Project Fringe 10 – Part 4 – 7.17.09

We are really making progress with Project Fringe. I have a partner in producing this show. His name is Clayton Smith. I have worked with Clayton briefly in producing a reading of one of his plays. Clayton is a bright young grad student in Chicago. He has written for this blog, and it is #2 in the top-ranked pages of the blog. Clayton will be heavily involved in the creative aspects of script formation. He will also play a key role in fundraising and marketing.

Speaking of the creative part, I am down to three ideas, though only two of them are fully formed. I want to get a director involved to help choose the piece. There is a local, young director who has assisted on a lot around town and directed a lot of readings and smaller productions. Next season will mark his directing debut of a main stage at a regional theatre in D.C. I won’t reveal his name yet, but he seems interested, and I will let you know once we move forward.

So a partner is attached, and a director and script are getting closer. Now to work on a marketing plan and budget with my partner Clayton. Stay tuned to see who will be playing the “director” in this adventure and what script will make the final cut.

Project Fringe 10 – Part 3 – 7.10.09

Since I am going to produce a show for Fringe next year I figured I should start promoting them in the hopes that you will go see a show this year and come back next year to see my show. If you have read the blog about producing at Fringe, then you know at least one show you should see. I know I am buying tickets.

As a producer, part of our job is research. I will be seeing several shows this year to get a feel for how the festival is run. I will also be talking to many producers, like my friends Jamie and Cory, who are producing at this year's Capital Fringe.

I am mostly curious about budgets. How much they spent, how much they raised, and how did they do it. Part of my research will be to talk to people really involved in Fringe. One of my new Facebook friends is helping them with marketing and PR, and hopefully we will have lunch next week so I can pick his brain about how it is all going.

My last update with Project Fringe is that there is a late entry. I got a call yesterday from a young writer in NYC who has a new musical I am interested in. He seems very smart, and he pitched the idea yesterday and sent me some things to read. So now we have 3 good shows in the running.

Project Fringe 10 – Part 2 – 7.9.09

Time to update you on where we are with this project. With everything happening the last couple of weeks, I have been behind in this, and I need to try and stay more focused. So far, two ideas have really moved to the forefront.

This first is by two writers that I have never met, but I know them through friends, and I still am not sure how our paths never crossed. They are working on a musical adaption of Animal Farm. They really stepped up and came up with an outline and several demo songs for me. I have to say I am really impressed with the work they have put into this project, and it leads me to believe they will continue this work ethic all the way through, which is very exciting. I like the piece, and the songs are really cute. I can totally see myself doing this piece.

The second option is a new idea from friend of mine who is WONDERFUL writer and with whom I really want to work. His idea is less flushed out, and he would need to team up with someone to write the music, which I believe he has already started pursuing. I love the idea he has, but I am not sure how fast he can work to get the script and idea done. Although I don’t need a script now, the idea of the other option is totally flushed out.

I promised to let you know where I was, so there you have it. I will post more as details come. Who knows! Maybe I will make this really challenging and try and produce two shows! Crazy, I know. Stay tuned . . . .

Project Fringe 10 - Part 1 6.22.09

Okay, I announced earlier this week that I was going to dive into producing a Fringe Show. I got a lot of great ideas and a lot of people interested. I was actually surprised at the number of responses I received from all over the US, and some from people I didn’t even know. It was a huge boost. Now to move forward. I am going to go over the ideas (few actually had a finished show) and move forward from there. There is a lot to consider when moving forward.

First off, if you know anything about me, then you know I want to produce musicals more than plays. I am open to plays, but my passion lies in musical theatre; therefore, I am hoping to find a really good musical. Secondly, I want something that is going to be good. (Great Story and Great Music) I mean really good. I don’t want to put up a show that I am not proud of. The third thing I am looking at is people. Who will I want to work with over the next year to develop this show? They say producing is like marriage. You are together for a long time, so make sure it is someone you can really live with. I want the show to have a life beyond the festival, so the relationship could be for more than a year. Broadway producers of musicals that were written and closed 20 years ago still have to deal with the writers when it comes to subsidiary rights, so I will take picking the writers very seriously.

I am going to try and lay out all the ideas and writers and come up with the best options. Once I narrow down the choices, I will post my top three and move from there. Stay tuned to see what happens with Project Fringe.

The Begining

Today tickets go on sale for the Capital Fringe Festival. I am going to buy a pass and check it out. I decided I need to produce something. The Fringe Festival is the perfect place for me to test the waters of producing.

So I am going to commit to producing a show for the summer of 2010.

I don’t know what it will be but I just need to do it. Sometimes you just need to take a leap. Time to put my skills to the test.Working on Pride and Prejudice has been great and I have learned a lot from our lead producer Lori but I need to do something on my own now. (Check out this video of P&P)

So here goes…I will start the process this week of finding a show or finding writers. If I start today I will have one year to put together a show. I will blog about the process of producing it on here as part of the blog.So any writers out there have a short and cheap show they want to have produced? Write me at jared@nefftheatricals.com.