Making Money as a Playwright Part 2
(Didn’t read Part 1? Start here)
How Do I Get Produced?
The best way to make money as a playwright (or musical theater creator) is to have many different scripts all available for productions. You’ll get paid per performance, so more plays can equal more productions.
It also helps if you have a MFA in Playwriting. The playwriting field is supersaturated with MFA degree holders. And there are just so many opportunities for new playwrights to get produced … but obviously this is not a requirement.
The best answer to the question of how to get produced is this: you must convince theaters to produce your work. In other words, networking.
Usually this involves meeting people in person and online, networking, pitching your work, emailing theaters, submitting your work to many different opportunities, and getting your name out there and your play visible. A good way to do this is by producing your play in festivals and conferences, where it can be seen by a large group of industry people from all over the country. Another is to introduce yourself to every theater within driving distance. Many theaters produce new work consistently, and are always looking for new plays and to meet new playwrights. Attend their productions and their galas, or volunteer to usher. Support them so they can support you.
Playwrights can get their work produced by sharing their play with theaters, production companies, producers, directors, and by working with actors. If you wish to be a produced playwright, I would encourage you to consistently be doing these things:
- Submit your play: You can submit your play to theaters during calls for submissions, and to production companies, producers, or directors. You can also send it to literary departments or freelance dramaturgs, who could help you develop and/or advocate for your play.
- Collaborate with actors, directors or dramaturgs: You can work with actors, directors and dramaturgs to workshop your play and get feedback for rewrites. You can also host table readings yourself to get feedback. Listen carefully when observers give you the same note more than once, and make plans to address it in future rewrites.
- Get to know a theater: You can show that you are reliable and easy to work with by submitting drafts on time and taking notes. Go to their galas. Go to their shows. Talk to people on the staff. Volunteer there – and let them know you write plays. Later ask someone to read one.
- Research theaters: You can research theaters that might be interested in the type of plays you write. Reach out and email them, introducing yourself and one of your plays that is similar to one recently produced by them.
- Networking: Talk to people. Join theater companies like CreateTheater. Hang out with theatre folk. Always be pitching and talking about your show.
- Marketing: Take the time to gather a database of theaters, contacts, producers, directors, etc. Develop an email list from theatre people you know. Keep adding to the list. Keep your email list updated on your progress.
- Develop a base of raving fans on social media. Share your life and your work, to gather a fan base. Collect their emails to add them to your email list. Some theaters will even give preference to writers who have an active large social media following.
What About Getting Published?
Getting your play published is a tough. Perhaps up to 95% of plays that get produced, never get published. You see, a production is a one-off expense for a company that is committed to producing a number of shows each year anyway. They want good new material to produce, and they want their take of the box office. They do not usually want to go the extra mile of publishing your play.
Theatrical publishers usually form contracts with producing houses where they publish copies of all or most shows that the theater produces. Publication has distribution overheads and other costs which theatrical production doesn’t have. Most theater companies don’t have those kind of contracts, so if you want to your work published, you’ll have to have it produced first. No play will be published which hasn’t been produced first. If you can write a good play, you can probably get it produced. You probably can’t get it published, however, unless it gets picked up by a major theatre which is tied into a publishing deal.
You can of course self-publish and distribute it yourself, if you so choose. Kindle has the best self-publishing platform. Use your email lists and social media connections to give free copies to your friends to buy off Amazon and recommend.
The reason the publications are important is because the more publications you have, the more plays you are presenting to the public. This means your name appears a lot more in their catalogue. When your name appears multiple times in the catalogue, there’s a good chance people are reading the synopsis and you have a better chance that they are ordering a perusal copy that will hopefully lead to a production. The more productions that are out there, the more press. If you write one-act plays for high schools, you have to cross your fingers and hope that they are taking your script to a competition, where other schools from the state will see it, like it, and look up your other work.
Publishing does not really pay very well itself. It’s meant to serve the publisher, not the playwright. But the real reason to get published is to get your play into the hands of literary managers, college theatre directors, regional artistic directors, etc, so they will produce your play and you will make some money. Not much, but some money.
Let’s recap this blog post and the previous one:
- Playwrights get paid before writing a script by commissions and advances (with musicals this can be substantial).
- After the script is written they get paid through a producer’s option agreement and royalties per performance,
- After the play is produced a playwright can make money by selling the script to film or television adaptations or by licensing the show to touring companies and other theaters.
- After a play is published it will go into the subsidiary markets, and the writer will receive subsidiary rights revenues, stock and amateur licensing revenues, and royalties at a flat fee per show. Musicals can also earn revenue through the cast album.
You Have To Write
Write many plays. It’s a numbers game that favors high volume – so have many plays available.
Do a ton of networking and marketing. Raise your profile through your website and social media channels.
Having a great number of plays also gives you a cushion when your other plays go out of fashion (which they will).
There is actually a simpler answer, though. Put in the time, do the hard work, and create your own luck.
