NYMF Withdraws Subsidiary Rights Request

Following is the full text of a letter that was was sent June 16 by Isaac Robert Hurwitz, Executive Director and Producer of the New York Musical theatre Festival to Ralph Sevush of the Dramatists Guild.

This represents a shift in NYMF's policies and a reversal of NYMF's early June position on the same subject.

Dear Ralph,

The mission of NYMF is to support theatre artists, not to argue with them. We therefore withdraw our request to share in the subsidiary rights of authors participating in the 2010 Festival and will remove that section (Paragraph 5(E)) from our contract. Given the challenges of moving new musicals from the page to the stage and on to further productions, NYMF wants first and foremost to ensure that the shows we present have the unified support of the community.

It has never been NYMF's intent to financially burden our participating writers. We have worked earnestly and with transparency to bring dollars as well as necessary services to each Festival production. For the record, NYMF spends $28,500 in out-of-pocket production and marketing costs for the average show in the Festival - not counting administrative overhead, staff time, or in-kind donations. Counting those contributions, NYMF brings over $100,000 in value to each production.

While it's true that individual shows must also bring resources to the table, their costs at NYMF are only a fraction of what it would cost to produce the show elsewhere. And when writers need help raising money or putting together a team, NYMF matches them with producers and outside funding to help them get their shows up.

We are proud of the many talented artists with whom we have collaborated over the years, and the role we have played in helping more than 60 new musicals go on to further productions.

It is common knowledge that many theatre companies who mount the first production of a new show receive a percentage of the writers future subsidiary rights. That's fair. Like all not-for-profit theatre companies, NYMF must consider every potential revenue stream in our effort to ensure that artists will not be priced out of participating as well as future existence of the Festival. It is important that we come to an agreement on this issue with the Dramatists Guild for next season.

In the meanwhile, we are optimistic about the shows planned for this year's Festival. I would like to extend an invitation to you and your colleagues to attend the Festival this fall and to witness firsthand the work we are doing on behalf of writers and other musical theatre artists.

Sincerely,

Isaac Robert Hurwitz
Executive Director & Producer
New York Musical Theatre Festival