The following items were discussed at our open company meeting held in Riverside Park.
Collective Mondays
The evening we have come to know as Collective Monday will resume meeting on Monday, August 10th, after a short summer break. The summer break is intended to allow members time to recommit, to seek out and prepare work for when our regular evening resumes. In the meantime, there is still plenty of business to be done to keep the company running and to prepare us to tackle year three.
Committees
Lisa K. distributed a sign-up/working list of current committees, including the writers workshop, Collective Mondays, e-publicity, Collective Comedy, readers group, etc. Please identify an area (listed here or otherwise) where you feel you can best serve your fellow members and The Collective. Shared ownership of a group means shared responsibility. Many of your peers have already stepped up. What will YOUR commitment be?
The Field
We are close to acquiring our Sponsored Artist status with The Field. This will allow us to accept tax-deductible donations over $250 (cash, goods or services), in addition to all the existing benefits afforded us through our association with them (not-for-profit, discounts, access to TDF Costumes, Materials for the Arts, etc.). Our Sponsored Artist status will also allow us to offer health insurance to interested members through Fractured Atlas (member fee and monthly premiums apply).
Calendar
There is a skeleton of a calendar which takes us through Winter. If you have projects that you would like to propose to The Collective for possible production/inclusion, please contact a Board member or email thecollective9@gmail.com.
There are four theatrical projects currently on the table: The Whales of Long Kesh (please read the play, if you haven't; there are two versions currently in circulation, and a third will be soon); Raised in Captivity by Nicky Silver; Collective Comedy; a festival of funny women in theatre.
Production Model
There was a point raised about getting shows up with long enough runs to be reviewed. We have not yet found the right production model for our current stage of development that allows productions to be self-sufficient. We came closer with the three weeks in May, but we still need to find the right combination of space, work and time.
Please constantly be on the lookout for relationships with theater spaces. Space rental has been about 70% of the total budget for our productions. If we can think creatively about alliances with theaters (who are currently desperate for bookings), maybe exploring the idea of becoming a resident company at an existing theater, or free spaces, or shared spaces...
Advisers
Please continue to network. The idea was raised that it would be useful to have people outside of The Collective whom we respect who are, perhaps, a few years further down the road in the development of their own production companies who we can consult for advice or reach out to for support. We have some of those relationships forming already, but YOUR connections matter.
Membership
Various members of the group continue to raise the issue of membership. It is not our goal to increase our numbers just for the sake of doing so. Our goal is to protect what we've built by inviting ONLY the people we would die to work with to be a part of our community. Individual talent as an actor or theatre/film professional is foremost, but the litmus test must be an individual's understanding and commitment to the process and philosophy of The Collective. These talented individuals must be willing to roll up their sleeves and invest time and energy in all aspects of developing and running a business, and all aspects of developing and producing shows.
Diversity is also important to us. So, as we continue to produce, we will reach outside of the group as needed until which point we can cast all roles from within.
We do not audition people to be a part of this group. Every member is invited by someone who was invited by one of the founding members. Each member needs to take personal responsibility for anyone he/she introduces to the group. We are each others' checks and balances. Participation in The Collective is not something to be bartered.
Be multi-disciplinary
Following the model of the LAB and others, challenge yourself to explore EVERY skill of production. Costumes. Lights. Sound. Front of house. Budgeting. Promotion. Directing. Stage management. Fund-raising. Everything. Be a well-rounded theatre professional, and an invaluable asset to The Collective, on stage and off.
Initiative
If you truly understand what you are a part of, then you also know that everything is possible with this group of people. Any project and any task can become a reality if YOU are willing to be its champion. You all have the names and contact info for the members of this group, and if you have a scene, an idea, a problem, anything that you feel passionately about that is in the best interest of The Collective and your fellow members, the people in this group will support you. Do not wait to be assigned a task or told what to do. Build committees... Partner with someone you respect... Start productions... Raise money... Write material... Ask someone to train you in an area you know little about... Get involved and contribute your skills and experience.
"I love Actors and by extension, the theater. I love the minutia that surrounds them both. I love listening and telling Green Room war stories. I love the onstage triumphs and yes, I love even the disasters. I love the adrenaline that shoots through every Actor onstage when something goes wrong, and the relief that sweeps thru when some heroic Actor saves the day...
...It has been said that an Actor must have the hide of a rhinoceros, the courage and audacity of a lion, and most importantly, the fragile vulnerability of an egg. It has also been said, and I'm not sure by whom, that the moment of not knowing is the moment that has the greatest potential for creativity. The professional and private lives of most Actors are filled to the brim with moments of not knowing."
--Robert Prosky
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Collective Monday – June 15, 2009
These were the items discussed at the top of our meeting:
Open Founders/Board Meeting
Last Friday, all members were invited to participate in an open Founders/Board meeting to discuss the direction of The Collective in year three. Some possible projects were discussed, as well as broader mission/vision topics. Some key items:
1. Committee heads needed
Please identify your areas of interest and step forward to get involved. In many cases with The Collective, 'if everyone is doing something, then no one is doing it.' We need to be able to delegate core tasks to active members. Specific areas in need:
--Internet communications (a team to manage our internet presence, from the web site to MySpace, Facebook and Twitter)
--Grant writing
--Festival submissions
--Fundraising
2. The Field
Most of you know that, although we are not a full non-profit ourselves, we have affiliated ourselves with The Field to be able to have access to discounts and benefits afforded not-for-profit companies. Within the next two weeks, we should have our application complete to become a "Sponsored Artist" with The Field. This means that we will be able to accept tax-deductible donations of money, goods and services (over $250). One additional benefit of being sponsored is that our members will be able to access affordable health insurance.
3. Collective Mondays
We renew our commitment to our Monday sessions. It is the place where all of our projects to date have developed. This means members are regularly bringing in prepared work. We are moving away from using the time for table reads. Work should be beyond the stage of making basic choices when it enters Monday. You should prepare your work thoroughly, to the best of your ability, and come in with a specific goal(s). It is not a performance, so there is room to fail and succeed. Discoveries will be made, and both the observers and those on stage should find value in the exchange. We are peers.
4. Writers' Group
This valuable resource will be further developed. Krista and Sam are going to lead the effort, and we will start with the four new plays developed through Ed Baker's intensive and then build the group with contributions from writers inside The Collective. We will develop a strategy for receiving and reading external submissions.
5. Calendar
We will plan to post, in the upcoming days, a calendar of proposed projects and group commitments.
Softball t-shirts
A few remaining softball shirts are available for sale, $20 each. We have a few larges, and one more medium. Those who would like a shirt, but need a different size should let Robert know. A re-order will be placed in the next few weeks to provide additional sizes.
Softball games continue in Central Park every Monday afternoon through the end of July. Please come out to support.
Improv workshop
Robert will once again be offering improv workshops this summer. The plan is to do two condensed sessions, meeting twice a week for four weeks in July, and then another session twice a week for four weeks in August. We would like to do an informal performance at the end of the Summer.
The feedback from the last session was very positive, but it was difficult to build momentum meeting just once a week. The goal is to structure the workshop so that a different improv concept will be covered each week, and so that there will be built-in opportunities to make up any nights missed.
Please email thecollective9@gmail.com ASAP if you are interested, along with your preference for days of the week, probably 7-9:30pm. There is no charge for the workshop (except a nominal contribution to cover any rehearsal space expense), but a commitment to attend at least one session per week is required. We need a solid 8-10 people in order to make it happen.
Open Founders/Board Meeting
Last Friday, all members were invited to participate in an open Founders/Board meeting to discuss the direction of The Collective in year three. Some possible projects were discussed, as well as broader mission/vision topics. Some key items:
1. Committee heads needed
Please identify your areas of interest and step forward to get involved. In many cases with The Collective, 'if everyone is doing something, then no one is doing it.' We need to be able to delegate core tasks to active members. Specific areas in need:
--Internet communications (a team to manage our internet presence, from the web site to MySpace, Facebook and Twitter)
--Grant writing
--Festival submissions
--Fundraising
2. The Field
Most of you know that, although we are not a full non-profit ourselves, we have affiliated ourselves with The Field to be able to have access to discounts and benefits afforded not-for-profit companies. Within the next two weeks, we should have our application complete to become a "Sponsored Artist" with The Field. This means that we will be able to accept tax-deductible donations of money, goods and services (over $250). One additional benefit of being sponsored is that our members will be able to access affordable health insurance.
3. Collective Mondays
We renew our commitment to our Monday sessions. It is the place where all of our projects to date have developed. This means members are regularly bringing in prepared work. We are moving away from using the time for table reads. Work should be beyond the stage of making basic choices when it enters Monday. You should prepare your work thoroughly, to the best of your ability, and come in with a specific goal(s). It is not a performance, so there is room to fail and succeed. Discoveries will be made, and both the observers and those on stage should find value in the exchange. We are peers.
4. Writers' Group
This valuable resource will be further developed. Krista and Sam are going to lead the effort, and we will start with the four new plays developed through Ed Baker's intensive and then build the group with contributions from writers inside The Collective. We will develop a strategy for receiving and reading external submissions.
5. Calendar
We will plan to post, in the upcoming days, a calendar of proposed projects and group commitments.
Softball t-shirts
A few remaining softball shirts are available for sale, $20 each. We have a few larges, and one more medium. Those who would like a shirt, but need a different size should let Robert know. A re-order will be placed in the next few weeks to provide additional sizes.
Softball games continue in Central Park every Monday afternoon through the end of July. Please come out to support.
Improv workshop
Robert will once again be offering improv workshops this summer. The plan is to do two condensed sessions, meeting twice a week for four weeks in July, and then another session twice a week for four weeks in August. We would like to do an informal performance at the end of the Summer.
The feedback from the last session was very positive, but it was difficult to build momentum meeting just once a week. The goal is to structure the workshop so that a different improv concept will be covered each week, and so that there will be built-in opportunities to make up any nights missed.
Please email thecollective9@gmail.com ASAP if you are interested, along with your preference for days of the week, probably 7-9:30pm. There is no charge for the workshop (except a nominal contribution to cover any rehearsal space expense), but a commitment to attend at least one session per week is required. We need a solid 8-10 people in order to make it happen.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Collective Monday – June 8, 2009
These are the items discussed at the top of our meeting:
Collective softball
Our coach, Sam Doerr, was not present at the meeting this evening due to his game ejection and league suspension for trash talking with the ump. Until Sam learns how to play nicely with others, he will, by extension, be suspended from ALL Collective functions until his league suspension is lifted, or until we tire of teasing him about it, whichever comes first.
We have games every Monday afternoon in Central Park through end of July. Please come support the team. Shirts are available for purchase (see below).
SEA LEGS – a field trip
Craig Butta's film "Sea Legs" premiered this past weekend at the Brooklyn Film Festival. There is one more screening scheduled for this Thursday, June 11th at 8pm. A group of Collective members are planning to attend to show support. See details in the previous post below.
Cursing at Strangers – the latest incarnation of Mike D's show
Below are details for the show and emerging documentary that have spun off from one of our favorite Collective Comedy headliners and our January UPRISING premiere. The Collective influence continues to grow: the seeds we helped plant cannot help but flourish!
Comedian Mike D., straight from his tour with Dennis Leary, has been trying different formats for his provocative and resonant material, so we don't know exactly what to expect, but we do know that you can't witness Mike without laughing and developing some new angles on everyday ideas. Come check out his latest incarnation Friday or Saturday and help develop the film that will be cut next month and submitted to Sundance in August.
Free admission for Collective members. Lisa K. also volunteered to handle logistics, and anyone interested in helping with a few light administrative tasks is welcome to join her; just drop her an e-mail.
Cursing at Strangers written and performed by Mike DeStefano
Addiction, Disease, Death: It's a Comedy
FRIDAY June 12 and SATURDAY June 13 ONLY, 8pm
Theatre 54, 244 W. 54 Street (floor 12), NYC
betw. Broadway & Eighth Ave.
Tickets: $12 at the door
E-mail mikedreservations@gmail.com for reservations or with inquiries.
May Play Series wrap-up
Congratulations to all who contributed to the success of our three weeks of work at Center Stage in May. As a group, we held our financial loss to about $1,500. We lost less in these three weeks than we did in one week in January during UPRISING, so that's progress. This means we still have money in the bank to apply toward future projects.
We increased our turnout week-on-week throughout the three weeks. At the end of it, we could have broken even had we been able to turn out a mere additional 6 audience members per show. We recognize that the short lead time was a challenge. Yet, this group has proven time and time again its ability to accomplish amazing things in all situations. We needed Clay's students and fans in that first week to help us close the gap, and we didn't get them.
Thanks to all who called in favors, bought tickets for themselves and friends/students, and donated their own time, skills, resources and money. The work was something of which to be proud. We won over a lot of people these three weeks and added almost 70 new email addresses to our contacts list.
Softball shirts
We have a few softball shirts left from our initial order that are available for purchase. The shirts are $20 each, and we have a few medium sizes and a few large sizes. If you want one in a different size, you can let Robert know. Once we have enough requests to place a re-order, we will. We can order small quantities, but in order to get the price down, we need to order in bulk.
Collective softball
Our coach, Sam Doerr, was not present at the meeting this evening due to his game ejection and league suspension for trash talking with the ump. Until Sam learns how to play nicely with others, he will, by extension, be suspended from ALL Collective functions until his league suspension is lifted, or until we tire of teasing him about it, whichever comes first.
We have games every Monday afternoon in Central Park through end of July. Please come support the team. Shirts are available for purchase (see below).
SEA LEGS – a field trip
Craig Butta's film "Sea Legs" premiered this past weekend at the Brooklyn Film Festival. There is one more screening scheduled for this Thursday, June 11th at 8pm. A group of Collective members are planning to attend to show support. See details in the previous post below.
Cursing at Strangers – the latest incarnation of Mike D's show
Below are details for the show and emerging documentary that have spun off from one of our favorite Collective Comedy headliners and our January UPRISING premiere. The Collective influence continues to grow: the seeds we helped plant cannot help but flourish!
Comedian Mike D., straight from his tour with Dennis Leary, has been trying different formats for his provocative and resonant material, so we don't know exactly what to expect, but we do know that you can't witness Mike without laughing and developing some new angles on everyday ideas. Come check out his latest incarnation Friday or Saturday and help develop the film that will be cut next month and submitted to Sundance in August.
Free admission for Collective members. Lisa K. also volunteered to handle logistics, and anyone interested in helping with a few light administrative tasks is welcome to join her; just drop her an e-mail.
Cursing at Strangers written and performed by Mike DeStefano
Addiction, Disease, Death: It's a Comedy
FRIDAY June 12 and SATURDAY June 13 ONLY, 8pm
Theatre 54, 244 W. 54 Street (floor 12), NYC
betw. Broadway & Eighth Ave.
Tickets: $12 at the door
E-mail mikedreservations@gmail.com for reservations or with inquiries.
May Play Series wrap-up
Congratulations to all who contributed to the success of our three weeks of work at Center Stage in May. As a group, we held our financial loss to about $1,500. We lost less in these three weeks than we did in one week in January during UPRISING, so that's progress. This means we still have money in the bank to apply toward future projects.
We increased our turnout week-on-week throughout the three weeks. At the end of it, we could have broken even had we been able to turn out a mere additional 6 audience members per show. We recognize that the short lead time was a challenge. Yet, this group has proven time and time again its ability to accomplish amazing things in all situations. We needed Clay's students and fans in that first week to help us close the gap, and we didn't get them.
Thanks to all who called in favors, bought tickets for themselves and friends/students, and donated their own time, skills, resources and money. The work was something of which to be proud. We won over a lot of people these three weeks and added almost 70 new email addresses to our contacts list.
Softball shirts
We have a few softball shirts left from our initial order that are available for purchase. The shirts are $20 each, and we have a few medium sizes and a few large sizes. If you want one in a different size, you can let Robert know. Once we have enough requests to place a re-order, we will. We can order small quantities, but in order to get the price down, we need to order in bulk.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
World Premiere of SEA LEGS, a film by Craig Butta
You are cordially invited to the World Premiere of
SEA LEGS
a film by Craig Butta
shot by Sean Williams
and featuring a cast of characters from Coney Island
The film will premiere as part of the Brooklyn International Film Festival
This year the festival will screen at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema
70 Henry Street, across from Cadman Plaza
Sunday June 7th @ 5pm
Thursday June 11th @ 8pm
For more information and to buy advanced tickets
http://www.wbff.org/films/detail.asp?fid=987
Thanks you for your continued support
This project has been a labor of love for many years and I am so proud to finally be able to share it with you.
Please forward it to anyone who you think might be interested in Cinema, Coney Island, or just supporting a local filmmaker.
See you at the theatre!!!
Craig Butta
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