What’s Grosser Than Gross?

Not knowing
what your industry's grosses are.

At the first
meeting of the Off-Broadway Brainstormers,, founded by the Executive Director
of New World Stages,  Beverley D. Mac Keen (who is one of the most foreword
thinkers I know), a proposal was made by now president of the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers, George Forbes, to collect grosses
from all currently running Off-Broadway shows, in an effort to truly understand
our own economic impact.

It was one of
those very simple proposals that made perfect sense.  How can we formulate
budgets, contemplate theater sizes, etc. without knowing what our market bears.  Right?

Well, believe
it or not, this idea met (and still meets) with resistance from some of my
fellow producers.

The League and
The Brainstormers came up with a great policy to address some very valid
concerns:

- We made
agreements with the ticketing companies so grosses would be sent directly to
the League so no additional work would be required on behalf of the production.

- The grosses
would be sent to one person at the League, and only three high-ranking
individuals would have access to the show's individual data, and would sign
confidentiality agreements never to share the information.

- No show's
individual grosses would ever be released to any party.

- The
aggregated data would also never be released unless a committee at the League
approved of its use.

Despite all of
these efforts to keep the data confidential and to install safeguards so that
it was only used for the good of the industry, many producers still refused to
allow their grosses to be reported.

Most simply
say that they don't want their grosses getting out to their competition. 
I kind of understand this, but, uhhhh, remember the confidentiality agreements
and the fact that only 3 people can access the data???  And that we're not
releasing an individual show's data, but only looking at the combined results?

Oh, and this
is my favorite part . . . do these producers remember that these numbers are
sent to unions every week?  ATPAM has a sliding scale compensation that is
based on gross so they have to send them the numbers.  Most likely their
show has an SSDC director on a royalty pool, which means that union is getting
their information (and the director and the director's agent, and his
assistant, etc.).  If there was "competition", wouldn't the
unions be the competition more than The League?  Add the advertising agencies (which we already know leak like the Titanic), box
office personnel, managers, etc. to the list of people that already get
grosses, and you've got more people who know your business than a public
company!

I mean,
really, are three more people who sign confidentiality agreements and work for
the League going to all of a sudden open up your show to attention from the
National Enquirer?  (If only!)

Sorry, but no
one, other than the people trying to figure out how to solve the Off-Broadway
problem, cares that much.

Sharing your
grosses publicly (like Broadway shows do in Variety) is up for debate, and I'm
not sure where I stand on that just yet, but sharing numbers in a private,
protected environment for study and analysis is not only smart, it's
essential.  And just like your mom told you, it's just plain selfish not
to share.

What are
people afraid of?  That we might see some low numbers?  Guess what,
with all the Off-Broadway shows that come and go, I think we have a clue that
you're not doing so well.

And besides,
we learn from the bad ones.  It's just like learning to ride a bike. 
You learn more when you fall off than you do when you don't.

So why do some
of these very smart people choose not to opt-in to this program?  Look,
I'm a control freak.  As an Off-Broadway producer, I'm not in control very
often.  I think that most producers are just like me.  And they are
refusing to release their numbers (even though they are released other ways),
because it is one of the few things that they can control. 

If any
Producers out there are struggling with this issue, let me know.  I see a
therapist once a week to help me get over it and would be happy to give you a
recommendation.  The industry will be better off as a result.

P.S.  What do you think of
Broadway shows publicly sharing numbers in Variety?  I've turned my
comments on, so comment away if you'd like (yes, even you Mom).

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