In today's episode Sam talks about the 3 do's and the 3 don'ts to producing your own play. He ties in personal experience and expertise to pack in 3 powerful points on both sides of the scale. Before you produce your first or next play, give this episode a listen! Check out www.samber.productions to enroll in our free newsletter and check out the acting classes! Follow along on Instagram: www.instagram.com/samber.productions To purchase his book: https://www.amazon.com/actually-real-sam-prince-ebook/dp/b09n8sqlnf Remember, All the world is a stage!
Sam Prince 0:05
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a great actor on stage or television? Do you wish you had an acting coach to help you get to the next level? Or maybe you just have a great idea for a movie series are played but aren't quite sure where to start? Well, you are in the right place my friend. My name is Sam Prince and I am the director of a production company here in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and have been an actor for over 30 years. I've directed and written plays, and screenplays and taught many acting classes. This podcast is your place to learn how to move forward with your career in acting, theater, film, playwriting, screenwriting, and much more. There will be inspiring conversations with special guests as well. So welcome to the creativitorium podcast and action.
Sam Prince 1:16 Welcome, welcome. Welcome to the creativitorium podcast. This is solo episode number five. Wow. had so many great guests. And in between those, these solo episodes. And I love to do them because, you know, they're just, I'm just sharing personal experiences, y'all. And this one, we're going to talk about some do's and don'ts of when you're producing your own play. And this, this goes for, you know, the newbies who you know, who are doing their very first one. But I still feel like it applies to the community theaters that have been around for 30, 50 years, these are all just great tips for anyone producing a play. And I'm calling this part one. Because I really want to do this after everyone, I'm sure it's gonna be different. And there's going to be different do's and don'ts and learning experiences and mistakes and failures and successes. So looking forward to this being a new series. Let's get right into it. Let's let's start with the don'ts first, all right, because you know, it's always good to end on a positive note, right?
Sam Prince 2:40 So our first don't, is don't fall in love with the shiny theater. And what I mean by the shiny theater is you know, there's a lot of really great theaters out there in the world, right. And some of them are great and beautiful, and expensive. And that was one of one of the traps that I fell into I really fell in love with a theater here in West Michigan, before I even knew how much it was. And, you know, I don't think that they had really done a lot of theater that as I was proposing, so they kind of had to put a package together. And it was a theater that, you know, no one really it was a really big secret. Now, I don't want to get into the specifics and and call it out. But because the people were amazingly great. And the theaters, it was amazingly great. It was just amazingly expensive. To put it bluntly, in but I had already fall in love with the place. You know, I had already envisioned the play there. You know, I'd already thought about, you know, where the actors were going to go, you know, before I even sign on the dotted line. And that was my mistake. I fell in love with it. And you know, the play went fine, everything went great. But it was a hit on the pocketbook and the budget. Well, and the rental theater, if you have to rent a theater is pretty much the biggest cost. You know besides paying the actors and crew, I feel like that is way up there on the list as your biggest cost. So you want to make sure that it fits within your budget, and that you don't blow your budget out. The second time that we did, Frederick was at a theater that was much you know, they actually weren't No, I'm sorry, it's definitely much smaller and more outside of town. So it was more, you know, more traveling. And, but it was much more affordable you know, and the theater was, was clean, and the people were great. Bye. But again, it was it was farther away. And you know, that the size of of it was was a lot smaller, but it still worked. And it went great. It went really, really great. And we'll see those are all learning lessons for me you know, do you do choose the theater that's a little farther away and less expensive now people unfortunately won't want to travel as opposed to one that's right there downtown.
Sam Prince 6:17 accessible but more expensive, you know, these are things you have to consider, really, really think about. I wouldn't change anything that I did, because again, it was all learning experiences and they all went well, so I cannot complain. But the rental of the theater is definitely something that will always be forefront of my mind you know, going forward and then making sure I choose the right spot. Sam Prince 6:52 little tidbit I will be doing a Halloween kind of horror type of party event in Muskegon. And my good friend, I'm gonna call her out, Nancy Bianca was nice enough to make the place affordable. You know, and I think she's always made it affordable. And that that's very important to me, and that's very gracious and, and humbled and thankful for for for just not having that relationship. And for her allowing us to have this and Halloween, you know, I just can't emphasize enough to make sure that you choose the right spot. That spot is a perfect spot to do what we want to do for Halloween. And the other two spots for Frederick are also perfect spots, you just have to make sure that they fit in your budget, I think have hammered that point home.
Sam Prince 8:07 Alright, number two, do not spend dollars on marketing that you don't have to. And it sounds kind of common sensical. But we find ourselves falling in those traps and spending money that we that we don't necessarily need to for example. When I was first starting in Frederick, there was a couple marketing places that I talked to. And both of them wanted, you know, these upfront monies, you know, just to start, I don't know, I just, I feel I feel uncomfortable about those situations, you know, and I fell into a couple of those situations, and then you don't really get what you feel like your return on your investment back, you know, you're just throwing money at them immediately. So my advice is, just don't do that, you know, half down tops. Marketing is such a touchy subject, you know, because it's hard to do by yourself. But you don't want to pay an arm and a leg to do it. So just be careful out there, y'all, you know, just do your due diligence, you know, if, if this person comes, you know, reputable recommended by your trusted friends, then, you know, maybe what I'm saying is wrong in that scenario, you know, you go ahead and you you take that leap of faith with them because you know that they are reputable and they're gonna they're gonna market your play product well, but if you don't, or view yeah If you're hesitant, you know, trust your judgment, and have a conversation with them, you know, look, no, this is what I'm looking for, you know, I like to see what you can do. First, you know, show me show me some examples of some marketing that you can do for me, you know, it's a toughy. It really is a toughy. And I'm not, I'm not, please don't think I am trying to downplay or put in a negative light, you know, marketing and SEOs and all the people that do marketing because they know what they're doing. There's some that don't. Okay? That is be honest. And every, every field, there's some that, you know, aren't as good as others. So do your due diligence and make sure you choose the right ones. And make sure that they also fit in your budget, and that, you know, what you you know, have them give you a budget of what they plan on doing for you. And then you take a look at that. Okay, that's reasonable. That's a little too much. We want to scale this down, what can we do? You know,
Sam Prince 11:25 I am looking for two types of creative cats looking for people who want to learn how to act, or want to improve their acting skills. I provide acting, audition coaching for every level. But I'm also looking for all those creative cats out there, who have a play or screenplay idea. Or maybe you're just stuck and need help writing your masterpiece, I can help you with that, too. Just go to Samber dot productions, that's s a m b e r dot productions, and click coaching. All your options are right there. And we will achieve your goals together. It's never too late. Alright, let's go
Sam Prince 12:16 with one company, I just never had that. I never had like a complete marketing plan when they said okay, this is what it's gonna cost you. It was more like, you know, send this $1,500 And then, you know, we'll get to work. And it's like that's a lot of money. You know, in my, in my eyes. So yeah, do due diligence, Facebook ads. They are effective. Facebook is very popular, we know that. But how you design the ad. And who you target market to is so extremely important. You can waste hundreds of dollars on Facebook ads and not get the return that you want. Trust me, you can't you have to do it the right way. I suggest Facebook has I think what they call ad managers where you can actually talk to a person and they can guide you through the exact target market you want. You know, they ask you questions on you know, what your event is, who you want to hit. They go through all that and he specifically designed the ad for you much better than we could do on our own. So I definitely suggest speaking to them. And once I did that, it was a whole new ballgame. It's probably friends to actually a friend of mine who's actually gonna play started my thinking of that he was like listen man, how you doing Facebook ads? Okay, well, this is how you should be doing them. I'm gonna give you a little pointers but speak to Facebook directly and really get it targeted the right way. So definitely do that on everything, you know, Instagram, Twitter, whatever, speak to the right person, so that you are getting the best bang for your buck on that marketing.
Sam Prince 14:31 Marketing is key you know that's, you know, we got the rental cars if you have to cost of the theater or establishment wherever you putting on your play or performance. You know, the pay of the crew and the actors. Those are two major costs of marketing is the third one. You know, market is a big number three it can can't fill the seats. Without advertising. It's very, very tough. So, but you want to make sure you do it the right way. And get you a marketing budget up front, say, Okay, this is how much I want to spend. And then figure out the best way to do that. No, a lot of it can be done yourself, you know, if you if you're graphically inclined, you can design your own ads. I'm not. Honestly, I'm not. So I need to help with that. And I have great help with that. But you can save yourself some money if you're talented. So think about all those things. Marketing is big, though.
Sam Prince 15:45 Alright, number three last don't, do not let anyone else be in charge. What I mean by that is, the buck should start with stop with you. If this is your production, if you're the director, there has to be some point where if there's a conflict confusion, you got to figure something out lighting wise, you are the one that makes that last decision. Don't share it with anybody don't, you know, co direct, I don't really don't recommend that. And that's, that's always a hard thing for me to learn, because I'm not really want to, you know, demand or, or, you know, be all strong. And you know what I mean? Harsh. And I was never harsh, I don't think but you have to make that decision. Now, like, for example, we had some lighting issues. And a couple people had, you know, their opinions on what we should do.
Sam Prince 17:07 And I had to just come in and say, Okay, we're gonna do it like this. You know, and that's just one example of many where, you know, you just, you have to make everybody aware that the buck stops with me, you know, but you have to, you have to make those decisions. And so we don't need to go on and on about this one, just make sure that everybody knows that in a nice way. You are the president, you have the veto power to dues to positive once. These are fun, do choose the best actors and crew. And I know, that sounds pretty silly. And duh. But it's so important. As much as you can do not sell your actors are your crew. Sure. Get the best ones you can, if you can't find that one role. Keep looking. And you know, if you have to hate to say settle, because actors are actors, and they are more people. But if you have to have that actor who is not the best, you know, that's all right. You know, sometimes they're teachable, and they you know, from, from day one to day, 100 they can be amazing, but just trying to the best actors and the best crew, you know, the best lighting people sound people that you could possibly get stage managers.
Sam Prince 18:48 You know, crew hands was very important. Very, very important. And they want them to be with you, and your mission. And treat it seriously. So, that's a number one thing I say, make sure you pick the best of the bunch. Number two, do everything you can to make this play performance. Amazing. That's within your realm and ability. And what I mean by that is you you want to entertain your audience. You know, you want them to come away and say wow, that was pretty darn cool. I'm so glad I spent an hour two hours here today. That was great. You want them? You want them moved. You want them entertained. Laughing, crying. Amazed. Moved. Something. Don't just don't pick if it's Don't pick it something boring. No, I don't. For example, I wanted to do a Frederick Douglass play beginning of last year. And I really wanted to, I didn't want to write anything, I wanted to just find one. That was great. And we will do that. So I found two, that were one act. One man plays. So it was just Frederick Douglass, by himself on stage talking for like, 4050 pages. And I just thought that that was the boring his thing I ever heard of that I'm sorry to be. I do not mean to be disrespectful to the authors. I do not mean to be that. But to me, I would not want to go see one man on a stage for two hours. Or even an hour. I mean, just just me personally. I know there's been one man, one woman shows that had been awesome. But I feel like those had other elements. Now like, Mike Tyson had one, but I think he had, you know, video clips and images behind him. And maybe some music. You know, now, as we were speaking through if there was a Frederick Douglass that had images behind them and, and music and some other imagery, you know that there might be, I might be okay with that. Like Bruce Springsteen, I guess he had a one man show, but he was playing songs in between. And he probably has some visual stuff with him too. So
Sam Prince 22:03 I just feel like, if you're going to do a one person show, there's got to be some additional things. But to me, I didn't want to do that. So that's when I found AC Cardinals play. And it had other people involved, you know, his wife, both his wives. Abraham Lincoln, says me, Anthony. I was like, Okay, here we go. Now we're talking. I wanted more I wanted more than one person I wanted the people around Frederick Douglass like to be involved in the play. And I just am talking about. So as I'm saying. And I mean to your amazing, you know, what you feel is, is amazing. Someone actually spoke to one of the authors of one of those one man plays. And he really loved his play. And I respect him for that. And he, he went on and on about how he said, a few productions of that play. Actually, more than a few I think he said, like 20 or 30 productions that play in its lifetime, and that they've all been amazing. And this one person memorized 50 pages of dialogue. It's amazing. It really is. It really is. But that's not my amazing. That's my point. That that that is amazing in itself. But that was not amazing. So amazing for me to produce that. I wanted more. I wanted more characters. I wanted my amazing. So you you figure out what you're amazing as make sure it entertains. Me sure it's gonna move people. Make sure they're not gonna leave there and say, Man, I was always a time. You know what, that just make it amazing.
Sam Prince 24:12 All right, last one. Do delegate especially if you're acting in it. But even if you're not delegation is very key to your success if you play. I said before, you know how, you know you want to let everyone know that you're in charge. But that doesn't mean you can't delegate. And the second time that it did Fredrik I really learned that I really don't get a stage manager. I was acting in it too. So I needed that help. And you know, my I think my lighting designer also knew that I needed him to step up and do some things side of his realm of lighting. And he did that. And as I think about it, you know, I don't really remember saying, I'm gonna call him out because he's my boy, hey, Donald, I need your help with stuff besides lighting. He just kind of knew it. We had some conversations, and he just stepped up and did it. And, you know, that's true delegation right there, when people just know what to do what actually they need to do, what what holes are, need to be filled. And it may not be in their expertise, but they know how to fill that hole. Let's do it. Those are the people that you need. It's so so so important. And, you know, along with this goes, if you are acting in the play, you definitely have to delegate, like I just said, but if you're recording it my advice is recorded at a performance. Now know that stuff is going to be tough if you have an audience, especially if you have a big audience, where you put the cameras and, and all that stuff, but I feel that me personally, we recorded our play the last rehearsal day, right before the first day of the show. You know, so much on my mind, that don't feel I gave myself the best performance. And I know I did not. Because that opening night, and it was next two nights, I felt my performance was much better. But I had so much on my mind that rehearsal day. So that's my point, if you're going to be in the play as well, and you're recording, your best performances are going to be when there's no nothing in your mind anymore.
Sam Prince 27:00 You know, once it's showtime, it's showtime. Whatever was worrying you that day before that dress rehearsal. It's okay. If it happens, it happens. But you're so worried about the night before, and there's so many things on your mind. And you know, it's already that the night before so everybody's kind of nervous, and, you know, making want to say edgy, but you know, just know you're just you're anxious. So those things are on your mind, as opposed to the Showtime where you just can focus on acting, and everybody else is doing their job. And you just focus on your role. And the the the film production still came out great. It still It really did. I'm just speaking for me personally. And my portrayal was better when I had nothing on my mind. Just a piece of advice for you. For those who are acting and producing. Alright, there we go. We got three of each and hope they were helpful. And you know, they're definitely coming from the heart and definitely coming from personal real, real relevant right now experience. So thanks, y'all. I appreciate you listening. I can't wait for you to see who we got coming up. I'm not even tight. I'm just gonna surprise you. Bishop
Sam Prince 29:01 Hey, thank you for listening to the creativitorium podcast. Again, my name is Sam Prince. And it is my honor to be your host and thank you so much for listening. I would also be honored if you could leave a review on Apple podcasts and say some nice things about what you just heard. And definitely please listen every week. We come out every Tuesday. Also, for more information about coaching classes, workshops and upcoming productions, please check out a website www.Samber.productions that's s a m b e r dot productions and you can also subscribe to our newsletter. And remember all the worlds a stage!