Jeana, I totally get your frustrations, but I feel I may have not been clear about budgets for staffing. You didn't mention if you have a separate staff member who manages/supervises/oversees in some way all the other events that use your theatre, but if you're like so many Drama teachers, you have hand in that too. Like most Drama teachers, you have your own classes to teach, your own productions to produce, and then you are also acting as a "Theatre Manager" for your theatre for all the other events that come in. (Even if you are not actually working the events and they have full rein, you're still likely having to deal with all the issues involved with other events using the theatre.)
For anyone who is in the situation of being a 'one person show' for the whole theatre, hopefully the following word will help with the staffing budgeting issues, and that is:
COMPARTMENTALIZE
DRAMA DEPARTMENT
As the Drama teacher it sounds like you have in the past been able to hire designers, choreographers (dance and fight), and other professionals. These have all been hired to support your productions and come out of the Drama Department budget (whatever that budget is for you). Most of these professionals are usually creating the designs, leading students in the builds and hangs, essentially acting as technicians in their fields (for instance, I sometimes have to hang and focus the lights for my own design in theatres where the students aren't allowed up the ladder or lift), and mentoring your students in the process. Likewise a certified CTE teacher (in the future perhaps) would fall under your Drama Department's domain too – key word: "teacher", and therefore working with the students in Drama Department's tech classes and productions.
THEATRE OPERATIONS
But… the 'Theatre Manager' (or whatever term you use – in name only, or in practice) is in charge of supervising (or in whatever capacity you support the theatre's operations– paid or unpaid for your time) ALL of the events that use your theatre. These may be everything from meetings and lectures, to music concerts and variety shows, to your own plays and musicals. In essence, most high school theatres are being run like "roadhouses". Even your own play/musical is 'just another event' that uses the theatre (even though you may have more access than others).
So this is where the outside technicians come in. Even if you, the Drama teacher, has to be the person who has to deal with other events, Theatre Operations is a totally separate entity than producing your shows for your Drama Department. These professional technicians (often a pool of 9 or 10 technicians) are there to work ALL of the events that use your theatre (usually 2 or 3 technicians are required for an event), and in the process mentor any student crews who also run tech for any of these events. Theatre Operations technicians should not come out of your Drama Department budget.
COMPARTMENTALIZING
But what if it's all one budget? This is where compartmentalizing comes in handy for working with your admin. Getting them to understand that your Drama Department's plays/musicals are only one event that comes into the theatre, and that the theatre needs to be 'managed' and staffed for all of the other events through the Theatre Operations. Separate, in your admin's eyes, your "Drama Department" from the "Theatre Operations".
Even though in reality, you may be doing both jobs and have been given one lump sum budget, it's best to financially compartmentalize them on paper, because this helps your admin understand, and hopefully one day change. There's an exercise we do in my online course in High School Theatre Management, where we create a separate budget for the Theatre Operations – separate from the Drama Department's show budgets. One example of how to separate costs is this: If the theatre typically uses R51 gels for the area lights, and say R23 and R68 for your amber and blue washes, and all events that come into the theatre use the areas and washes with those gels in them, then purchasing replacement gels comes out of the Theatre Operations budget. But then when you come in and you're doing a play that requires R02 gels for the areas and you need R58 and R90 because you need deep lav and green washes, then those "show-specific" gels come out of your Drama Department's budget. (And then when your show is finished, the standard theatre gels are replaced in the instruments, ready for the next event.) Another example is the scene shop. This is Drama Department territory. No other events should use your scene shop(!). Therefore it is not under the Theatre Operations budget. So anything needed for your scene shop, would come out of your Drama Department budget. These are just two examples, but most of your supplies, equipment, maintenance will fall into one of two categories – used by your Drama Department only or used by the Theatre Operations for all events. And so, your show designers and theatre technicians also fall under the same budgetary compartmentalization – the former is for your Drama Department and the latter is for the Theatre Operations.
I realize that you, or others reading this, may be thinking, but I'm having to do all this and the admin isn't supportive of having it any other way. And I don't know if this is exactly your situation, Jeana, but it seems to me, from your statement "I just don't have the budget to pay for a lot of outside technicians"[in addition to designers for your plays as previously mentioned] that you've had to take on the responsibility for the Theatre Operations as well as your Drama Department's operations and that has become one entity in the eyes of your admin – "the theatre". Your Drama Department shouldn't be having to raise funds to pay for the outside technicians, just the designers and other support for your shows directly.
FIRST STEPS
So the first step to helping your admin understand the differences is to get into the practice of having your Drama Department's show budgets (designers, equipment, supplies) compartmentalized from the budget for running the Theatre Operations as a whole (technicians, equipment, supplies, maintenance). At first, you will probably be doing this just on paper because you may currently have one budget/"income" provided for you (Excel spreadsheets are great for keeping track of two budgets under one lump sum income). And then, after tracking these two separate budgets on paper, you can then approach your admin, and point out to them that your Drama Department has in the past been having to raise the funds to pay for outside technicians, supplies, maintenance, etc. for all of the Theatre Operations, when in fact your Drama Department is only one of many of the events that use the theatre.
If this is not your situation, Jeana, and you do have a separate Theatre Manager who has a separate Theatre Operations budget, then that's great! So in that case, I do hope this has helped other Drama teachers reading this who have been in the situation of having to do - and pay for - it ALL. Hopefully this may be one step towards getting that horse we thought was dead to raise its head.
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Beth Rand, EBMS
Lighting Designer
School Theatre Operations Coach
NEW!
ONLINE CERTIFICATE COURSES FOR HIGH SCHOOL TECH THEATRE STUDENTS (AND TEACHERS)
http://www.presett.org/techieacademy.htmlHIGH SCHOOL THEATRE MANAGEMENT ONLINE COURSE for Drama Teachers: Fall session Sept 10th.
http://www.presett.org/theatre-management-course.html"HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE OPERATIONS" and more tech theatre books at
http://www.presett.org/helpful-books-for-you.html.www.PRESETT.orgWestminster, CO
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-13-2018 14:55
From: Jeana Whitaker
Subject: Technical director AND set designer?
George and Elizabeth - thanks for pointing out some new ideas and avenues for me to consider. I love these discussions because it really helps me look beyond my school, my community and my circumstances.
Although I am the director, the CTE Certified TD, the designers and crew, I DO find ways to bring in other professionals on a limited budget. I've been very lucky to work with some amazing technicians at local regional companies. I've hired fight choreographers, lighting designers, and set designers. I just don't have the budget to pay for a lot of outside technicians YET. ��
I was quite inspired by other schools and the things I learned from those teachers at ITF to find ways, outside of my administration, to bring in additional funds. I would LOVE to be able to hire techs more regularly than not, but I need funding to do so. Besides the fact that it would help me and my overwhelming workload, I think the students benefit from working with a lot of different professionals. They will learn more when they have the ability to work with those that are specialists or experts in their given role.
However, I'm tired of beating a dead horse, so to speak, and will find ways to raise the needed funds without going through the school administration. I think it's the only way to get it done.
Original Message------
George, you hit the nail on the head – twice!
First, none of the high school theatre technicians I've ever worked with are full time at any given school. There is usually a pool of 7 to 12 technicians (a few lighting, a few sound, a few stage/rigging), and each event usually only needs 2 or 3 (or 7(!), as in the school mentioned on the Gold Standard Schools on my website). I've seen up to 5 – usually for supporting student crews during musicals.
None of these professional technicians could survive on the hours from any given theatre, so they all have other endeavors; they either have 'day jobs', also work at other high school theatres in the area, are professionals from the community, or some are college students. And yes, that makes scheduling a pain, when you don't always have first dibs on your techies, but it's do-able (I should know, I did it for 7 years).
Even a certified CTE (Career and Technical Education) teacher - which are technically required when students are doing any tech theatre, during or after school(!) - may not be full time.
Second, yes, in some cases, a designer doesn't always have to be on site. I myself offer remote Rep Plot design services, and I could likely also 'blind'-design for a play remotely if it came to it. And it can be cheaper – if the designer is not putting in the hours supervising the install or, as is often the case, providing the labor themselves, then it's likely they won't charge as much. The same could go for a costume designer or a sound designer. It all depends on the theatre and the production, but - as long as the Drama teacher has student crews to provide the 'labor', and as long we have CAD and the internet, as you say, the school theatre can hire someone who's not local.
------------------------------
Beth Rand, EBMS
Lighting Designer
School Theatre Operations Coach
NEW!
ONLINE CERTIFICATE COURSES FOR HIGH SCHOOL TECH THEATRE STUDENTS (AND TEACHERS) http://www.presett.org/techieacademy.html
HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE MANAGEMENT ONLINE COURSE for Drama Teachers: Fall session Sept 10th. http://www.presett.org/theatre-management-course.html
"HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE OPERATIONS" and more tech theatre books at http://www.presett.org/helpful-books-for-you.html.
www.PRESETT.org
Westminster, CO
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