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Announcing the DG Compensation Study
Coming in early March 2023!
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You are invited to participate in the first ever wide-ranging study examining the overall experience of a professional theatre writer in the United States. While much of the focus of this study is gathering information on what theatre writers are getting paid for their work in the theatre industry, and the sources from which theatre writers derive their income, we are also seeking a better understanding of the circumstances that impact, or may be impacted by, the current industry practices related to compensation for theatre writers.
Armed with this knowledge, we will be able to bolster our advocacy efforts as we work to standardize best practices and recommended guidelines of equitable and better treatment for theatre writers, including bringing awareness and addressing disparities in treatment and pay amongst theatre writers themselves.
By participating in this study, you can be part of the conversation and help your community of theatre writers obtain fair treatment, livable wages, and a sustainable career. It’s time to give the theatre industry a wake-up call and rewrite the narrative on what it means to be a successful theatre writer in the United States. We encourage you to tell your story, so that you can advocate for what your community needs and make your voice heard.
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Voting is still open for the 2023 DG Council Elections! |
As a DG Member, you are eligible to elect members of the Dramatists Guild Council, the governing body of the Guild. Each nominee has crafted a biography and a personal statement for your review and selection. Please read their entries and vote for the National Council Members that you want to see representing your Guild.
DG Members are automatically enrolled in our online voting system.
Please note that by taking no further action, you are agreeing to cast your ballot online using our secure web balloting system. To ensure security, you will be required to enter your member number onto the ballot. You are only allowed to vote once.
Only those at the Member level, including Lifetime, Student, and Estate Members, can participate in this election. Associates are not eligible to vote without upgrading their membership.
Vote and make a difference today!
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Career Alert: How can I create and license edited versions of my work? |
Recently, the Guild made a statement about cancellations of two different high school productions of two different shows in two different locales, with both school boards citing the same reason, at least in part: inappropriate content not suitable for minors.
However, what these schools failed to recognize (or chose to ignore) was the fact that most theatrical licensing companies have author-approved, edited versions of shows intended for student actors and/or family audiences. These “school editions” not only offer shortened versions, some with new musical arrangements to accommodate younger voices, they may also remove profanity and, in some cases, entire songs or scenes from shows containing what some may deem “mature content,” or even references to such content.
Even when an author has not permitted an edited version of their show to be made available for licensing, they may still have provided the licensing company with a list of pre-approved changes that can be made upon request. When there is neither an author-approved school edition nor a set of pre-approved changes available, a group can still ask a licensing house for permission from the author to make certain changes, for whatever reason. Such a request, however, should be made prior to obtaining the license to produce the show, so, if the author says “no,” the group can make the choice to produce the work as written or select another work which they feel may be better suited to their circumstances.
However, once a group does license a show, if they then run into objections to the material during the production process, they should determine what changes could be made to address the objections and then submit those requested changes to the licensing house for consideration by the author. But remember, if the author ultimately disapproves, then the text must be performed as is. In that case, the producing organization should explore other ways of responding to any objections (like offering talkbacks or other public forums, or creating materials for distribution, in order to contextualize the work for the community), rather than taking the drastic step of cancelling the production, which can have costly and unanticipated consequences for all concerned, like empowering those who seek to suppress free expression in theatre.
If you have a show that you would like to license to groups who use young actors and/or perform for young audiences (such as the “TYA,” “amateur,” and “educational” markets) or would like to see your work be produced by religious groups, or particularly sensitive community theatres, or even some professional theatres, you may want to consider creating and making available an edited version, or a list of pre-approved changes, to respond to the (whatever you deem reasonable) concerns those groups may have with your show.
If your work is represented by a theatrical publisher/licensor, you can reach out to them to see if they can prepare and license such editions, or make available your pre-approve changes, or at least let them know that they should contact you about such requests. You may also ask that you be notified anytime a group requests to use such pre-approved changes or edited versions.
If you do not want such a revised edition of your work to be made available, or don’t want to have a set list of pre-approved changes, then you are under no obligation to allow it. If you do, however, then such a grant of rights should be included in your publication contract, or a subsequent addendum, and you should have the option to decide whether you want to create the revised edition or have someone else create it with your sole approval over the final draft. You can also decide what groups may be permitted to use it. (For instance, middle and high schools, camps, and religious organizations may be permitted to use it, but not universities, community theatres or professional theatres).
This is a potentially lucrative market for many dramatists, but it is not for everyone. Your work may simply be inappropriate for this market and editing it would eviscerate its meaning. So, you need to consider carefully whether you want to create or permit a publisher to license such edited versions of your work, or whether you even want to consider ever authorizing any changes at all. Whatever you decide, work with your licensor to implement your decision. If you are going to require that groups get permission from you for any change in each circumstance, you need to make sure you are responding to such requests in a timely way (and that your publisher is, too). Every right comes with a responsibility, so if you require them to ask, then you are required to respond.
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Need Business Advice? The BA Career Help Desk is DG's support portal that allows us to answer your business related questions more quickly and efficiently. You can submit a query, or request a contract review, via our ticketing system.
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Take the End Of Play.® Challange
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This April, prepare to join thousands of other theatre writers for the fourth annual National Playwriting and Composing Month, when participating dramatists will be challenged to write a draft of a play or musical in just 30 days.
When you register for End of Play.®, you become eligible to participate in a variety of motivational and community building events. Playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists nationwide will come together to craft new works, share writing tips, celebrate creative achievements, and more.
So, save the date, and register to join us. Get ready to write the draft of your next great play or musical!
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2023 DG Annual Meeting
Monday, February 27
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Atlantic Time: 4pm
Eastern Time: 3pm
Central Time: 2pm
Mountain Time: 1pm
Pacific Time: 12pm
Alaska Time: 11am
Hawaii Time: 10am
Discover what the Guild has been up to this past year, and hear how we hope to continue to serve and advocate for all of our members.
Please register for the webinar in advance; if you have any questions, contact the Guild at (212) 398-9366, or email us at questions@dramatistsguild.com, prior to the start of the annual meeting.
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Colorado Play
Summit
How to Advocate for Yourself as a Writer
Thursday, February 23
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MST: 7pm-9:30pm
Learn how to take control of your writing career! Join Tari Stratton (DG's Direction of Education) for an inspiring taste of The Artist as CEO -- one of the Dramatists Guild Institute’s most popular courses.
This two-hour workshop will empower you to ask for what you need as a theatre writer. Find out how to present your pitches, how to draft synopses of your shows, and what to write in an artistic statement. You’ll also explore business and legal standards for the theatre industry, so that you have a better sense of how to protect your work.
There will also be a brief Q&A and an informal networking session with other participants at the end of the workshop.
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DG Night Out at the Colorado New Play Summit
Friday, February 24
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MST: 7pm-10pm
We're kicking off an exciting weekend of supporting and seeing new plays at the Colorado New Play Summit with this special gathering for writers and other theatremakers who are interested in working on new play development!
Come meet Tari Stratton (DG's Director of Education) and your Colorado DG Ambassadors, Jeffrey Neuman and Lynn Evertowksi at this FREE, community event. Both local Colorado writers, and those visiting from out of town, are welcome to attend.
All guests will receive one complimentary drink token. Light food will be served, sponsored by The Dramatists Guild.
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Please note that there is a limited event capacity for this DG Night Out. If you are no longer able to attend the event, we ask that you please email us at jstovall@dramatistsguild.com.
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Career Training Videos and Benefits |
New Videos added to the Career Training and Craft Video Archive!
DG members can peruse tutorials crafted by fellow dramatists and industry experts, via our Craft and Career Training Webinar Archive. These video discussions bring theatre professionals directly to your computer, phone, or tablet regardless of location.
With simple, easy-to-follow instructions, you can delve into pre-recorded seminars at your convenience.
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(Closed Captioning in English)
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(Closed Captioning in English)
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(Closed Captioning in English)
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(Closed Captioning in English)
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New Guild Staff: Introducing Karl Hawkins
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The Dramatists Guild is delighted to introduce our newest staff member, office associate Karl Hawkins.
Karl is a black + queer theatre artist hailing from St. Louis, Missouri. He holds a BFA in Acting from the Conservatory of Theatre and Dance at Southeast Missouri State University.
He has worked regionally as an actor and director at SoHo Shakespeare Company, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, The New Jewish Theatre, Classics On The Rocks and The Shakespeare Project of Alabama. Now based in NYC he is pursuing his dreams of working in the theatre as a performer and teacher while helping those along the way through various nonprofits which is what brought him to the Dramatists Guild!
He is delighted to join the staff to help change the landscape of the theatrical industry and breathe new life into an art form he loves so much.
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Communications & Development Manager for the Playwrights Foundation |
The Playwrights Foundation is actively looking for someone to join them in a new role that will help them to support and uplift playwrights. The newly created position is called the Communications & Development Manager; It is a part time position that will work closely with the Executive Artistic Director to manage fundraising and communications activities, and to tell the story of the work that is being done at Playwrights Foundation. This opportunity is open to remote applicants. |
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Development Manager at The Dramatists Guild Foundation |
The Development Manager will help strengthen existing relationships and establish new sources of funding for a full spectrum of development programs, including individual and corporate giving, grantsmanship, and endowment campaign fundraising. Responsible for administering and supporting DGF’s principal fundraising efforts, including Direct Mail, Annual Galas and many other ongoing development opportunities. |
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DGI Spring 2023 Semester Starts March 6, 2023 |
Discover new techniques, generate new pages, and take your writing to the next level at The Dramatists Guild Institute. This spring, we’re excited to present four brand new classes -- including three writing workshops for musical theatre writers!
Sample Classes:
with Matthew Paul Olmos
with Tim J. Lord
with Winter Miller
with Lucy Wang
with Azure Osborne-Lee
with Roland Tec
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Building for the Arts
Announces Subsidized, Affordable Rehearsal Space
at Theatre Row
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Building for the Arts, the non-profit organization that programs and administers Theatre Row, Music and the Brain, and the American Playwriting Foundation, has announced that it will offer subsidized, affordable rehearsal space to artists and theatre companies at its Theatre Row Rehearsal Studios, located in New York’s Theatre District.
This opportunity has been made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Building for the Arts will offer 1,500 hours of rehearsal studio time in Theatre Row Studios 3, 5, and 6 at subsidized rates of $8-$10 per hour. Subsidized rehearsal spaces at Theatre Row are available first come, first served until all 1,500 hours are booked.
Studios 3 and 6 (max capacity 15), which are normally rented for $22 per hour, will be available for $8 per hour, while Studio 5 (max capacity 20), which is normally rented for $25 per hour, will be available for $10 per hour. Additional amenities that are available at no additional charge include folding tables and chairs, music stands, full-length mirrors, ballet barres (upon request), pianos (in Studios 5 and 6), wi-fi connection, and vending machines. Studios are open and available 80 hours per week, 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM Monday-Saturday and 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.
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10% Off PlayPenn Winter 2023 Classes |
Dramatists Guild members are offered a 10% discount for PlayPenn’s Winter 2023 Continuing Education courses including sessions on developing a solo show, theatre for young audiences, carving out your own creative routines, writing intimacy, and more! These courses are all online and available to take anywhere.
To redeem your member benefit, enter code “Guild23” upon checking out.
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DG Events: Join us for Community, Craft, and Career Training Events this Fall |
Join your fellow playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists at community events around the country this fall!
Click the button below to discover DG Footlights™ readings, career training workshops, writers groups, and more. Don't miss the opportunity to both learn from and connect with playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists in your region and beyond!
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Feb 21
Feb 23
Feb 24
Feb 25
Feb 26
Feb 27
Feb 28
Mar 2
Mar 4
Mar 9
Mar 11
The Entertainment Community Fund Events
Feb 21
Mar 1
Mar 2
Mar 7
Mar 9
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Upcoming Submission Deadlines
February 23 - Core Apprentice Program - The Playwrights' Center
February 27 - DGF Fellows Program
February 27 - Rhinebeck Writers Retreat
March 01 - Playwrights for Change
March 01 - StageWorks Theatre Group One Act Jamboree
March 01 - National Latine Playwriting Award
March 06 - NAPseries
March 19 - Pipeline Arts Foundation Awards for New Musical Theatre
March 20 - Inkslinger Playwriting Competition
March 31 - Clauder Competition for New England Playwrights
March 31 - Two Good Dogs "Dare to Dream" Play Festival
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Thomas Durkin librettist/ playwright seeking composer
"I am seeking a composer to work with me on the development of a concept musical. (The story will concern an elderly man seeking to leave something behind to prove his existence.) Having some of the lyrics written, I hope to find the composer who will help establish the mood and direction of the work as it progresses. "
Cinaeth playwright seeking playwright
The Goblins and the Gravedigger is my retelling of Dickens’ Goblin story. It comes with a dab of the old (as the prototype for Carol) and a dash of the new. Like any good make-believe story, it has fairy characters, magic, fun, whimsy, hope, love, and a happy ending. Seeking collaboration with another playwright who loves Dickens and fairy tales, who can help get this show into production.
Sean Pollock playwright seeking composer/ librettist
"Seeking a partner for a retro thriller musical set in the early 70's who can compose with a Burt Bacharach/Golden Age Musical Theatre sound. Female composers/lyricists preferred. Ideally, we are looking for one person to write lyrics and compose, but my co-writer and I would consider separate lyricists and composers to fill these roles separately."
Jack Hyman librettist/ playwright seeking dramaturg
"I am looking for a DRAMATURG who has experience with children's musicals. Our show is complete but needs the eyes of a good dramaturg to talk to me about any needs or rough spots that I may not be seeing. Please contact me to share details. Thanks!"
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Free Rehearsal Space at the Dramatists Guild Foundation |
The Dramatists Guild Foundation is now offering free space for playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists to use to rehearse, work, and collaborate!
Three separate spaces (the Music Hall, the Composers Corner, and the Writers Den) are available for use, all of which are located at the Foundation's offices in midtown Manhattan. These spaces are open to all theatre writers, regardless of DG membership status.
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Contracts and Best Practices |
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Download a DG Best Practice, Model Contract, or Guide Today! |
Because the Guild tracks national and worldwide trends, we are able to provide certain model contracts that reflect up-to-date industry standards.
We encourage our members to use these models to educate themselves and to use them as guides when entering into productions or collaborations.
Devised Theatre
Anti-Piracy
Best Practices
Broadway
Collaboration
Commissions
Diversity and Inclusion
Live Stream/Digital Theatre
Negotiation
Opera
Production
Translation
Underlying Rights
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We would like you to be informed, educated, and well-equipped when you navigate the business side of theatre. There are so many questions that writers have about this industry; we want to bring those questions and answers directly to you. Dear Business Affairs features DG members' most pressing questions, answered by staff in our BA department.
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Question: How can I monetize my songs?
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When you write songs for a stage musical, you will earn a share of the money earned from the show until its copyright expires. But because you own the copyright in each of those songs, they can have a life outside of the show, too. Even songs from unsuccessful or unproduced shows can generate income for songwriters (both composers and lyricists) for years… income they do not share with their stage producers, or even their bookwriters.
The song “As Time Goes By” was originally written in 1931 by Herman Hupfeld for the Broadway musical Everybody’s Welcome. The show was not a hit, but the song had some moderate success on its own in recordings and live performances. When it was used a decade later in the film Casablanca, however, it became a standard of the American Songbook, generating more income for the songwriter than the Broadway show ever did.
These rights in songs that are separate from the musical for which they were written are referred to as music publishing rights, which allow for a myriad of uses based on the various rights controlled by a song’s copyright owner. These uses form an overlapping web of licenses that can be difficult to decipher. The network of licensing opportunities is made even more complex by the development of new technologies and the attempt by copyright law and evolving industry practices to keep up with them.
So, let’s try to untangle the web of music publishing rights and consider the opportunities they present to those of you who combine words with music to create something new.
Music Publishing
Music publishing rights refer to the ability to make, or license, a range of uses of your songs, including the right to:
1. Sell printed (or digital print) versions of the song, including the music and/or lyrics and arrangements thereof (“print rights”),
2. License the public performance of a song (including both “small rights” and “grand rights”),
3. Include a song in a sound recording (“mechanical rights”), and
4. Include a song in an audio-visual work (“synchronization rights”).
This list is not exhaustive, nor are the rights mutually exclusive; the same use of a song can generate multiple licenses. For example, a cast album may pay the songwriters for a dramatic performance license (i.e., a “grand rights” license) and a mechanical license. If the recording is then used in, say, a commercial, film, TV show, or video game, then a synchronization license will be required, too. Someone needs to negotiate and track all of these licenses, collect the revenues, and pay it out to you. That is the music publisher.
In the past, it was common for music publishers to acquire the copyrights in songs written by a songwriter for the life of copyright in exchange for an advance and ongoing royalties to the songwriter. Happily, this practice of having to assign your copyright is less common these days for theatrical songwriters, and songwriters will more often share or retain their copyright when making a co-publishing deal (with a publisher splitting the publisher share of certain income streams with the songwriter) or an administration deal (for a publisher’s commission in the ten to 25% range), with the publisher licensing these rights as an agent and administrator and the songwriter retaining their copyright ownership. Co-publishing deals can run for a term of years or life of copyright; administration deals generally run for three to five years.
Music publishing revenue is excluded from the definition of “subsidiary rights revenues” in theatre contracts (except for the grand rights royalties from cast albums), so it is not shared with anyone else, including the stage producer or the librettist, and the revenues are payable exclusively to the songwriter and their publisher.
We will now review those four most commonly licensed music publishing rights.
Print Rights
Before there was digital media, radio, or even recorded music, there was sheet music, which was the original music publishing market and provided the basis for calling it “publishing” in the first place.
Though it was once the largest (and only) source of revenue from music publishing (e.g., over 5,000,000 copies of the sheet music for the song “After the Ball” was sold at the end of the nineteenth century), print rights are now the smallest slice of the music publishing pie.
Print royalties are derived from the sale of printed music material, including both lyrics and musical notation. Companies like Hal Leonard and Alfred Music print piano-vocal sheet music folios and educational arrangements, but there are also companies that print lyrics on t-shirts and other merchandise. Lyrics also appear in an album’s liner notes and, more recently, on digital music services (e.g., Spotify, MusixMatch). There’s no government rate set for print rights, and the rate is typically a percentage of retail or wholesale price, or a percentage of a site’s gross revenue from paid subscriptions or advertising.
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Need Business Advice? The BA Career Help Desk is DG's support portal that allows us to answer your business related questions more quickly and efficiently. You can submit a query, or request a contract review, via our ticketing system.
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We are writers; what we love to do most... is write! Second to that, we love rehearsing in the room with performers and getting to see our work fully realized and produced.
However, as writers, we will inevitably have to deal with the non-creative, not-so-fun, but very essential part of our industry-- the business. We might come across some complicated looking terms, such as subsidiary rights, copyrights, or collaboration agreement.
What do these terms mean, and why do we need to know them? The DG Glossary is your handy go-to guide on important terms that every writer of the theatre should know.
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Option Fees
An “Option Payment” or “Option Fee” is a portion of an author’s royalty paid by a producer to an author in advance of a production to secure for producer the exclusive live performance rights in a work for a limited time (i.e., the “Option Period”). A producer secures these exclusive but limited rights before approaching potential investors or, if producer is a non-profit theatre, to plan an upcoming season.
For example, a theatre may pay an Option Fee to maintain exclusive rights in a work for six months. If, within that time, the producer secures funding to produce the work, then it will exercise the option to produce the play, with the terms negotiated with the author in a production contract.
There may be an initial option and subsequent, additional options. For all first class productions under the APC, authors receive option payments for consecutive Option Periods and then are paid an additional advance when the show goes into rehearsal or is fully capitalized (whichever comes first). Other types of productions, however (off-Broadway, LORT, etc.) may pay an Option Fee that also serves as an advance (and then the author would receive additional royalties once the Option Fee is recouped).
Like advances, Option Fees are not returnable, even if the producer ultimately does not produce the work. Also like advances, Option Fees are typically recoupable by the producer from the author’s royalties or a portion of the author’s royalties.
Need Business Advice? The BA Career Help Desk is DG's support portal that allows us to answer your business related questions more quickly and efficiently. You can submit a query, or request a contract review, via our ticketing system.
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