TRU Community Gathering: MTI's Place in Theater Licensing

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is in its sixth year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings, having led over 300 consecutive conversations about aspects of theater and the arts. The series has offered the theater community information, inspiration, and unlimited camaraderie since April 17, 2020. TRU hosts these gatherings every Friday at 5pm ET via Zoom, originally presented to explore the creation of art and theater in the time of shutdown, and now to ensure that these crucial conversations continue going forward.

Click visit https://truonline.org/events/mti-licensing/ to receive this Friday's Zoom link. These gatherings are a service for the theater community and are offered free for TRU members; non-members may also attend for free, but we ask that non-members help keep us running by buying a $12 ticket, making a donation or joining as a member.

9/18 - Know the Score: MTI's Unique Place in the Licensing World. In the room: Jason Cocovinus, director of Marketing and Marc Hershberg, director of business and legal affairs at Music Theater International (MTI). MTI was co-founded in 1952 by the legendary Frank Loesser and is heading towards a landmark 75th anniversary. How has the company evolved from then to now? Have legal updates influenced the licensing business over the years? Statistically, what are the things that now seem to interest audiences and theaters around the country, and has that changed since shutdown? Does a show need to have a NY run to be marketable? MTI is one of the few large licensing houses not subsumed by Concord Theatricals. In what ways might that be that an advantage or a disadvantage for writers seeking to have their shows licensed? We'll also take an admiring look at MTI's dedication to educational theater, including their groundbreaking Broadway Juniors series. Visit https://truonline.org/events/mti-licensing/ to register and receive the link.

UPCOMING

9/25 - tba

10/2 - Making Something from Nothing: How Bare Bones Theater Companies Survive and Thrive. In the room: Andrew Beck, producing artistic director of Outta Bounds Productions, which in the last 4 years has incubated over 25 new scripts of varying length in their Warehouse Works series; and Alicia Foxworth, founder of Brownstone Steps Entertainment, curator of Brownstone Steps Play Festival since 2018, dedicated to producing culturally affirming content by, about and/or including people of the African diaspora to reflect a myriad of cultures and generations. Given today's economic challenges, it's a wonder that anyone can get a show up on a stage. We always hear an earful about the soaring costs in commercial theater, particularly on Broadway; but what about the thousands of small scrappy theaters around the country and around the world? ... Click here to read more, register and receive the link.

More information about upcoming dates is available at: truonline.org/tru-community-gathering.

To receive the Zoom invitation for weekly meetings, email TRUnltd@aol.com with 'Zoom Me' in the subject header. These gatherings are free for TRU members, non-members are asked to make an optional tax-deductible donation or consider joining TRU at truonline.org/membership to support the organization's ongoing service to the community.

Videos of past Community Gatherings may be viewed on TRU's YouTube channel at youtube.com/channel/UC43rsChi4fA23dNLeloaF_A/ Pleased visit us and consider joining our 27,700 subscribers.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a thirty-three-year-old 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of the arts. Membership includes self-Producing Artists as well as career producers and theater companies.