Show 'Em What You're Workin' Wit'!

I was at a show recently to take in the finer points of classic theatre.  There was a pretty decent crowd in the seats and a lot of buzz going on about how good the show was.  It got a couple of good reviews, had a large cast, and been adapted for modern sensibilities.  The lights dropped and the play began.  As the play went on, I noticed nobody recording nor snapping action shots from the show.   I then pulled out my trusty smartphone and started snapping away (I'm cursorily involved in their promotional efforts).

This scenario is VERY common in theatre shows.  It shouldn't.  Here's one of my philosophies:

"You must ALWAYS be doing something even if you're doing nothing."

Document Your Journey

I was part of a theatre company that for a number of years had only done 2 runs a year.  Now, that doesn't sound too bad until you realize that out of 365 days of opportunities, we only showed the public our hard work only 8-12 times.  I would meet up with friend and colleagues at different times and would hear things like:

"Oh, you guys are still around?"

"What are you guys doing?"

"When's your next show?"

"I couldn't tell you the last time I saw one of your shows."

This feedback got me thinking, "Cot damn it! We've been working hard all year! Our efforts are summed to people only by our shows.  People think we're sitting idly by until we have a show.  Let's take them along for the ride!"

I began taking and posting pictures of every single thing we were doing: rehearsals, meetings, phone calls (yes, phone calls), prop shopping, etc.  I encouraged my colleagues to do the same (hardly anyone did it).  My ensemble started questioning my motives behind such an influx of media coming out.  Was it to satisfy my narcissism?  Was I getting paid to do so?  Was I more interested in promotion than working?  No (well, mostly no).  I instinctively knew that if the theatre company didn't do that, we might as well not exist in the public eye.  We had to show them that even if we weren't performing, i.e. "doing nothing", we still needed to show them the prep work behind our outings, i.e. "We actually *are* doing something!"

Generate A Buzz

Another item that I too often see groups miss out on is having media when press asks for it.  I see requests for:

• Group photo
• Action shots
• Logos
• Video clips

By documenting your process, you can knock out all of these items pretty easily when asked for it, because you have been doing it the entire time!

Hire A Pro (If Possible)

We're all capable of whipping out our phones and snapping a ton of blurry pictures to share with the world.  If your team has access to a professional videographer and photographer, hire them!  In a best case scenario:

• You get someone who knows what they're doing and will be able to get your quality shots of your work.
• It frees up your cast & crew from having to worry about this.
  
  Note: I would STILL encourage them to snap a few pictures here and there just to supplement what the pro would be giving the group.  It's a way of tiding the people over with some instant gratification until the pro media is posted up.

Offer to pay these people *something* for their effort.  Pass the hat around and collect a few bucks from everyone in the cast and crew.  Offer them free tickets to the current or future shows.  Bake them cookies.  Detail their car.  Take care of your media people as they can help make your production seem even more professional just by doing their job.

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You work hard for your art.  Show everyone what you're working on.  If you've got additional ideas as to how to keep interest in your art, comment down below!