One of the many frustrations that writers face is getting a play produced. How do you get a company or a producer to want to invest in your creative talents?? The best way to get a company (who will theoretically be investing time and more importantly money) interested is to prove that you are a commodity that fulfills an artistic need for their company, but also that you are offering something that can be commercially viable.
The best way to prove that is to show your resume chock full of fantastic productions that recouped all investments!
Well, wait. You can't get produced because no one's produced you before? How does that cycle get broken??
There are ways that poor, young, scrappy playwrights can produce their own work!
I have done a lot of research into theatre companies in my quest to get a play done, and something that I have learned is that a lot of theatre companies exist as a means to self-production. You start a theatre company to produce your work. It makes sense. And there are a lot of really cool groups that will help facilitate the self-production process. Here are a couple examples!
Horse Trade is a group that offers artist and company residency that gives you access to space and an artistic home to develop a new play in exchange for a few hours a month of volunteer work for the theater per month. Check them out here: http://www.horsetrade.info/
Manhattan Theatre Source is a similar company. They offer performance space free of charge, and offer marketing service as well. The one catch here is that they require you to fill 20 seats a night, charge $15 a ticket, and they keep your door profits. It's a good deal if you aren't trying to become rich off your production (which, if you are self-producing a play that you wrote, you probably aren't). Check them out here: http://theatresource.org/home.php
So get out there and produce your play. I know I'm not going to...
Hey Gavin,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. I saw this on FB and could really relate to it. My boyfriend is a published writer who is currently trying to break into screenwriting. One problem is, as you said, nobody will produce somebody who hasn't been produced before. Other than a few short stories, he has no major publications as of yet. So, what advice do you have for struggling screenwriters? It seems easier to self-produce a play than a film. Hope all is well. Keep writing!
-Megan
Meg, I really don't know enough about breaking into screenwriting to give any solid advice. But what I will say is that persistance and creativity in getting your work out to the world is the only thing. Keep writing and keep taking advantage of any opportunity that presents itself. I wish him luck!
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