Broadway producer as a career choice questions.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/25/15 at 5:15pm

One of my dream career paths is being a Broadway producer and I'm just wondering what exactly would you major in college? Would it be business or theatre. Or even a combonation of the two? And how do you exactly really rise up through the ranks. I've looked some major producers credits and for some of them their earliest jobs were a company manager. Is this the starting job for producers?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/25/15 at 6:49pm

Oh, boy.  Innocence is bliss.  Sometimes. 

 

All you need is money and good networking skills to be a producer.  A producer is an investor.  As investor you have creative control.  Work in the theatre industry to understand the logistics and the workings of a production as these things are what will help you as a producer - Broadway, Off-Broadway or otherwise.  Interning for a producer will give you immeasurable insight on what is what - no college could ever teach you what you'll learn this way. 

 

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 12/25/15 at 7:37pm

There is no course in producing. I damn well wish there was, because I can't tell you how many uninformed people try to do it. I will tell you this -- speaking for myself, I think part of being a good producer is understanding what the other people at the table need from you. I could never act or direct regularly, for example, but I've done both, and I think it's important to try your hand at everything so you can understand what those positions need from you in your chosen role of producer. It can only help.

 

So take every theater course you can find. Learn a little about every aspect of it. It'll help you understand what they need from you, and how to get what you need from them.

 

I would also hasten to add that, while we're a little guilty of wanting to work only with what is most commercial (i.e., most likely to sell), you can't just be in it for the money. (Especially because unless you're Cameron Mackintosh or the Wicked team, you don't come up Daddy Warbucks from this equation.) Try to pick or get involved with projects that really move you. (I know this has nothing to do with your original question, but it's still an important tip to keep in mind.)

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/25/15 at 8:22pm

as usual there is as much mis-information as information provided here. 

There is, of course, no answer, because if you care to check the successful Broadway producers you will see that there are as many paths as there are people. Business school, law school, drama school, no school-all can work. (And by the way there are courses in producing both academic (e.g., Columbia) and non-academic (e.g., the Commercial Theatre Institute). 

If you show up with enough money, it doesn't matter where it comes from. But the primary task in theatre is almost always the same: meet as many people as you can, and find opportunities to work with first rate people no matter what you are doing. And absorb everything. If you have billions, you still need to learn everything you can before you try calling yourself a producer, unless you want to be like the rich people we make fun of here, 

Once you follow whatever path you follow educating yourself, you want to get in with the real players if you can. Most often that means going to work for a GM or a producer and focusing on being nice to be around (usually!), upwardly mobile and smart. But there are highly successful producers who started lots of other places-agencies, press offices,booking offices, law firms, even on the creative side. The key is what I said before-keep yourself in the mix. Learning to network without being obnoxious is probably the single most important skill you can learn. Unfortunately, it isn't always a learnable skill. Oh and luck helps. I wish you that.

[bwayfan101]

Posted: 12/26/15 at 2:53pm

Broadway producer is my choice too. I'm a theatre major and business minor. Start reading... My suggestion is "Guide to producing musicals and plays" from the CTI. You have to be a go getter. It's all about networking and the people you know. If you can score a few internships, make friends, and work hard it is possible. 

[Different Drum]

Posted: 12/26/15 at 3:45pm

There are two kinds of producers in the theatre - the 1% who are creative producers and the 99% who call themselves producers but are nothing more than a checkbook. To become the former requires a deep understanding of the entirety of the business that no college education can provide. To become the latter, marry rich or win the lottery.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 12/26/15 at 3:53pm

^ One can make finer distinctions (I have, to name one), but Different Drum is basically right about that.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/26/15 at 3:57pm

Different drum,

clearly the OP is asking about become a real producer.

There is no business one can learn to run by going to school but there are few that are not aided immensely by education. If you look at major producers, most found a "way in"  and then augmented what they needed to know as they progressed, both by on the job training (ideally across multiple disciplines) and by going back to school to fill in the technical gaps. 

[Different Drum]

Posted: 12/26/15 at 4:44pm

Hogans Hero is right - get a good liberal arts education; intern with a smart GM; attend industry workshops; and network. But be forewarned - it's a very insular world that resists newcomers, and one that requires an extraordinary amount of fortitude and perseverance.

 

It also helps to find a smart and diligent partner who complements your own talents. And having access to capital is absolutely critical.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/26/15 at 5:10pm

different-not sure that's exactly what I meant. I'm all for liberal arts educations (I had one) but full disclosure: people who go to theatre programs that are networked in to Broadway will get you a leg up on others: you'll get that internship without a lot of heavy lifting just as actors from certain programs get agents and then auditions that others have to work harder for,

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/26/15 at 8:01pm

^^^ Hogan is right, but one can make just as good a case for going to an Ivy League school where you'll make friends with people who will be high earners later in life.

 

To answer the OP, no, "Company Manager" is not an entry-level position. Plan to work in a producer's or theatrical management office as a gofer until you prove yourself to someone in power. Then you're more likely to get hired as an assistant company manager and work your way up. But the training will be good all along the way.