Actors & Dancers: Sell Your Art by Self Producing

A great way for performing artists to get exposure is to produce their own work – doing roles for which they are ideally suited or creating material specific to their talents.  But production takes time, focus and resources – and the learning curve is steep.  So what makes the difference between a successful startup and a failing one?  Even a low-budget affair can be professional if it is supported by good planning and coordination.  Here are some useful reminders for those looking to create their own performance opportunities.

CALENDAR

Time management may be one of the most fundamentally important components of a successful production.  If you don’t have money, you can leverage your time.  If you don’t have time, you’re screwed.

When I worked in political organizing I quickly learned the effectiveness of what one Field Op called the Backwards Tick-Tock: laying out the calendar starting with the event and working backwards to wherever you are.  This can be done any number of times throughout the production process with whatever length of time is remaining, whether it be a period of months or a period of hours.

For my chamber choir, I like to calendar the entire season almost a year in advance; that way, when I’m sipping margaritas on the beach in July, I am reminded that design work for the fall concert needs to be locked down in order to stay on schedule!  By Concert Week my Tick-Tock is down to the hour, detailing when the programs will be picked up from the printer, when we can arrive at the space and what is our contact’s name there? – and, oh yeah – when I’ll get that beauty rest.

Your calendar can be as high or low-tech as you want, or have the resources for.  Many a GOTV (Get Out The Vote, for the non-poli-sci majors) Tick-Tock has been scrawled in magic marker on easel paper, and large laminated wall calendars work well for those who like to see the whole process at a glance.  Of course, many computer applications enable you to create multiple calendars and color-code them according to whatever mental system you like best, and the ease and efficiency of synching to a mobile device can hardly be overstated.

If you’re like me, you’ll also want to schedule in time to create and to practice the art you’re so energetically supporting.  Make dates with yourself to get in the practice room or the studio, or just to “fill the well” or relax – and honor them as fiercely as you would your appointment with the New York Times reporter.

COMMUNICATION and CONSISTENCY go hand in hand, and apply with equal importance to both internal and external messages.

So many easily avoidable gaffes occur due to a lack of effective and efficient communication: there is either no clear message, a lack of response or information in general, or there are too many emails being fired off with no centralized information source or decision-making process.

If you’re a sole enterprise, you have the benefit of agility as compared to a Board of fifteen that decides everything on majority vote.  If you’ve got a few cohorts, it can be helpful to establish committees and/or delegate certain responsibilities to each of you.  Decide upfront where the final authority rests, whether opinions need to be garnered before moving forward, and how you’ll hold people accountable for their duties.

When things go wrong (and they will), wait to write that email or make that call until you’ve cooled off, if you can.  Passive-aggressive (or just aggressive) behavior won’t fix the situation, but clear, calm, decisive problem-solving will.  On the other side, leave your ego at the door and learn to admit when you’ve made a mistake.  Countless small goofs turn into Situations when we refuse to admit wrongdoing or to change course in order to fix things.  “I’ll get back to you on that” is a great answer!  Learn to be fallible (writes the recovering perfectionist) – if you’re clear in your communication along the way, no one will mind that it took a few extra steps to get there.

CONFIDENCE – in yourself, in your message, in your material, in your partners in crime, in your audience, in the process.  The way you treat your enterprise will be reflected in the way people respond to it.  Create marketing materials that embody your taste, your vibe, your product.  Everything is a part of your product – down to the quality of paper your materials are printed on.

Which is not to say that everything has to be expensive.  Prioritizing and smart allocation of resources can make or break a low-budget production.  Decide what to spend the money on, and negotiate or barter the rest.

Ask for what you want – you will get it (or something close to it) far more often than you think.  Negotiate with local merchants.  Ask the printer for a discount in return for ad space or a link on your website, or work out a special with the wine bar across the street for patrons who bring in your program. Call the press; invite industry professionals as your guests.  If they don’t show the first time, invite them again.  Stay on the radar and let them know that you’re still around.  One postcard (or email, or Facebook status update) does not a marketing plan make.

Last season, my choir “hired” a fabulous graphic artist to design our marketing artwork for each concert.  He enjoys the exposure (links on our website, a free ad in our program, our endorsement and word of mouth) and the opportunity to design a cohesive season’s worth of key art.  This year, we’ll be able to pay him a stipend because we asked for – and received – a grant targeted to startup music organizations.  Everyone wins!

CREATE

I’m not going to lie: self-producing is a lot of work and takes commitment, focus and energy.  It can be hard to navigate wearing the hats of both Producer and Artist, getting either bogged down in administrative details or neglecting them entirely.  Don’t forget that all the preparation, organization and production planning is done to give yourself a platform to showcase your artistry – and ideally, to get noticed by someone who will give you a hand with it the next time.

Put in the preparation on the front end, and enjoy giving yourself the opportunity to do what you love.

Katie Zaffrann is a freelance performer and has produced events from cabarets and play festivals to peace walks and election-day Get Out The Vote operations.  She is currently the President [and acting Executive Director] of Choral Chameleon, a new professional chamber choir in New York City.  www.katiezaffrann.com