Tax credit to benefit Off-Off Broadway

On the morning of January 21st, members of arts, cultural and theatre tasks forces from Manhattan Community Boards (CB) gathered at Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s office to present a proposal that is currently being considered by the CBs that would help financially pressed Off-Off-Broadway theatres.

This demonstration was in response to a challenge that President Stringer made in February of 2009 at a joint public forum on the state of small to mid-sized theatres in NYC that was hosted by Community Boards 1 – 5. “Hold us [elected officials] to a higher standard” he said, “give us a roadmap to the products you expect.” The Community Boards took this challenge to heart.

Committees were mobilized in an effort to find “innovative solutions to remedy the current fiscal and real estate crises that are endangering… theatres and other performing arts organizations throughout New York City.” Over the last year hundreds of emails have been sent and dozens of roundtables and meetings were held to gather information and prioritize the needs of the independent theatre community. At the top of the list was affordable rehearsal and performance space...READ THE FULL STORY

Community Board Responds to NYSCA Cuts

On April 1, 2009, the Theatre Task Force for Community Board 4 put forward a letter to Governor Paterson addressing the cuts to the 2009 second round of New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) Funding. The letter calls on the Governor to "restore the NYSCA funds" and says that smaller theatres "enhance New York's competitive edge."

The letter to Governor Patterson cites two studies from the New York Innovative Theatre Awards and the Alliance for the Arts.

The full letter and more info are here.

Public Forum UPDATES & ACTION ITEMS (FULL CB3 Board meeting TOMORROW!)

In case you're not receiving updates from the Theatre task force, most recent update with action items:

"Thank you for being one of more than 300 activists who attended the
February 17th Community Board Congress on Small to Mid-sized Theaters
and/or have recently asked to be included on this list.

We told you we would take the ideas from that night and work to put the
power of the Community Boards behind them.

That process began on Tuesday, March 10th. The Arts Task Force of
Community Board 3 met at Theater for the New City to discuss the forum and
events that have occurred since that night.

In attendance were approximately 30 outside observers. Invited guest
Caron Atlas kicked off the meeting speaking about opportunities for
combined community organizing and arts advocacy.

The task force drafted and unanimously passed a resolution in support of
our goals. Resolutions are the community boards’ mechanism for formally
conveying their concerns and policy initiatives to elected officials. A
resolution must first be passed by the appropriate committee. It is then
sent to the Executive Committee for comments and tweaking; and a final
resolution is crafted for presentation and vote at the full board’s
monthly meeting.

Action Steps You Can Take:

Come to the CB3 full Board meeting on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
at PS 20 at 166 Essex Street (E Houston & Stanton Streets).

Sign up to speak at Public Session between 6:00-6:30pm. You will be given
approximately 2 minutes in front of the mike.

Submit an impact statement if you were a victim of the NYSCA 2009 100%
funding cuts and bring copies to submit the individual board
members(approximately 40).

This resolution can be used by the other community boards as the basis of
similar letters or resolutions, so that small to mid-sized theaters can be
advocated for on a common basis and at the same time across all affected
Community Boards.

The State Legislature is meeting at the end of this month to specifically
discuss NYSCA Funding and its restoration. They read their mail. Our job
is show them that small to mid-sized theaters demand their support.

If you agree with the idea behind basic resolution (specific wording is
still being worked on by the CB3 Task Force), please considering coming
and showing support at this meeting. And if you were caught in the NYSCA
funding debacle, please consider sending us a one page impact statement
about how your organization was affected.

We will present these to policy makers as a compendium of (anonymous if
requested)documents.

When further resolutions are taken up by the other Community Boards, we
will let you know about those meetings as well.

Thanks again for your interest and support.

David M. Pincus, on behalf of the theater/arts task forces of Community
Boards 1-5."

Check out our resources as well. Hope to see you tomorrow!

NYIT Awards UPDATE: showcase code & Spaces Report published

Our update went out this morning: sign up for it here if you're not on our list. Some highlights:
NYIT Awards present study findings to NYC's joint Theatre Task force

"A joint Theatre Task Force meeting with Community Boards 3, 4 & 5 was held on October 29th to discuss the role the cultural sector plays in the city and way in which it can expand. According to Paul Nagel, Arts and Culture Liaison for the New York City Council, 'arts and culture have a central role in business, education, community, and government, yet cultural policy in the United States has not moved beyond a 1970s model of allocating and distributing grants to not-for-profit organizations.'

At this meeting, The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation presented the findings from a 5-year study, "Report of Off-Off-Broadway Performance Venues," which analyzed data from September 2004 through the present."

Highlights of the report:

• Over 25% of OOB venues in both the West Village and Midtown area have either been demolished or re-purposed into non-performance spaces in the last 5 years
• 43% of all OOB venues are located in the West Side Midtown area of Manhattan
• There has been a sharp decline in the number of OOB productions presenting work in the Theatre District
• The East Village, which only accounts for 14% of the overall OOB venues, is currently presenting 30% of the OOB productions

Read the rest of Doug Strassler's story on our Space report & the Theatre Task force...

and Matt Freeman reported on the AEA Showcase updates:

"Short version: if we want to change the Showcase Code, we need members of the union to speak on their own behalf to the union, and ask for changes in the code that will allow smaller theaters to grow and provide better opportunities for actors. Playwrights, producers and directors may have opinions, but only the voices of actors will make this change happen."

Read his full story...

A big thank you to Doug, Matt, Emily and all of our contributors.