Amplifying the voices of the next generation of writers, artists, activists and global citizens.
OPC TACO TUESDAY WRITE NIGHTS 2025
with Kim Maxwell
March 11 | April 15 | May 20 | June 17 | 5:30 - 9 PM | 226 W OJAI AVE #102
We’re inviting high school students to come eat tacos and write with us! Taco Tuesday Write Nights are OPC's monthly hangout for high school students in Ojai that includes workshops and Q+A’s with OPC professional artists. Drop in for one or come to all four. It's Pay What You Can. Only 10 spots for each date and first-come-first-serve, so claim your spot!
Express yourself.
Learn from professional artists.
Write what you want!
For more information and to RSVP, email Kim Maxwell at [email protected].
The 28th Annual Ojai Playwrights Conference & New Works Festival will take place July 21-August 3, 2025. Check this page for Youth Workshop applications.
Part 1: Summer Workshop & Performance (July 21 - July 30)
OPC’s Youth Workshop leads high school students (from incoming freshman to recently graduated seniors) through a process of writing, developing, and presenting their own dramatic works under the tutelage of veteran writing and acting coach Kim Maxwell and writer, director, performer Lily Brown. Participants are also mentored by OPC playwrights, actors, directors, and dramaturges who guide the students through writing and acting exercises, lead inspiring Q&As, and offer dramaturgical/editorial support on their work. This process culminates when the young writer-performers take the stage with their raw and uncensored material during a special performance event.
Part 2: OPC New Works Festival (July 31- August 3)
Each Youth Workshop participant receives a highly coveted OPC Company Pass, allowing them to attend all OPC New Works Festival readings and special events!
The 2025 OPC Youth workshop in partnership with Kim Maxwell Studio brings together students from the four corners of Ventura County in an in-person collaboration aimed at broadening horizons and building artistry, confidence, and community.
2025 Youth Workshop applications open soon. Check back here for next year’s application. For additional information please contact Kim Maxwell at [email protected].
Tuition: $1,000 | Scholarships are available
KIM MAXWELL, PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Kim Maxwell is the Founder/Artistic Director of The Townies, Inc. She is a producer, director, writer, mother, teacher, wife, Founder/Principal at Kim Maxwell Studio, and Creator/Producer of The Townies Podcast. She is Co-Founder of the Ojai Playwrights Conference, serving as Board Member and Director of its Youth Program for over 20 years. Kim is also Co-Founder and served as Co-Artistic Director of Theater 150 for 11 years. Kim’s transformative style of teaching has inspired absolute beginners and professional actors alike. With her compassionate guidance, students undertake the fulfilling and transformative process of discovering, developing, and performing their own stories. From preteens to senior citizens, Kim’s students, over a thousand in number, have gathered in living rooms, theaters, and detention centers throughout Los Angeles and Ventura Counties to share their stories and have their voices heard. Kim received a Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award from the City of Ojai in 2013 and was named the 2018 Visionary of the Year by the National Association of Women Business Owners.
LILY BROWN, PROGRAM CO-DIRECTOR
A theater rat from rural California, Lily Brown is a Director, Writer, and Meisner-trained Actor whose first narrative short film, Dead Serious, premiered at the Oscar-qualifying New Hampshire Film Festival in 2023. She is in development on multiple projects to direct: short film What To Do When You’re Caught in the Middle of a Wildfire by Noah Lashly, an original short film Stealth (Finalist, Ojai Film Society Young Filmmakers Grant; Quarterfinalist, Filmmatic’s Short Screenplay Awards for Drama), and an original sitcom pilot The Marine Layer (Semifinalist, Screencraft’s Virtual Pitch Contest). In addition to film, she has directed new works, readings, and solo performances at theaters throughout Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. She co-produced a downhome-style storytelling podcast, The Townies Podcast, where selections of these live works can be heard. Lily also serves on the reading committee of the Ojai Playwrights Conference and is the Co-Director of its Youth Workshop. A true collaborator, Lily values long-term creative partnerships and cultivates community with every project. Her work is personal, comedic, and political and centers female and queer characters from small towns.
