IdeaJones

Tag: theater

  • In Praise of Rock Star Parents

    We went to see “Newsies,” (a Broadway musical) in a movie theater (yay, Fathom Events, bringing such things to movie theaters across America), then “Despicable Me 3.” Guess which audience deserved a standing ovation?

    The Newsies screening was lightly attended. We got there early as I’d been looking forward to it, got great seats and settled in to enjoy. One group settled behind us and began a symphony played on cellophane wrappers and purse zippers. Not just “zip,” or even “zip, zip,” but “zip-crinkle-zip-zip-crinkle-zip-zip-zip!” At the last minute, in walks a group of teenaged girls. Loud teenaged girls. I was a teenaged girl. I remember what it’s like, out with your friends, having fun. But these girls were talking (loudly) about theater. Auditions they had gone to/were going to. They talked (loudly) even during the special added moments, like members of the cast of Newsies singing new interpretations of songs. The sorts of things real theater people enjoy. Which we couldn’t hear. Because of them.

    Real artists respect the craft. Music, acting, painting, whatever it is, it’s hard work  if you do it right, and you respect other artists and respect an audience. They have their part to play, buying tickets, paying attention, being present for whatever it is. They paid to see/hear/experience something and a pro respects that and doesn’t get in the way of it. As a friend once told someone in my presence, “Nobody here paid to see you, so sit down.”

    Then we went to see “Despicable Me 3.” An audience of parents and little kids.  These kids, who weren’t together, by the way, behaved like champs. Sure, they talked a bit, quietly. If they kept talking, parents quietly told them to keep it down so people could hear. They reacted to the movie, laughing, etc. But they didn’t talk loudly, or run around, or otherwise ruin the experience for the people around them. They were great. When the movie ended, I told Mark I wished I could stand at the door to the theater and thank every parent there. “There’s some rock star parenting going on in this theater,” I said.

    Now, I didn’t say it for effect. It was just a comment to Mark. “There are kids here behaving better than the adults in the other theater.” I saw a dad sitting ahead of us nudge his wife. Mark told me later the man’s wife was beaming. She should be. They are raising considerate kids who know how to be with other people, enjoying and participating, without selfishly getting in the way of what’s going on around them.

    Thank you, rock star parents who are taking care of business in the most classy way possible. The rest of us who share this planet with your kids owe you our gratitude.

    And to those girls, just know that nobody was impressed by your discussion of what songs you plan to sing for your auditions. You were just the jerks who disrupted the movie for the rest of us.

     

  • Tips For Creative Types — Entertainment Sites and Artist Pages

    As we gather information from those who know about promoting artists and arts groups, we're sharing them. May your art thrive!
    As we gather information from those who know about promoting artists and arts groups, we’re sharing them. May your art thrive!

    Entertainment Calendars
    And Artist Pages

    Do you play music, write, dance, act, draw, sculpt or otherwise create? Do you give readings, show your work or perform? Do you have an Artist page on the entertainment websites that serve where you are?

    If not, you really should. Take Eventful.com for example. It’s a searchable site with information on entertainment options, used by residents and visitors to find that “something to do” we all look for from time to time.

    I just figured this out recently. On Eventful, you can create an account that lets you list events, but what some people don’t realize is that you can also create an Artist page. This is a chance to get your work, and yourself, out there, and a chance for cross-promotion. You see, when someone lists an event in which you’re participating, if you’ve told them you’re on Eventful, when they create the listing they can tag you as one of the people participating. You can only tag people who are on Eventful. When that person tags you in the listing, the event appears on your Artist Page as well as on Eventful’s searchable database. Someone looking at your page will see the event (good for the event) and someone looking at the event will see you.

    People can event click to say that they’d like to see you or your work where they are. If you get enough interest, you’re in a good spot to tell a venue or organizer in that town that there’s a demand to see you.

    Go to Eventful.com. If you haven’t set up an account, do. Then click on “My Eventful.” At the bottom of the page on the right, you’ll see “Add Stuff.” One of the options is “Add Performer Profile.” Click on that and follow the directions.

    There are other entertainment websites that also allow Artist pages. If you’re not listing on the entertainment calendars and websites that cover where you or your work will be, it’s time to take care of that. People can’t want to see your work if they don’t know you exist! Here’s a link to my new Eventful page so you can see what it looks like: http://eventful.com/performers/joey-jones

  • Arts Life – Dispatch From The Trenches

    Arts Life – Dispatch From The Trenches

    Mistakes You Could Be Making 1 IdeaJones
    Mark and I once attended a panel discussion for writers on gaining attention for projects from the media. Editors, news producers, and people who were good at promoting their projects talked about how to approach the media when you want to get your project in front of the public.

    Then I agreed to help a few artists with their online promotion. I knew a bit about it, but sought guidance from people who were professionals on how to go about it.

    I’ve been gathering information on promoting yourself, or your arts group, on a limited budget. Today, I was speaking with representatives from a few local arts groups about what I’ve learned. Disclaimer — I’ve been good about doing these things for other people and not as regular about doing them for myself. I’m working on that. It’s a learning process, and I’m always learning. I’ve seen these things work. In this and future posts, I’ll share the lessons my teachers give me. Some of the information may be familiar, but there’s probably at least one tip that will help you better navigate the choppy waters of promotion. To start, a few basics:

    1) Take advantage of your opportunities.

    As I like to tell performers and artists, “People can’t want something until they know it exists.” They may have a vague idea they want something, but they can’t want to come to, say, your concert if they don’t know you, or the concert, exists.

    Increasingly people go online when looking for something to do. There are online events calendars like Eventful, and here in Sacramento, Sacramento365. Many local radio and tv stations, newspapers and magazines have their own online event calendars where their listeners, viewers and readers go to find entertainment choices. These are usually free to use. If you don’t have a budget large enough for advertising, or even if you do, you should take advantage of these services.

    Your local television station may have a morning show. Watch the show. See what they include that isn’t news, weather or traffic. Note how long the show is — longer shows often have guests in after the first half hour or hour is done. A two-hour show has time to fill every day, five days a week. More about this in another post.

    2) Understand what you want.

    For example, at our local public radio station, nonprofit groups can:

    1) Apply for PSAs (Public Service Announcements, very short on-air mentions of upcoming events),
    2) Post events to the Event Calendar (this one’s also available to for-profit groups/performers),
    3) Pitch events to a locally-produced show to be the focus of a segment on the air (more about this in another post).

    Applying for each of these is a separate process and submitted individually. If you only want to post to the calendar, you can do just that. If you want to be on the air, either with a PSA or on a show, you submit for each of these separately and it goes to a different person.

    “Why can’t they just look at the Event Calendar and give us a PSA or put us on the air?” (Another version: “Why can’t they just read our PSA and put our event on the calendar and…”).

    Because they don’t have time. Because it’s not that person’s job (that isn’t the only thing that person does all day — it’s one of many). That station or that paper makes this available to the community as a resource. Taking advantage of it is up to you.

    3) Don’t do it at the last minute.

    Stations may schedule PSAs a month in advance. Some shows line up guests 4 weeks or more ahead — and if they have a sudden cancellation they need to fill, they look at information about upcoming events they wished they could include but didn’t have time for.

    4) Follow the directions.

    Each event site has its own format. They don’t have meetings where they all decide one way to do it. Wherever you go, there will be directions. Follow them. To the letter. It shows respect for the opportunity, for one thing.

    It really isn’t hard. Have the following information handy before you start:

    * Name of the event
    * Date/time of the event
    * Location
    * Ticket price if any
    * Where you go to get tickets (website, physical box office, etc.)
    * Organization hosting the event
    * Name/email/phone of a contact person to call for the public to call for more information (if you just want them to go to a website, fine, what’s the link?).
    * Name/email/phone of a contact person for the station, paper, etc. to contact for more info (maybe not the same as for the general public).
    * A brief description of the event that tells why it’s interesting (and by brief I mean 2-3 sentences. Some sites have a limit on characters). More on that in an upcoming post.
    * Anything people might need to know (is the venue ADA accessible? Is there free parking — and if so, where? ).

    Go to the website (for tv and radio stations, you can search “television station” and your city to find some to get you started). Click on “Events” and look for a button for “Submit your event.” Follow directions. You can post your event to several sites in an hour if you have all of that ready to cut n’ paste on your computer, or on a sheet of paper you can look at to type it in.

    5) Limit yourself.

    Unless you have someone who is organized, enthusiastic, reliable and has buckets of free time, it’s not necessary to blanket the world — in fact, starting out this can be a mistake. You want to find out which online sites produce the best results for you, and this can vary. For example, if you play classical guitar, the local acid rock station might get you a few interested people as many people like more than one type of music, but if you have a public radio station, that’s probably going to be more productive.

    The strategy suggested to me is to start out with the basics (here that’s Eventful, Sacramento365, CapRadio.org, and the local papers). Make sure you enter your events on their calendars reliably. See how things look in three months. Add another and see if it makes a difference. If not, you can probably drop that one and try another.

    Don’t feel bad about not doing more — pay attention to what you’re doing so you know what’s working for you and what isn’t.

    I’ve been given more useful information, and will share it in future posts. But in the meantime, don’t be afraid to get your feet wet. Promotion is your friend. Like any good friend, if you treat it with respect, you’ll reap the benefits.