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Screenwriter, playwright, lyricist and social satirist Eric Zaccar has the distinction of being the first alumni of NYU Tisch's Dramatic Writing program to receive a high level paycheck for his work. Almost immediately after Eric was part of one of the department's first graduating classes, his short musical, The Oedipus Complex, was optioned by Joseph Papp and slated to be directed and choreographed by Tony Award winners Wilford Leach and Graciella Danielle. Though external circumstances prevented the show from seeing the light of a stage, the original version of the piece was donated, by the Papp family and the New York Shakespeare Festival, to the Lincoln Center Library. An animated interpretation of a later recording has developed a cult following and has reputedly been used to teach the story of Oedipus in schools.
Other plays of Eric's, that have been staged in New York include I'll See You in Hell, The Assassination that Saved John's Pizzeria, Housing and what's been called the definitive social satire of the Clinton-Starr-Lewinsky absurdities, Starr's on Broadway. His new musical in development, Topper, will be the stage version of the beloved story that has taken on many incarnations in its near century long history. Much of the musical's inspirations came from the 1937 movie that is still on the American Film Institute's list of 100 all time greatest comedies.
Eric's multi-styled and diverse song lyrics have been put to music, recorded, performed and covered by roughly 25 local musicians, singers and bands. He produced and wrote four of the song lyrics for Empty Skyline, a CD of the most diverse and passionate music created after the World Trade Center attacks. The disk can be found in museums and libraries in New York. Songs from Empty Skyline have been performed at numerous events and memorials through the years and Eric's title piece provides the soundtrack for an award nominated short film.
Eric's first screenplay, The Only Trace, was optioned by an independent producer who ultimately lost his momentum. Eric was hired to adapt the East Indian film, Superstar, into an American screenplay, and to re-write the East Indian script for the film, On the Other Side. His projected feature film, Without Hate, was in early stages of production, with an established creative team, cast and crew, before it too ran into financial and business obstacles. The film, that will dramatize the true headline story of a hate crime that wasn't a hate crime, is slated to resume in the coming months. Eric's other speculative screenplays include Lucifer's Elite, a tale of street gangs in his native Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and Julian's Quest, which is something of a cross between the film, Galaxy Quest and the Showtime series, Dexter.
Like many great comedy writers, satirists and dramatists of our time, Eric proudly hails from an old school Brooklyn neighborhood. He is a long time member of the Writer's Guild of America East.
