Noises Off
Third on Daily Herald’s Top Ten of 2007
Buffalo Theatre Ensemble
was founded in 1986
Stones In His Pockets
Seasons
On Golden Pond
Fall '12 to Now
BTE had a balanced budget
Zero budgeting/Revenue Neutral
Fundraising
cc: kenteegardin -­‐ h/ps://www.flickr.com/photos/26373139@N08 Impact On Students
EVERY student in
department (500-600
seat counts yearly)
Preshow Discussions
(60-80 people per
discussion, 3 times
yearly)
Postshow
Discussions (50-90
people per
discussion, 3 times
yearly)
Blithe Spirit
Hamlet
Class visitations across campus (generally two per semester)
Theatre 1100 , Theatre Appreciation (200 seat counts per
season)
Theatre 2230, Directing (10-22 students per season)
Temporary Help
Acting and specialty classes (350 seat counts per season)
Students assisting with auditions (estimate 16 students per
season)
Students invited into Subscriber Nights (estimate 75-100)
The Underpants
Students back stage and sharing dressing room areas
(160-240 students per season)
Theatre 2221 and 2222, Stage Craft and Technical Production
(best estimate 6-8 per season)
Paid positions – Assistant Stage Manager, crew work and
some specific acting roles
Potential Impact of
Buffalo Theatre Ensemble
Real, viable and unique opportunities for students
Increased offerings at the MAC
Increased local respect/visitation of the College and
MAC
Increased recruitment for department and college
Transfer schools see the enhanced benefit of incoming
students from COD AND potential production
opportunities for their graduates
Professional theatre
community sees the
enhanced skills and
experience of students
Potential for increased
partnerships in the
community, via
outreach and
workshops
Increased regional/
national recognition
Grant Opportunities
cc: nican45 -­‐ h/ps://www.flickr.com/photos/13601389@N02 What will it take to
Bring BTE Back
Planning and Preparation
Support and Belief
Theater Program Profile •  The Theater program is staffed by two full-­‐9me faculty and several part-­‐9me faculty. •  The Theater program receives support from the MAC administra9ve and produc9on staff. •  The program offers 10-­‐11 class sec9ons in both Fall and Spring term, with 3-­‐4 class sec9ons offered in Summer. •  Theater 1100, Theater Apprecia9on, comprises 40% of all Theater course offerings. •  The Theater program stages six student produc9ons every year—2 in Fall, 2 in Spring and 2 in Summer. •  Faculty receive 40% of load to direct a student produc9on; students are required to register for 1-­‐3 credit hours. •  In Fall 2014, Theater generated 722 credit hours with 48 full-­‐9me equivalent students (FTES). •  In Fall 2014, the full-­‐9me equivalent student to full-­‐9me faculty ra9o was 24:1. •  On average, the total number of seats occupied in Theater courses every year is 560. Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, 2008/09-­‐2012/13 Avg. A/endance Season # Subscribers A/endance w/
comps Tickets Sold Ticket Revenue # Performances w/comp pd.9x 2008-­‐09 175 5365 4476 $96,987 64 84 72 2009-­‐10 161 4587 3939 $91,306 56 81 70 2010-­‐11 142 4372 3750 $87,356 55 81 68 2011-­‐12 143 4464 3898 $79,048 55 80 69 2012-­‐13 126 3000 2592 $73,252 36 86 74 What does it take to bring back BTE ? CompeTTve Market DuPage County 4 professional theatres within 20 miles 5 community theatres within 10 miles Western Springs, Wheaton Drama, Village Theatre Guild, Steel Beam Theatre, Summer Place, Paramount Theatre contempla9ng a straight play season in 200 seat Copley Union Theatres BTE Plays Paramount Theatre Musicals Fox Valley Rep Musicals & Comedy Plays Drury Lane Musicals First Folio Plays Single Subscriber Years in Ticket Price price per City # of Seats Subscribers existance Per show show $28 -­‐ $36 Avg sold Tx Glen Ellyn 185 143 25 years $19 $24 Aurora 17 miles St Charles 14 miles 1794 400 Oakbrook 9.8 miles 800 Oakbrook 8.2 miles 80/120/
outdoor 26,000 450 25,000 ? 4 years 15 years 30 years 19 years $41 -­‐ $56 $42 $45 -­‐ $60 $25 -­‐ $39 Student Offers: Average Ticket Sale 1/2 price student Tckets $23.22 $26-­‐$31 Star%ng Plays in Copley Theatre 2015 $38.50 $18-­‐$20 Educa9on program supports theatre program $26.67 $37-­‐$40 Very established excellent dining packages strong group sales $45.50 $22-­‐$29 Students pay $25 -­‐$35 to any show $10 kid 9ckets $28.75 Typical Professional Non-­‐Profit Earned to Contributed Revenue 40% Earned income Donated Income 60% 30% Earned income 70% Donated Income 60% earned Good 70% earned Goal Typical professional, non-­‐profit ensemble theatre structure BTE is a hybrid of resident and producing theatre Ar9s9c Director programming, cas9ng, crea9ve, produc9on Ensemble dramaturgy, programming, direct, act, mission strategic planning, administra9ve, budgets, marke9ng, sales opera9ons, and drives grants & fundraising, community rela9ons
Execu9ve Director
Board community mission, fundraising, policy, rela9ons Impact on The MAC Increased produc9on calendar and schedule by 22% or 60 added performances annually. This will result in a need for addi9onal staff. 300 250 200 Series1 Series2 150 100 50 0 College Music Theater Dance Touring Rentals BTE TOTAL PERFORMANCES MAC’s role in producing BTE •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Budge9ng – cost accoun9ng per show Payables, payroll, accoun9ng, contracts Program compila9on and design Marke9ng and press coordina9on Subscrip9on drive campaign planning & sales Box office sales and walk-­‐up sales each show House Management / Ushers Community Rela9ons Concessions Fundraising coordina9on with founda9on Theatre and tech maintenance IAC & Dreihaus grant wri9ng and budgets Office and administra9ve support Opening and press night invita9ons & planning Opera9ons needs Tech & Equipment maintenance and support Produc9on manager on duty for each show What it will take to make BTE sustainable? •  Funding •  Added staff •  Improved marke9ng •  Programming, pricing and schedule changes Staffing needs 2 Full-­‐9me tech posi9ons were permanently cut during the closing of MAC for a savings of $120k. •  By using part-­‐Tme independent contractors we can reduce costs by 50%. •  ** $120k was never expensed to BTE budgets it was absorbed by Ed Fund and the MAC opera%ons budget. This is accounts for majority of the added costs to previous budgets. •
Replace 2-­‐full-­‐%me Tech posi%ons, with part-­‐%me, on call independent contractors $26,400 –  Costume Designer -­‐ $3600 –
–
–
–
–
–
•
•
Set Designer -­‐ $3600 Props Designer $3000 Technical Director $3000 Ligh9ng Designer $3000 Sound Designer $3000 Carpenters $7200 Hire Business Mgr./ProducTon Manager like New Philharmonic Hire 1 Part-­‐Tme, on-­‐call house manager to cover shows when two performances going simultaneously TOTAL $60,000 $30,000 $ 3,600 POLICY EXCEPTIONS NEEDED FOR FACULTY AND STAFF TO WORK AS INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS IN ADDITON TO THEIR CURRENT POSITIONS Improved Program Scheduling Reduce opening costs to 3 producTons per year Increase run of each show from 3 weeks to 5 weeks •  Longer runs build word of mouth sales •  Schedule two ma9nees per run for senior groups •  Programming should be driven by audience appeal, name recogni7on, premiere possibili7es, not a limited cast size •  Longer runs help to pay off the opening expenses, rehearsals and fixed opening produc9on costs, set, costumes, props. –  3 week run would result in $182,000 loss first year –  4 week run result in $159,000 loss in first year –  5 week run results in a $146.000 loss in first year Improved AdverTsing •  Historically, there was very small adver9sing budget that ran 2 weeks prior to the opening and not throughout the run. •  Increasing the adver9sing budget from $30,000 annually to $50,000 –  Allows $1500 per week for one ad per week and a small cable buy, digital adver9sing, and small radio (Avg. Tribune ad $700 each) –  9 weeks adver9sing per show – marke9ng 4 weeks prior and through run –  Brochure prin9ng costs that were previously funded by the MAC and the college will now be in the BTE budget –  New group sales opportuni9es BTE Four-­‐Year Goal Begin with 60/40 and move to a 70/30 model •  60% = 160,000 in earned 9cket sales revenue •  40% = 108,200 in donated or contributed support Fundraising History Average of $8,300.00 per year Average donor gik size is $127.00 • 144 unique donors made 360 giks • Most giks were made through direct mail appeals GRANTS: Driehaus made total of $19,000 in GRANTS over 2 years Illinois Arts Council Grants to MAC were shared with BTE • BTE has raised $71,000 in gims and grants since 2005 – 8.5 year period DonaTon Records From FoundaTon Dollars BTE Dona9ons for 2006 $10,150 BTE Dona9ons for 2007 $8,888 BTE Dona9ons for 2008 BTE Dona9ons for 2009 $4,623 $3,325 Fundraising PotenTal •  Fundraising is very challenging in the current environment. Sponsorship and large giks are currently very difficult to secure. •  The average annual BTE gik is $127. It will take several years to cul9vate larger giks. •  Funding from Illinois Arts Council is currently frozen and an9cipates future reduc9ons. •  Many MAC donors support BTE and New Philharmonic so funds may shik from one program to the other. Proposed Budget 5"week"run 80#tickets#sold#for#60#performances#at#$25#avg#ticket
Revenue
Ticket#Sales
120,000
Foundation
Grant#Dreihaus?
TOTAL
#"of"
Avg"Paid" Performa
Attend
nces
80
60
Total"
Attend
Avg"Ticket"
Price
4800
25
120000
5000
125000
Expense
Per"Show"Run #"of"Shows #"0f"Weeks Cost"per"week
Marketing#Public#Relations
3150
3
Brochure/Ad#Design
500
3
Advertising
13500
3
9
1500
Brochure
5500
Sets
4000
3
Costumes
1500
3
Dry#Cleaning
500
3
Props
1000
3
Royalties
3000
3
Lighting#Gels/Lamps
450
3
Printing/Programs
$650.00
3
Poster/Banners/brochures
1000
3
Donor#event#press#party
500
3
Mailing#House#services
350
3
TOTAL
SUB"TOTAL
Production"LaborRate
Director
2500
Union#Actors
250
Pension#Dues40%#salaries
Non#Union#Actors125
Union#SM
248
Scenic#Designer 1200
Costume#Designer1200
Lighting#Designer1000
Sound#Designer 1000
Prop#Designer 1000
TD
1000
Carpenters#2
2400
Cutter/Stichers 1000
Run#Crew
40
Total
Weeks#per#run ##of#shows#3Avg###of#actors#per#show
3 3#weeks#of#rehearsal
10
3
3
1
week
10
3
3
3
11
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
(80#hours#per#show#@#$30#hour)
3
3
60 4#student#@$8#hr
SUB"TOTAL
9450
2000
40500
5500
12000
4500
1500
3000
9000
1350
1950
3000
1500
1050
96300
Total
7500
22500
9000
11250
8184
3600
3600
3000
3000
3000
3000
7200
3000
10080
97914
**Need policy exemp9on to front expenses for sets, costumes, props. MAC staff can’t be expected to front these expenses. ***The MAC cannot be accountable for any possible losses and maintain a break even status, the college will need to assume any losses. Administration
cost"per"show
Artistic#Director
Casting/Pick#Season
10000
Business#Manager
Contracts/scheduling/Donor#Cultivation/Subscribers/Contracts#Payroll
30000
House#Manager $60.00
3
(5#hours#x#$12#per#hour)
60
3600
Concessions#Staff$60.00
(4#hours#x#$15#per#hr)
30
$1,800.00
Production#Manager
$85.00
3
(5hours##x#$17) 30
2550
Box#Office#Staff $75.00
3
2.5#hours#x#$15#per#hour)
60
2250
Accounting
0#weeks#$12#x#12#hours#week
4608
Custodial#Services7500
7500
General#Operating
5000
3
15000
SUB"TOTAL
77308
TOTAL"EXPENSES
271522
TOTAL#INCOME
$125,000.00
TOTAL#EXP $271,522.00
PROFIT/LOSS
$146,522.00
Four Year BTE Projections
GOAL
$2,666 in sales per performance OR 6,480 tickets annually
Historically sold an average of 3581 tickets annually
Increase of 81% in tickets sold annually
GOAL
106 tickets sold per show at $25 avg. ticket price
Avg. number of tix. sold per show over last 5 years is 71 tix per show.
Increase of 10% each year = 30% increase
Support FoundaTon from College Ticket sales & Grants Total Year one 146,522.00 120,000.00 5,000.00 271,522.00 Year two 126,522.00 135,000.00 10,000.00 271,522.00 Year three 106,522.00 150,000.00 15,000.00 271,522.00 Year four Total 4 year commitment 91,522.00 160,000.00 20,000.00 271,522.00 $471,088.00 $565,000.00 $50,000.00