New Experiences

so i think i mentioned that i've entered the cock-sucking realm of producer... yes, that horrid individual that is responsible for money and worrying about what works and doesn't work....

and essentially sucking the life out of art.

well... fuck that noise. i'm a new kind of producer. allowing everyone to create and express........ while still worrying about money and making a profit and casting and rehearsing and.... ganesha help me! it never ends.

but i've had some new experiences over the past couple of weeks as we really hit hard on advertising our production.

press releases
my father was a newspaper man his entire adult life. a copy editor for most of that time. i grew up knowing every copy editor mark for the editing process.

so you would think press releases would be easy for me...!

no.

first task? write a long press release. okay.... so i had to dissect a video for quotes. listen to sentences over and over again to make sure i got the exact words. i had to fish through synopses and construct the story of the production, the plays... all in a coherent fashion that would make people interested in possibly writing a story about the production.

then i had to create a calendar/event listing press release. short and to the point. this is the show. here. when. how much. done.

and then a third press release which is a shorter version of the long one but a longer version than the short one... for those that want a bit more than the bullet points for the listing but not a graph on every play.

it was... exhausting. and i've spent the last week or two sending them out, tracking down email addresses and submission ports for websites and generally spending all hours of the evening doing this.

fucking crazy. and a lot of late nights.

but i've learned a lot. (and i feel good about what i created.)

logos
yes... now i'm neck-deep in graphic design. two of the other producers have been working with an artist on the poster/program design. i haven't even seen anything.

so i approached a friend to design a logo for our production company. we have a website... but it needs some serious work. i told him we were looking to rush...and he rushed. came up with three good graphics.

LOVE the first one.... but it needs some tweaking.

the second one is a bit corporate for my taste. not creative enough.

third one is good... the graphic could be better but the concept (with some tweaking) could make a fabulous letterhead.

anyway.... trying to get feedback from the other three producers. trying to send the designer the feedback.... then receiving even more feedback from someone who isn't even part of the production company.

and it's been crazy, as well.

but all these new experiences.... marketing. branding. networking.... these have been fucking great lessons for me.

in the matter of a week i've had two individuals (now three, actually) ride my ass about marketing myself better and getting my name and my work out there. i'm taking this seriously.

i need to make a move. going to work everyday and doing work that i believe in but don't necessarily love anymore... while all this exciting theatre work is out there for me. when i'm casting and rehearsing and seeing my plays performed.

it makes that day job hard.

so... i'm trying to do what it takes. i even got (hold on to your hats...) some better pictures of myself taken so i can have a decent headshot to send out. (and you know i hate having my picture taken.)

i'm working on getting a website. i'm updating my resume. and i'm getting my fucking name and work out there.

it's a lot of work and it's stressful. but it's also...... incredible.

and i still have so much more to tell you!

more. soon. (i promise, my lovelies.)

e.