I don’t think I’ve ever not had an understanding of producing. There are some artists who don’t know or understand what it takes to actually put on a show (or an exhibit, or whatever), but that’s never been me. Yes, I have training as an actor and director, but I also have always put in the production work to make it happen, even when that wasn’t my primary role.

One of my jobs at CalArts is Resident Producer in the Coffeehouse Theater, which is an interdisciplinary space open to students to present non-curricular work. The committee acts in a curatorial capacity, as the Coffeehouse is primarily a presenting, not a producing, entity. That means that we work with a lot of artists who want to show their work, but have no idea what goes into producing it. Our job is to walk them through the process, step-by-step, and teach them how to work with a presenting organization, because those basic producing skills are things that every artist should know.

In any case, that side of things has always been, to me, an integral part of the art-making process, and I started doing it simply because no one else was. I needed to have a place to do work, and, like many artists who begin producing, it began with that simple need.

Eventually, that morphed into a desire to start my own theatre company someday (which is another post — or two — in itself), but I still wasn’t thinking like a producer. I was trying to approach it from a business perspective, getting advice on starting a small business and, at that point, mostly just trying to get my ideas written down and documented, so that I’d have a clear place to start… someday.

When I moved to New York, I worked in a Broadway general manager’s office, and got more of a feel for that side of things, and then I took an intensive Certificate in Arts Administration from NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, which is what really got me thinking seriously about going to grad school. I started looking at Arts Administration and Theatre Management programs, but none of them were exactly what I was looking for. They tended to either be too broad, touching on management of both the performing and visual arts, or too specific, focusing on the management of a LORT theatre and its specific space. None of them, except CalArts, really explored the fundamental fusion of aesthetic and management that is essential to producing.

Producing is more than just managing; there’s a specific, individual aesthetic and arts sensibility to it, as well. It’s a different mindset than being a manager, and while the producers at CalArts work very closely with stage managers and production managers, it’s very clear that there are significant differences in the jobs and in the personalities that are attracted to each position.

Really, what it boils down to is that I’m drawn to producing because I see a greater impact there than focusing on being an artist myself. As an actor or director, my work can impact the audience, and I can impact the rest of the cast, crew, and production team, but the focus is on moving my art forward and creating art that’s significant to me.

As a producer, I can create (or facilitate, depending on what kind of job I’m in) a space for other artists to work, and suddenly, my impact is exponentially increased. Not only am I doing significant work, but I’m giving other artists the space to do their work. If I can provide a place that gives training, support, physical space, funding, publicity, networking, and a place on a season roster, that’s a pretty cool thing. Being the fairy godmother is an incredibly fulfilling role.

People will often comment, when I tell them that I’m a producer, that I must like working behind the scenes, rather than in the public eye. That’s not it, though. For one thing, I still direct and act when the opportunities arise, so there’s no aversion to being on the “artistic” side of things, rather than the “production” side.

More than that, though, being a producer is a vastly different kind of “behind the scenes” than being, say, a designer or a stage manager — or even than being a director. A producer is often a very visible “behind the scenes” kind of person in many ways, being the face of the show or organization to the media, the donors, the investors, the employees, and so on. The only way we’re behind the scenes is that we’re not onstage. It’s not that I don’t want to be seen — although it’s not that I must be seen, either. I’m not drawn to producing because I don’t want to be onstage; I’m drawn to it because I want to expand the stage for others to work on.

Most artists eventually produce on some level. Even the most organizationally-challenged artist will most likely, eventually, have to do it himself or else he won’t have a place to work. Some of us just take it to a different place, where this becomes what we love doing in and of itself, rather than being the means to an end, just a way to get a piece of work off the ground.

Tags: aesthetics, conceptual work, producing, School, Theatre, work-life balance

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