Theater Resources Unlimited Announces The TRU Producer Boot Camp Essentials Of Successful Self-Producing

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces the TRU Producer Boot Camp Essentials of Successful Self-Producing on Saturday, October 6, 2018 from 10:30am - 3:30pm at Clinton Cameo Studios, 307 West 43rd Street, NYC. For more details and panelist biographies please visit https://truonline.org/events/self-producing-2018/. Please use the bright red reservation ticketing box. Email questions to TRUStaff1@gmail.com. The cost is $100 for the half-day workshop. A Starving Artist discount is available - email TRUStaff1@gmail.com for details and code

Sometimes you've just got to jump in and be more than an artist to make theater happen. In this inspiring half-day workshop we 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 this half-day workshop will include two-time Tony nominee Joey McKneely; solo comedienne Meshelle; Michael Griffiths, Marketing & Audience Development Associate for Dixon Place Theatre; Emileena Pedigo of The Show Goes on Productions, former general manager of Midtown International Theatre festival; and Bob Ost, writer-producer, executive director of TRU. With guest speaker Dorothy Marcic, self-producing writer (off-Broadway long-running Sistas!,This One's for the Girls, Respect); solo artist Meshelle "The Indie-Mom of Comedy"; Joey McKneely, two-time Tony nominated choreographer/director; and Jay Michaels of Jay Michaels Arts & Entertainment.

Our curriculum (subject to change):

10:30 check-in

10:45- 11:15 "Why Are You Doing This?" with Emileena Pedigo

• If you don't know where you're going, you can't know how to get there.
• Understanding your property and identifying your audience.
• Managing expectations and setting attainable goals (S.M.A.R.T. Goals)

11:15-12:00 "Knowing What You Need to Make It Happen" with Bob Ost, Emileena Pedigo and Michael Griffiths

• How your goals affect your choices (budget, venue, creative team and more)
• The development options: table read, staged reading, showcase, festivals, cabaret 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.
• The most uncomfortable ask: friends and family.
• How to get help when you think you can't afford it.
• Developing leadership and management skills.
• How to put together and manage your creative team.

12:00-12:30 "Wearing Many Different Hats" with Dorothy Marcic

• You are no longer "just an artist" - the different hats of any entrepreneur.
• Keeping identities separate - know who you are in each situation.
• Thinking in spreadsheets, and understanding the business.
• Trusting that using your left brain will not compromise your right brain
• Finding your team. It's never a one-man show, even if it sometimes feels like it.

12:30-1:15 - LUNCH

1:15-2:00 "Marketing, Promotion and Self-Promotion" with Michael Griffiths

• Branding yourself, branding your plays, branding your company.
• Identifying your audience - if you're selling to everyone, you're selling to no one.
• The marketing basics: website, postcards, social media, TDF and papering.
• Being an effective spokesperson: think like an audience, not like an artist.

2:00-2:30 "Finding or Creating Opportunities" - panel to include Joey McKneely, Jay Michaels, Meshelle.

• Getting your plays out there in the world: licensing, and getting the most out of it.
• Researching and booking tours.
• Fringes and festivals.
• The Art of Networking: creating brand ambassadors for your art

2:30-3:00 "Planning Ahead" - panel to include Joey McKneely, Jay Michaels, Meshelle.

• Thinking and planning beyond your project (5/10 year plan)
• Having a vision of what this play could be and how far it can go.
• How to capitalize on this production in order to plant the seeds for the next step.
• 3:00-3:30 Q&A and networking reception

Theater Resources Unlimited(TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a twenty-five 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 taught by prominent producers and general managers in New York Theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop business skills. 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, as well as the Montage Foundation and the Leibowitz Greenway Foundation.

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