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

A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited announces an upcoming Producer Boot Camp: Essentials of Successful Self-Producing, reformatted and rethought for virtual presentation, on Sunday, September 26, 2021, 1pm-6:30pm ET. Registration is $75 for TRU members and $100 for non-members. To register for the virtual event, visit truonline.org/events/successful-self-producing-2021.

Sometimes you've just got to jump in and be more than an artist to make theater happen. "I'm just an artist" no longer cuts it when you make the move from page to paying audience - you are the CEO of your brand! In this 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 expert jugglers.

Come learn to view your creative work from a business perspective and understand the need to think differently. Make smarter choices, not only now but also for the future of your show. 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!

There are COVID-19 scholarships available. To apply, fill out an online scholarship application at https://forms.gle/BeGgYecFcaJUsNk18 and send a brief email to TRUnltd@aol.com requesting financial help.

Moderators for this half-day workshop are Emileena Pedigo of The Show Goes On Productions, former managing producer of Midtown International Theatre Festival; and Bob Ost, writer-producer, executive director of TRU. Guest speakers will include:

• dramaturg/director/producer Cate Cammarata of CreateTheater.com;

• entertainment attorney Eric Goldman, esq;

• marketing expert and omnipreneur Roger Gonzalez of Alliance Media and Entertainment; production advisor/strategist and producer

• Blair Russell of Show Shepherd, a strategic theatrical development company, and producer (Slave Play, off-Broadway's long-running immersive Sweeney Todd) www.blairrussell.net;

• Plus solo artists Valerie David and Michelle Felice Hartley; and playwright Phil Olson.

TRU Curriculum (subject to change):

12:45pm: Check-in

1:00pm: "Why Are You Doing This?" with Bob Ost & Emileena Pedigo

• Adapting to #AnotherWay and finding your own path.

• Aligning with a vision of your work (defining the Why).

• Understanding your property and identifying your audience.

• Building a Road Map and setting attainable S.M.A.R.T. Goals.

1:30pm: "Legal Pitfalls and Protections" with attorney Eric Goldman

• Agreements: collaborator, options, contractors, and more.

• What you need to know when you ask for money. And what your responsibilities are.

• Pre-existing and underlying rights, intellectual property protections.

15-minute break-out sessions

2:30pm: "Planning Ahead and Making it Happen" with producer Blair Russell

• Having a vision of what this play could be and how far it can go.

• Thinking and planning beyond your current production (5/10 year plan).

• How to put together and manage your creative team.

• How much do things really cost? How much should you pay people? How to have those conversations and more.

• The impact the pandemic has had on the development process, and when to add "virtual" to your plan.

• The development options: table read, staged reading, showcase, festivals, cabaret, virtual and more.

3:30pm: "Finding & Creating Opportunities" with Cate Cammarata

• Producing virtually: platforms, unions, and international reach.

• Getting your plays out there in the world: licensing, and getting the most out of it.

• Researching and booking tours.

• Fringes and festivals.

15-minute lunch break

4:15pm: "Marketing, Promotion and Self-Promotion" with Roger Gonzalez

• Self-producing and branding in the virtual age.

• Identifying your audience (Lean Startup Model).

• The marketing basics: website, postcards, social media, and ticketing.

• Effective networking: creating brand ambassadors for your art.

15-minute break-out sessions

5:00pm: Keynote panel: Self-Producing and Staying Sane

6:00pm: Q&A/break-out sessions for networking

Cate Cammarata is a producer, director, dramaturg and writer in NYC and is the Associate Artistic Director for Rhymes Over Beats Hip Hop Theater Collective. Cate has produced The Assignment off-Broadway and My Father's Daughter with Ursula Rucker at La Mama for Rhymes Over Beats. Regionally she produced My Life Is a Musical at Bay Street Theater and has directed many readings of new work in NYC. She is the Literary Manager for Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) and is the Director of Creative Development for MusicalWriters.com. Cate holds a BFA in Acting/Directing from Syracuse University and an MFA in Dramaturgy at SUNY Stony Brook, and teaches Theatre Arts at Baruch College. Her latest book, "Contemporary Monologues for a New Theater," was listed as one of the Top Ten Books for theatre lovers by BroadwayDirect in 2018. catecammarata.com, createtheater.com

Roger Gonzalez is owner of Alliance Media & Communications, a media and live entertainment, integrated marketing and PR firm that works with media companies, small to mid-sized businesses, and with the independent theatre industry to promote theatre and live entertainment. In 2006, Alliance Media & Communications founded LocalTheatreNY.com, which is now being relaunched as LocalTheatreUSA.com, in part to be more inclusive of events taking place across the country, but also to help theatre and the arts in this country make a full comeback in 2021. Roger is also producing a new comedy called "It's All About Lorrie" with the folks of Broadway United, and is currently shopping the show for a tour. He owns a development company to help playwrights realize their work on stage (virtually or otherwise). Marketing: www.90-dayFasttrack.com, and development is www.AllianceMediaTheatricals.com. On IG, find him @TheatreMarketing2021

Bob Ost - While still a senior at U. of Pa., Bob's one-act Beast was produced by Bob Moss in the first season of Playwrights Horizons. He went on to write book, music and lyrics for the off-Broadway revue Everybody's Gettin' into the Act at the Actor's Playhouse, and Finale!, Grand Prize winner in the 1990 American Musical Theater Festival Competition (presented at NAMT) and the 1992 New American Musical Writers Competition, and a finalist at the O'Neill Music Conference in 1989. More recently his musical Angel in My Heart won Best Musical in the 2014 Fresh Fruit Festival. He won the 2011 New Works of Merit Playwriting Competition for his play Breeders, previously a finalist at the O'Neill, as well as a selection of the TRU Voices New Plays Reading Series. The Necessary Disposal was a 2010 finalist in the Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition at the Alleyway Theatre in Buffalo, has been a finalist in three other national competitions, and was part of the Shotgun Productions New Play Reading Series and the Oberon Theatre Reading Series, both in NYC; his one-act A Glass of Water was part of the Lovecreek Festival, HomoGenius Festival, Downtown Urban Arts Festival; other one-acts have been showcased all over New York. He won a 2004 OOBR Award for the review "Songs Are Like Friends", and is a 3-time MAC nominee. While he was producing his own musical revues at cabarets around Manhattan he discovered he could combine his artistic talent with the business skills he was picking up in the advertising world. The idea of Theater Resources Unlimited was born, with the help of co-founders (and fellow writers) Gary Hughes and Cheryl Davis in 1992. He has gone on to produce the musicals Civil War Voices and Rip in the Midtown International Theater Festival, and the classic Chinese musical, Romance of the Western Chamber.

Emileena Pedigo's work focuses on building sustainable careers #AnotherWay, using entrepreneurial strategies that prioritize the artist over their art. Her company, The Show Goes On Productions provides coaching and artist management, as well as produces workshops, showcases, and events. Before that Emileena was managing producer of the Midtown International Theater Festival. She helped expand the annual festival into seven venues, presenting up to 60 shows in one month during her seven-year tenure. Emileena also general-managed for several nonprofits, assisted Stewart F. Lane on four Broadway shows, including the Off-Broadway transfer of The 39 Steps, and worked on various film and music festivals. She toured theaters, music arenas, and schools across the country, working with artists from all artistic disciplines. Emileena has served on the board of Conscious Capitalism NYC, and helped to build Arts programming within the Chelsea Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce. She is a graduate of the Commercial Theatre Institute, SUNY/Kaufmann's Fasttrac program for entrepreneurs, and a Purdue University alum.

Blair Russell is a freelance producer, developer, supporter, and lover of theatre whose experience ranges from fringe festivals to Broadway shows. His most recent projects include Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris and the critically acclaimed immersive Off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd. At Show Shepherd, he helps writers and producers to navigate the development of new work, and he produces live immersive audio dramas as Director of Operations for Resounding. He currently serves on the board of New York Theatre Barn and The New Harmony Project. He is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Technical Theatre/Stage Management. https://www.blairrussell.net/

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a twenty-seven-year-old 501(c)(3) 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 monthly panels as well as the new weekly Community Gatherings; 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 the TRU Voices Play Reading Series, Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop, How to Write a Musical That Works and a Director-Writer Communications Lab. Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by the Montage Foundation, The Storyline Project and the Leibowitz Greenway Foundation. For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org.