Saturday, July 29th, 2017, 2-6PM
The Playroom Theatre, 151 W. 46th Street

For anyone thinking about investing in theater.
(And anyone who hopes to attract investors.)

An essential workshop for producers and investors, facilitated by attorney Eric S. Goldman, with a panel of commercial producers and investors offering their experience and observations. Panel will include William Franzblau, producer (TONY Nominated Best Play Say Goodnight Gracie, American Buffalo and Wonderland on Broadway, the tour of Little House on the Prairie the Musical; off-Broadway Sistas, Jewtopia, Evil Dead the Musical, Respect and Illuminate); Josh Goodman, producer (Rocky, Pippin, Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike); Jeremy Handelman, producer (On the Town, White's Lies, F#@king Up Everything); Cody Lassen, producer (Indecent, Significant Other, Deaf West Spring Awakening); James Simon (Hand to God, Something Rotten, Pippin). 

---

It’s every producer’s job – to find investors for your production. Whether you are a self-producing artist looking for a lead producer to option your piece, a lead producer looking for co-producers and investors or a not-for-profit theater looking for enhancement funds, at some point you will have to sit down and make the case for why your show is the right investment.

In this invaluable and unprecedented program, an amazing lineup of commercial producers and investors will share their personal views on evaluating plays as investments. You will hear insider takes on how producers and investors determine the productions in which they want to participate as well as how they bring others on board, including methods for evaluating the structural integrity of the play itself, the production and creative teams, the financial plan for the initial commercial production, the possibility for downstream revenue and the potential competition. And you’ll hear some stories about pitches that were wildly successful and some that were epic failures. 

• 

  ERIC GOLDMAN

  For over 25 years, Eric has provided legal services to Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award winning talent, and to technology and internet entrepreneurs. Recent projects include representing the writers of the Broadway smash hit Come from Away and the producers of the highly successful Off-Broadway musical parody of the television show Friends. Before launching his own firm in 2011, Eric worked for 15 years as a Senior Associate for entertainment attorney Mark Sendroff of Sendroff & Baruch LLP. Eric also served as in-house counsel for St. Martin’s Press and Hertz Computer. His first job out of law school was working as an associate for copyright guru Stanley Rothenberg.  Eric is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and New York University School of Law.

• 

  WILLIAM FRANZBLAU

  created and produced the recent Broadway Rocktopia, the Tony Nominated Best Play Say Goodnight Gracie, produced David Mamet’s American Buffalo on Broadway, and the tour of Little House on the Prairie the Musical starring Melissa Gilbert. He also served as the Executive and Lead Producer for Broadway’s Wonderland. He licensed and produced the off-Broadway shows, SISTAS the Musical (recently shot and broadcast on BET, now in its sixth year off Broadway), This One's for the Girls, Jewtopia, Evil Dead the Musical, the male intellect: an oxymoron, Respect and ILuminate (America’s Got Talent Finalist) while developing several Broadway shows including Paramount’s Crazy People and the new Rupert Holmes play, Kennedy/Reagan. He produced and Co-Directed Rocktopia for the 2016 PBS National Pledge Broadcast with a 2017 tour. As Chief Executive Officer of the high technology company, KATrix Inc. he created strategic alliances with the Walt Disney Company, Microsoft Corporation, MGM and the Intel Corporation. In the early nineties, Mr. Franzblau co-founded Interfilm Inc., a publicly traded company combining interactive technologies with cinematic art. He was the driving force in putting together an $18 million initial public offering underwritten by Smith Barney and subsequently facilitated the sale of the company via a reverse triangular merger with Palatin Technologies, Inc. From 1990 through 1992 Mr. Franzblau served as producer of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles touring show, a 21-month tour involving 500 appearances in 200 cities and 10 countries, for which he managed all aspects of the business development and operations. The tours grossed over $60 million in sponsorships, ticket sales and merchandising as well as spinning off a double platinum record and a national pay-per-view. Previous to the above Mr. Franzblau served as Executive Producer of three tours of the Moscow Circus on Broadway and North America and produced the touring productions of BEATLEMANIA. In 2021 he produced MANSlaughter (episodic podcast) which reached  # 1 podcast in the US, Canada, UK and Australia. 
• 

  JOSH GOODMAN

  is Executive Director and Associate General Counsel at Daiwa Capital Markets America Inc. and 2-time Tony award winning producer. Broadway: Pippin, Rocky, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Rocky and Come From Away.  He is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.  

   
• 

  JEREMY HANDELMAN

  is a two-time Tony Award nominated producer whose many credits include John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons (Broadway and National Tour), the Broadway revival of On the Town, the Off Broadway and regional production of the rock musical comedy Brooklyn Crush, formerly F#%king Up Everything (NY Times Critics' Pick & Best New Musical nominee), White’s Lies and the acclaimed production of The Chekhov Dreams. He is one of the lead producers of Dearly Beloved, a fully immersive theater production slated for 2020, and is on the producing team for several Broadway-aimed musicals currently in development. Jeremy is the founder of Off The Leash Productions, where he produces a wide range of marketing and entertainment video including commercials, promos, web videos and performance shoots (OffTheLeashProductions.com). Past Lives: Vice President, Programming of CBS Sports; Vice President, Programming Sales for Wink Communications. Other Lives: Co-President of the Brown University Club in New York; serves on the board of Houses on the Moon Theater Company and served for many years on the board of Theater Resources Unlimited.
• 

  CODY LASSEN

  is a Tony-nominated theatre producer and live entertainment consultant. Broadway productions include Indecent, the Deaf West Theatre revival of Spring Awakening, and the upcoming revival of Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive. Currently running off-Broadway A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, the first new musical to open since the pandemic began. He has been part of the producing team for other Broadway productions including Tootsie, What the Constitution Means to Me, Torch Song, The Band's Visit, Macbeth and Significant Other. Upcoming: the first revival of Titanic, The Flamingo Kid, Steven Sater & Duncan' Sheik's Alice By Heart and Burt Bacharach's Some Lovers. In addition to producing his own projects, Cody consults for producers, theaters and agencies to help them discover how they should market their shows for the best chance of financial and critical success. Previously, he was the director of marketing for Los Angeles' Center Theatre Group and its three theaters: the Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre. He is an active member of the Broadway League, the National Association of Musical Theatre, and serves on the Board of NY’s Vineyard Theatre. More info at codylassen.com
• 

  JAMES SIMON

  was a co-producer on the 2000 Tony and Drama Desk Award nominated revival of Bells Are Ringing, the 2014 play The Velocity Of Autumn and an associate producer of the Tony winning Broadway revival of Pippin, Play On!, and the West End production of Damn Yankees with Jerry Lewis.  Other Broadway shows in which he participated as a limited partner include Rent, Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, Little Women - The Musical, Victor Victoria, Metamorphoses,  and many other Broadway, Off-Broadway, and international tours. He is currently being represented on Broadway with the hit comedy, The Play That Goes Wrong.