THR 489: Final Project Student: Amy Burks Project Date: Nov 11-13 Evaluator: Mark Lewandowski Overview

Amy Burks produced The Selkie Wife as her final project. Although written as a twohander with a very minimal design, her show expanded under her director to include two live musicians, two children (which were originally written as mimed characters), and a large set piece. Although these decisions complicated her production responsibilities, they added significantly to the show. With little additional cost and increased tickets sales, Amy had a financially successful show, in addition to an artistically successful one. Pre-production Royalties Since the play had only one other production, it was unpublished and still licensed by the playwright, rather than a royalty company. As such, the obtaining of rights was a very simple matter. Amy did have some concern early on that she did not know what to offer, concerned that she would be required to pay more than she could afford. In the end, the royalties were very reasonable for a one-act play. Personnel Amys production team was the most significant factor in creating the successful show. From her directors vision to her cast members to the design team and musicians, all took their jobs seriously and took the production to another level. A number of the additional production elements that the director wanted to bring in was also supplied by the director for no additional cost. This allowed for less stress on the production team and for the production to come in under budget. However, the process of securing this team was quite challenging. Her original thoughts for director and actor did not pan out, and at one point, Amy felt quite desperate. Her director took a while to confirm, and if Deanne had not accepted the position, Amy probably would not have been able to meet her deadlines. As mentioned about, once her director came on, Amy needed to add more personnel. Some of these additions came later in the process, but for the most part, she had no trouble securing these people, although scheduling did become a bit of a hassle. Amy was quite successful with being able to delegate some responsibilities (e.g., box office) as well as allow the others on her team to do their job. This does not mean she abdicated responsibility. Amy struggled with a number of decisions that her team was making and certainly stepped in when she felt it was necessary. But generally she supported her team well.

Rehearsals Amy had a number of struggles during her rehearsals period, mostly to do with the technical demands and additions that were happening during the process. She certainly had a number of conflicts with the directors visions and choices. She also had to run some interference between her director and design team, since her director did not have a lot of faith with student designers. She also had some early concerns about her fellow cast member due to a personal history. However, very quickly these concerns disappeared as the rehearsal hall became a place of professional attitude and respect. Production In terms of evaluating the production, I will attempt to avoid those of an artistic nature unless a decision by the producer directly affected the production. Front of House and Space The space was laid out in a standard proscenium and riser configuration. A couple of the rows had only a 7 rise between them, but the action played on the floor seemed to be far enough upstage so sightlines did not seem to be an issue. In the lobby, the ticket desk had some nautical-themed decoration which added an interesting touch. Design The design was quite gorgeous with a large fishing net providing an interactive backdrop. This was very evocative and allowed for interesting story telling. The floor piece was hard to distinguish exactly what it was (a seal), but know what it represented was irrelevant to the storytelling. Running The performance I saw went well with strong performances from all the cast as well as the musicians. An upstage light went out, but was not distracting to the audience and the cast (mostly musicians) dealt with it well. Following the performance, there was a talkback with the cast and playwright. It was interesting, but could have used a moderator who was not answering questions. Program The program was in half-letter sized format with eight pages. This allowed plenty of room for text, but the headshots were generally quite large making the text hard to read, especially for seniors in that space. Administrative Items General Administration Amy displayed a lot of trepidation when starting the process. In fact at her first discussion with me about the possibility of doing this show, she thought it was a

ridiculous idea, far beyond what she was able to do. However, she clearly demonstrated that she could mount a play successfully by leading a capable team in the process. Amy has a lot of great ideas and certainly demonstrated a passion for the project, both to her production team as well as to the people around her. This passion also helped her in her fundraising and in her marketing. This passion cannot be underestimated. Her ability to communicate this and inspire others had a significant positive impact on her project. These comments do not mean that she did everything perfectly or that she did not have challenges along the way. In our meetings, Amy was easily distracted from the points being discussed. This seeming randomness is certainly a character trait whose benefit is to think outside the box and find different connections and solutions to things. However, the drawback is moving off of a topic before a solution is determined. It also tends to reject structure that can be very important to keeping a project moving forward effectively. As Amy discovered, writing things down and making a plan beforehand (as she did with scheduling her time) are crucial elements to ensuring that things are not missed. They also can reduce stress because they can clarify what is most important, what is next to do and what can wait. I believe without these tools, Amy would have floundered more than she did. Early on, she did flounder a bit. She often said to me, Im not sure what to do now. She was full of questions and had very little confidence. However, that is normal. A student is not expected to know exactly what the next step is; this is the reason for an advisor. Yet Amy displayed at times serious concerns over her ability. (See Stress Management below.) As the project went on, she became more confident, and I believe the tools helped her with perspective. In addition to planning, Amy also delegated tasks and allowed people to do their jobs. She was able to give the box office and front-of-house duties away (although the public did not always understand that) which took a lot of her plate in the final days. She also delegated some marketing tasks. Although she felt passionate about the show and artistic decisions and struggled when choices were different than hers, Amy was able to step back and see these choices as for the good of the show. The ability to hire good people, inspire them, and get out of the way makes for a good producer. Budget / Financial Report Amy had an interesting relationship with her budget and finances. She was incredibly stressed about tracking them the right way as if she would run into serious trouble by doing something wrong. While it is true that in some legal requirements can come into play when doing a commercial endeavour (e.g., the paying of taxes), being the sole

proprietor means you are accountable to no one but yourself. So however she tracked her money was fine. I do commend her desire to be accurate and ensure that the money was kept safe and clear. Early on, she tried to put everything in an envelope in order to keep the money separate. This common method of personal fiscal control is a good way to ensure one is not overspending a specific area. However, since many costs involved with a project are based on expected revenue, this can be impractical because one does not have cash in hand at the outset of the project. I am unsure if she continued with this method or not. From her financial report, it shows she made a healthy profit on this project, largely due to increased ticket sales (90% more tickets than budgeted). She also had some fundraising ventures and sponsors and was able to keep her expenses under control. However, the accuracy of this report is in question: 1. Amy mentions in her post-mortem that her set cost was only $23 rather than the $200 budgeted. This number is supported in her working documents, but is not included in the report. 2. Her sponsorship is rather confusing as some of it went into the bread fund. It looks like her fundraising netted $31.45 (which seems a lot of work for the amount she raised), but this is unclear. It would have been clearer to show all the costs for the bread fundraiser with all the revenue received. The net could then be calculated, but the clear costs of the fundraiser calculated. (See #5 below.) 3. Amy participated in a collective final project fundraiser with her other classmates with the total amount raised shared equally among the four. However, that amount does not seem to be included in this report. 4. Her concession amount is unclear. She states that her costs for the soda bread were all covered by the Rosebud Country Inn, but she indicates a cost of $44.72. What is that cost? Were additional items sold at concession? 5. She does not indicate any revenue for her concession. She includes the figure of $224 as a float for concession, but by the way she entered it into the spreadsheet, it is not calculated into the total. A float should not be calculated as a revenue and expense item (no more than borrowing a prop would be), but if $224 was actually the profit she made through the selling of the bread, it should be included. Ultimately, these clarifications are likely to add to the surplus indicated, so it is still fair to say that she did very well from a financial standpoint. To clarify the comment about the bread fund above, Amy could have reported the soda bread selling in separate lines. So under revenue, she would have Sponsorship

where she would put the money from Doug Wade and others, and a separate line called Sponsorship Bread Project for the money from the Rosebud Country Inn and others who specifically gave to that project. Under expenses, she would then include the total cost of the expenses for the bread. The fact that some loaves were given away or were unsold is irrelevant since the expenses were the same. By doing this, she would not need to put other donations into the bread fund so she could give away loaves for free, and it would give a more accurate accounting of how much she actually made through this fundraising effort. She mentions that her miscellaneous is over because she decided to pay her poster designer in cash rather than by an alternate payment plan. Since this item is actually part of her marketing costs, she should have allocated it there. It is perfectly acceptable to go over on a specific line (e.g., marketing) while being under on another (miscellaneous). The miscellaneous line is meant for items that are not included elsewhere in the budget. It could be a place for the $43.90 that was unaccounted for from the front-of-house, although it would have to be indicated in both revenue and expenses. Marketing Amys marketing seemed to be quite successful owing to the ticket sales she had. Generally her approach was quite typical with press releases, posters, social media and word of mouth. She did contact some other target groups and received some favourable response, but it is unclear if any of this work translated into ticket sales. Her plan was written down, but was quite thin on details; ultimately it was more of a checklist. This was enough to be clear in her head which is fine. Had she needed to hand this over to someone else though, it would have been a challenge to pick it up. Yet even writing down this little information was enough to keep her focussed and on track proving even this minimal plan is valuable. She is perfectly accurate in saying that she herself was her best marketing tool. Her passion for the show and the experience was infectious. This really seemed to take off on her Facebook event where others started to catch that vision. Her marketing image was quite strong and interesting. It supported the concept of the show and made an eye-catching poster. As she mentions in her post-mortem, she did have some issues with her poster designer not understanding the technical elements of printing. As such the original design of her poster would have printed too dark to be effective. She then engaged a second designer who was savvier in working with a printer and was able make it work. Unfortunately going through that process, the focus shifted to the image and not the text, and she missed some important information. Amy says that she should have found an editor to proof the posters. That is certainly a value suggestion, but having a checklist of important information is just as useful.

Reporting/Communication For the most part, Amy kept me in the loop as to the status of her project. Our meetings tended to be fairly informal and held in relaxed places. But Amy did not hesitate to contact me when issues arose. She had a few challenges with the communication between her designer and her director. As mentioned above, I believe this was due to a lack of trust on the directors behalf. There was also some concern about the net being caught on the painted set piece and a conversation on how to prevent that seemed to go around for a while. I am unsure if she held production meetings, but this may have solved many of the problems more quickly. Amys post-mortem report was very conversational in tone. She covered all of the important areas and seemed very honest and provided some good insight. Unfortunately the conversational tone made it hard to understand in some places. It occasionally took reading aloud (and trying to find her voice) in order to follow the thought. Even then, there were several typos and many grammatical errors. I would encourage Amy to find a proof reader/editor if she needs to submit this type of report in the future. The content was quite good; the style could use improving. Time Lines Early on, while Amy struggled to secure her team, she had a hard time confirming her show dates. Even after securing her cast and director, she changed her dates again looking for an appropriate time to do the show. The dates and times she did finally choose seemed to work well. One struggle she had was having a large gap during her rehearsal process when her male lead was gone on a trip. I believe she was unaware of this conflict at the beginning, but did know in enough time to make that concession. She seemed to use that time with some personal work on the show including experimentation with the net. Ultimately this gap seemed to have no effect on the show. For the most part she was able to stay on top of her timelines. The biggest issue was the interfacing between Toad of Toad Hall and her project. Since both projects were sharing the same space and supposed to share the same lighting plot, she was at the mercy of that other project which affected her timelines. Stress Management As mentioned above, Amy began this project with trepidation, concerned about doing things wrong and unsure if she would be able to handle the project. As the time progressed, she gained confidence. Through planning and delegation, she was able to head off many of the major stressors that come up during the final weeks of the production. There were times of frustration, such as some of the changes implemented by her director and her lack of control over the schedule during her tech week and lack of

personnel for some calls. She mostly dealt with these situations by either taking a broader view and trying to see what is really best for the project, or by sucking it up and just soldiering on. These attitudes are very positive ways of dealing with the stress these situations bring. It is very easy to be filled with self-pity and blame when these situations come up, with neither reaction being helpful to move forward or to combat the stress. Although she was very busy during this period, I strongly encouraged her to ensure she was taking time for herself and a chance to decompress. I am unsure how much she actually did, but I did hear of her taking some breaks and trying to take care of herself. I believe this contributed to her ability to look at the project objectively. In the end she says that she enjoyed much of the producing process. I believe her planning, her attitude, her taking care of herself and her willingness to delegate and let the excellent team around her work helped reduce the stress and allowed her to enjoy the journey. Summary Amy produced a highly entertaining, aesthetically interesting, and engaging play which was also quite successful financially. She brought together a strong team around her, inspired them with her passion, and allowed them to do their work. Although not thorough, her planning was enough that she was able to stay on top of the necessary items so tasks never became urgent or overwhelming. All of these activities show that Amy could certainly be involved with producing shows in the future. With more experience, I believe she would be able to improve on some of the planning stages, but if she were to produce more items, I recommend she finds a partner who has more natural abilities in the administrative areas. Amy demonstrates natural ability at interfacing with other people, sharing her passion, and inspiring her artistic team. These too will strengthen and improve through experience. However, Amy should never simply leave the administrative items to someone else. Part of her success was her being part of the practical planning side and seeing the whole. She may be great at generating ideas for her marketing, but by putting it into a plan, she could see better what really needed to be done. She may be good at inspiring her artistic team, but without a real good knowledge of the timelines, she cannot be able to mediate between the artists and the technicians. I strongly encourage Amy to seek out other projects that excite her as much as The Selkie Wife did and consider how she can be involved in making the project a reality.
Pre-production Royalties Personnel Rehearsals Weighting 17.5% 2.5% 10.0% 5.0% Mark 32 5 19 8 Out of 35 5 20 10

Production Front of House & Space Design & Artistic Elements Execution Program Administrative Items General Administration Financial Marketing Reporting
-post-mortem -communication 5.0% 2.5%

22.5% 10.0% 5.0% 5.0% 2.5% 60.0% 7.5% 12.5% 12.5% 7.5%

41 18 9.5 9 4.5 97 12 18 22 11
7 4

45 20 10 10 5 120 15 25 25 15
10 5

Time lines Stress Management TOTAL

10.0% 10.0% 100.0%

16 18 170

20 20 200

TOTAL MARK

85.0%

Letter Grade

A-

Student: Amy Burks Final Project: The Selkie Wife Outside Evaluator: Jeany Snider Amy was stunning. I loved her long hair and her bluish gray dress that looked like the sea on a cloudy day, or a seal. I especially loved her dancing in the water, at the top, in the storm, and during the healing. My favorite scene was the storm. Amy spun and twirled and shouted above the waves with such genuine exhilaration and spirit, I could almost taste the wet salt air. Amy was ferocious when appropriate, playful and believable with the kids, and utterly at ease with the sexual tension and physical intimacy. She was clearly in her skin and knew the story she was living out. Almost all her interaction with Driscoll were true and tuned to the moment. Only once did I sense her anticipation of his line and jumped a bit. She did not shy away from the hardness and yet the audience felt taken care of to enter the world of the play. I also was moved by the ending with the wet, the dress, the longing to touch and the love for her family. So overall, really proud of Amy. I thought this was a great showcase for her.