Producing Theatre and Performance project...

'A Masquarade Murder'.

What is A Producer/Producing?

A producer is the big boss of the show. They are responsible for the shows birth and success, but mostly leave the creative team (actors, technicians, backstage crew etc) in the capable hands of the Directors, who will direct how the performance appears to an audience. 

A producers responsibilities vary depending on how big the company is. If, for example, you are the producer of a Paramount production, your responsibilities will be very specific and limited to what the Producers only can do, simply because there are other people to do the less important jobs. If you are working in a small theatre company (Like how HNC/HND operates) then the Producer will be needed to more tasks as there are less bodies to do the same amount of work. These tasks include: Obtaining rights for a production, selecting and gathering the productions teams, negotiate and issue contracts, ensure the law is followed, create and manage a budget, book a venue, create a production timeline, raise the money, market the production, liaise with clients of the production and run the productions business needs. 

Obtaining rights for a production: Unless the production is a fully original piece (brand new story, brand new soundtrack etc), then there will be legal rights that need to be obtained before the production can be performed. Legal rights give you permission to use copyrighted material for specific purposes that have to be declared beforehand. 

Select and Gather the production teams: Selecting the right people to work on a production is really important for the productions success and therefore creating the right teams of people (e.g. lighting team, sound team or costume team) is vital to making sure the production runs smoothly and to time. 

Negotiate and issue contracts: As with every business transaction, Contracts are involved. The producer will talk with the legal team to sort out the contracts of every member of the production, NDA's (Non-disclosure agreements) and other legalities such as any security needed.

Ensure the law is followed: As it is the producers ultimate responsibility, they have to make sure that the law is followed through every step of the production process. The Laws around productions vary dramatically from the length of time food for the actors can be stored for, to the licencing of a production, to its copyright status and performers rights. 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/performers-rights/performers-rights 

Create and manage a budget: nothing in the world is free....especially a Production! Once you've covered production rights alone, you could be a few thousand pounds down at least and that's not including set, costume, makeup, pay for actors, pay for tech and crew etc. I had an explore online and couldn't find a direct answer (but lots of Quora, Redditt and theatreboard comments!) and staging a production with vary in cost depending on what production your doing. Broadway productions for example cost anywhere between $17-$23 million dollars to stage but smaller companies could stage a less popular production for cheaper (e.g. $40,000). This money needs to be managed by someone and its the producers job to make sure money is being invested wisely into the production, so they can allocate funds to different departments and oversee the general budget of a production to make sure a profit can be made if a profit is required. 

Book a venue: All productions need to be performed somewhere, even if it in the middle of the street! A producer will sort out where a production will be held, and how the production will be held there, e.g. if a production is being performed in a theatre then you'd only have to book the theatre, however if a production is being performed in the street you would have to talk to the local council about closing that street for cars so that the performance can run safely and smoothly. 

Create a production timeline: a Timeline is important so that everyone working on the project has deadlines to meet, so that the project continues at a good pace and meets the overall deadline. A timeline gives people clear goals and a date to have achieved them by e.g. scripts to be written by 06 June 2024.

Raise the money: The production budget doesn't just appear. its the producers job to raise the funds needed to create the production. this is done either from private funds (usually for smaller productions) or by asking companies to invest in the production. This means that they will give money to the project in exchange for credit or sole sharing rights when the project is completed. 

Market the production: Unless you have a full marketing team for the production, the producer will likely have to market the production. This means they will have to advertise the show to the public and convince people to come and spend money with the production. Marketing the production correctly could either make or break the production.

Liaise with clients of the production: If the production is for a profit, charity or cause, then there will likely be clients or investors of the production. keeping them in the loop and up-to-date on what's happening with the production is the producers responsibility and is often done in external production meetings. 

Run the business needs: at the end of it all, a production is a business, whether its for profit or not, and every business needs someone to run the business stuff...the money, the marketing, the employees...the producer oversees the running of it all or runs it themselves. 

https://stageone.uk.com/about-us/what-is-a-theatre-producer/#:~:text=The%20producer%20is%20the%20person,aspects%20of%20staging%20the%20production. 

https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/read-first-contract-1570/ 

https://getintotheatre.org/blog/what-does-a-theatre-producer-do/ 

https://www.rsc.org.uk/blogs/whispers-from-the-wings/what-does-a-theatre-producer-do 

Similar companies to us (or how we are operating)

In HNC and HND we aim to operate as a small theatre company, while our Units form the foundation of the work we will be doing in that term, so its important for us to do some research into professional companies so that we can follow their lead. 

Gloucestershire based Companies:

• Jenny Wren Productions- founded in 2004, Jenny Wren productions operates throughout the year on small scale productions, touring schools, library's, outdoor and indoor venues. In the Summer they perform outside at multiple venues and then during the Autumn they often are on tour and Many of their projects have been funded by Arts council England

https://www.jennywrenproductions.co.uk

• Rain or shine- founded in 1997, Rain or shine specialises in pop up theatre events and aim to "bring classical professional theatre into the heart of local communities at an affordable price" (Quoted from their website). It originated from the 'festival players theatre company' which had been successfully touring Shakespeare productions since 1993.

https://www.rainorshine.co.uk 

• Dreamshed Theatre- Established in 2003, this small theatre company aims to stage a variety of productions in a variety of locations, offering amateur and professional actors opportunities to work. It shows a wide range of work, from professional plays to amateur scripts and offers customised theatre and drama workshops to organisations across the UK. 

https://www.dreamshedtheatre.co.uk 

UK Based Companies:

• M&M Theatrical Productions- This company was founded in 1996 and is the UK's largest and most respected provider of theatre in education (theatre that teaches us something). It encourages children to learn through engaging performances and encourages children to be imaginative and read for pleasure. 

https://www.magicoftheatre.com 

• Tiny Giant Productions Limited-  This is a production company started by an ex Gloscol student called Ollie Hancock and we have seen a few of the productions created by them. 

https://riversidestudios.co.uk/flowers-for-mrs-harris/ 

https://barntheatre.org.uk/room-13 

• Murder Mystery productions (MMP)- Founded in 1993, MMP is a production company specialising in productions with murder in. They aim to create interactive, period and contemporary pieces. This company is very similar to the kind of show we will be putting on so they will act as a good case study for our production. 

https://www.mmp-rep.co.uk/ 

Business Models

I wont lie to you, I have very little interest in business-ey things but seen as I'm going to need these skills in the future,  hopefully this unit will change my mind...lets see...

What is a Business Model and why are they useful?

A business model is a companies plans on how they will make money. It presents the products and/or services the business is offering, identifies a target market (the ideal customers to market too), and anticipates any expenses the project will incur (e.g. wages for employees, supply for product, equipment, etc). Business models are important for a business or company because they help bring in more investors, buyers, workers and revenue streams. Its essentially a handy to-go guide on how and why the business will be successful, and the better the business model, the more money you make....theoretically. 

Business models constantly need updating however, because trends are constantly changing, and the product that someone (e.g. Sandra) liked 2 weeks ago is not the product that Sandra wants today, and so switching up the business model will bring in new customers to try the old products (Just because Sandra doesn't want the product, doesn't mean Tim wont either), and new products or services for the old customers to keep them coming back (cuz Sandra wants a shake up!) Overall, a business model acts as a guideline for a financially successful and therefore viable long term business (which is the point of starting a business....to make money). 

What is in a Business Model?

A business model has lots of separate parts that makeup the entire piece, these are:

1. Value Proposition- A short statement to say why customers should choose your products/services over others in the market.

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/write-value-proposition#:~:text=A%20value%20proposition%20is%20a,can%20expect%20you%20to%20deliver. 

2. Projected start-up costs- How much you have estimated it will cost to start up the company (including equipment, advertising and personnel)

https://www.startuploans.co.uk/support-and-guidance/business-guidance/finance/how-to-calculate-business-start-costs#:~:text=for%20your%20business.-,What%20are%20start-up%20costs%3F,sunk%27%20into%20the%20business%20venture. 

3. Financing sources- How you are going to afford to run the business.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zj7yy9q/revision/1 

4. Target customers- who are your intended buyers? Who do you want to target in your advertising?

https://study.com/academy/lesson/target-consumer-definition-lesson-quiz.html#:~:text=Let%27s%20review.-,The%20term%20target%20consumer%20is%20defined%20as%20the%20specific%20group,around%20the%20target%20consumer%20attributes. 

5. Marketing strategy- a long term plan for how you are going to market yourself to customers.

https://www.optimizely.com/optimization-glossary/marketing-strategy/#:~:text=A%20marketing%20strategy%20is%20a,use%20to%20reach%20those%20customers. 

6. Competition review- who else is out there like your business? who are your biggest threats and what are their strengths and weaknesses?

https://www.dnb.co.uk/resources/what-is-a-competitive-analysis.html#:~:text=A%20competitive%20analysis%20relies%20on,marketing%20resources%20for%20maximum%20effect. 

7. Revenue projections- how much you estimate that the company will make over a time period. 

https://dealhub.io/glossary/revenue-projection/#:~:text=A%20revenue%20projection%20is%20an,yearly%2C%20quarterly%2C%20and%20monthly. 

8. Expense projections- how much will it cost to run the business for a period of time?

https://www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au/finance/financial-planning-documents#:~:text=An%20expenses%20forecast%20estimates%20your,market%20research%20and%20industry%20benchmarks. 

9. Potential opportunities for partnerships- Is there networking and working together opportunities here? Having partnerships can help expand the business and give you allies. 

https://www.liveseysolar.com/how-to-spot-partnership-opportunities-bp/ 

Types of Business Models

• Freemium- a combination of 'free' and 'premium'.  Offers a basic service for free with optional charged extras (e.g. Candy crush, Fortnite, Dragon City etc). 

https://www.digitalocean.com/resources/articles/freemium 

• Franchise model- this is where an established brand (or franchiser) allows an individual business owner (or franchisee) to use their business model, brand and products. The Franchisee gets a head start with the business and in return the franchiser charges a flat fee and acquires royalties as the franchisee grows. 

https://sopa.tulane.edu/blog/franchise-business-model-everything-you-need-know#:~:text=What%20Is%20Franchising?,franchisor%27s%20trade%20name%20and%20trademark. 

• Multi-sided- a multi-sided business model identifies 2 or more target groups and, once you have collected some information, designs a product or service that merges groups together with benefits to all...ill explain. Lets say Group 1 wants to be able to draw without sharpening a pencil. Group 2 wants to be able to draw without taking lots of colours round with them. A solution for group 1 is a mechanical pencil, but that doesn't help group 2. A solution for group 2 is a multi-coloured pen (like Bic), but that doesn't help group 1. A solution that helps both parties is a multi-coloured pen with a mechanical pencil built in. 1 product that benefits 2 target groups. 

https://www.businessmodelzoo.com/business-models/multi-sided-business-model/#:~:text=The%20multi-sided%20business%20model,that%20connects%20the%20two%20parties. 

• Razor and blade- The razor and blade marketing strategy aims to sell 2 products, 1 basic product at a low price and a complimentary product at a high price. It was named after King Gillett who (as you may have guessed!) designed and sold disposable razor blades. Its designed to lock a customer into buying basic items frequently and then occasionally spending more to get the other item. (it would be like Tesco doing a deal on milk and cookies...buy a bottle of milk for £1.50 and get cookies for £2.50. You WERE just going to buy the milk but now your eating cookies after spending more...)

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/razor-razorblademodel.asp#:~:text=What%20Is%20the%20Razor-Razorblade,reverse%20razor%20and%20blade%20model. 

• Subscription- A subscription business model is when customers pay a recurring fee to access products or services (e.g. gym memberships or streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+)

https://blog.hubspot.com/service/subscription-business-model#:~:text=A%20subscription%20business%20model%20is%20a%20recurring%20revenue%20model%20in,works%20in%20the%20next%20section. 

• Direct selling- Direct selling is what it says it is...direct...selling. It is a way for a business to sell their product directly to a customer and avoid the use of middle men (e.g. delivery drivers, distributors etc). A really easy and obvious example of this is market trading. A business sets up a stall and sells their product directly to the customer, face to face and there and then. 

https://www.close.com/blog/direct-sales-model#:~:text=The%20direct%20sales%20model%20describes,for%20each%20deal%20they%20close. 

• Ecommerce- An Ecommerce business model is how a business plans to sell their products or services ONLINE and how they will bring value to the customers. 

https://www.elasticpath.com/blog/6-ecommerce-business-models-b2b-b2c#:~:text=Electronic%20commerce%2C%20or%20eCommerce%2C%20is,Business%20to%20Government%20(B2G) 

• Peer-to-peer- Peer to peer Business models are where you can interact and engage with customers directly without the use of a third party (similar to direct selling). 

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/peertopeer-p2p-economy.asp#:~:text=What%20Is%20a%20Peer-To,incorporated%20entity%20or%20business%20firm. 

• Retailer- A retailer business model is what it says on the box, a retail focussed business. These businesses buy in products from other companies and sell them on to customers in a business to consumer (B2C) style. They are often third party sellers in other business models. 

https://www.eposnow.com/uk/resources/retail-business-models/#:~:text=As%20suggested%20by%20the%20title,mostly%20local%20distribution%20and%20competition. 

• Leasing- a leasing business model is when a business buys in an asset (e.g. a carpet cleaner) and then rents that asset out to the customer for a fixed fee. They then collect the asset to be rented out to the next customer. 

https://learningloop.io/plays/business-model/leasing#:~:text=Under%20the%20Leasing%20business%20model,a%20given%20period%20of%20time. 

• Bundling- A bundling business model is when you sell multiple products together in a 'Bundle' usually at a discounted price than if you were to buy them separately. (e.g. a Shampoo, Conditioner and Body wash bundle sells for £10, but the Shampoo, Conditioner and Body wash sell for £5 individually.)

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bundling.asp 

• Distributor- A distributor business model is often the middle man for other business models. These businesses buy in products from other companies and then re-sell them to other businesses or customers. 

https://online.maryville.edu/business-degrees/traditional-types-business-models/#:~:text=A%20company%20fitting%20the%20distributor,manufacturer%20and%20the%20general%20public. 

• Manufacturing- A manufacturing business models uses raw materials to make a product to sell to a consumer (e.g. a bakery manufactures bread by combining and baking flour, water and yeast. Boots manufactures lipstick by combining ingredients in their main factory and casting it into lipstick moulds.)

https://online.maryville.edu/business-degrees/traditional-types-business-models/#:~:text=The%20manufacturer%20business%20model%20utilizes,product%2C%20such%20as%20automobile%20manufacturing. 

• Affiliate- an Affiliate business model is when a business uses a third party to promote and sell their products with a share on the profits that third party brings in (commission), e.g. if I were an affiliate for the 'High Orchard' pub, I would be paid a percentage of what the customer spent if I convinced them to eat there (e.g. 3%).

https://www.bigcommerce.co.uk/articles/ecommerce/affiliate-marketing/ 

• Hybrid- Hybrid means to combine, so a hybrid business model is when other business models are combined to provide a product or service.

https://www.myoutdesk.com/blog/what-is-a-hybrid-business/#:~:text=A%20hybrid%20business%20model%20is%20defined%20as%20the%20combination%20of,base%20across%20those%20differing%20models. 

• Crowd sourcing- Crowdsourcing business models are where a business out-sources (finds outside of the company) tasks and ideas to a large group of people that can collaborate to achieve an end goal. Crowdsourcing can be used to collect funds, information and opinions that a business can then use to help them grow. 

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/crowdsourcing.asp#:~:text=Investopedia%20%2F%20Paige%20McLaughlin-,What%20Is%20Crowdsourcing%3F,others%20perform%20small%20tasks%20voluntarily. 

• Business to consumer- a Business to consumer (B2C) business model is where a business sells their products or services directly to the end user, without the use of middle men or adaptions. 

• One-for-one- A One-for-one business model is when a company donates one of their products or services for every product or service they sell.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_for_one#:~:text=The%20One%20for%20One%20business,began%20following%20the%20business%20model.  

• Non-Profit- A non-profit business model is used to keep a business going when its end goal is NOT to make a profit, but rather to educate, donate or help others. 

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/non-profit-business-plan/#:~:text=A%20non-profit%20is%20a,of%20the%20same%20regulations%20apply. 

• Profit-Share- A profit sharing business model is when a company decides to split a portion of the businesses profits with the business employees, usually through cash, bonuses, retirement plans, shares and others. 

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/profitsharingplan.asp#:~:text=A%20profit-sharing%20plan%20is%20a%20way%20for%20employers%20to,as%20when%20the%20employee%20retires. 

• Commercial- A commercial business model (or pricing model) is a businesses plan for how it will bring create, capture and deliver value to a consumer. 

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/businessmodel.asp#:~:text=The%20term%20business%20model%20refers,both%20new%20and%20established%20businesses. 

• Ticket revenue- Ticket revenue is the money that is brought in from selling tickets for a production

 https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/ticket-revenue#:~:text=Ticket%20Revenue%20means%20gross%20revenues,use%20of%20Premium%20Seats%2FSuites. 

• Digital distribution- This business model is a way of sharing media (photos, videos and films for example) online and can include other business models alongside. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_distribution#:~:text=With%20the%20advancement%20of%20network,(see:%20digital%20cinema). 

In the theatre we don't use all of these business models, but a lot of them can be transferrable to different projects depending on what that project requires. All the ones in RED are commonly used in the Performing arts industry: 

• Multi-sided- A multisided business model aims to talk to two or more target groups and then create a product that benefits both. This business model can be used when trying to design a theatre piece that targets multiple audiences or bring multiple companies together, for example you may have a group of people who have loads of creatives but no Production crew, and a small group of technical artists with no performers. Bringing these two together to create a full production team along with a small company to sell merchandise or refreshments creates the basic outline for a production to run profitably and successfully.

• Direct selling- Small theatre companies don't have the funds to employ third party sales people, so they often have to direct sell their productions to theatres themselves. Employing a third party seller (an external person to sell the production for you) can be expensive and, depending on if they are fixed rate or percentage of profits paid, it doesnt always turn out profitable in the end. Direct selling increases the profitability of the performance and increases the audience engagement with the production crew too (the audience generally want to see who made it all happen). 

• Ecommerce- Theatres have to offer online ticket sales otherwise they significantly limit their target audience. In todays technically-modern society, everything is done online...paper isn't really a thing anymore and its cheaper (no printing costs), easier (just search the name) and more efficient to do things electronically. Many theatres do still offer paper tickets on arrival but they can cost extra to post out to audience members so its easier and cheaper to order the tickets online (through a direct site like everyman.co.uk, or through a third party seller like Eventbrite) and then download an electric ticket. 

• Leasing- Actors and crew members can be considered assets of a company and so can be hired out to other companies to fill in any gaps. A theatre group or production crew may not have all the members of cast or crew that they need for a production or may not have the correct equipment to create said production, so they get in contact with other companies and borrow the equipment/people they are missing. The equipment/people then stay for the duration of the production and, once its over, return back to the original company. The borrowing company pays the original company for the resources they used (usually a standard fee plus length of time borrowing for, e.g. £200 flat fee plus £20 per day for each piece of equipment borrowed). 

• Manufacturing- A manufacturing company creates items from raw (fresh/un-played with) materials using labour, tools and machinery. In the performing arts world, its not just performers who work on set/stage. Carpenters, prop masters, costume makers, set creaters, puppeteers...all these jobs happen backstage and require people to make (or source depending on item)an item. This requires people to use raw materials (wood, fabrics, joints etc) and put in labour to fix these materials together in such a way that a new item is formed (e.g. a chair, a dress, a box).

• Affiliate- Affiliates work as team-mates rather than employees.  Often Theatres will work in an affiliate way so that they get a percentage of ticket sales in exchange for hosting the production. For example, a theatre might offer a production company use of their resources (stage, backstage, lighting and sound equipment etc) for free, in exchange for 15% of the ticket sales (upfront sales, not profit). 

• Hybrid- Theatres can use a combination of different business models based on that productions goals and restrictions. Hybrid business models take one or more business models and combine them together. They do this for many reasons but its always for the businesses best interest and productions have a lot of ground to cover, so having multiple business models merged into one allows that ground to be covered efficiently. Most common hybrid models include: Ecommerce with most, direct selling and affiliate, affiliate and crowdsourcing, non-profit and crowd-sourcing and profit-share and hybrid, to name a few.  

• Crowdsourcing- Crowd sourcing does what it says on the package. Sourcing money from a crowd, usually online as its easiest and most fruitful. Productions aren't cheap and often crowdsourcing is used to help fund small productions that don't qualify for government grants or loans. For example, a small production company may be planning to do a 30 minute production and have an estimated budget of £10,000 to make it happen. The company sets up a crowdfunding page and asks the public to donate towards this production. Members of the public can then choose to donate or not donate toward that £10,000 goal and the production team then have to use whatever money has been donated in order to create the production. 

• Business to consumer- Small theatre productions often don't have the budget to employ third party sellers so will have to sell directly to the customer from the productions business. This often will be only for ticket sales as small productions generally don't sell merchandise but the principle is the same. the production company will directly communicate with potential audiences in order to get them to spend money on the production. whether this is done online (through online advertising), in person (physically selling tickets to people) or through other means, as long as there is not someone selling on behalf of the production (like affiliates but that's a grey area...) then it works as a Business to consumer (B2C) model. 

• Non-profit- Non-profit business models are what they say they are. Not for profit. These productions can be done for various reasons e.g. to educate, raise awareness, and support local communities, rather than to raise money. Non-profits models are used a lot in theatre in education pieces because the point of the production is to educate or inform a group of people about a topic, rather than make a profit.  Belgrade theatre in Coventry is a great example of a successful theatre in education (or TIE) business. 

https://www.belgrade.co.uk/theatre-in-education-tie/ 

• Profit share- A profit share works well when there are only a few members in your production. A profit share works by covering all the productions expenses (e.g. venue hire, advertising, costumes and set, etc) and then sharing what's left between who's part of the team. Profit share can be done equally (everyone gets equal pay regardless of their input to the production) or it can be done based on the work you contributed (e.g. someone who was in for 1 hour a day would be paid less that the person who was in for 8 hours a day). Small production companies use this as a way to easily split the profits between members. 

• Commercial- A commercial business model shows how a company will offer and sell its products to a market, so it encompasses a lot of business models. In the theatre (as with any business venture) we want a production to be profitable and successful and we need to be able to easily see what will make that happen. A commercial business model does this by showing potential investors of the business, the businesses plan to make money and become profitable. 

• Ticket revenue- A ticket revenue refers to how much money is generated by selling tickets. In the theatre, there are 2 main ways of making money...selling tickets and selling merchandise and small theatre productions don't have the budget to buy in or create merchandise for performances, so they primarily rely on ticket sales to the event (plus maybe food and drink) as a way of bringing in money. Knowing your estimated ticket sales is critical to ensure you turn a profit, otherwise you could over-reach financially and end up with a loss on the production. 

• Digital distribution- As technology has progressed, so too have the ways an audience can 'watch' a performance. Today, there are many different ways a production can be created; videos, audio, e-books, video games, and other forms of digital (technical data driven) productions that do not (necessarily) need individual physical objects to be watched. These ways of watching a performance have risen in popularity massively and make up a considerable chunk of your potential audience (or a full chunk in some cases) and so learning the most affective distributing methods for the particular production you are doing means that you can closely target your ideal market.  

Performance Project: Murder mystery

This term we have been commissioned by Gloucester Welcomes Refugees to put on a Christmas fundraiser for them. We did a Halloween Spook-tacular for them last year (Halloween 2023) and managed to raise around £200 for them...which was good...however the Previous year had managed £600 so it wasn't as good as it could have been. So, This year we are following in our Pre-decessors footsteps and creating a murder mystery of our own at Christmas!

We took inspiration from the previous groups ideas and decided to use a pre-made murder mystery set as a stimulus and foundation for our piece. An entertaining and profitable murder mystery with a cast our size (11 Actors and 2 backstage) would require a lot of character pre-planning which, although would be fun, we simply do not have the time to create backstories, motives, alibis and a performance. A pre-made box set does all of that for us and we can adapt the story to suit our needs. Then, we looked through the box set and familiarised ourselves with the story. 

This unit for me is all about the Producing side, with a performance at the end, so the first thing I wanted to do was figure out which roles people would be playing (as in their backstage rather than onstage roles), so I discussed with Sonia which Units people were doing as that would influence where they would be stationed (e.g. someone doing a lighting design unit wouldn't be suited for a HMA role (Hair and Makeup Artist)). This is what we discussed, with the RED bits being added responsibilities: 

• Thomas- Devising Theatre (DV) Props and décor

• Will- DV, Lighting and sound Operation

• Faith- DV, Costume Construction

• Phoebe- DV, Dance

• Kian- DV, Set Construction

• Fru- DV, Costume Construction

• Ryan- Directing, performance project (PP)

• Sam- PP, Set Design, Marketing, Décor

• Basia- Hair and Makeup design, PP

• Hollyann- Directing, PP

• Josh- Management role, Lighting Design

• Charlotte- Producing Theatre, PP, Dance 

• Emily- Hair and Makeup Application

Which means that the hierarchy and departments would be this:

• Sound and lighting: Josh and Will

• Hair and Makeup: Basia and Emily

• Set and Props: Sam, Kian and Thomas

• Marketing: Charlotte and Sam

• Directors: Hollyann and Ryan

• Choreographers: Charlotte and Phoebe

• Costume: Fru and Faith

Timeline

My next job was to figure out a Timeline for the Production. A timeline means that everyone knows when things need to be done by and how much time we have left till the Performance. I had a think about everything that needs doing: A basic script, characters assigned, characters and lines learnt, date confirmed, rehearsals, costumes, props, set, makeup, marketing, venue set up, Budget set up and allocated, Talk to the clients, set sound and lighting, tech rehearsal, dress rehearsal, food and drink buying, etc etc etc and started to draft out a basic Timeline:

• Performance day: 12 December (confirm with client?)

• Performable 29 November with possible dress run 11 December.

• 08 November= lighting deadline

• 24 October= costumes, props, set and script deadline. 

After discussing with the Directors, Josh and Sonia this was the firmed up timeline:

• 20 September: Characters assigned

• 27 September: Performance Proposals due (what everyone would like the performance to look like from their POV). 

• 30 September: Pt 1 blocked

• 11 October: Pt 2 blocked

• 18 October: Talk to clients, Marketing deadline

• 24 October: Hair, Makeup, Costumes, Set, Props lists and Script Deadline.

• 08 November: Lighting plan, Budget Deadline and Pt 3 Blocked

• 15 November: Story cemented (not going to be changed drastically from now)

• 22 November: Pt 4 blocked, Set, Props and costume Making deadline, lines learnt. 

• 29 November: Performable, Venue arrange and prep, Food and Drink buying

• 05 December: Tech programming and Rehearsal

• 06 December: Dress rehearsal/Practice run (TBC)

• 12 December: Performance at 6pm (Confirmed by client)

Characters and my character:

The Directors (Hollyann and Ryan) chose 11 out of 20 characters for the actors to play as they felt these characters were the most interesting and relevant to the story. we could use these characters as a starting point and add and change bits of them that we didn't like or wanted to play around with (e.g. genders, personalities, status etc). Obviously some of these were easier to do than others. Here are the characters that Hollyann and Ryan chose:

1. The Countess- 'Party host, wealthy widow and queen of society, you need her approval to do anything'.

2. The Dragon- 'Single man of large fortune, nephew of the countess, main target for a lot of women'.

3. The Dove- 'young and quite naïve, very pretty and has recently inherited a large fortune'.

4. The Lion- 'retired military, wealthy, and craves power and social status. doesn't tolerate anyone from the lower class'.

5. The Stag- 'Was in love as a young man but wasnt allowed to marry her, so never married anyone'.

6. The Hare- 'Life and soul of the party, jolly and drunk, loves to celebrate any occasion'.

7. The Bluebird- 'Upper class, rich, dislikes the lower classes, desires to move up in society'.

8. The Wolf- 'Had money but wasted it, now has to fend for himself, lies a lot'.

9. The Turtle- 'Quick to anger, jealous, wants to help their family but doesnt go about it well'.

10. The Weasel- 'Vain, selfish, has a profession but still seeks a rich woman to marry to move up ranks'.

11. The Detective- used to control the audience and steer the story. 

We has a full cast and crew meeting and decided on these as our roles:

The Countess: Faith

The Dragon: Fru

The Dove: Basia

The Lion: Charlotte (Me)

The Stag: Ryan

The Hare: Phoebe

The Bluebird: Hollyann

The Wolf: Thomas

The turtle/Red cloak (the dead person): Will

The Weasel: Kian

The detective: Sam

MUA: Emily

Tech Manager: Josh

As the Lion I was given a character booklet to guide me through the character:

As you can see, its very detailed! 

The lion is an upper class, ex military man (now woman) who acts as a right hand to the countess after being a close friend of her late husbands. She dislikes the lower class and works to make sure they don't mix with the upper classes, being unhappy at a few of them being at the party. My aim with this character is to mix a grumpy, stuck-up old man with a commanding and powerful leader, ultimately ending with a character that demands respect and power through two venues: respect from her previous job (general in the military) and fear from the lower class gives her a sense of continued power. This character is very stoic and un-emotional, due to her experiences in the military and continues this approach with everyone she meets, softening a little around women of power (like the countess and her daughter due to their social standing). Due to my characters past, she is very strict on respect and manners, so she uses the formal greeting 'How do you do?' instead of the hello, good morning or good evening like we say in todays society. My character also takes her hat off when talking to an upper class lady and makes sure to rise from her seat when one enters the room and addresses her. She will also tip her hat to upper class women she sees  in the street. She will also use the correct grammar and speech e.g. 'I have done it', not 'I done it', or 'pardon me' not 'what'. 

Proposals

As part of the Producing unit, I need to collect ideas from other members of the company and put together an overall business proposal, so I asked them all to send me their ideas for how THEY would like the production to look, without any outside opinions. Here is what I received back:

Fru: "I think it would be a good idea to come forward, almost like a catwalk, when we do our introduction at the beginning. Not sure who is doing makeup but I thought it maybe we could all have bloody lips, or some of us could have bruises that we would later on reveal how we got them but they wouldn't connect to the murder. Lastly, regarding costumes, I think I agree with Basia and instead of going fantasy and having a grotesque Pidgeon head, we should go with a beauty look and make the masks more glamourous. So instead of a Pidgeon head, have a nice mask and feathers."

Hollyann: "Have it set in Victorian England around the late 1800's. So costume would be that of 1800 fashion. Quite fancy masks with the distinctive animal shown and in their own colours e.g. Dove= white, Lion= Yellow, Bluebird= blue, Weasel or stag= Brown, wolf= grey. Some of the upper class men would carry a cane and some women a shawl. using the stage to create a higher level and have the audience on the opposite end (end on stage formation) around round tables covered with a white table cloth with a candle or candelabra and a small vase with a rose inside."

Phoebe: "So as my character is "the drunk" as per say maybe I could start at a table amongst the audience to kind of blend in because the audience might not expect me to be apart of it you know what I mean."

Sam: "Classic play that goes wrong. Costumes: 1920's England at Christmas time, very warm ballroom theme, Flapper dresses and wealthy clothing."

Will: "I would like to make a murder mystery where we make everyone think its not one specific person who ends up being the killer, a theme I like is the 1980's. People dressing up with bright colours and being dressed up with leather jackets, big bushy hair, polka dot and leopard patterns on people clothes and the faint smell of cigarettes from all the smoking people did back then."

Thomas: "What I was thinking for the murder mystery was that the audience could be around in a semi-circle while we have a space to perform and a table so we can sit and eat. For my costume I had an idea of just wearing a suit and tie, putting the wolf mask on my face. During the finding of the murder victim, the lights could go red and spotlight the dead body. I was thinking after Faith announces the party, the stage could have a blackout and play a noise that sounds like the way red cloak died."

Faith: "I want the murder mystery to be a little comedic though also for our masquerade murder mystery event, I envisioned it to be intriguing, suspenseful and elegant. I see it in a beautiful hall, guests could choose to don elaborate masks, fancy attire, immersing themselves in a night of secrets. As the night unfolds, a shocking murder will be revealed like we know, and every guest becomes a suspect (the actors I mean). With carefully crafted characters, hidden motives, and cryptic clues, attendees must work together or against each other to uncover the killer before the nights end. Though I would say, if we are talking about roles and characters, the Countess I believe should be a bit more involved because its her ball that has been crashed. I feel that she could bring a tad bit of overreacting as a way to keep the comedy going. I do hope we could freely talk with the guests of the show and like for example in breaks we could sit at a persons table, in character, and start talking to the guests like; "I cant believe this would happen", or "its not you, is it?" This could bring a real connection to the tables and guests without giving away who the killer is and bring a good night for both actors and the guests from the interactions."

Basia: "I would like the murder mystery to have a lot of 'false leads' in it meaning that when one person speaks  the audience would think that its them but then another speaks and the audience is confused and change their minds. I would also like it to be very formal and fancy when it comes to the clothes since it is a fancy ball and quite minimal when it comes to the makeup since I don't want it to take away from the masks too much but also still want the women to look put together."

I didn't write a proposal (as I have to make the overall big daddy proposal...), I didn't ask Josh for a proposal (As he isn't on an acting pathway so doesnt have much creative input, only technical inputs), and I didn't receive proposals from 3 members of the group so I'm going to go off of these proposals (^^^^^^^^^) only. 

I did some research to figure out if a business proposal is different to a business model and business plan. It is, but only slightly. A business model shows the business itself what the business want to do and how it will do it successfully. A business proposal shows a potential investor of the business what the business is, What the business does/plans to do, How you plan to do it, How much it will cost to do and when you plan to do it. A business proposal is often the only chance you have to prove to an investor that you are worth their money and there are 2 types; Solicited and unsolicited. Solicited proposals are sent as a response to a potential investor reaching out (they are asked for) and have specific requirements from that investor. Unsolicited proposals are sent when a business idea is discussed but a proposal has not been formally asked for (they are offered out). Business Proposals also come in a Varity of lengths based on the company they are trying to sell too. A larger and wealthier company wants to know every little detail about a company they might invest in, so they expect a loooonnnggg business proposal. A start up company or small business, doesnt want to read through tonnes of paper and so would prefer a direct and to the point proposal that's short and easy to understand. The business that we are pitching to is a small charity based in Gloucester that know they want a murder mystery Christmas event. Therefore the most appropriate business proposal will be a short Solicited one. 

https://zapier.com/blog/business-proposal-template/  

Business Proposal!

Dance/ Music

For the performance we will be having a Pianist (Leon) play live for us, and there was an idea suggested to use dances as scene changes. So I started doing some research into what songs were popular around Christmas in the 1920's and Myself and Phoebe Pope will work together to create some 1920's inspired dances that go along with some of the songs. 

Songs popular in (or around!) 1920's:

• Santa Claus is comin' to town- Bing Crosby (1934) 

https://youtu.be/qt-K70gFFxk?si=pC_ZUCIJXLzxo5Qr 

• Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!- Connie Boswell (1945)

https://youtu.be/0frphisoN8s?si=nNbK98xrtKNM4BZH 

• The Christmas song- Nat King Cole (1960)

https://youtu.be/wKhRnZZ0cJI?si=qqEGmRcyN_1pk7ef 

• Winter Wonderland- Perry Como (1946)

https://youtu.be/6G19JJulP44?si=GDdXg5t6ZwpceGX3 

• The Mistletoe kiss Polka- Margaret Whiting (1949) *

https://youtu.be/jb3IRNGtdBE?si=odrWvG1C2ZkzVIFn 

• The twelve days of Christmas- Bing Crosby (1949)

https://youtu.be/N9mF-0cILq8?si=ZOS-vT_BxfehFthT 

• Here Comes Santa Claus- Doris Day (1949) *

https://youtu.be/a14CPmXFfsg?si=2GNFCipX1LYWrk7r 

• Frosty the snowman- Jan Garber (1950)

https://youtu.be/eAqWJ65GyyI?si=_EX_48i5UYgkXMrJ 

• A Christmas carol- Charles Ives (~1894)

https://youtu.be/1jJLjts9r7w?si=Gz-Q7kidX3i_JMA3 

• Angels we have heard on high- Bishop James Chadwick (1862)

https://youtu.be/55hlt4Iu-40?si=QUBL2DtalBr7fDGs 

• Away in a manger- John McFarland and James Murray (1887, 1851-1913)

https://youtu.be/4biUWE2lQbM?si=0gSM0Y_m2ghRGTRk 

• Brightest and best- Reginald Heber (1827)

https://youtu.be/w4FHIn-lA4E?si=kXQFoDXWzEj37_JP 

• Boars head carol- English traditional (1521)

https://youtu.be/H-CQlztgDWw?si=Ks9xAicPsKeqqUX5 

The songs with a * next to them are ones that I think can be used for scene change dances. Since the songs will be played live by Leon, the songs will need to be played on a piano. I couldn't find a piano version of 'The Mistletoe kiss Polka' but I don't think it would be too difficult to transpose over to piano only. 'Here comes Santa Claus' however was quite easy to find a piano only cover.  

https://youtube.com/shorts/EOCaBGamcLc?si=lK7vuxQKznB7fKwv 

https://youtu.be/QBkHZMhAvrc?si=VstkEzVHJBLreWBb 

I've decided to use my faux-suede lace up healed boots as shoes, plain black interview trousers with black tights underneath (or black socks if its too hot), a Nude blouse or my turtleneck-long-sleeved thin shirt (with nude bodysuit underneath) and a black or nude blazer with an army badge on to finish the look. 

Script

https://gloscolac-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/r/personal/5232713_student_gloscol_ac_uk/Documents/College%20Christmas%20Show%20Script.docx?d=w427ea359a25a45aaa420bef270c5f4ff&csf=1&web=1&e=4ILF25 

Rehersals!

Murder mystery Website: https://sites.google.com/view/masquerade-murder-mystery/home