There’s an interesting blog at the Grist.org. Seems Leonardo DiCaprio's new doc, the Eleventh Hour, was made mostly non-union. Because, you see, it was so low budget and such a good cause that nobody who really works on the movie should pay their bills or mortgages. Particularly since Leo isn't getting any good PR for it. He's practically GIVING IT AWAY! Leo, who has four movies on the hook of which he is producing three, worked under a SAG contract for the doc. It would appear he doesn’t particularly feel he needs to return the favor and use IATSE contracts for his pet projects.
I’m always amazed that when those that use the not-for-profit dodge feel that somehow the work that is put in to create their projects is inherently different and lesser than a for-profit project. The scenery, the lighting, the camera work, the editing are the same. The skill and effort it takes to present these projects are the same as for-profits. The hours are just as long. My landlord doesn’t give a rat’s ass if I’m working on a not-for-profit, nor does the grocer or utility company.
Pay me union wages, cover my benefits and then I’ll decide if I want to kick in my paycheck. You’ll get a quality work and I too can feel good about you little happy dance.
Spread the joy. Hire Union.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
What Goes Around
Karma's a bitch.
September 12, 2007 -- A state-of-the-art off-Broadway theater owned and operated by two of Broadway's top producers is riddled with debt and faces possible foreclosure and bankruptcy, The Post has learned.
The theater - 37 Arts, recently home to "In the Heights" - was supposed to revolutionize off-Broadway when it opened to much fanfare in 2005.
It was built by Jeffrey Seller and Kevin McCollum, the whiz kids behind "Rent" and "Avenue Q" and - when they're not quite so whizzy - last season's $10 million dud, "High Fidelity."
But the disaster that's 37 Arts is starting to make even "High Fidelity" seem like a sound investment.
According to documents obtained by The Post, the producers, along with their partner, Alan Schuster, have been hit with potentially crippling liens totaling nearly $20 million.
But several sources say the situation is much nastier and more perilous than McCollum is letting on. For one thing, he and Sellers are said to be at war with Schuster, a longtime off-Broadway theater owner.
Privately, they blame him for the debacle.
"They've had screaming matches with him," a source says, adding, "They're trying to figure out how to get rid of him."
Another source recalls attending a meeting at a makeshift office in the theater during which McCollum "ripped into Schuster."
Schuster, the sources add, is threatening to take the theater into bankruptcy.
He didn't return a call seeking comment. But he has resigned from the day-to-day running of the theater.
McCollum says Schuster will concentrate on the legal proceedings "full time."
September 12, 2007 -- A state-of-the-art off-Broadway theater owned and operated by two of Broadway's top producers is riddled with debt and faces possible foreclosure and bankruptcy, The Post has learned.
The theater - 37 Arts, recently home to "In the Heights" - was supposed to revolutionize off-Broadway when it opened to much fanfare in 2005.
It was built by Jeffrey Seller and Kevin McCollum, the whiz kids behind "Rent" and "Avenue Q" and - when they're not quite so whizzy - last season's $10 million dud, "High Fidelity."
But the disaster that's 37 Arts is starting to make even "High Fidelity" seem like a sound investment.
According to documents obtained by The Post, the producers, along with their partner, Alan Schuster, have been hit with potentially crippling liens totaling nearly $20 million.
But several sources say the situation is much nastier and more perilous than McCollum is letting on. For one thing, he and Sellers are said to be at war with Schuster, a longtime off-Broadway theater owner.
Privately, they blame him for the debacle.
"They've had screaming matches with him," a source says, adding, "They're trying to figure out how to get rid of him."
Another source recalls attending a meeting at a makeshift office in the theater during which McCollum "ripped into Schuster."
Schuster, the sources add, is threatening to take the theater into bankruptcy.
He didn't return a call seeking comment. But he has resigned from the day-to-day running of the theater.
McCollum says Schuster will concentrate on the legal proceedings "full time."
Friday, September 14, 2007
Sillerman With $450 Tik Won't Disclose Grosses.
The Hilton is the one Broadway theater owned by Live Nation, which (get a pencil and paper) used to be part of Clear Channel, which bought the Hilton from Mr. Sillerman’s company, SFX Entertainment, in 2000.
The reaction on blogs and in newspaper columns to the $450 tickets has been mixed, to put it charitably. But then again, when the producers of “The Producers,” a group that included Mr. Brooks and Mr. Sillerman, introduced the $480 premium ticket to Broadway in 2001, the outcry was intense. Premium tickets have since become de rigueur on Broadway, and so it may be with Mr. Sillerman’s decision to keep the grosses private.
Let's see. A guy produces a play about a producer that sells 50% of his show over and over. In producing his next play he decides to sell tickets at $450 and then won't reveal the grosses. One can only hope that his next play isn't about Billie Sol Estes or Charles Ponzi.
The reaction on blogs and in newspaper columns to the $450 tickets has been mixed, to put it charitably. But then again, when the producers of “The Producers,” a group that included Mr. Brooks and Mr. Sillerman, introduced the $480 premium ticket to Broadway in 2001, the outcry was intense. Premium tickets have since become de rigueur on Broadway, and so it may be with Mr. Sillerman’s decision to keep the grosses private.
Let's see. A guy produces a play about a producer that sells 50% of his show over and over. In producing his next play he decides to sell tickets at $450 and then won't reveal the grosses. One can only hope that his next play isn't about Billie Sol Estes or Charles Ponzi.
STAGE IS SET FOR LOCKOUT Article
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09142007/entertainment/theater/stage_is_set_for_lockout.htm
STAGE IS SET FOR LOCKOUT
I’d be more inclined to protect these investors if the investors had a little better sense of theatre. If they knew more of David Merrick and less of Rupert Murdock we wouldn’t be loading in shows the likes of Festen, Lestat, or The Pirate Queen. Never heard of them. It’s because they didn’t last very long, They weren’t very good. As the Broadway expression goes, “people stayed away in droves.”
The investors could go to the NYC Public Library, go to the classics section and begin their theatre education there. Instead they seem to have developed their theatrical investing style out of the Daily Racing Form or the craps table in Atlantic City. Roll the dice and make big money. What they also seem to fail to understand is that while they may be risking their disposable income on a long shot, the actors, stagehands, dressers, musicians, ushers and others who make this magic happen (and no, a flying car is not magic) are risking mortgage payments, tuition payments, credit card payments, food shopping and other trivial items when we make a commitment to spend six nights and eights shows a week on this turkey for months at a time, even before it opens.
The biggest difference seems to be that we went into this transient business knowing that every show closes, there would be times when we have to scramble for work, that we would work on turkeys. When we “don’t send your laundry out.” We also make the big money possible. We run the Phantoms, the Les Miz’s, The Lion Kings, the Miss Saigon's, the Chorus Lines for six nights a week, 52 weeks a year in small, cramped, often outdated theatres. At home and on the road.
If these investors would spend as much time reading the Bard was well as Barron’s they would know that Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. Understand the business better, understand the art better and you’ll make better investments.
We know what we are, but not what we may be.
STAGE IS SET FOR LOCKOUT
I’d be more inclined to protect these investors if the investors had a little better sense of theatre. If they knew more of David Merrick and less of Rupert Murdock we wouldn’t be loading in shows the likes of Festen, Lestat, or The Pirate Queen. Never heard of them. It’s because they didn’t last very long, They weren’t very good. As the Broadway expression goes, “people stayed away in droves.”
The investors could go to the NYC Public Library, go to the classics section and begin their theatre education there. Instead they seem to have developed their theatrical investing style out of the Daily Racing Form or the craps table in Atlantic City. Roll the dice and make big money. What they also seem to fail to understand is that while they may be risking their disposable income on a long shot, the actors, stagehands, dressers, musicians, ushers and others who make this magic happen (and no, a flying car is not magic) are risking mortgage payments, tuition payments, credit card payments, food shopping and other trivial items when we make a commitment to spend six nights and eights shows a week on this turkey for months at a time, even before it opens.
The biggest difference seems to be that we went into this transient business knowing that every show closes, there would be times when we have to scramble for work, that we would work on turkeys. When we “don’t send your laundry out.” We also make the big money possible. We run the Phantoms, the Les Miz’s, The Lion Kings, the Miss Saigon's, the Chorus Lines for six nights a week, 52 weeks a year in small, cramped, often outdated theatres. At home and on the road.
If these investors would spend as much time reading the Bard was well as Barron’s they would know that Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. Understand the business better, understand the art better and you’ll make better investments.
We know what we are, but not what we may be.
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