Application process

We intend these notes as helpful hints for applicants to the Festival. Read this manual carefully before filling out the application. E-mail inquiries are welcome for any clarification we can provide. Phone calls and faxes are discouraged.

The Festival runs on e-mail. Anyone without ready access to e-mail and the Internet should plan on getting access before considering Festival participation. We recommend an e-mail that all members of your producing team can access.

Festival Schedule

Application Process

Please read through this Festival Manual before downloading the application. The application is available in Acrobat Reader (PDF) format. Please read it carefully and fill it out completely. Send it in with a copy of your proposed play, together with any supporting materials you want. Payment should be in the form of a certified check, cashier's check, personal check, or money order, in U.S. funds, collectible on a U.S. bank. Be sure to write the name of your show on the memo line of your check or money order and make it payable to MITF. If you want your application materials returned, include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with sufficient postage on it. All materials not accompanied by SASE are recycled.

We e-mail successful candidates with an invitation to join the Festival. The official schedule will not be released until all contracts are signed and participation fees are paid.

Script Selection Criteria

Our philosophy is based on a paradoxical combination of selectivity and diversity. We do everything we can to select projects that are pleasing to us as well as to their audiences. (We also recognize that not all plays appeal to all audiences.) We encourage diversity because theatre itself is diverse. By diversity we don't mean political correctness; Shakespeare isn't politically correct by our standards (though he had to toe the political lines of his time). But we do encourage plays of all racial and sexual stripes, as well as plays in all genres.

While the word "eclectic" has bad connotations in the academic world, it describes our artistic thrust. We welcome any kind of stage play, musical or otherwise, new or classical, mainstream or specifically focused on an ethnic or cultural niche. The classics are as alive today as they ever were, and we are always interested in new productions of classical plays.

The chief restrictions on submissions are the length of a show and its amenability to being done with minimal scenery in a festival setting. Otherwise, three things make up a successful entry in the MITF: a good play, a competent producer, and a marketing plan. We must see all three in an application in order to make an offer to be in the Festival.

A Good Play

Ultimately the idea of a “good play” boils down to taste. But we do look for traditional dramaturgical values: strong characters, crisp dialog, savvy construction, a satisfying ending. (We are also not afraid of edgier, more avant-garde work, if it promises to be well done.)

A well-written play is not the same as a well-made play. It's also not the same as a well-typed play, though messy scripts tend to come from inexperienced playwrights. (Ask the Dramatists Guild for their script-format guidelines. You don't have to follow them exactly, but they're a professional standard.) At a minimum, scripts should exhibit the following characteristics:

A Competent Producer

We are also concerned about whether the production company will be compatible with our production practice. Playwright-producers abound Off-Off-Broadway. But theatre is a collaborative art form, and plays should be put on by teams. These teams are led by producers, who may or may not be authors of the plays they produce.

A producer doesn't have to be the person putting up the money. Commercial producers often don't put their own money into a show: they spend Other People's Money (OPM). But every production needs someone whose principal job is running the production itself. The application asks for that person's name and a thumbnail sketch of his or her history.

A Marketing Plan

A large amount of the audience for the MITF is your audience -- frequently friends and relatives, but also subscribers and people from individual companies' mailing lists. The MITF does its own marketing and PR, through extensive press releases (to get free listings, features, and reviews), as well as advertising in TimeOut NY or other media. But only you can bring in your own captive audience. So how you intend to get those people into the theatre is a subject of great interest to us. See Marketing 101 in the Appendix for further details.

Finances

You must choose one of the following financial plans when you apply to the festival, unless you are submitting a staged reading (see Staged Readings). All entries must go through the selection process. Newer producers can also see Financial Breakdown in the Appendix.

Plan A: Traditional Approach

NOTE: The following kinds of shows are NOT eligible for Plan A, unless you have been in the Festival before and have been successful at the box office: solo shows; shows from outside the tri-state area; sketch-comedy; or improv groups.

Plan A is the basic plan. There is a non-refundable participation fee of $50 per performance initially scheduled. If you are scheduled for 6 performances (most nonmusicals), the fee works out to $300; for 9 performances (most musicals), $450. The participation fee is payable on signing the contract, but the festival guarantees only that you will get the first half of the total performances initially scheduled. Depending on the Advance Sale results, the remaining performances will be released to you and tickets made available for sale. See Advance Sale.

After the Advance Sale, you must meet a minimum sales goal to make money back from the box office. We call this the “guarantee.” For a 90-minute show, the guarantee is 40 percent of the total seats in all the performances you were assigned. If a show doesn't make this guarantee, the show doesn't owe us anything. If a show does make its numbers, we split the excess revenue over and above those numbers with the show, 50/50. For a 120-minute show, the guarantee is higher: 50% of the total seats in all the performances assigned. You receive half of any revenue over and above the 50% guarantee.

Plan B

NOTE: Solo shows, shows out of the tri-state area, sketch comedy, and improv shows must opt for Plan B only.

Under Plan B, there is a participation fee of $550. You also pay a theatre usage fee up front ($5.50 per seat per performance, for a 60-90 minute show; $6.88 per seat per performance for a 90-120 minute show). However, you receive 90 percent of the gross, and you can have as many performances as you wish, within reason.

Producers who sincerely think their shows can be profitable should consider Plan B. The total budget is still considerably less than that involved in renting a theatre all by yourself.

A show at Where Eagles Dare running 3 performances would cost $30 for the application, $550 for the participation fee, and $660 for the theatre usage fee, making a total of $1240. This is a lot more than it would cost under the regular Festival plan, but the participant would get to keep 90 percent of the door. (The participant is in essence paying $10.33 per seat, meaning that he/she could break even on Festival costs by selling a little more than half-houses for $18 a ticket.) A 120-minute musical with 9 performances in the biggest theatre will cost $30 for the application, $550 for the participation fee, and $6066 for the theatre usage fee, making a total of $6646. (This averages out to a little more than $7.50 per seat.) And you receive 90% of the door!

Plan C: The Studio Series

The Studio Series consists of absolute bare-bones workshop productions in Studio Blackbird at Where Eagles Dare, which has minimal lighting and sound equipment. Each production pays $200 per performance for as many performances as they want, within reason. The festival will handle ticket sales through its own box office and pay participants 90 percent of the gross.

These slots are available to anyone who is willing to underwrite the costs of the space (as in Plan B). Productions will be listed in all our press materials and on the website.

This is certainly the plan for you to consider if you are on a tight budget, have a show that doesn't require much production, and just want to see it on its feet.

Plan D: The Commercial Division

The MITF's Commercial Division is the Rolls-Royce of Festival options, new for 2008!

We are renting a 99-seat or bigger theatre (probably TBG Theatre), to house this venture. This is indeed a Rolls-Royce package, but a surprisingly affordable one. To our knowledge, no other theatre festival in the area offers the extended rehearsal time or personal attention that come with the Commercial Division! It will comprise only 5 shows in rep, which the following benefits (compare with other financial
plans):

*More Storage Space
TBG Theatre has a 29'-deep stage, some of which we plan to curtain off for storage of flats or bins. There is also storage backstage. We will make your storage fit, within reason.

*More amenities
TBG Theatre has 2 spacious dressing rooms, as well as a backstage toilet and shower. The lobby is also huge by Off-Off-Broadway standards (bigger than many Off-Broadway lobbies). As mentioned above, the stage is bigger too, even after allowing for extra storage space.

*More time in the dressing rooms
In the Commercial Division, we plan only 1 performance on weekdays and 3 performances on Saturdays or Sundays. You may get in the theatre at least an hour before your show to dress or apply makeup, and we won't hustle you out afterwards.

*Time to rehearse all day and/or night
The Commercial Division is a showcase for ambitious shows, but it is also a chance to apply a final coat or two of polish, or even do extensive rewrites during production. If you want, your cast can come in at 10 am and continue to work till your evening curtain. This experience can truly help you develop your show. (You can even stay late after your performance, but everyone has to sleep sometime.)

*An extra week of performances
After all that development, you’ll want to showcase your show at its best! Not only does a 4th week of performances give you more time to develop your work, but you and your colleagues in the Commercial Division will be the last shows standing in the Festival, so you won't be competing for attention with other shows. This is the week you can focus on bringing in industry or press to promote the results of your hard work. Your closing performance could even be a backer’s audition.

*Higher ticket prices
The base price for tickets in the Commercial Division will be $18, just as in the rest of the Festival, so you may perform under the showcase code if you want. But we won't stop you charging more money if you want to; certainly the market will bear $25 a ticket, for a well-honed production, especially during the final week. This allows you to produce under a higher AEA contract, if you wish.

*You keep 90% of the door
The Commercial Division financial package is a variant on Plan B (participation fee plus theatre-usage fee). The participation fee is $1000, to reflect the greater personal attention we devote to your show. The theatre-usage fee is $8.00 per seat per performance, to reflect the higher cost of the theatre and the fewer performances given in it. You receive 90 percent of the door. So your total Festival commitment, including application fee, is $8158 (not counting production costs, of course). You need to sell 453 tickets at $18, or a hair over half a house for 9 performances, to break even on your Festival costs.

Staged Readings

The Festival opens up its largest theatre for staged readings, at only $200/performance – audience admission is free. The only qualifying criterion, other than that the presenters cooperate with festival policies and procedures, is that the scripts be dramatically interesting (they are reviewed by at least one artistic director and by our Festival staff). This is an opportunity for playwrights and others to hear new work for the first time with an eye toward eventual production...maybe even back at MITF!

These readings take place in the afternoon on weekdays, but we promote them through our regular publicity channels. Other production values must be minimal:- we expect participants to start and end on time and make appropriate use of the space.

We have had sponsored staged readings and special cultural events in the past. Whether we have these again will depend on the level of sponsorship that appears before the events are planned.

Benefits

Participation in the Festival is an excellent opportunity to test-drive your script in the center of one of the two great theatre districts in the world. The exposure you’ll receive from industry and press will help the show in future incarnations. All this in a friendly and supportive environment! (For comments by previous participants, see the testimonials on the Home Page.)

The MITF is big enough to expose your script, but not too big that you get lost or forgotten. Since we are "the festival that cares," we promise to do our best to communicate any and all information and resources we feel will help your production reach its fullest potential.

We have detail-oriented management and a paid, year-round staff that gives special attention to each individual show. We can be easily contacted by e-mail and usually respond within 3 - 4 days. All communications are sent out in a timely fashion...months before the festival opens. We prepare the performance and rehearsal schedules as soon after getting commitments from the participants as possible. You will receive all the information you need without having to ask for it.

All participants in the Festival may be comped into any show in the Festival, on a standby basis. This is an excellent way to support your fellow MITF artists, network, and cross-promote. Participants in the past have found this beneficial to their show and company at large.

We also provide space at Where Eagles Dare rehearsal studios to hold receptions during the Festival. The Festival is glad to let you use these studios for free, provided you staff the reception, cater any food, and clean up afterwards. We'll even throw in a case or 2 of beer for your party! Reception-goers are also ticket-buyers, and if you plan this for your opening, people will spread the word and bring friends back to your show!

The "I" in MITF -- International Shows

We aggressively pursue international productions! International applicants include not only groups with international artists but also groups wishing to submit plays written by an international author or a play dealing with international themes.

It's tough to come to a strange place and put on a show. It's better if you have a local company that is willing to co-produce your show (including providing the marketing muscle). But even out-of-towners can make it here -- and, after all, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

To attract more interest among the jet set, we have a co-artistic director who is responsible for international plays. She will help you with the logistics in bringing your show to New York City (housing, visas, financing, etc.). Whatever services we provide, they won't make up for not having a local production manager. We are happy to make referrals. All participants, like locals, are responsible for all aspects of production and publicity for their shows, as well as travel expenses and accommodations.

There is an early deadline for international applicants to give you the following advantages:

1) Scheduling preferences. You have the advantage of choosing your schedule and number of shows. If you are flying in from out of town or from another country and it's not in your production budget to stay in NY a whole month or do a full 6 shows and you wish to do only 3 shows on only one weekend, then just note your preference on your application and we will do our best to accommodate you.

2) More time to prepare. You'll have more time to research, plan, promote, raise money, find grants, and get sponsors.

3) More time to utilize our help. We'll be sending you resources and info on everything we can think of, including:

International shows can only opt for a financial plan other than Plan A (see Finances above). You need to seriously consider how you intend to get audiences in the seats.

Scheduling

If selected, your show is scheduled into one theatre for a predetermined number of performances over 3 weeks. (If your advance sale goes well, you'll have a chance at more performances.) Performances generally start no earlier than 4:00 p.m. and no later than 10:30 p.m. on weekdays. (Staged readings usually take place in the early afternoon on weekdays.) Shows run from 10 am to 11 pm on weekends. Four p.m. performances are optional; if you take them, and you’re under Plan A, they don't increase your guarantee. They are good for attracting industry.

We distinguish among 3 kinds of slots, according to their popularity: premium (Friday or Saturday night), average (say, weekend matinee) and, let us say, less-than-average slots (Tuesday nights, for example). When we make up the schedule, we assign everyone an equal number of slots of each type. The only ground for appeal is to point out obvious errors, like 2 slots on the same day (unless you asked
for them) or no weekend slots.

Every Saturday-night slot you get will be matched with a slot of medium value, like a Sunday matinee or Thursday evening, and a slot that most people consider less desirable, like a Tuesday night. (Monday nights, strangely enough, usually do as well as Saturday matinees.)

Our usual way to make up the schedule is to assign 3, 6, or 9 slots to every show. However, all Plan A shows are only promised the first half of their performance slots. The rest are dependant on the advance sale

Advance Sales (Plan A Shows Only)

Only the first half of your performances will go on sale during the Advance Sale. Productions that don’t sell at least 25 percent of the total number of seats on sale, by the end of the Advance Sale, risk losing some of their performances. As soon as you meet your 25% minimum, we will release the last half of your performances and put them on sale to the public. The minimum amounts to roughly 10 - 17 tickets per performance, depending on the size of the theatre. If you do not meet your minimum, you risk losing performances to either a Plan B show, or a Plan A show that is selling exceedingly well.

Example: You have been given 6 performances in a 40 seat theatre. Only the first 3 performances are put on sale for the Advance Sale. You must sell a minimum of 30 tickets before the Advance Sale ends to secure your last 3 performances.

Box Office and House Managers

The MITF handles all aspects of selling tickets. Tickets are sold at the door and in advance, by phone and on the Web. Once the festival has opened, patrons can buy tickets at the MITF box office, sold by MITF staff. Every performance has a detailed box-office report, made available to you after the festival closes. Patron information, such as names and addresses, is available upon request.

You are required to have a house manager who is responsible for the following duties:

Your house manager should also have authority to make any decisions concerning your show in the absence of the production's producer, should an emergency arise. We strongly recommend the house manager be a member of the producing team – he or she must be present at all performances to sign off on the Box Office report. Each show will receive its own discount code. Critics and industry are comped, provided they make reservations through MITF or meet Equity showcase guidelines. All MITF participants are comped into any show as long as there is room. Any other comps are entirely at the Festival's discretion.

Equity Showcases

Under the showcase code, Actors' Equity permits union members to perform provided the producer agrees to certain restrictions. We will do nothing to violate these restrictions, but individual producers must make their own arrangements with Equity to produce under the showcase code.

However, the MITF does offer the insurance AEA requires. Equity showcases are required to purchase volunteer accident insurance, which covers Equity members' risk of accident during auditions, rehearsals, and performances. The Festival buys a blanket policy to cover all showcases in the MITF. Shows that wish to participate in the policy pay a nominal sum (in recent years, $4.50 per volunteer member of the company, whether Equity or no) to share in the coverage. (A volunteer is anyone in the company not being paid more than expenses.)

Publicity

The MITF publicizes the Festival and coordinates all press relations, including interviews and critics' attendance. We publish color postcards and brochures. We print up to 15,000 postcards for groups to send to their mailing lists. We buy three ads in TimeOutNY. We also do several "E-blasts," mass e-mailings that go out to upwards of 30,000 theatre patrons. The Festival has also had extensive media partnerships with TimesSquare.com and The Broadway Bullet. However, we expect each production to do its own publicity, in addition to the above.

You will be asked to submit publicity photos and PR materials so we can send complete press packages to print and broadcast media. You must publicize your own show through mailers, handbills, posters, or ads. The more you promote your show, the larger your potential audience.

Technical Elements

Production values must be kept at a minimum to accommodate all festival productions. The festival caps the maximum cast size at 12 people so no show is too big for its venue. Plays in the Commercial Division have a little more flexibility in all technical elements than those prescribed below.

The following is general festival technical information that applies to all venues. For more detailed technical specs, look up the theatre you are interested in the MITF Venues section.

To keep as much of the stage space usable as possible we need to restrict scenery elements and storage. In general, all stored items must be taken with you every night. However, the festival provides stock pieces, as follows:

Quantities are subject to adjustment. Please keep your eyes open to the website or your in-box for updated scenery specifications.

Our resident lighting designer designs a general rep. plot for all participants to use. There are areas, warm and cool washes, back light, and side light. Our LD also includes various specials for everyone to use, but does not design for individual shows. It is absolutely forbidden to refocus or change color on any lighting instrument during the Festival, subject to fines.

A Venue Manager is on hand in case of technical difficulties, but each company must assign an individual to run the lights and sound. There is a dimmer check at the beginning of each day.

Each venue has a full sound system. There is at least one CD player, and additional inputs are available to add additional equipment (you must provide your own cables). For space and safety reasons, you must leave the booth in the same condition you found it – taking any additional equipment with you after each show. There are no mics available, nor are they needed in any of our venues. Your sound op needs to have technical knowledge of the playback equipment and mixing boards that are available to them. The festival will make a pre-show curtain speech notifying patrons of emergency exits and asking them to turn off cell phones.

MITF Venues

Tours of MITF venues are made available after your show has been confirmed. However, the theatres are all very busy, and it is not possible to walk in without an appointment. The festival will release more information regarding tours after your show has been confirmed.

TBG Theater, or equivalent

This theatre is only available to shows choosing Plan D – the Commercial Division.

The stage and dressing rooms will be open to each show at least an hour before show time. Most storage can be accommodated, but must be approved by the festival well in advance of tech. All storage is kept backstage and under the risers. All flats must be stored behind a curtain that is hung approximately 2 – 3 feet from the back wall of the stage. There is a crossover backstage, not behind the curtain.

TBG Theatre has a computerized light board and complete sound system with a mixing board (additional outputs available) and stereo speakers.

June Havoc Theatre

There is a green room to be shared with all MITF shows. It will be equipped with makeup and dressing facilities that are very limited. Although it is located on the same floor, the green room is neither adjacent to the stage nor equipped with a monitor. The green room is open at all times during festival hours.

There is a costume rack in the dressing room to be used at the time of your show – you may not leave costumes on these racks overnight. You may also store costumes in your stackable bins.

All props and additional technical elements must be stored in a maximum of 2 plastic storage bins -- you can get them at K-Mart relatively cheaply and they must stack on each other. Plastic bags, crates, or cardboard boxes are prohibited for safety reasons. Everything must be labeled clearly – the festival is not responsible for lost or stolen items.

The June Havoc comes equipped with a full computerized ETC 125 Express light board. Each show must provide it’s own disc – a backup disc is also recommended. The sound system includes CD and mini-disk playback. High- and Mid-range speakers are 400 watts, subwoofers are 1000 watts. Amps and speakers are Audio Reality equipment. Mixing board is a Behringer UB2442FX.

For musicals in the June Havoc, we offer a Casio Privia electronic keyboard or equivalent (a full-size, 88-key instrument) with a built-in amp. If you need to use other instruments, be aware there is no storage for them.

Dorothy Strelsin Theatre

There is a costume rack in the dressing room to be used at the time of your show – you may not leave costumes on these racks overnight. You may also store costumes in your stackable storage bins.

The Dorothy Strelsin has a fully computerized ETC 24/48 Express light board. Each show must provide it’s own disc – a backup disc is also recommended. The sound system includes CD and mini-disk playback. High- and Mid-range speakers are 400 watts. Amps and speakers are Audio Reality equipment. Mixing board is a Mackie 1402.

The Workshop Theater Company - Main Stage Theatre

There are two costume racks in the dressing room to be used at the time of your show – you may not leave costumes on these racks overnight. You may also store costumes in your stackable storage bins.

The Main Stage Theater comes equipped with a Microvision computer light board with 98 channels. Each show must provide it’s own disc – a backup disc is also recommended.

For musicals on the Main Stage Theater, we offer a Yamaha P80 electronic keyboard or equivalent (a full-size, 88-key instrument) with an amp. If you need to use other instruments, be aware there is no storage for them.

While the WorkShop has done soundproofing, there is always going to be a little bit of a problem with bleeding, due to the design of the structure. The Festival staff regulates the volume of all sound cues and music to help keep the sound from bleeding, but it is ultimately up to your house manager to keep external noise down.

Where Eagles Dare Theatre

There is a green room at Where Eagles Dare equipped with makeup and (primitive) dressing facilities, but it is on the 13th floor (the theatre is on the first floor). Since there is no monitor, it is your responsibility to get to the theatre on time. The green room is open at all times during festival hours, and is shared with other MITF shows.

There is no room for a costume rack backstage, but there is plenty of space to hang costumes for the duration of the show. Everything must leave the theatre after the performance.

Where Eagles Dare has limited storage backstage and the festival reserves the right to deny storage to anyone. You may wish to transport your props and costumes home every night. If you keep your stuff in one large wheeled suitcase you will be able to transport it easily.

Where Eagles Dare is equipped with a Leprecon 2-scene-preset board. The festival plot will comprise 24 channels of dimmers and 24 instruments, more or less evenly divided among PAR cans, Fresnels, and Leikos.

Stage Left Studio

There is no green room at Stage Left, but the kitchen can be used for waiting preshow, and there are two commercial restrooms only 10 feet from the front door of the studio for your use.

The hallway next to the kitchen has a full-length mirror and good lighting for makeup and costume needs.

There is no storage at Stage Left. All props and costumes must be brought to and taken away from the Stage Left Studio Theatre for each performance. There are no exceptions. There are theatrical blacks, used for a crossover, with about 2 feet behind it, where small props can be stowed during the performance. The stage is 14.5 feet wide by 8 feet deep and 15 inches high.

Stage Left provides stock scenery, as follows:

Multiple black boxes, all 15" high, 1 20"x36", 1 20"x24", 2 12"x12"
2 black chairs
1 cafe table and one 24"x30" table
2 music stands
2 bar stools

This list is subject to adjustments.

There are two side pipes, a front and back pipe. Front pipe has 3 Fresnels with barn doors and a Source Four Junior spotlight. Each side pipe has 1 pin spot, and two sets of 3 Par16's. Back pipe has 4 Par38's. The board is programmable, and if you make a request to program in lighting looks well in advance of your tech time, you may be given permission to do so, depending on what shows are currently running in the space.

Stage Left Studio has excellent acoustics. The space contains the following sound equipment:

2-deck CD player
12-channel mixing board
Amplifier
Speakers
*Roland RD700SX digital piano
*Epson Powerlite S4 digital projector, with two screens – 3'x5' & 5'x9'
Two mics and stands, both standard and boom
DI boxes

*use of projector or piano (for both rehearsal and performance) requires a deposit and $5 per hour surcharge

There is a green room at Where Eagles Dare equipped with makeup and (primitive) dressing facilities, but it is shared with other MITF shows. Since there is no monitor, it is your responsibility to get to the theatre on time. The green room is open at all times during festival hours.

The Where Eagles Dare Studio Theatre has no storage. There is a curtain, used for a crossover, and some primitive wing space in which shows can keep things while performing. Otherwise, all props and costumes must be brought to and taken away from the Studio Theatre for each performance. There are no exceptions.

The Studio Theatre contains 8 various instruments, with a 2-scene-preset dimmer.

Non-musical plays should not be under 60 minutes nor over 90 minutes. No musical should be over 120 minutes, including intermission, if any.

It is not unusual in a festival setting to do an abbreviated version of your work in order to fit within the time limitations. The MITF promises its audiences medium-length shows: long enough to feel satisfied and short enough for the average summer festival-goer's attention span.

There is 30 minutes between shows – this means each show gets 15 min. to load-in and 15 min. to load-out between performances. (Since Where Eagles Dare has only one entrance for audience and performers, there is an hour between shows.) If your show runs over its allotted time, you throw off the schedule for the whole day. In a festival setting this can be disastrous. You will be fined $50 for each time you run over. If it happens more than once we reserve the right to cancel your remaining performances.

Your load-in and load-out schedule must include the audience getting into the theatre as well:

If you have a show that has an 8:30 GO and comes down at 10:00 pm, your schedule would be like this:

These sample times apply to the Workshop Theater. Times are more relaxed for Where Eagles Dare. In the Where Eagles Dare Studio Theatre, an absence of space to keep the audiences makes it necessary to open the house half an hour before curtain. With half an hour to set up the show, half an hour to settle the audience, and half an hour to strike, there will be at least 90 minutes between shows.

You will receive a tech time slot a couple weeks after your performance schedule is confirmed. Your tech rehearsal runs 3 times your running time (for example, if your show is 90 minutes, you have 4 hours and 30 minutes). During this time you should get the blocking set, run all tech elements, and also figure your "load in and load out" plan of attack to execute a smooth GO.

It is possible to buy extra tech time when it is available. Rent for extra time in the theatre after the festival has loaded in is at favorable rates. All space rentals are payable in advance by check or cash. You will receive a receipt on the spot.

Fines

The MITF staff cannot ensure that others do their bit in making their own trains run on time: sweet smiles and encouraging words are great, but sometimes negative reinforcement is in order.

Negative reinforcement takes the form of fines. There are fines for the following infractions:

These fines reflect simple rules meant to reinforce the Festival philosophy of cooperation, which stems from the collaborative nature of the medium.

The Festival assesses fines out of the producer's share of the gross. If a show hasn't accrued enough ticket sales to cover a fine, the producer must pay up on the spot before a further performance.

Appendix

The following is additional information that may be handy, especially to newer producers:

There are many aspects of marketing. For the purposes of the Festival, marketing isn't press and publicity -- it consists of all the ways you can go out and sell tickets. But whoever is concentrating on marketing must work closely with whoever is handling your press and publicity, as these are also ways of communicating with your audience. The purpose of a marketing plan is to connect you to your audience. Only when you know your audience can you go after them to bring them into the theatre. And saying that your audience is merely “people who like good theatre” isn't enough. They have to like the kind of theatre represented or promised by your play.

These two people (marketing and press agents), if you are lucky enough to have two, should at least agree on who that audience is! For example, if you have a gay play, you will want to reach out to as many gay groups (through the community center in Greenwich Village, for example) as you can; you will also want to reach out to all the gay publications, both in print and on the Web, and any gay or receptive radio and TV shows. You can tell these media people your story and make special offers, like coded discounts. None of this good work will happen if your press and marketing people don't agree that you have a gay play.

So your marketing plan should therefore start with the script. If you haven't figured out what your play is about, you'll never figure out who its audience is, and your marketing efforts will never get moving.

Once you know what your play is about and have figured out who might want to see it, you can start brainstorming ways to connect to that audience. A play in two Festivals, for instance, On the Couch with Nora Armani, dealt with the life of an Armenian-Egyptian woman. It was logical to go after people in the Middle Eastern community, both individually and as groups. If your audience is as narrowly focused as this, you are blessed. (On the Couch... played the Main Stage and did very well at the box office.)

The next step, then, is to write a brief teaser -- one sentence only -- about your play. "An inside account of life and lunacy in a Broadway box office" tells you all you need to know about the play to get your interest going, if that's the kind of play you like. (The title, Do You Have Anything Closer?, in this example, helps too.) You now have an idea about whom to approach to come see the play -- anyone actively involved in the theatre, for one (this play sold tickets to groups of box-office workers, for example, and developed huge buzz in the theatre community at large). We will use your teaser on the ticketing website and in the Festival press release.

Next you need a more descriptive blurb, longer than your teaser but easily digested. Forty words are a good number. This blurb will also go in the press release and on the ticketing website. If you can sum up your play in the teaser and blurb, you are well on the way to meeting your other marketing goals.

The ticketing website lets people in the know get a special price if they know a certain code we build for you. There's no point in publicizing this code to just anyone -- we might as well just charge less. There's a lot of point in publicizing the code to particular groups, who are thereby energized to come see your show because they are special. If these groups are really your target audience, they'll tell their friends and acquaintances and build buzz for you.

You can also create tie-ins with businesses. Let's say you have an ethnic play. It's logical to talk to restaurants of the same ethnicity about co-promotion. This co-promotion can involve something as simple as trading an insert or ad in your program for display of your postcards at their cash register; or you could ask the restaurant to provide wine or food for a reception after your show, and then tell your audience that anyone coming to the show on a particular night gets an invitation to the reception (see Benefits) before or afterwards.

While it's not so important to the Festival, it's important for you to follow up on the connections you make. Getting your audience's names and contact information through a ballot inserted in the program will help you develop a following, so next time you do a play you'll know who your audience is, and will be able to reach out to it. The ticketing website also lets ticket buyers share their names and addresses with you, if they wish, and we can forward them to you in spreadsheet format.

Shows that sell lots of tickets make money; shows that don't sell enough tickets make no money. Just like real life!

The participants pay all other expenses associated with their productions, including the following:

*Participation fee varies for Studio Series, Plan B shows, and The Commercial Division.

General Considerations

We've touched on the need for consideration by participants toward others in the Festival. The theatre is full of divas, who think their work is more important than that of anyone else.

What is a diva? A diva is someone who thinks his or her talent demands obeisance. It shines like the sun, outdoing the pale, wintry gleams cast off by its fellows.

We don't appreciate divas. Anyone who is unable to control his or her divahood (and let's face it, we can all be divas, given the chance!), should find another outlet for it.

While Off-Off-Broadway has its share of divas, it also has a population of hardworking professionals. Equity showcases, after all (which form the core of Off-Off-Broadway), are merely professionals working for no pay.

What is professionalism? Professionalism is speed, as anyone will attest who has watched an ice-skating display that combined amateurs and professionals. Professionalism is consistency: in all fields, the amateur is sometimes brilliant, but the professional is always good (or at least consistent). Above all, professionalism is never having to say you're sorry.

Deadline for International show submissions	December 5th
International show selection	2nd Week of December
Deadline for domestic submissions	March 15th
Script selection -- 1st Round	2nd Week of March
Script selection -- Final	3rd Week of March
E-mail offers sent out	Last Week of March
Production contracts generated and sent out	2nd Week of April
Marketing Director meets with participants	Last Week of April
Preliminary festival schedule released	April 27th
Advance sale begins	May 5th
Contract information released to participants	1st Week of May
Final schedule ready	2nd Week of June
Load-in; tech. weeks begin	2nd Week of July
Festival opens	3rd Week of July
Festival closes	2nd Week of August

Venue/Size	Running Time	Guarantee (tix/perf.)
June Havoc/98*	60 – 90 min.	40
June Havoc/98*	90 - 120 min.	50
Dorothy Strelsin/60	60 – 90 min.	24
Dorothy Strelsin/60	90 - 120 min.	30
WorkShop Main Stage/65	60 – 90 min.	26
WorkShop Main Stage/65	90 - 120 min.	33
Where Eagles Dare/40	60 – 90 min.	16
Where Eagles Dare/40	90 - 120 min.	20

Venue	Size	Cost (60 – 90 min.)	Cost (90 – 120 min.)
Stage Left Studio	30	$165	$206
Where Eagles Dare	40	$220	$275
Dorothy Strelsin	60	$330	$413
WorkShop Main Stage	65	$357.50	$447
June Havoc	98	$539	$674

Venue/Size	Minimum Advance Sale
June Havoc/98	75
WorkShop Main Stage/65	49
Dorothy Strelsin/60	45
Where Eagles Dare/40	30

Festival Schedule