WSJ.com: When Hal Prince produced hits like "West Side Story" and "The Pajama Game," the business of Broadway wasn't quite the high-stakes gamble it is today. Stagehands and wardrobe supervisors gave $500 donations to help him get musicals off the ground, and a $5,000 check was like hitting the jackpot.
Those increments are pocket change in an age when blockbusters like "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" cost $75 million, and they wouldn't even be able to move the needle much for relatively modest productions, such as "Peter and the Starcatcher," which cost $4.5 million.
4 comments:
Previously, I hadn't known too much about producers. I really just knew that they play a big part in funding a show. After reading this article, I see that they do so much more. There is a lot of management that goes into their job, like handling financial backers. It really is great that a group decided to put together a program to help out new and budding producers. I always thought producing was one of those things you did after you've had alot of time in the field and someone offers you a project. But it sounds like producing can be more of something people set out specifically to do. It's nice to see producers helping other producers get started, especially when it seems they would all be very competitive for financial support.
The artistry of the producer has definitely been lost over the years. Today, when I hear the word "producer," the first thing to pop into my mind is a giant-sized check with lots of commas in it, fancy suits, and shaking hands. I don't think of meetings with potential directors and actually making artistic decisions besides where the money might be of most benefit to the show. But I appreciate this article for the education it has given me, and the insight into what true artistic producers used to do. Deciding how long a show should be in previews and choosing its touring places and schedule are important parts of making the show a success that I hadn't much considered before. These decisions take artistic talent to be made well, and thus it is clear that artistic producers used to have quite a job, and one that is much more interesting than throwing money around.
I really like that this fellowship exists. It would be great to learn more about the qualifications, etc...I hope there are more follow up articles to this one because I would like to know what happens to the projects that come out of this. I would also like to earn more about the stipulations of the project where the $20000 goes.
I guess this makes a lot of sense. You can get a lot of money without the need for a creative producer and you can even create a show without a creative producer but you still need someone there to make sure that people will pay to see the show and that it will play for all sorts of audiences. A creative producer is like an editor they are not one of the creators so the are not personally attached to the show but because they are being paid by the show and because they may have put money into it they are invested in how well the show does economically.
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