The Stage Producer's Business and Legal Guide

by Charles Grippo

Overview

The entire range of individuals involved in entertainment—performers, writers, and directors to box office managers, theater board members, and theater owners—will find comprehensive answers to questions on every aspect of theater business and law. Written by attorney, producer, and playwright, this book reveals hundreds of insider strategies for minimizing legal costs, negotiating contracts, and licensing and producing plays. It also features expert, practical advice on such topics as tax risks and liabilities, safety regulations, organizing the theater company, financing, box office management, not-for-profit management, and much more. Plus everything is explained clearly, written without a lot of legal jargon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781581159837
Publisher:	Allworth
Publication date:	09/01/2002
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	550 KB

About the Author

Charles Grippo is an entertainment lawyer, commercially produced playwright, producer, and author. He is president of New Lincoln Theatre, Inc., and Grippo Stage Company, Inc. As a playwright, his works include Sex Marks the Spot, Wait for the Wind, Outrageous Misfortune, Santa’s Children, When Angels Wept, and A Wife’s Tale. Among his recent productions are The Ben Hecht Show (world premiere); The God of Isaac; and, in co-production with Dennis Zacek, Confessions of a P.I.M.P., written and performed by four-time Tony Award® nominee André De Shields. He has also written Business and Legal Forms for Theatre, Second Edition (Allworth Press). He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Authors Guild. Visit his website at www.charlesgrippo.org.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Why You Need This Book

• Chapter 1: Organizing a Theater Company
• Chapter 2: Your Performance Space
• Chapter 3: Licensing Plays
• Chapter 4: Producing Original Plays
• Chapter 5: Commissions and Company-Generated Works
• Chapter 6: Financing Commercial Theater in a Limited Partnership
• Chapter 7: Managing the Nonprofit Theater Company
• Chapter 8: Joint Ventures
• Chapter 9: Box Office Management
• Chapter 10: Artistic Staff
• Chapter 11: Safety
• Chapter 12: Taxes
• Chapter 13: Wrapping Up
• Appendix A: Play Licensors
• Appendix B: Dramatists Guild
• Appendix C: Collective Bargaining Agents

What People are Saying About This

Ken Davenport

"Written by a lawyer for non lawyers. A great addition to any producer's bookshelf." --Ken Davenport, Tony Award Winning Broadway Producer

Editorial Reviews

A concise, informative, and well-organized introduction to basic legal and industry issues, presented in a reader-friendly style. While particularly recommended for aspiring producers, it is also a handy reference tool for the more seasoned theater veteran, as well.
—senior partner, Lazarus & Harris, LLP, and adjunct professor of entertainment law, Hofstra University School of Law

Robert C. Harris

An entertaining, easy-to-read, practical resource for anyone interested in the art and craft of play production.
—Artistic Director, Victory Gardens Theater

Dennis Zacek

This is a cery useful compendium of essentials, from the mundane to To find a straightforward, factual, but also somewhat humorous collection of facts and practices in this business is refreshing and unusual. This is destined to become a textbook that gets dog-eared from constant reference.
—managing director, Madison Repertory Theatre

Tony Forman

Grippo, a theatrical attorney, producer, and commercially produced playwright, has filled a hole in theater literature with this one-stop guide to theater law for non-attorneys. It covers everything from organizing a theater company to dissolving one. As anyone who has worked in even the smallest theater knows, legal issues touch every aspect of producing a play, from obtaining performance space and licensing plays, to managing commercial and nonprofit companies, to safety and taxes. While not going into specifics-which would be impossible, as state and local laws vary greatly-Grippo provides checklists of the questions producers need to address at each stage of a production. He is the first to state firmly that this book is "not a substitute for legal advice," and he clearly disclaims responsibility for himself and the publisher should anyone decide to use it as such. Yet Grippo does promise that by addressing the questions presented here, a producer will greatly decrease the amount of money spent on attorney's fees. Highly recommended for theater, law, and small business collections.-Laura A. Ewald, Murray State Univ. Lib., KY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

"It should help you reduce legal fees by using your own attorney more effectively."

Stage Directions

"A highly comprehensive and easily accessible guide to the legal aspects of doing business as a theatre...Required reading."

KC Stage Online

"Almost every paragraph offers insight that a would-be producer will need or use...A world of information here."

Dramatics