CMU School of Drama


Thursday, March 24, 2016

Rosco Supports Behind the Scenes with Roscolux #359 Royalties

Stage Directions: At the 2016 USITT show, Rosco presented Behind the Scenes with a check for $3,200. This was Rosco’s eighth annual royalty check to Behind the Scenes, and represents the proceeds from one year of sales of Roscolux 359 Medium Violet.

3 comments:

Ruth Pace said...

This article is woefully incomplete on information. I am able to understand that the Roscolux corporation gave out some money. I understand that this money was procured from the sales of Roscolux #359, and that the money was presented to a charity that assists those within the tech theater community dealing with illness or death. The article does not, however, answer my largest question, which has to do with the choice of color. Was Congo Blue (r368) too profitable to give up? Was Dark Violet too moody? Hell, why not an amber, or a red? Why not just give $3,000 from another source? Also, how long has this donation been occurring? Was this tradition (the vague wording leads me to believe that this is an annual occurrence, but could it be quarterly?) begun because of a specific event? Is there a specific person responsible for this collaboration? If I wanted to donate money to this cause, but have no use for a sheet of Medium Violet, how would I go about that? Why did I read this article? Why am I so unfulfilled by this writing?

Daniel S said...

This Pledge-a-Product idea is great. It supports a very worthy cause. I have a friend who has a lot of medical problems and expenses. Though his issues didn’t come from working in theater, I find it comforting to know that there is any organization out there trying specifically to help entertainment technicians. The amount Rosco raised, $3200, doesn’t seem like it will go that far. Depending on how much money Behind the Scenes raises and how many people they are trying to help, each person or family may not receive that much help. Enter the phrase “every little bit helps”. This really does seem like a worthy cause, but I wonder why Rosco chose the product they did. One of my greatest fears used to be that I would injure myself in such a way that I could no longer do the physical construction work that was the sole source of my income. With organizations like this, I think those in the entertainment technician field can rest a bit easier knowing that there are those willing to help.

Sam Molitoriss said...

It’s always great to see companies like Rosco giving profits to charitable organizations. Behind the Scenes is a very important and necessary organization. Since most technician jobs are paid hourly, if a technician is injured and unable to work, s/he is likely in need of some type of financial support. It’s great to go on BTS’s website and look at all the lives they have improved over their 10 years as a charitable organization. While many theatrical equipment manufacturers support Behind the Scenes (ETC, for example, donates all profits from the iRFR and aRFR apps), I believe BTS needs greater support. Especially for technicians who are not part of a union and thus unable to access union benefits and support, BTS can make a profound difference in families’ lives. Currently, I believe Rosco also donates their profits of R313 to BTS, which is great. Could they go a bit farther and donate more than a few thousand a year? Probably. Still, it’s nice to see Rosco and others supporting BTS.