Revival of Godspell to be "Crowd Funded"

I'm really surprised that no one has mentioned this yet, but it sounds pretty interesting. I'm not sure how well it will work, but props to Ken Davenport for thinking out of the box and trying something completely new and original in terms of producing.

http://www.theproducersperspective.com/my_weblog/2010/09/the-1st-ever-crowd-funded-broadway-musical-and-its-got-your-name-on-it-.html

JoeKv,

To be fair, he's quite careful to say only that an investment unit is $100. That's not the same as saying that the minimum investment is $100. The minimum investment is in fact 10 units, and therefore $1,000.

A little nimble with the wordplay, sure, but Ken has always been a cunning linguist.

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Eh, a movie producer tried this several years ago and it never panned out. I'm of the belief that crowd-funding works best when there is a common community or strong shared belief. Is that really the case with a revival of Godspell?

If I didn't have a New York trip coming up and some other stuff going on, I'd totally cough up the $1000 just to see what happens. Oh well! Interesting idea.

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BrianS, you are correct; since the website states that the offering is exempt from SEC registration, the shares in the LLC must fall under one of the exemptions. Those exemptions generally require that the investors be accredited (which means someone who has a lot of money) or sophisticated (sufficeiently knowledgeable to evaluate the risks). I guess Ken will go through some kind of qualification screening process.

If it was only $100 I would totally do it, but I don't have $1000.

Ken would probably be the one to accept it, but the number of people rushing to the stage would be insane.

You have to figure that the TONYS aren't being held at Radio City so I'm gonna guess the amount of producers allowed will be cut down too.

Godspell is a massively popular and well-known show.

"Isn't this the idea of non-profit theatre?"

Well, not if you'll get a return on your investment. Big difference. But otherwise, similar model.

It's like gambling in Vegas -- you do it knowing that you're more likely to lose than to win, but the ride is fun.

I agree that it is an interesting concept.

Not being terribly familiar with the Securities Laws, I do wonder what happens if the SEC ultimately determines that it is not subject to the exemption(s) that are referred to in the legalese. That is, if it is deemed to be a public offering of sorts, is it still possible to prevent the shareholders from having a vote that could overrule the will of the lead producer.

Or, perhaps, is Ken planning on only offer $2,499,000 of the capitalization to the "crowd" and financing $2,501,000 in some other fashion that allows him to maintain a majority voting interest overall, even if the investors are shareholders and get a vote.

In truth, it would be kinda interesting if he was required to have an annual shareholders meeting for a Broadway show -- I'd enjoy being a fly on the wall at that! :)

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Oh no! If Godspell wins a Tony Award, they'll have to hold The Tonys at the Javits Center to fit all the "producers". Maybe someone can recycle Elaine Stritch's joke about a Greek chorus behind her.

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