The Playroom Theatre
151 W. 46th Street, 8th floor

With panelists Ryan Bogner, Director of Creative Development and Production for RKO Stage; Joey Monda, General Manager, Off-Broadway: Disaster!, Unbroken Circle, COAL (Confessions of a Liar), Producer Broadway’s Allegiance.; Barbara Zimmerman, President of BZ/Rights & Permissions (regularly clearing music for Broadway shows and regional theaters).

"Licensing" is a word that is bandied about in both the music and theater worlds, but it means dramatically different things in different contexts. We will clarify the distinctions between licensing a show and optioning a work for production, as well as obtaining underlying rights to a property you want to bring to the stage. Do you want to use existing music in a play? What are the costs, pluses and minuses of licensing a catalog of music and creating a Jersey Boys?  Is a catalog or "jukebox" musical more cost effective than a show with an original score? What are some smart strategies to use when negotiating all of this? Can your character sing a snippet of that pop tune? What about film clips and images, or even a copyrighted furniture design in your production? Did you clear the walk-in music you pipe through the theater to set the mood? We'll also talk briefly about public domain – what is it? (It can save you a bundle!) And we will discuss licensing product from one media to another, film to stage, book to play and address any other questions that attendees may have about licensing.

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  RYAN BOGNER

  serves as VP of Creative Development for Stageworks Media. Previously he was the Director of Creative Development and Production at RKO Stage Productions, where he was responsible for the theatrical development of titles taken from the RKO Pictures film library and other acquired properties, as well as management of the company’s business and producing operations. Bogner began producing theater in the Independent and not-for-profit New York scene. He has produced shows at Williamstown Theater Festival, The Ohio Theater, 42West, The Zipper Factory, The Julia Miles Theater, Dixon Place, The New York Musical Theater Festival and The New York International Fringe Festival as well as countless developmental workshops, readings and concerts. Notable productions include: Here Lies Love (Williamstown), The Orion Experience, Yeast Nation: The Triumph of Life, Hurricane. Prior to beginning his producing career, Bogner worked in the executive and theater operations departments at Jujamcyn Theaters, and in the professional licensing department at Theatrical Rights Worldwide, managing licenses of such shows as Spamalot and The Color Purple for major professional theaters domestically and internationally. Bogner is a graduate of the CTI 14 week program, holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theater and Directing from The Boston Conservatory, and an M.F.A. in Theater Management and Producing from Columbia University. He has been a guest lecturer at Pace University and is a member of the Musical Theater Factory where he co-created and adjudicates the 4x15 workshop series.
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  JOEY MONDA

  has worked in a variety of capacities on numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, concerts and events. Currently, he is serving as the Associate Producer for Sing Out, Louise! Productions where he worked on the Broadway musical Allegiance starring George Takei and Lea Salonga. He recently partnered with general manager Frankie Dailey to form Dailey-Monda Management, a full service general management company. He previously produced and managed Seth Rudetsky’s Off-Broadway hit Disaster!, as well as the Off-Broadway productions of A Persistent Memory (Beckett Theatre), COAL (Confessions of a Liar) (at 59E59) and Unbroken Circle (St. Luke’s Theatre). For the past 3 years, he has produced the annual Broadway Charity Songs concert, which partners musical theatre composers with unknown charities. He has worked extensively with DR Theatrical Management, Daryl Roth Productions, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, the Broadway League, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the Actors Fund, Playbill and Broadway Gives Back.
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  BARBARA ZIMMERMAN

  learned her business from the ground up in production, theatre, book and music publishing, recordings, radio shows, and commercials. Barbara’s constant interest and involvement with copyright and licensing led her to found an independent rights clearance service, BZ/Rights & Permissions, Inc., in the 1980’s. Barbara is a frequent speaker, writer and expert witness in the rights/licensing/copyright area. BZ/Rights clears rights for music, recordings, celebrities, film & video footage, photographs, texts, artwork and celebrities — anything that's copyrighted or otherwise legally protected. Whether it’s U2 or 20 plus songs for Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll, Frank Sinatra, or the Eight Ball, artwork for An American in Paris, clips for Sondheim on Sondheim or a Frost poem, Barbara and her staff can clear it. Clients include ad agencies, film and TV producers, new media producers and corporate users, theatre and dance companies. A subsidiary publishes "The Mini-Encyclopedia of Public Domain Songs" and “They Never Renewed: Songs You Never Dreamed Were in the Public Domain.” More about the company may be found at www.bzrights.com.