I'm one of the newbees in the group looking to network with those in the forum.
Below is a short history of our family's theater production company and our aspirations for the future. We're looking for advice from those in the forum on making the leap from a small family-run company, to forming a not-for-profit, and eventually finding a permanent home for our productions and the many programs we wish to share with the community. Any advice is appreciated.
Mass Productions: Past/Present/and Future?
Mass Productions started back in 2005, with it's first original "family-friendly" production called, "A Frolic with Mr. Insanity", this past May we performed our 6th show with an encore production of "9 Ways to Kill Mrs. Robinson".
Since that first show we've experienced growth in: ticket sales, support from the communities in which we perform, the size of our core group of performers, and in revenues from our productions. We've also experienced a growth in our "family"; the family members and friends that make up Mass Productions. As we've worked, studied, and learned from our many resources in the theater community; we found our most recent production to have been our best thus far. With an original production budget of about $6000, we ended up with total ticket sales of about $8000. Not bad for 4 performances in a 199 seat theater.
As we work toward our next production, "Build A Play", we are talking about the future of Mass Productions. From the beginning we've built sets in our garage, and stored them in our rented storage space. We've rented the theaters in which we've performed; rented the trucks in which we've moved our sets; and depended on our wonderful family of cast and crew to assist with set build and strike of each production.
We're currently doing research and studying the possibility of perhaps forming a not-for-profit corporation, and eventually finding a permanent home for our company. With that permanent home, we also aspire to provide programs that would benefit the community.
Each member of our present "company" is actively involved in increasing their knowledge by pursuing formal education. We're also looking for other educational opportunities and advice by networking with the theater community itself. The latter is what this email is about.
We'd like to solicit the advice of those already producing or hoping to produce theater. The question we are hoping to have answered is:
Which step do we take next?
1. Continue to produce as we have been, building up a reserve of funds (a little at a time) from those productions to pay the expenses to form a not-for-profit over a couple of years?
2. Research the possibility of a Fiscal Sponsor?
3. Start the process of forming a not-for-profit company by tapping into possible outside resources by soliciting assistance from our many supporters that have offered continued support.
Thanks