StrikeAwe

The Challenge

We'd been brought on board to save a sinking ship: The composer refused to talk to anyone, the financial backers were threatening to pull out, opening night was only a month away, and the director was losing his mind.

Our job was clear: make sure the show happened, no matter what. Oh, and make sure every night was a full house, while we're at it.

Management

Immediately, I took over the role of Business Manager. The financial records were in disarray, contracts hadn't been signed, checks were late... There was work to be done.

I conducted a full audit of the books, tracking down every last penny, and gave a the production team a new budget to work with for the remainder of the run. I also drew up contracts for the investors, the producers, and the designers to make sure that everyone's interests were protected and that we had the rights to everything we were using.

Marketing

The show itself was a dream for the power of niche marketing... a strong script and phenomenal music about zombies and love didn't need to be sold to people, it just needed to be presented.

So our immediate task was to get Zombie! in front of as many people as quickly as possible. We turned out printed posters and flyers in 3 days, created a PETA parody called People for the Ethical Treatment of Zombies (PETZ) to capture people's attention, partnered with local groups such as the Living Dead Girls and Tourettes Without Regrets, and got Zombie! featured on event listings all over the San Francisco Bay Area. By the time the show opened, people were talking about Zombie!

The Burden of Being a Producer

Ultimately, the most difficult part of producing Zombie! was being the last line of defense before everything fell apart. Whether it was the 3 AM freakouts by the production staff, finding a moving van at 2 PM on a Sunday to relocate the entire set by 5PM, or having to craft solutions without money or help, we had to continually be ready for the anything and always stay calm and professional. If we didn't make it happen no one else would, so we delivered on our commitment time and time again.

Results

The show was a HUGE success. Nearly every performance sold out during both the preview and premiere runs. Audiences cheered, bloggers wrote rave reviews, and word-of-mouth was strong. The budget stayed in check, and the show turned a 30% net profit, far exceeding the expectations of either the director or investors. Talk are underway to license the show and publish the script as a graphic novel.

As the director is fond of saying whenever anyone argues with him now: "Well, have *you* produced a hit musical lately?"