INVITATION TO A PODCAST

We just wanted you to know that we are now making podcasts that we wanted to invite you to become a part of. It costs you nothing and can be really valuable in helping people become aware of your theatre productions.

The reason we do podcasts for minority theatre is simple, which in fact is the reason we exist. We are very interested in the future state of minority theatre.

We realise that technology has brought about a change that will eventually affect all theatre and we want to be a part of that change in a positive way. That major change is that theatre is now being filmed and sent via pay per view all over the world.

For example the National Theatre in the U.K. film many of their productions and send them out to cinemas around the world which accounts for a significant part of their revenue, some estimates are that they account for as much as 12% of their annual revenue. This a technological trend that will continue to grow.

Before the internet this kind of was not possible on such a wide level except for having a play filmed and then shown on TV. When the filming to plays were first started back in the 1940’s, there were those who truly believed that the filming of theatre would damage and even kill live theatre, but history and research has proven that filmed theatre in fact encourages people to want to see the live production and that the two can exist hand in hand in much the same way that a live event like a filmed circus shown on TV will not diminish the audience appetite for the live circus experience.

Also many people do not know that early television during the late forties right through the 1960’s consisted of filmed theatre was a constant part of the TV programming, so filmed theatre is nothing new. And the most important fact is that some of the same plays that were filmed and put on TV are still drawing live audiences 50 years later.

For minority theatre, staying power is extremely important because most small minority productions only are up and running for a few weeks. When the production is finished most of the time, that is the end of it. How many great productions will never be seen if those plays are not filmed and preserved?

But if they are filmed and preserved, they can be shown on pay per view basis, as well as use the film to market themselves to other theatre around the world for future live productions.

In the USA because the rules with (Screen Actors’ Guild) SAG union are so stringent, many minority productions will run and then wither and die because their budget doesn’t allow them to hire actors at SAG rates that they can then film for pay per view distribution. They can film the production for archive purposes but for nothing else. The way around that is to simply not hire SAG actors for the filming. If a production is planning to film, and the production is using SAG actors for the stage, then a good way of doing it would be to allow a non-SAG actor to understudy the part and be filmed for the pay per view event.

Because minority theatre for the most part will not have stars playing the main roles, this is especially true for theatres in smaller towns, or right to work states where there is no reason that the theatre need to use all SAG actors in the filmed version of your play.

We are talking about extending the reach of minority theatre beyond the borders of today and into the future.

In Europe and Asia and South America, this restriction imposed by unions is not so much a problem because the unions are much more relaxed and realise that the world is changing and have adapted to the realities of technological change.

But getting back to podcasts, this is a way to publicize your production and give you a look in towards a larger world market for your small theatre production. Your production may not be on Broadway yet, but that is still no reason for it not to be seen and known all over the world.

So if you are interested in becoming a guest on one of our podcasts to talk about your theatre project, simply get in touch at : www.theatrestreamchannel.com : and we will start a dialogue that will hopefully expose the great things you are doing to the world. And the best part is that it can lead to your production earning money via pay per view and it will not cost you anything except your interest and your time.