So Many Hats! Theater Resources Unlimited to Host Producer Boot Camp

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents their annualTRU Producer Boot Camp: Essentials of Successful Self-Producing on September 24, 2016 from noon to 4:30pm at the Desotelle NuBox Theatret, 300 W. 43rd Street, 3rd floor. Sub-titled "So Many Hats, Just One Head!" this ground-breaking half-day workshop offers an overview of the skills needed specifically by artists who self-produce. For more details and to register, visit truonline.org/events/essentials-of-self-producing.

TRU executive director Bob Ost, a self-producing artist himself, was inspired to create a basic course because "I met so many people at TRU who told me they wished they had found us before they produced themselves - they feel they could have saved so much money and wasted effort." He adds "Self-producing is complicated and requires not only producing skills but self-knowledge and a psychological head-set that is unique in order for you to be successful. You have to learn to think beyond the artist's point of view."

This workshop will look at how artists can successfully take on the challenging role of producer to generate their own opportunities. The ones who are most successful have to master a range of business skills, don a variety of hats and learn to be an expert juggler. "I'm just an artist" no longer cuts it when you make the move from page to paying audience. Learn to view your creative work from a business perspective, understand the need to think differently and make smarter choices, not only now but for the future of your show, and your brand. It all seems a little overwhelming at times, but we will break it down into easily digestible bites. When you know what you're doing, it can actually be fun and fulfilling.

Faculty for the inception of this workshop will include a quintet of highly successful self-producers: actor-writer-producer Karen Eterovich, who has toured the US and Europe with one-woman shows about Aphra Behn and Jane Austen; writer-producer Dorothy Marcic whose musical SISTAS has played off-Broadway for five years, and whose previous show Respect has played in 44 cities; writer-director-producer Nancy Holson who spans the worlds of commercial live theater, corporate theater and television with the Emmy Award winning The News in Revue, off-Broadway's Bush Wars and the touring Ludwig Live!; and Jay Michaels/Jay Michaels Arts & Entertainment, producer/director, educator, and entrepreneur in the marketing, promotion, and public relations fields.

The curriculum (subject to change due to availability of speakers):

"Why Are You Doing This?" - Understanding your property and identifying your audience ... Managing expectations and setting attainable goals.... Is producing this worth giving up months of my life that I could spend creating something new?

"Knowing What You Need to Make It Happen" - Basic development steps: Table Reading, Staged Reading, Showcase, Festival.... How your goals affect your choices (budget, venue, creative team and more).... How much do things really cost? How much should you pay people, and how to have those conversations? Including a review of actual budgets. And more.

"Wearing Many Different Hats" - You are no longer "just an artist" - the 5 different hats of any entrepreneur.... Keeping the identities separate - know who you are in each situation.... Thinking in spreadsheets, and understanding the business.... Collaboration.

Marketing, Promotion and Self-Promotion" - Branding yourself, branding your plays, branding your company.... Identifying your audience ... The marketing basics: website, postcards, social media, TDF and papering.... Think like an audience, not like an artist.

"Finding or Creating Opportunities" - Getting your plays out there in the world ... Researching and booking tours.... Fringes and festivals.... Networking, now and for the future.

"Planning Ahead" - Thinking beyond a single production.... Having a vision of what this play could be and how far it can go. ... How to capitalize on this production and plant the seeds for the next step

"How to Stay Inspired" - Celebrating the joys and challenges of self-producing

Theater Resources Unlimited(TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a twenty-four year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of the arts. Membership includes self-Producing Artists as well as career producers and theater companies.

TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; presents the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and Annual New Musicals Reading Series, two new works series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings to nurture new shows as well as new producers for theater; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. TRU serves writers through a Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop, How to Write a Musical That Works and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include the Annual Combined Audition, Resource Nights and "Speed Dating" as well as actor workshops.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, 9th district Council Member Inez Dickens; and with support from the Montage Foundation and the Friars National Association Foundation.

For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org or call (212) 714-7628.