![]() For anyone who really cares about improving work in theatre and film, profit share is never the first or ideal choice. However, for grassroots organiations - like us - with little to no external funding or sponsorship, and no wealthy benefactors, it is the only honest way to reward the cast and crew of a show. We can proudly say that as a result of this good practice, we have never once ended a show in the red, and our actors have always earned money from the shows they are in with us. Regardless of the budget of a production, you should never, ever, for any reason, promise anything that you cannot guarantee offering your cast and crew. Sadly, as with anything, people jump on the bandwagon to use it as a fancy way of saying that they have no intention of paying the cast and crew, or add so many "dodgy costs" to the outgoings that they make it look as if no profit is made - which then badly hurts the companies who are genuinely paying whatever they can and supporting their cast and crew in whatever way they actually can. We spent a lot of time working out the fairest possible way that we can do this. One day hopefully, we will reach our ideal - which would be to have the funding and income to be able to offer all cast and crew union rate payments. In the mean time we are constantly looking at best practice to benefit everyone involved with us. After all, we started to benefit local people wanting to get into self employed theatre work, in an area where there are few, if any, such opportunities, and in an area of high poverty. We would be extremely remiss not to benefit everyone! So today, we decided to share what we have developed as our best practice for honesty, open-ness, and supporting everyone in our team. Obviously this is always looking at improvement but this is where we are at, at the moment. The money..... So, we looked at funding day to day running costs in a way that this does not come from the actors earnings from shows. That covers rehearsal space (we use a local community centre), and annual insurances. We traditionally have had tables at carboot sales and fetes; and while this will continue, we will be soon opening a regular book stall at our local town market. This covers the costs of the rehearsal venue, and the insurances for the most part - as well as providing extra publicity for our shows, which of course sells more tickets to earn for the actors! Again, none of those costs are taken from the show ticket sales. We are also able to provide free tea, coffee, biscuits and milk for free rehearsal refreshments - on a week when income is low, one of the company directors will purchase these for the group. Then of course there are show costs. With early planning, and always keeping an eye out, we have been able to source most of our costumes, props, and even technical equipment, by touring local second hand charity shops, and picking up things from Freecycle (or even the local dump!). We have some lights (fully tested, and working beautifully), and a sewing machine for repurposing fabric and costumes, that had been found dumped. It is amazing what you can find, and remake, with planning and effort. Then it is down to getting the show on the road. We usually only book venues which can offer a box-office split, rather than an upfront hire cost. The usual split is 80% to the production company and 20% to the venue. We did learn in our early days to be very careful with contracts for the venues, to make sure they do not add hidden extra costs that you never agreed to. As a regional and female-led company, there are venues which will try to change things from under your feet. We tend to be quite clear that we only accept actors and crew based in our regional area - this is because many of us live in less-than-ideal accomodation where we cannot put another person up, and we do require people to attend rehearsals and performances in person - after all theatre is a group effort.. With no possible budget to cover travel and hotels, we therefore are restricted to working with people based in our local area. So, once shows are booked, we work ourselves crazy in publicising the shows - after all the more ticket sales we get results in the more that the actors and crew earn. Publicity on little or no budget is a whole other article, and takes a huge amount of work, but it can be done very effectively. After the show, we get the ticket sales reports from the venues, and the payment for our (usually 80%) of ticket sales, from the venue to our company. This is usually quite detailed information, and we make this available to all cast and crew, in our productions locked cast/crew facebook group, as screenshots, so that everyone involved in the show can peruse and check the figures should they so wish. Once the show run (which may include several venues) is over, and all sales reports recieved, we refer back to these reports as made available to the cast and crew; and also provide the final breakdown of total earned by the show. This (again in a group post provided to all cast and crew) is then broken down equally by the number of people involved in a show, so that each person will recieve an equal amount, down to the nearest penny. (Regardless of your role in the show, you recieve an equal share, because you are equally valuable to to the show - without you it couldnt happen!). The payment then is made available and paid out within 7 working days, of our having it, to all cast and crew. That is how we deal with the financial side. However, that is not the limit of what we provide. You can provide more than money as well. Regardless of a low or non-existant budget, you can provide extra things to your cast and crew, which is seriously valuable. It can vary a little by show but there are constants we developed our list by looking at portfolio development opportunities for your people, creature comforts, and tangible things! It also doesnt need to be the often nebulous and undefined "exposure", hated by all theatre and film professionals. It is far better to consider what actual things you can guarantee being able to offer. These do not need to be expensive things, or even cost you much time, but can be very valuable to the recipient none the less! Our guaranteed "extra" things for cast and crew on any production include: - Show photos (character photos, on set, or in a themed location) - Individual character posters (featuring a character poster of the actor) - Video clips of the show featuring the work of the actor or crew member. - Copies of any publicity (think newspaper articles, etc) featuring the cast or crew members image or name. - Social media shoutouts where possible for the cast and crew members. - In-rehearsal / backstage refreshments (tea, coffee, biscuits, fruit squash) - references for work or education (after show run has ended) We do not ascribe a financial value to these things but instead provide them in addition to the financial profit-share. Final What is important in any profit-share production, is to offer everyone what you can guarantee: in our team, nobody, from the company owners, to the tea-lady, is treated differently from any other, or gets any more or less than the others. It is also critical to be open about everything. Not only does it allow people to see for themselves, that you are doing all you can for them, but in a world where all of us are jaded by malpractice, it builds confidence, which is also important - it adds to a positive atmosphere, and a positive atmosphere makes for a happier cast, who put on a better show, which builds the production following, and so on. Our ultimate aim is to find the funding and support to be able to move to union rate payments for the people in our projects, and in fact active attempts are being made to find the support to take this next step, however, in the meantime, this is where we are. And doing our best with the circumstances we find ourselves in.
28 Comments
7/7/2020 06:28:58 pm
I have found so many interesting thing in your blog and I really love that. Keep up the good work!
Reply
13/7/2020 04:02:38 pm
What a great web blog . I like this blog because of its design and interface. It is user friendly and it is nice to visit the blog.
Reply
16/7/2020 10:06:28 am
Thanks for give me information on this topic. you have sharing very nice post.
Reply
16/7/2020 11:39:56 pm
A mind blowing article is provided here. And it is written with great skill and the words directly explain the thought of author.
Reply
20/7/2020 05:52:54 am
Here i found nice environment to get new ideas and views and the i have read the comments of this blog and these are really nice and it is glad to comment here.
Reply
20/7/2020 09:15:57 am
Thanks, this is in every respect what I need to know. Thank you, it's very interesting. I wish you all the best and every success in future.
Reply
21/7/2020 10:38:29 am
Reply
22/7/2020 10:26:55 am
It is awesome list.I wasn't aware of this feature of this article.thanks!
Reply
24/7/2020 09:05:29 am
The Blog is very fantastic really its imazing.Good concept of traslation for different language.Nice subscriber categories.
Reply
12/9/2020 12:32:02 pm
Greetings to each one, it's really a particular for me to visit this website page, it comprises of helpful Information.
Reply
10/1/2021 06:01:24 am
It was a beneficial workout for me to go through your webpage. It definitely stretches the limits with the mind when you go through very good info and make an effort to interpret it properly. I am going to glance up this web site usually on my PC. Thanks for sharing
Reply
11/1/2021 04:55:06 am
Good information here. I really enjoy reading them every day. I've learned a lot from them.Thanks so much for sharing this information. Greatly help me being a newbie.
Reply
12/1/2021 05:41:57 pm
This is very nice blog because information provided here through the article and the pictures are very effective.Because sometimes words cannot explain the things that pictures can and here the words and pictures both are expressing the things in balance.
Reply
15/1/2021 01:47:42 pm
Thanks for give me information on this topic. you have sharing very nice post.
Reply
1/4/2021 06:00:51 pm
It seems like an educational blog which always some new information to visitors and Enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you blog post.
Reply
27/8/2021 01:08:35 pm
Goodness yes the difficult I need to discover. Your article gives valuable data that I am searching for. I will frequently visit this site.
Reply
14/9/2021 03:42:23 pm
Hi, by using Google I found your site even as pursuing down a basically indistinguishable subject, your site came up, it looks really fascinating. I bookmarked it.
Reply
2/10/2021 11:45:44 am
Great centers you made here..Great stuff...I think you've made some truly intriguing points.Keep up the incredible work.
Reply
7/3/2023 11:56:24 pm
Stones and Cabinets City delights our customers and makes them proud of their houses by making the complex simple. Our expert designers are dedicated to producing layouts that ensure your design is distinctive to our clients’ liking as well as functional.
Reply
7/3/2023 11:59:29 pm
Maintaining the safest driving records on the road, our drivers are the company's most valuable assets and the reason for our growth and success.
Reply
8/3/2023 12:01:39 am
I-Cell Station identify your cell phone issues for free so that we can offer you the best possible solutions. We have expert-level solutions for all damaged cell phone devices, from screen replacements to charging ports and batteries, cameras speakers, back glass to motherboard level repairs.
Reply
8/3/2023 12:13:33 am
A blog is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries. Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page
Reply
8/3/2023 12:15:45 am
Click on the Order Online tab above and we'll deliver right to your office. And be sure to make use of our advance order feature to ensure that your food is delivered exactly when you want it.
Reply
8/3/2023 11:13:16 pm
Red Crocodile Leather Jacket ENJOY THE TOKENS OF RUBIES OF REDS: Men Red & White Rib Jacket
Reply
18/3/2023 05:00:20 pm
Local SEO Houston: We help brands for optimizing their local stores in the better search results throught our quality local SEO houston services for their businesses.
Reply
22/4/2023 06:21:30 pm
Local SEO Chicago: We help brands for optimizing their local stores in the better search results throught our quality local SEO chicago services for their business.
Reply
Stephen Holroyd
21/10/2024 02:45:37 pm
I help as a trustee for a group that mounts a Shakespeare plays every summer in the outdoor. This is a profit share group but up to now only the actors have been in the profit share. We have no technicians as such. I wonder if we should be paying any other payments in our profit share usually found in subsidised companies like holiday pay and NI. I think it would be almost impossible to do that without a grant. which alas we have not got. If you have any advice or thoughts please. PS I love your page.
Reply
27/12/2024 01:39:26 pm
Our team specializes in acquiring high-quality backlinks from reputable educational institutions, including universities, colleges, and research institutions. We employ ethical and sustainable link-building strategies to ensure your website benefits from the authority and trust associated with these valuable backlinks.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
About this blog:
Laura Jury-This a blog about what it is like, behind the scenes, to admin and promote, and grow, an arts organization. This is an area for the musings, research, discussions, and posts which have public value, but which are not compatible with a general "news" page. Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|