Hi all,

We are a community theatre in Nova Scotia. We have a board of directors (of which I'm past president) which would like to put an Executive Producer position in place. There are a few ideas of what this position would do but I'd like to hear other thoughts...

Right now it would cover things like:
Securing rights and ordering scripts
Ensuring our facility is available (we don't have our own facility)
Making sure there is a producer for each show
Ensuring that the overall membership of volunteers is such that we are viable from year to year
Advising the board of directors on any of the above, etc...

Your input is appreciated.

AE MacDougall
Past President
Bedford Players Theatre
www.bedfordplayers.ns.ca

For us the Producer is largely the HR person. They use the volunteer list and try to fill all required positions from that list as well as any other sources. As a result this person needs to be a salesperson since there is sometimes significant "convincing" to be done to get all jobs filled.

As well, they need to be a "details" person, because they need to keep a finger on the pulse of the production, be sure that all the key people are communicating well (i.e., director, tech director, set designer, etc.) and when that communication breaks down, they need to resolve issues. however, they need to balance that with standing back far enough to let people do their job.

Another job of the EXEC producer would be to maintain the production manual, keep it up to date with all relevant information and changes, and ensure that each head has their relevant sections at the start of a show and returns it at the end of a show - for revision, reuse or disposal.

Thanks for your input.

I realize every community theatre is different. For some time the other local CT in our area put the Exec Prod job on their president. I notice that is not the case any longer. Will be touching base with them to see why and how they use the position as well.

Sandy