Bret -- Thanks for drawing this to our attention. Since royalty statements for 2023 haven't gone out yet, I had no idea that the prices had been raised and none of us playwrights, as far as I know, are aware of the mandatory script purchase. As a playwright what I've done is have my agent ask the publisher to eliminate a requirement to purchase a DVD of historic photographs for Letters to Sala. When it was first published it was hard to find the photographs; they are now easily available on line.
There have been big changes in the play publishing industry in the past three years. Samuel French is now at Concord and Broadway Licensing has several divisions, including Dramatists Play Service and Playscripts. There are still smaller presses run by very dedicated individuals, including Stage Partners, which has A Wrinkle in Time, Next Stage Press, Youthplays, Original Works Publishing, etc.
Bret, your email led me on a search. I see that under DPS, in 2008, my plays, such as As It Is In Heaven and Last Train to Nibroc, were available at what was then DPS's usual licensing fee of $75 per non-professional production. That went up to $80 in 2015 and $100 in 2021. Playwrights generally receive 80% of that although in a case like Letters to Sala, I end up with half of that 80% because of contractual obligations to the underlying material, in this case the book Sala's Gift, and my own decision to share a small percentage with two directors who were an important part of developing the project. This is not unusual; playwrights' royalties are often shared with theaters who commissioned or developed the play, along with the original producers. And a cut may go to agents and managers. Playwrights often end up with just a few pieces of the royalty pie!
It's no secret that very few playwrights make a living from writing plays. Some write for TV and film, many of us teach or are also performers and directors and most have other day jobs. Looking at the list of productions of Almost, Maine going back to 2008, I estimate that even with over 6500 productions John Cariani averaged under 150K a year for amateur rights over fifteen years, since many schools do only one to three performances. Professional productions, which pay a box office percentage rather than a flat fee, pay a lot more, but those are few and far between and most happen within the couple of years after the premiere.
It's my understanding that historically royalty rates stayed the same for decades and it was Playscripts, around 2000 who changed the game for everyone in many ways, offering higher royalties, print-on-demand, online ordering, the ability to read at least part of the script online, etc. Royalty increases have been very slow during the 25 years since I was first published, but during that time there is less and less funding for artists and my landlord keeps raising the rent. It's the guest artist positions at universities, commissioned work, and teaching for a professional school in NYC that subsidize my playwriting.
So what's to be done, with arts budgets cut in the schools? I don't know but I feel so bad for all of you out there trying to do theatre on a shoestring that gets shorter and shorter. It was a high school drama teacher and my Thespian membership that led me to a wonderful life in the theatre and I'm forever grateful.
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Arlene Hutton, playwright
Letters to Sala
I Dream Before I Take the Stand
Kissed the Girls & Made Them Cry
As It Is In Heaven
Susie Sits Shiva (EdTA commission)
According to the Chorus
faculty, The Barrow Group, NYC
arlene@barrowgroup.org------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 04-30-2023 14:19
From: Bret Cherland
Subject: Massive increase in royalties prices!
Maybe I've missed something whilst working on shows this year, but as I start to apply for next year's shows I am hit with the massive increase in royalty costs! $2000 in rights and material fees for Clue: High School?!
I checked Almost, Maine as I did it last year for less than $700 (including script costs), and it's now $1700.
Was this a well-known increase, or are we all about to get sticker shock?
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Bret Cherland
Hemet High School
CA
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