic, Lord of the Rings, etc.) sports trading cards & collectibles, Action Figures, T-Shirts, Collectible Miniature Games such as HeroClix & more. In the six years that I have worked at Rain City, I always found wallspace to promote plays that I was working on, and even plays that I was not attached to. I am a firm believer in promotion. My clientele includes theatre artists, film-makers, SeaHawks, Hockey players, Medical practitioners, engineers, game designers, writers, illustrators and kids of all ages. Starting right now I will give a 10% discount to all TPS Members anytime they show their membership cards. If there is something you want that I don't carry, I will try to get it for you. : On another note, as I put on my Green Theatre hat, I am looking for a development director/grant writer to help me build Green Theatre Productions.This will be a commission position since I can't pay anybody yet. I am in the final stages of putting a board together and planning a benefit. I am close to a deadline that I have given myself to raise enough money to produce our next shows. Green Theatre Productions is a professional theatre company with the mission of raising awareness of environmental & social issues by producing original, new , contemporary & classic plays. I have decided that I will not produce until I have sufficient funding to pay the artists that work with me and to cover the budget. I am interested in eventually offering Equity & IATSE contracts as one of the long-term goals for Green Theatre. Again, if anyone has ideas, suggestions, venues, volunteer time--let me know. Please feel free to e-mail me at raincityco@attbi.com or greentheatre@attbi.com or call me at home: (425)821-6873 or at Rain City: (425)488-0869. : Thank you for taking the time to read this. : (Continued from Intro) My primary concern is that someone will buy the shop before I am able to raise enough investors to do it myself. I am worried about my survival gig and my two employees as well as my clientele. I strongly feel that I am best qualified to operate this comic shop & it is a natural extension of the work I do in theatre & film. And since I know their are like-minded /skilled people at View Askew, someone may have an alternative for me or may be able to offer some help. I appreciate your time . : Sincerely, : Rik Deskin : Artistic Director : Green Theatre Productions : http://home.attbi.com/~greentheatre/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html : Rik is repped by TCM Models & Talent : http://www.tcmmodels.com/ : See Rik in these indie films: : http://www.crossfilms.com/films/spicy.html : http://www.crossfilms.com/films/ellipsis.html : http://www.crossfilms.com/films/behindthecrime.html : http://www.talkspot.com/forevermine.htm : Theatre Puget Sound : http://tpsonline.org/index.shtml : Read WHAT REMAINS by R. Poole-Carter : www.toppub.com : Read MOSSY CAPE by R. Poole-Carter : www.ieclark.com : For Comic Books, Sports Cards, Gaming Cards & more go to : RAIN CITY COLLECTIBLES located at : 13320 N.E. 175th in Woodinville, WA 98072 : Rik Deskin : Manager : raincityco@attbi.com : (425)488-0869

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