Traveling Moon Productions

09/21/2025

Wow, I haven't posted here in months! I have to admit, I've been devoting time to starting up Plainfield Blue with my cool partners to, broadly speaking, defend Democracy; celebrating the first staged exhibit on Civil War Captain William Hyser with the Plainfield Grand Rogue Historical Society; and working with the terrific new board at Northeast Business Association - nebagr.com to plan major community events like Holly Jolly Holidays 2025.

All very wonderful stuff!

And then I got a notice from a literary journal, "Open: Journal of Arts & Letters" that my feature length screenplay, "Top Notch" has been accepted for publication and promotion on their international website. Here's an excerpt from the notice:

"We have read and carefully considered your work entitled Top Notch, in Theater Arts: Screen Plays, OPEN CALL for Submissions. Your work has drawn praise from its evaluators, and I am sincerely happy to announce the acceptance of Top Notch for publication by (O:JA&L) Open: Journal of Arts & Letters. Your submission seems to us very well-suited to our present editorial purposes."

YAY! This has opened a new way to distribute my work, a welcome alternative to query letters, contests, and pay-for-space screenwriting websites.

Check it out here: https://ojalart.com/theater-artsscreen-writingdeb-havenstop-notch/

I'll be checking out other literary publications that welcome screenplays. I'll post as I find them.

Thanks "OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters," for opening a whole new interesting field to explore.

O:JA&L Theater Arts Screen Writing Deborah Havens Top Notch Logline: A girl who has everything, including a criminal record, pays […]

05/12/2025

Hello, Faithful (I hope) Followers! My Linked In account was hacked and I literally have to start over. All my contacts have been wiped. Would you take a minute to visit my new LinkedIn page and connect? I'm just starting to rebuild. It's been a minute!

I focused my careers in both education and television broadcast. I taught high school language arts in Jacksonville, FL and TV production in Belleville and Southfield Lathrup, as well as at Grand Valley State University. In between, I built a career as an award-winning radio news reporter and TV pro...

05/12/2025

Just received notice that the pilot episode in my series, "The Cause (The 19th)" was upgraded to "Semi-Finalist" status in the New York Big Apple Screenwriting Contest. Already changed the laurels in my cover photo!

05/06/2025

Decided to post now, quibble later. Actually 8 awards (count 'em) but now I feel bad pointing it out!

05/15/2024

My good buddies and esteemed colleagues at Lowing Studios are offering a FREE workshop in partnership with the Film & Media Alliance of WM, where I chair the Board of Directors.

I'm overdue for informing on this page all the activity going on in WM thanks to these orgs. so check it out and sign up for the workshop -- then head on over to the FMA FB page to see what's happening and get involved! Michigan is headed for big changes!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/advanced-gear-workshop-model-23-jib-alexa-35-tickets-891043423867?

Join us for an in-depth workshop on mastering the Model 23 Jib & Alexa 35 - perfect for gear enthusiasts looking to level up their skills!

04/28/2023

I just learned I won Semi-Finalist status for my screenplay "White Glove War!" The screenplay is based on the 1972 battle between right-wing Phyllis Schlafly and Representative Pat Schroeder over the Equal Rights Amendment. In an ironic moment, Senate Republicans recently blocked a joint resolution that would have removed the expired deadline and added the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Only 2 Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, joined every Democrat to vote in favor. Every other Republican Senator voted against it. This story is alive today -- I have to admit to mixed feelings about the success of the tale, but in the case of this award, I'm very pleased!

03/28/2023

Another Proud Mom moment for my son, Brad Havens, indie filmmaker and film lover.

He's shared this story of pioneer Black Filmmaker, Oscar Micheaux, whose career and impact are resurrected in this short profile.

Thanks, Brad Havens I had never heard of Micheaux, which is a sad point of your tribute, but not the most important point. Micheaux was a prolific filmmaker and business man during a time that we tend to think was impossible -- but he did it.

A fascinating success story.

From 1919 - 1948, Oscar Micheaux produced a total of 44 feature length movies, surviving the transition from silent films to talkies, and creating a Legacy i...

03/19/2023

Another article about Grand Rapids production capacity on the Film & Media Alliance WM SubStack!

The Virtual Wall in Grand Rapids -- one of only six worldwide

03/18/2023

The new Film & Media Alliance West Michigan is promoting media production incentives as a great new jobs program to expand opportunities beyond manufacturing in our state. We've lost 40,000 residents since the 2020 census, many of them young, highly educated and skilled tech workers. We think it's time for the legislature to try something new.

03/14/2023

I want to acknowledge the passing of a woman who has inspired me with her leadership many times over the years. She was the first woman to be elected to Congress from Colorado, the first woman to sit on the Armed Services Committee, a leader of the first Women's Caucus. She died today at age 82.

After I read her book, "24 Years of House Work … and the Place Is Still a Mess” (1998) I wrote a screenplay about her fight for the Equal Rights Amendment, how she was a target of right-winger Phyllis Schlafly, and how she refused to give up the fight for women and families when the ERA failed to be ratified in 1982.

She was elected in 1972, when I was in college and had no idea how deep the resistance to women's leadership would be. She served 24 years in the House -- she was funny, smart, and a constant irritant to the “guy gulag” she called her colleagues in the House .

She believed in opening doors. The House went from 14 women (3.2%) when she arrived there to the 125 women currently in the U.S. House of Representatives. American women make up over 50% of the US population, and still only 28.7% of the House. At this rate, there may be a 50-50 split by 2076. I don't think even Pat Schroeder would have made a joke about that.