Michael composed the music for Liberty Smith, which enjoyed a hugely successful premiere run at the famed Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC, in 2011. The Mystery of the Dancing Princesses, for which Michael co-wrote the book, music, and lyrics, received a workshop in New York sponsored by music publishing giant Warner/Chappell Music. The show was subsequently seen at NAMT and workshopped at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.

As an avid writer for the Walt Disney Company, Michael has worked extensively for the Disney Animation Studios, where he co-wrote songs for Disney’s top-selling DVD animated feature Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time. He co-wrote the book, music, and lyrics for the stage musical Twice Charmed: An Original Twist on the Cinderella Story, which premiered on the Disney Cruise Line in May 2005 (soundtrack available on Walt Disney Records). He has also developed musical shows for Disney theme parks around the world.

Film composing credits include Man of the Century (Fine Line Features); Song of the Sea; The Bliss Virus, produced by Rosario Dawson; and Syd Field’s Screenwriting Workshop Video. In addition, you may have heard Michael’s irreverent theme song for Folgers Coffee, “Happy Morning,” which has taken the Internet by storm.

As a television/screenwriter, Michael is currently writing an animated pilot for FOX. He co-created, produced, and composed the score for The Misadventures of Bob Paparazzo, a comedy animated series for VH1 Online and Mobile, and has developed both musical and non-musical motion picture and television projects for Brillstein Entertainment, Storyline Entertainment, Gunn Films, Mad Chance, Disney Channel and Walt Disney Feature Animation.

ADAM ABRAHAM (Lyrics, Book). Born in Philadelphia, Adam Abraham attended the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and the University of York.

As a writer, he developed film and television projects for New Line Cinema, Warner Bros., and Comedy Central. In addition to these creative pursuits, Abraham contributed to The Art of Pixar Short Films, which was published by Chronicle Books; and he is the author of When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA, which was published by Wesleyan University Press in March 2012. He contributed to two DVD releases of “golden age” animation: UPA – The Jolly Frolics Collection (Turner Classic Movies) and The Mr. Magoo Theatrical Collection (Shout Factory).

Abraham has taught at New York University and has lectured at Walt Disney Feature Animation. He lives in England.

MARC MADNICK (Book, Original Story). A Philadelphia native, Marc Madnick graduated from the University of Maryland, with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance, in 1986. He moved to Los Angeles and spent his first few years in Hollywood working as a production accountant on films such as Back to the Future II and III. In 1991, he began to pursue his dream of becoming a screenwriter and began to collaborate with Eric Cohen (see below).

Like many aspiring and professional screenwriters of the time, Madnick found the process of writing a script trying and time-consuming. The problem was not a lack of ideas, but rather the lack of any word processor capable of automatically formatting a script to Hollywood’s stringent standards. This experience led Madnick to co-create Final Draft, a fully dedicated scriptwriting software application that automatically formats scripts to industry standards. Now in its twentieth year and with the eighth version of its software available, Final Draft—the application and the brand—continues to grow in popularity and into new markets throughout the world.

Madnick serves as President and CEO of Final Draft, Inc., which also publishes Script magazine. Now residing in Westlake Village, California, he is a father of two sons and an adventure traveler.

ERIC R. COHEN (Book, Original Story). A native New Yorker, Eric headed out west in 1990 and worked various Hollywood jobs before helping to form the entertainment software company Final Draft, Inc., along with current President and CEO, Marc Madnick. They spent the next fourteen years in a business and creative relationship that resulted in various writing projects for Paramount, New Line, and Universal, including their first collaboration together, a comedy screenplay entitled “Liberty Smith.”

The project has been optioned for every medium but has found its greatest success as a stage musical, through their partnership with the current creative team. Liberty Smith was selected for the National Alliance of Musical Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals and has since gone on to workshop productions at North Shore Music Theatre and the New York Musical Theatre Festival. It has been further developed at Ford’s Theatre in advance of the world premiere there in spring 2011.

In 2004, Eric left Final Draft to pursue another passion, wine, by forming ESC Wine Group, a company that produces, distributes, and imports wine in the US and Asia.

Inquiries concerning professional rights to Liberty Smith should be directed to:

Jack Tantleff
Paradigm
360 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10010
(212) 897-6400