Last fall, Darren and his co-writer, Judy Rodman, had a developmental workshop of their musical Runaway Home featuring an all star cast - Abigail Breslin, Melissa Gilbert, and Michael Park to name a few. Currently, the show will enjoy its world premiere at The Gulf Coast Rep in early 2025.

In 2022, Darren was a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill production award for his writing on the new musical, Out of the Blue. The play had an industry reading in New York City last summer for potential producers. Two of the monologues from Runaway Home were published in Young Women’s Monologues from Contemporary Plays #2 edited by Gerald Ratliff. Recently, his short screenplays of Teddy and The Last Mile were finalists in the Big Shoulder Film Festival in Chicago. His writing for television and film won at the Virgin Cinefest, Rome Independent Prisma Awards, and the Festigious Los Angeles Festival.

As an author, Butler has written four books in the Abbie, Girl Spy series - The Case of the Missing Locket, The Ducks and Diamonds Mystery, The Secret of Crybaby Hollow, and The Masterpiece. Additionally, he published a children’s fantasy novel entitled Merlin’s Curse and Helen Keller - Leader Without Sight or Sound for Seacoast Publishing. His professional book Countdown to Assessment trained teachers how to prepare students for the Alabama Direct Assessment on Writing for 5th, 7th, and 10th grade students. His literacy research led to the release of RIP & Write - Integrating Reading Comprehension.

For twenty years, Darren served as the Artistic Director and acting teacher for The Backstage Theatre Company. The organization produced an average of six shows a year under his direction. The professional side of the organization spent seven years touring educational theatre into schools across the South. In the studio, Darren taught hundreds of students, many who went on to work in professional theatre and film or pursue a teaching career in high schools or the university level.

Working as an educational consultant, Darren helped Alabama schools raise their scores on the Alabama Direct Assessment on Writing and the ARMT. Schools under his guidance went from  8 - 42% to 90 - 100%. Butler founded Virtual Village Classroom and created Weekly Writer,  an online curriculum resource for teachers based on his field research in training teachers how to teach writing. For four years, he served as the CEO of Creative Development.

He holds an MFA from Point Park University in Writing for the Screen and Stage. 

Her students and recording clients have appeared on The Today Show, Letterman, Ellen DeGeneres, The Voice, American Idol, America's Got Talent, Grammys, CMA, ACM & MTV Awards Shows, Rolling Stone Magazine, New York Times & NYT Best Seller list. They include major and indie recording artists and labels, artist development companies, touring and studio background singers, national public speakers, authors, radio & TV personnel, teachers and voiceover talent. Artists who have trained with Judy include Radney Foster, Mat Kearney, and Kacey Musgraves.

Career credits include ACM New Female Vocalist, chart-topping singles on MTM Records, BMI’s ‘Million-air Award’, ‘Best Vocal Coach” by Nashville Music Pros, and song placements in movies and series ‘The Expanse’. She has been a top session singer in Memphis and Nashville with credits on decades of legendary hits. She is currently vocal producer for the cast of a new Disney animated series set to air in 2024.

Member of SAG-AFTRA, BMI. AFM Local 257, ACM, NATS, Judy is based in Nashville, Tennessee. www.JudyRodman.com.