Producer

Overview

The producer is ultimately responsible for all non-artistic show decisions. S/he selects a production staff, facilitates all logistical matters, and runs all production meetings. If a production team member becomes unable to complete their position, the producer must either replace them or complete the position him/herself. The producer is also the final authority on the production. If something makes the producer uncomfortable for safety or other reasons, s/he may veto it. Additionally, the producer is responsible for handling interpersonal conflicts. It is important that the producer be organized, accounting for all miscellaneous tasks involved in the show. The producer must frequently take initiative and be extremely adaptive. Be prepared to do a lot of work.

Pre-Production

You should always actively go out and rope people into auditioning, particularly if they are on the fence. Assist the SM team and the director with the audition process. Create and go over actor contracts with all auditionees. Ensure that auditions adhere adhere to the Casting Guidelines stipulated in the Constitution.

Before Auditions

1. Set up Callboard
2. Schedule Designer Run and Costume Parade
3. Contact The Tech and Technique early for a review and photos

Director Prepping

1. Review casting policy
2. Review time maximums (15 hours per week)
3. Performance Space Constraints
4. Other Policies

Setting Up Auditions

1. Schedule auditions with the director, SM, and Ensemble.
2. Finalize audition forms and make sure all dates/requirements are correct.
3. Ensure that a readthrough has been scheduled.
4. Set up the online audition form as soon as possible. See webmaster for details.

Running Auditions

1. Be at auditions. You sit in the room with the director and help him or her keep track of people and make decisions.
2. Help the director decide a cast after auditions/callbacks. In addition to raw ability, you will want to take into account reliability and availability.
3. Call people once you've decided on a cast. Do this strategically in case people reject roles.
4. When you call people...
   1. You can offer them an hour to decide
   2. Once they accept, tell them when readthrough is
   3. Double-check that they don't have conflicts with show dates (especially first day of spring break, for the spring show)

Actor Management

1. Get actors out of any show conflicts (tests during tech week)
2. Replace actors should they decline their parts

Production Staff

Finding a good production staff is the most important thing you will do as Producer. Email town-crier, then spam campus. Think very carefully about your decisions. If you want advice, speak to the officers. A good production staff makes a stress-free show. When working with new dartes, you may will either need to assign them as assistants or give them a full position with a mentor. If they show motivation and willingness, you should definitely give them the full position. Meet with all production staff - be sure they understand the calendar and what is expected of them. Go over the contract with all members of the production team at the first meeting.

Finding Staff

1. Find an SM by auditions
2. TD, SD, and ASMs are high priority
3. Lights, Costumes, Sound, Props, Publicity are all important
4. In some cases, you may need to design audition posters, yourself

Contracts

Old production staff contracts can be found in the ensemble locker: /mit/ensemble/Private/Contracts/Current. Edit the due dates as necessary.
Newer production staff contracts (one contract for everyone) can be obtained by emailing Mark (marvel@mit.edu). They will soon be put in the locker.

Production Staff Issues

It is important to check in regularly with production staff to make sure that everyone is doing their jobs. If anyone is not on top of things, consider monitoring them more closely. If they are unorganized, help them get organized. If they are unsure how to something should be done, explain it to them or have them talk to a more experienced ensemble member. If they are slacking, meet them in person and create a more stringent work schedule. If they are unresponsive to email, call them. If they are unresponsive to calls, try reaching them through one of their friends. If all else fails, pay them a personal visit. Not everyone responds to email regularly: it is your job to adapt to their preferred means of communication, not visa versa.

First Production Meeting

The following key words should feature prominently in the first production meeting: contracts, calendar, deadlines, budget, schedule, read-through, designer run, prod hours, parade, put-in, paper-tech, q2q, tech week, vision. It helps to have production meetings scheduled at a regular time (Sundays after rehearsal, for example).

Rehearsal Period

1. Run Production Meetings
2. Meet with Chris Nayler
3. Register the Show
4. Pre-Show Announcement
5. Recruit Run Crew, House Manager, and Box Office Managers

Performances & Strike

1. Help Run Papertech
2. Help Run Cue-to-Cue
3. Assist as Needed
4. Schedule Runtime Jobs (or get the SM or TD to do it)
5. Attend Opening Night (ideally all shows)
6. Ensure the Show is Filmed
7. Schedule Alumni Reception
8. Schedule Brush-up
9. Cast Awards & Gifts

After Closing

1. Ensure Borrowed Items are Returned
2. Schedule Post-production (if applicable)

Miscellaneous

Interpersonal Stuff

You get to deal with all of the drama that might effect the show, lucky you. From conflicts between designers to angry actors to broken up couples to the inevitable conflagration between the SM and the director, you need to get the parties back into a state where they can work together and fulfill their responsibilities. Remember, especially as the show approaches, everyone is hosed, everyone is tired, everyone is looking for an excuse to start screaming, and much of the time squabbles are born more of general frustration than of real interpersonal problems. You should make it very clear to the actors, prod staff, and director at read through/the first prod meeting/routinely throughout the production that you are there to be a shoulder to cry on, to mediate, and to make sure no one dies or kills anyone until after strike.

Buying/Renting Weapons

For Romeo and Juliet in Spring 2011 we required the use of Rapiers. The ensemble owns both bastard swords and foil-type swords, neither of which was perfect. We therefore rented rapiers from [[http://www.weaponsofchoicetheatrical.com/|Weapons of Choice]]. If they are no longer around, contacting either MIT theatre arts or perhaps Ted Eaton (our R&J director) to find another place. Prices can get expensive - it's probably around $30 to $40 for each weapon for the run of the show, but that have a quite good selection. For R&J our director found a contact who gave us money to pay for the renting, but if we were willing to skimp on other areas we should be able to rent 2 or 3 ourselves. Shipping will take about 5 days, so rent them a bit before you want them to show up.

A couple general notes about renting weapons:
Keep the packing material around so you can pack them up neatly for the return trip.
Take care of them. They aren't ours and we don't want to be on the hook if they break.
Keep them safe. Make sure they stay in the office and people don't play with them. This can't be emphasised enough.
Make sure to rent one more than you need. Weapons do have a way of breaking we you least want them to.
If you're renting them for spring semester, the buffer for returning them can creep up fast. Either do it before leaving for spring break or right after you get back.

Organization

Organization is good. Keep a calendar of all deadlines. Email out upcoming deadlines before every prod meeting, and keep in touch with designers regarding progress and likelihood of missing deadlines. If designers are behind, help them create action plans for getting the job done, or point them toward mentors/obi-wans/Rinaldi/assistance. Request and update a spreadsheet that has at minimum the following information for each scene: each actor in it and who they are playing, props needed, set, time/day, and any special effects (projection, blood). This helps figure out where quickchanges, set changes, or other technical elements may become problematic. An idea is to do this as a Google Spreadsheet that only the producer can edit, shared with the cast and crew by a link from Callboard.

Things You Should Make Sure Happen

1. Auditions
2. Read Through
3. Designer Run(s)
4. Costume and Props Parade
5. Papertech (SM)
6. Q2Q (SM)
7. Put-in and Strike (TD)

Other Topics

1. Keep Interactions with the Director Positive
2. If Transitions are difficult, have a Transition Call