Open Forum

I recently finished our spring musical & I received a lot of flack from parents about recording the production. I explained that it was against the royalty contract to allow recordings. They argued that they were just kids so it didn't count. Other arguments were that there were other recordings on YouTube & they wanted to share the experience with family & friends. Plus, I have made the mistake in the past of allowing recordings of straight plays. I owned up to my mistake & said moving forward I will do the right thing. Artists deserve to be paid for their work & just because people download music & movies illegally, doesn't mean it's ok to do it. 

Has anyone else had a problem with this? If so, how do you handle it? 

I also think allowing people to record could affect ticket sales what do you think?

On a side note, one parent was able to get written permission from the publisher to record the show for his father, who is currently serving in Afghanistan. I explained how & why this one recording was allowed in my curtain speech that night, but still got an earful from other parents about why their needs were special too. 

------------------------------
Jeana Whitaker
Theatre Director
Mesa AZ
------------------------------

We have successfully nipped this by addressing the issue in a few different ways:

• Our ticket site expressly outlines our photo and video policy.


• At our annual welcome picnic, we outline our policies and reasoning behind it.


• We post signs on the doors.


• We explain that, yes, it is possible that people have videotaped other productions and put the video on Youtube. If, by some chance, we are the one discovered, we could lose our ability to produce plays by that publishing house, effectively harming our program and affecting their children.


• We invite parents to participate in the present - that watching a performance through a video screen while your child is working LIVE is not what theater is about. 


• We are a pre-professional training program (for programs that are extracurricular you can make the argument that you are giving them the most professional experience possible) and we treat our shows, actors, and audience as if it was a professional show and no photography is allowed. 


• We print up theater etiquette and additional reminders in the program.


• We explain how it interferes with the enjoyment of all audience members AND actors. We even include a little bit about how they might feel if someone's distracting camera work ruined their child's performance. 


• We have pre-show announcements.


• We have our administration on board. They are VERY aware that the school can be held accountable for any breach of contract. 

With all of that, it has cut down on the number of incidents regarding cameras. I still have to circulate throughout the house and ask one or two people to put away their cameras, but we have cut down the problem to almost nothing. 

Good Luck!

------------------------------
Sean Paris
Head of Acting & Directing
Howard W. Blake School of the Arts
Tampa FL

Original Message:
Sent: 04-10-2016 23:53
From: Jeana Whitaker
Subject: Video Recordings

I recently finished our spring musical & I received a lot of flack from parents about recording the production. I explained that it was against the royalty contract to allow recordings. They argued that they were just kids so it didn't count. Other arguments were that there were other recordings on YouTube & they wanted to share the experience with family & friends. Plus, I have made the mistake in the past of allowing recordings of straight plays. I owned up to my mistake & said moving forward I will do the right thing. Artists deserve to be paid for their work & just because people download music & movies illegally, doesn't mean it's ok to do it. 

Has anyone else had a problem with this? If so, how do you handle it? 

I also think allowing people to record could affect ticket sales what do you think?

On a side note, one parent was able to get written permission from the publisher to record the show for his father, who is currently serving in Afghanistan. I explained how & why this one recording was allowed in my curtain speech that night, but still got an earful from other parents about why their needs were special too. 

------------------------------
Jeana Whitaker
Theatre Director
Mesa AZ
------------------------------

We have successfully nipped this by addressing the issue in a few different ways:

• Our ticket site expressly outlines our photo and video policy.


• At our annual welcome picnic, we outline our policies and reasoning behind it.


• We post signs on the doors.


• We explain that, yes, it is possible that people have videotaped other productions and put the video on Youtube. If, by some chance, we are the one discovered, we could lose our ability to produce plays by that publishing house, effectively harming our program and affecting their children.


• We invite parents to participate in the present - that watching a performance through a video screen while your child is working LIVE is not what theater is about. 


• We are a pre-professional training program (for programs that are extracurricular you can make the argument that you are giving them the most professional experience possible) and we treat our shows, actors, and audience as if it was a professional show and no photography is allowed. 


• We print up theater etiquette and additional reminders in the program.


• We explain how it interferes with the enjoyment of all audience members AND actors. We even include a little bit about how they might feel if someone's distracting camera work ruined their child's performance. 


• We have pre-show announcements.


• We have our administration on board. They are VERY aware that the school can be held accountable for any breach of contract. 

With all of that, it has cut down on the number of incidents regarding cameras. I still have to circulate throughout the house and ask one or two people to put away their cameras, but we have cut down the problem to almost nothing. 

Good Luck!

------------------------------
Sean Paris
Head of Acting & Directing
Howard W. Blake School of the Arts
Tampa FL

Original Message:
Sent: 04-10-2016 23:53
From: Jeana Whitaker
Subject: Video Recordings

I recently finished our spring musical & I received a lot of flack from parents about recording the production. I explained that it was against the royalty contract to allow recordings. They argued that they were just kids so it didn't count. Other arguments were that there were other recordings on YouTube & they wanted to share the experience with family & friends. Plus, I have made the mistake in the past of allowing recordings of straight plays. I owned up to my mistake & said moving forward I will do the right thing. Artists deserve to be paid for their work & just because people download music & movies illegally, doesn't mean it's ok to do it. 

Has anyone else had a problem with this? If so, how do you handle it? 

I also think allowing people to record could affect ticket sales what do you think?

On a side note, one parent was able to get written permission from the publisher to record the show for his father, who is currently serving in Afghanistan. I explained how & why this one recording was allowed in my curtain speech that night, but still got an earful from other parents about why their needs were special too. 

------------------------------
Jeana Whitaker
Theatre Director
Mesa AZ
------------------------------

I recently finished our spring musical & I received a lot of flack from parents about recording the production. I explained that it was against the royalty contract to allow recordings. They argued that they were just kids so it didn't count. Other arguments were that there were other recordings on YouTube & they wanted to share the experience with family & friends. Plus, I have made the mistake in the past of allowing recordings of straight plays. I owned up to my mistake & said moving forward I will do the right thing. Artists deserve to be paid for their work & just because people download music & movies illegally, doesn't mean it's ok to do it. 

Has anyone else had a problem with this? If so, how do you handle it? 

I also think allowing people to record could affect ticket sales what do you think?

On a side note, one parent was able to get written permission from the publisher to record the show for his father, who is currently serving in Afghanistan. I explained how & why this one recording was allowed in my curtain speech that night, but still got an earful from other parents about why their needs were special too. 

I recently finished our spring musical & I received a lot of flack from parents about recording the production. I explained that it was against the royalty contract to allow recordings. They argued that they were just kids so it didn't count. Other arguments were that there were other recordings on YouTube & they wanted to share the experience with family & friends. Plus, I have made the mistake in the past of allowing recordings of straight plays. I owned up to my mistake & said moving forward I will do the right thing. Artists deserve to be paid for their work & just because people download music & movies illegally, doesn't mean it's ok to do it. 

Has anyone else had a problem with this? If so, how do you handle it? 

I also think allowing people to record could affect ticket sales what do you think?

On a side note, one parent was able to get written permission from the publisher to record the show for his father, who is currently serving in Afghanistan. I explained how & why this one recording was allowed in my curtain speech that night, but still got an earful from other parents about why their needs were special too.