collaborative producing toolkit

This resource was created as part of an Evolving Futures grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage awarded to the Wilma Theater to explore collaborative producing as a potential tool in stabilizing income and expenses. The Wilma engaged My Purple Crayon Advisors in this work.

The Toolkit draws on the experiences of My Purple Crayon Advisors Founder and CEO Harold Wolpert, Senior Advisor and Steppenwolf Theater General Manager Tom Pearl, and the Wilma team; meetings and discussions throughout the project; two convenings of regional theater leaders, including the Evolving Futures Collaborative Producing Summit; formal and informal surveys and conversations with practitioners; and existing writings and resources from across the field.

While the Toolkit considers Collaborative Producing broadly, much of its practical guidance focuses on the more traditional co-production model in which two or more theaters agree to share in the costs of mounting a single production that will run consecutively at their theaters. Many of the principles and practices discussed here may also be useful in considering transfers, tours, presentations, licensing arrangements, and other forms of collaboration.