Sunday, May 21st, 2023, 12-5PM
We continue zooming into the Virtual World - Boot Camp has been reformatted for Zoom!

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

An essential workshop for producers and investors. Panel will include Jane Dubin, producer (recent: Is This A Room, Dana H.; The Prom, Tony winning The Norman Conquests, An American in Paris, Farinelli and the King, Bandstand, Peter and the Starcatcher, Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, The 39 Steps, Ann)); Sharon Fallon/Sharon Fallon Productions, executive producer, general manager, consultant (Indecent, Beautiful Broadway, London & National Tour, Matilda The Musical, Lysistrata Jones); Lee Feldshon, entertainment attorney; Blair Russell, producer and developer (Tony nominee for Slave Play, Lizard Boy, off-Broadway Sweeney Todd);  James Simon producer and investor (The Play That Goes Wrong, Hand to God, The Velocity of Autumn, 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. 

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  JANE DUBIN

  is a Tony, Drama Desk and Drama League Award-winning producer and the President of Double Play Connections, a theatrical production company committed to supporting the development of new work. Jane is a graduate of the CTI 14-week (NYC) and O’Neill (CT) Producing Workshops and Director of TRU’s Producer Development Master Class. Ms. Dubin is co-Chair of the Board of Houses on the Moon Theater Company, a past Board member of the League of Professional Theatre Women and was a Tony voter for seven years. She is a member of the Broadway Women’s Alliance, Off-Broadway Alliance, LPTW and Off-Broadway League. She serves as an evaluator for Bethany Arts Community’s residency program. She is a frequent panelist and guest lecturer on theater-related matters. Jane serves on the advisory boards of Elizabeth Mascia Child Care Center, Axial Theatre and Dirty Laundry Theatre. Jane has an MBA in Finance from NYU and was a partner in an investment advisory firm prior to her theater career. Productions: Recent: The Village of Vale – an original fantasy musical (Adirondack Theatre Festival), Still, starring Melissa Gilbert and Mark Moses.  Broadway: Is This A Room, Dana H., The Prom (Drama Desk Best Musical), Farinelli and the King (Mark Rylance), An American in Paris (4 TONY Awards, London, National Tour), Ann, (Holland Taylor) (Lincoln Center), Bandstand, Peter and the Starcatcher (5 TONY Awards), The  Norman Conquests (TONY). Other: Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, Beebo Brinker Chronicles (GLAAD Media Award), Groundswell, The 39 Steps, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (London). Film: Radium Girls. 
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  SHARON FALLON

  founder of Sharon Fallon Productions, Inc., is an independent theater producer, general manager, and theatrical consultant with over two decades of experience in commercial and non-profit theatre. In 2015, Sharon established her theatrical production and general management company with a mission to bridge the gap between art and business — ensuring productions are both financially sustainable and artistically fulfilling. She takes a holistic approach to her work, overseeing all stages of production from initial concept to final performance. Sharon works closely with early-career producers and artist-driven projects, providing guidance across readings, development workshops, and full productions to help bring new theatrical works to life. Her career spans roles as actress, director, general manager, managing director, and producer. Broadway credits include Indecent, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Matilda The Musical, and Lysistrata Jones. She has also served as Associate General Manager for both the Helen Hayes Theatre and the Lyric Theatre in New York. Sharon is currently working as executive producer and/or general manager on several projects in development. She serves on the Board of the National Alliance of Musical Theatres (NAMT), co-chairing the Member Resources and Conference Committee, and is a member of the Off Broadway League.
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  LEE A. G. FELDSHON

  has over 25 years of experience in entertainment and corporate law. He launched his private practice, Feldshon Law PLLC, in 2018.  He represents producers, co-producers, composers, bookwriters, lyricists, directors, and other creatives in the live theatrical industry. He represented the New York Musical Theatre Festival from its 2004 founding to its dissolution.  He was production counsel for the Broadway revival of Pump Boys & Dinettes, and represented a Tony-award winning actor) in connection with the Tony-award winning Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.  He represents the producers and/or authors of other live theatrical works including Stranger Sings! The Musical Parody, EPIC, Lizard Boy, Islander-A New Musical, Mozart-The New Musical, Dangerous-A New Musical, Who's Your Baghdaddy? Or How I Started the Iraq War, Desperate Measures (2018 Drama Desk Awards for Original Music and Original Lyrics), Rooms, and others. He is also co-producing Austen's Pride: A New Musical of Pride and Prejudice.  He negotiates screenplay option/purchase agreements and financing documents for film producers, and has worked as film production counsel for  Fly Away (SXSW Official Selection) and the documentary Darkon: An American Fantasy (2006 SXSW Audience Award). While Director of Legal Affairs and Business Development of the Radio City Entertainment division of Madison Square Garden, L.P., he worked on The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, A Christmas Carol, and Rockettes performances. As a Levine Plotkin & Menin associate, he worked on Rent (Broadway, touring), The Wild Party (Broadway), De La Guarda (Off Broadway), and other shows. He started his career as a corporate associate at White & Case.  In addition, he handles trademark and copyright registrations for clients, and represents talent management companies.  He received a B.A. from Columbia College in 1991 (magna cum laude, Rhodes Scholar State Finalist) and a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1994 (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar). Bar Admissions: New York.
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  BLAIR RUSSELL

  is a producer who specializes in developing new works for the theatre. Recent projects include the off-Broadway play Still with Melissa Gilbert which he found at a TRU Speed Date, new musical Lizard Boy which has been performed in 4 countries including Off-Broadway, For Tonight, which premiered in concert on the West End at the Adelphi Theatre, DIVA: Live From Hell! (Edinburgh, Off West End), and Pop Off, Michelangelo! (Edinburgh, Off West End). He was a producer on Slave Play which held the record for most Tony-nominated play in history, is developing the new musical Salem which has over 50k followers on social media, and executive produced the first two concept albums in the EPIC series which have over 150 million streams globally. Other projects as co-producer / investor include The Wiz (National Tour/Broadway 2024), Sweeney Todd (Immersive Off-Broadway 2017), and Gypsy with Imelda Staunton (West End 2014). Blair is Co-Chair of the Board of The New Harmony Project and a member of the Board of Trustees of Goodspeed Musicals and SPACE. He is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Technical Theatre/Stage Management.

   
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  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.