Where does the money come from to make great theatre?
- Convenor:
- Pamela Cole-Hudson, Gazebo
- Attendees:
- Keith Potts, Mouthpiece Theatre CO.; Victoria Gaunt, Sharp Ugly Theatre; Jennie Sear, Sharp Ugly Theatre; Alison Gagen, Arts Council; Pam Yarwood, Swan Playwrights; Chris O,Connell, ; Kaz Luckins, Freelance actress; Louisa Davies, MAC; Ed Collier, China Plate
- Description:
-Is it about bums on seats? Making our own money through ticket sales and not expecting funding. Using a good venue and having good publicity.
-Sponsorship? Arts and Business. Can we foster a hybrid approach to the work? Can we engage the private sector more? Convince them of the monetary vaule of the arts? Is there some way we can bring the private sector into the discussion? However, we do need to think laterally and creatively about this in the Midlands due to the hammering of industry in the area- do businesses have money to offer right now?? Some areas are doing really well- eg; the online gaming industry is huge. ………..
……when funding to the arts is cut and hit hard by recession (2 year lag) businesses will be in recovery and therefore will have money to invest when gov’t funding no longer readily available, so there are opportunities there we should be looking into from now.
-Co-production?
- Point made that subsidised ticket prices makes it difficult to charge realistic ticket prices, when trying to produce without funding.
-If there was a shared virtual resource- would people use it? All could have access to log in and put info on regarding shows, events, etc taking place across the region……For some, its local advertising that has to be undertaken, eg in small villages….would be good for less central areas.
-Are we feeling there is less money around now, in terms of both for production costs and for audiences to spend?......
..…It’s fine if you’re selective about where you go and market well- need to be realistic and think about what people want.……From a voluntary sector point of view- yes there is less money around- less funding opportunities which enable the work to continue and enable access- Local authority funding which provides the core income enabling a company to then generate further earned and raised income is being cut and it is increasingly difficult to find other sources for this. Many do not want to fund the core running costs which form the backbone of an organisation.
-Are people spending less during the recession?..could be the other way round, because people want to go out when things are bad- but may be more the case with the top end shows.
-If ticket prices have to be increased, people generally will understand if the reasons are explained to them.
-However, ticket prices do feel high for the theatre- what happened to £6 tickets?- want to support but just ends up costing too much money.
-With lack of finance, and a lot of money in the big large scale theatre shows, will more companies move towards this popular theatre and stop experimenting and creating new innovation? ….We need the small scale which grows into the big scale- eg Jerry Springer the Opera and Knee High. There will be a desire to move to bigger scale- but with middle scale costs are higher for production.
-Investment is being hammered and both local authorities and Arts Council do not have the money anymore. This will be the case whichever Government is elected.
-Universities seem to have a lot of money- there are relationships happening and support and space provided.
-Do we need , then to look more at in kind support with regards to rehearsal space, marketing, etc,…however- this makes business planning etc really difficult as you never really know what you are going to get!
-A feeling of negativity due to the feeling that there is nothing out there unlike around 8 years ago. For new writers, etc, how do they take their work forward- so it makes you think “Why bother?”
-Taking productions into non-theatres and creating happenings- trying to do this but how do you convince non-theatre members to attend something in the public toilets (and pay for it!!)
-Lack of finance is restricting risk taking and creativity- will stifle the arts.
-Need to emphasise that the arts is not just a tag on- need to be seen as important as other industries (whichever are left!) – they generate a lot of money and have masses of benefits- this needs to be put across more.
-Is part of the problem the process to get money from the Arts council?..ways are changing and applications are more straightforward now…But if there’s no money available….???
-It is important to lobby for lottery money not to be diverted from the arts- we need to outline the economic and social benefits
A huge portion of the resources are allocated to the big theatres….what about the rest of us??
- We need to get audiences to value the arts rather than seeing them as a social right.