From Library Journal
For many playwrights, the play is not complete until an audience has seen it, but the difficulties involved in producing a play create a formidable barrier. Hillenbrand, associate chair and managing director of theater at Ball State University and a regionally known playwright, provides clear direction to help the playwright, actor, designer, or theater benefactor self-produce a play. Chapters explain how to conduct readings, construct a budget, raise funds, find a performing space, work with the various members of the creative team, handle legal and financial issues, create publicity, and make a working timetable for the various activities. Hillenbrand also includes a lengthy bibliography and lists of national and regional theater organizations, drama bookstores, rights and royalties agencies, state arts agencies, and useful contacts. An especially notable feature is the summation of major points at the end of each chapter. Useful for larger public libraries. J. Sara Paulk, Coastal Plain Regional Lib., Tifton, GA Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
Actors and playwrights, can self-produce. There is notable precedence for self-producing, from Moliere to Shaw, from Shepard to the hundreds of playwrights and actors backing their work today. The How to Produce a Play without a Producer: A Survival Guide for Actors and Writers will empower the actor or writer by clarifying the intricacies of theatre production. Topics include budgeting, theatre spaces, building artistic and technical teams, legal and tax issues, box office management, marketing, publicity, press agents, and transferring the play to a higher production level. Mark Hillenbrand holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. with concentrations in Management and Marketing from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. He is currently Associate Chair and Managing Director of Theatre at Ball State University in Muncie, IN. In 1998 he was granted a sabbatical to research HOW TO PRODUCE A PLAY WITHOUT A PRODUCER: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR ACTORS AND WRITERS. He moved to New York and extensively interviewed prominent theatrical producers. A current perspective on all topics of producing theatre. HOW TO PRODUCE A PLAY WITHOUT A PRODUCER: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR ACTORS AND WRITERS reveals the best most current insights into the art & techniques of successful low budge theatre productions. Hillenbrand has managed/produced over seventy theatre productions in Indiana, Illinois, and Minnesota. He is currently on the Board of Directors of Heartland Theatre Company, and is Vice President of the Indiana Theatre Association. As Managing Director at Ball State University , he is responsible for marketing, publicity, fund raising and development, organizing design and tech deadlines, play selection and box office management. He is also a contributing author to Showcase News, a New York periodical which covers off-off Broadway. As a playwright, Hillenbrand has won four national awards, and was recently named a finalist in New York’s Lark Theatre playwriting contest. His plays have been produced in Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. His most recent play, Tough-Guy Detective Story was shot as a television pilot for National Public Television and was directed by four-time emmy award winner Jim Shasky.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Actors and playwrights, can self-produce. There is notable precedence for self-producing, from Moliere to Shaw, from Shepard to the hundreds of playwrights and actors backing their work today. The How to Produce a Play without a Producer: A Survival Guide for Actors and Writers will empower the actor or writer by clarifying the intricacies of theatre production. Topics include budgeting, theatre spaces, building artistic and technical teams, legal and tax issues, box office management, marketing, publicity, press agents, and transferring the play to a higher production level.

FROM THE CRITICS

Internet Book Watch

In Produce Your Play Without A Producer: A Survival Guide For Actors And Playwrights Who Need A Production, Mark Hillenbrand (associate chair and managing director of theater at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana) draws upon his many years of experience and expertise to show motivated individuals, as well as school and community theatrical groups how to budget for a play production, choose theater space, build artistic and technical teams, manage the legal and tax issues, manage the box office, market the play, publicize and promote their play, use press agents, and transfer the play to a higher production. Produce Your Play Without A Producer is an ardently recommended, invaluable instruction guide for personal, professional, academic, and community theater reference collections.

ACCREDITATION

Mark Hillenbrand holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. with concentrations in Management and Marketing from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. He is currently Associate Chair and Managing Director of Theatre at Ball State University in Muncie, IN. In 1998 he was granted a sabbatical to research HOW TO PRODUCE A PLAY WITHOUT A PRODUCER: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR ACTORS AND WRITERS. He moved to New York and extensively interviewed prominent theatrical producers. A current perspective on all topics of producing theatre.

HOW TO PRODUCE A PLAY WITHOUT A PRODUCER: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR ACTORS AND WRITERS reveals the best most current insights into the art & techniques of successful low budge theatre productions.

Hillenbrand has managed/produced over seventy theatre productions in Indiana, Illinois, and Minnesota. He is currently on the Board of Directors of Heartland Theatre Company, and is Vice President of the Indiana Theatre Association. As Managing Director at Ball State University , he is responsible for marketing, publicity, fund raising and development, organizing design and tech deadlines, play selection and box office management. He is also a contributing author to Showcase News, a New York periodical which covers off-off Broadway.