TRU Hosts WEEKEND INTENSIVE FOR SHOWCASE PRODUCING 2/26-27

Theater Resources Unlimited presents a producer boot camp, Weekend Intensive for Showcase Producing, on Saturday and Sunday, February 26 and 27, 2011 from 10am - 6pm. The workshop will take place at The Players Theatre, 3rdFloor Loft, 115 MacDougal Street (below W. 3rd Street), NYC. The fee is $195 for non-members ($250 before February 19) and $240 for members of TRU ($195 before February 19).

Thinking about producing a showcase? Are you a writer or actor who might be self-producing? Wondering if it's worth it to apply to NYMF, MITF, Fringe or the other festivals? Worried about where you're going to get the money, and how to track it once you have it?

Faculty will include entertainment attorney Jonathan Herzog, general manager Robert Sherrill, producers Patricia Klausner, Meredith Lucio and Mike Roderick, financial advisor Bailie Slevin, publicist Katie Rosin and others. Special keynote addresses will be given by critic Michael Feingold, The Village Voice, and producer Ken Waissman (Grease, Agnes of God, Torch Song Trilogy).

This is basic and not-so-basic training for anyone thinking about producing a showcase now or in the future. The workshop will cover a range of topics from "Why Are You Producing This?" to "What You Need to Know Before Asking for Money" all the way to planning for the next steps beyond that showcase. With stopovers at marketing, budgets, casting, union codes and contracts and more.

The boot camp is specially geared for those producing at the reading and Equity Showcase level, with particular application for anyone who plans to produce in 2011 summer festivals. Cost is $195 for non-members ($250 before February 19) and $240 for members of TRU ($195 before February 19). There is a special Festival Discount price of $200 before February 19 for anyone producing in the upcoming summer festivals, including Planet Connections, Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival, FringeNYC and NYMF. Applications are available online at http://www.truonline.org/BootCampApp.htm. Payment by check may be mailed to Theater Resources Unlimited, Boot Camp, 309 W. 104th Street 1D, NYC NY 10025 (please include an application). On-line payment by Paypal or by credit card is available at www.truonline.org/store.html.

SCHEDULE

Saturday, February 26, 2011
10:00am-10:30am - "Clarifying Your Goals: Why Are You Producing This?" with producer Patricia Klausner (The Scottsboro Boys, Chaos Theory)
10:30am-11:15am - "What You Need to Know Before Asking for Money" - including the differences between commercial, not-for-profit and fiscal sponsorship models, and what you need to know when raising money for your production
11:15am-12:15pm - "Contracts, Options & Underlying Rights" with attorney Jonathan Herzog
12:15pm-1:00pm - "Producing Published Works: Licensing Made Painless"
2:00pm-2:45pm - "Creative Fundraising (Please Don't Put It on You Credit Card!)" - crowdraising, fundraisers and understanding how money works, with producer Michael Roderick and financial advisor Bailie Slevin
2:45pm-3:15pm - "What Things Cost: An Overview of Budgeting" with Emileena Pedigo
3:15pm-3:45pm - "Box Office and Ticketing Options" with Emileena Pedigo
4:00pm-5:15pm - "Producing Smart: Fringes and Festivals, or On Your Own?" - with Glory Kadigan (Planet Connections Festivity), Emileena Pedigo(Managing Producer MITF), Jennifer Ritter (General Manager NYMF), producer Mike Roderick and others
5:15pm-5:30pm - keynote speaker, Michael Feingold
5:30pm-6:30pm - networking reception

Sunday, February 27, 2011
10:00am-10:30am - "How to Find (and Book) the Right Space" - black box or proscenium? wing space, fly space, lighting and tech requirements, location and more
10:30am-11:00am - "Appearances: Taking Care of the Details" - industry packets, treating industry well, front of house requirements
11:00am-12:00pm - "Finding Your Audience: Marketing & PR Basics for Showcases" with Katie Rosin of Kampfire Films PR
12:00pm-12:30pm - "The Current Need for Social Media" with Meredith Lucio
1:30pm-2:00pm - "Personnel Best: Putting Your Creative Team Together"
2:00pm-3:00pm - "Union Codes & Contracts: Equity, SDC, DG"
3:00pm-3:20pm - "How to Run an Efficient Audition" - with Catherine Lamm
3:20pm-3:45pm - "When, Why and How to Use a Casting Director" with Jamibeth Margolis
4:00pm-5:15pm - "Next Steps: What Happens After That Showcase?"
5:15pm-5:30pm - keynote speaker
5:30pm-6:30pm - networking reception

Curriculum is subject to change.

TRU was founded in 1992 to promote a spirit of cooperation and support within the general theater community by providing information and a variety of entertainment-related services and resources that strengthen the business capability of producing organizations, individual producers, self-Producing Artists and other theater professionals. The company holds monthly seminars on a wide range of subjects important to theatrical producers and artistic directors conducted by panels of experts from both the commercial and not-for-profit segments of Broadway, Off-Broadway and the motion picture industry. TRU also publishes a monthly email community newsletter of services, goods and productions. In addition, TRU created the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and the TRU VOICES Annual New Musicals Reading Series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings of new works for theater. In 2001, TRU began giving annual scholarships to The Commercial Theater Institute, to encourage the development of aspiring producers, created a Producer Mentoring Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York theater, and presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. In March '08, TRU was associate producer of its first Equity showcase, Missives at 59E59 Theatre, a play that was developed in the 2006 TRU reading series. TRU programs for actors include an Annual Audition Event, Resource Nights and "Speed Dating" as well as free monthly actor events, including workshops.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from the Friar's National Foundation Association.

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