The Afternoon Report, January 28, 2009

This information, called The Afternoon Report, is provided by a daily email blast from the publicity firm of Boneau Bryan-Brown, which maintains this blog. This feature doesn't run daily but whenever The Afternoon Report seems to point out articles of interest.


Theatre Producers Strategize To Ensure Their Shows Go On
NY1 – BY MONICA BROWN
“Behind every good theater show is a producer who was willing to shell out the money. “Producers raise money, they find the property, they staff the property, they get the people who are going to direct and choreograph, they get the set designers, the light designers, they rent the theater,” says playwright and attorney Cheryl Davis. But that job is getting tougher to do these days. Grant money from the state has been slashed, and while wealthy donors continue to fund the arts in general, some say such contribution amounts are decreasing. “We need to change our model to some extent. We can’t depend on funding the way we used to,” says Bob Ost of Theater Resources Unlimited, a non-profit group that focuses on the business side of the arts. Recently, TRU hosted and all-day workshop in Greenwich Village to teach producers how to ask for money in a climate of cutbacks and belt-tightening. “Theatre people are not just creative, they’re also business people,” says Davis, “and it’s developing their skills as business people that will enable them to have a career in this industry, and not just be a one-off.” Both commercial and non-profit theater groups of all sizes rely heavily on investors and donors to get shows off the ground. Larger groups can make money through sales, while smaller groups often struggle. But across the board, if the start-up money is not there, producers say there could be some major changes to the way New York shows are produced.”
Great clip, but couldn't some Broadway producers have been spoken to as well? No offense to TRU, but TRU isn't really geared toward the Broadway scene, and the clips implies Broadway-level producing, whereas TRU is geared toward more traditionally Off- and Off-Off-Broadway not-for-profit work. Not reflexively, just in general.

Sphere: Related Content