The Songs of Johnny Go

Well, yeah, but I was hoping to do that around Halloween.

Then again, if I'm gonna go to graduate school in the fall like I'm thinking, maybe that wouldn't happen anyway. So perhaps I'll have to bump it up a couple months to august and maybe do a Halloween reprise?

(You are talking about NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, yes? Not, like, a LAND OF THE DEAD musical?)

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findingjuliet.livejournal.com

Come play Mustardseed in MidSummer. I need a man fairy!!!! And you get to understudy Snug who's understudying Bottom.

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Did you ask what was required to be considered a professional production? Does it have to be Equity, or can it simply be with paid performers? Small stipends are not out of the question. It would need to be approved by the Board, but it's a direction we'll probably have to go in sooner or later, and we did it for Unbecoming. (That was a special project with special sources of money, but it does mean that there is a precedent.)

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No, actually I didn't. If I were to send another e-mail to the agent, should I basically ask just that? The requirements for "professional," and "Does it have to be Equity, or can it simply be with paid performers?"

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Let's start by examining the email that they sent you, and see what we can divine from that. I'll poke around and get back to you.

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The exact e-mail said:

"I am sorry to tell you that we have not yet released the amateur rights to this play and will not be in a position to do so for the forseeable future. I thank you again for your interest and am sorry that my news couldn't have been better."

The stuff about "professional life" I got from her personally when I called her up (before learning that she'd already sent me this e-mail).

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"Professional" means "Equity", and the Rudes aren't in a position to be Equity at the moment. It's kind of a big deal.

Which, from their point of view, is the point: they don't want the play to be performed unless you're willing to make a big deal out of it.

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So... nothing we can do then, right?

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Well, that's just the opinion of one publisher. But there are an increasing number of non-union professional theaters.

So I'd say, write back and ask, "The Rudes are a non-union troupe that does both professional and non-professional shows. What would be involved in doing your show?"

They may well say, "We don't deal with non-union shops" or "You can do it but you'd better be prepared to spend $XXXXXXXX". At this point it doesn't hurt to ask.

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sharrainchains.livejournal.com

There are also ways to get Equity waivers for professional non-union companies.

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Those are necessary to get union actors into our shows. I don't know of a comparable program for royalties.

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sharrainchains.livejournal.com

I was thinking of the waiver concept more as one possible way to get them to deal with the production (at all) as a "professional" opportunity (rather than to avoid royalties), but my knowledge here is extremely limited. I will shut up now.

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We could try finding a professional theater to co-sponsor this with us, if we were interested. It's a good thought.

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It probably means that we'd be paying professional royalties, which probably run into the hundreds of dollars per performance for a dozen or more performances. But I'm curious to know what they'll say.

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You might be able to get an Equity "showcase" contract... I don't know the details, but it's something to look into.

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My bad, showcase codes only apply to productions mounted in New York and LA. pity, that. chicago and dc could definitely use similar opportunities.

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A showcase would let us use Equity actors in a non-professional setting with a limited budget; I think they're looking for the opposite. Thus far the Rudes haven't used any Equity actors (or if they did, they haven't told us). When Equity actors start coming by we'll have to apply to be an Equity showcase.

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unfortunately I looked it up and realized the showcase code only applies to New York and LA anyway.

but I have to believe that a New York showcase with a showcase budget (and it is limited, but still way more than the rudes usually spend on a show; it can be up to $10,000) might get rights that a community theater would not. After all, they're designed to attract industry professionals, which might draw attention to the play that would further its professional life.

Not that that helps us any...

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http://www.zombiehunters.org/

I'm not sure what the outside-of-NYC rules are for Equity. The treatment on the web site suggests that it's something on the order of, "Oh, just go ahead and do the goddamn show, as long as you're not big enough for us to catch you. And if we do catch you, we'll figure out what the hell our rules are then."

This actually does help us, because it lets us tell the Vigil rightsholders, "Look, we're semi-pro; we can get Equity actors". But the limited budget may well be exactly the opposite of what they're after. It sounds to me like they're saying, "We can make a bunch of money with less work by selling the rights to somebody with a $100k budget than with a $10k budget. And once we start selling to $10k budgets, the $100k budget people won't look so special when they do it."

Still, it seems to me that it's a bit weird making that distinction. Tell me that it costs $1k per performance and I'll say, "OK, we're too amateur for that."

It may be a union thing as well, where they keep in the good graces of Equity by not leasing their shows to people who don't follow the rules. Equity rules may be draconian, but they're designed to protect actors. Read the rules and imagine that each rule was invented because somebody was breaking it, and you can see how this can be a sleazy business.

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tazira.livejournal.com

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Oh, excellentness.

When the time comes, we're gonna be ready, damn it.

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I'm confused... didn't you actually do this show in school? Where were the rights then?

If they let colleges do it I can't see how they would not let amateurs do it.

Or was the school production somewhat ... illegal?

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