All actors should be taught marketing, business skills, management, organization, fundraising, social media, bartending, oh… and acting.

After all, it’s not that tough to show up and be a pretty face, right? Just living in New York makes it possible for anyone to succeed as an actor under the right circumstances I mean all you have to do is: workafewstrenuoussidejobs to makeenoughmoney to afford adozenorsoactingclasses, agaggleofexpensiveheadshots, and a honestrealestatebroker so you can sleeponacleancot in Midtownsoyoucanbecloseenough and healthinsurance so youcanbehealthyenough to havetheenergy to getupearlyenough to befirstinline at theopenrequiredEPA for the assistanttotheassociatecastingdirectortothedirector and then hurryupandwait for the phone call.

< /rant>

<…Ok maybe not yet. >

I’d love to be a master of all of these things. I work hard at learning additional business skills to increase my personal value as a performer and my worth to each company that I work with, and often end up wearing multiple hats when working on smaller productions—I’ll do everything from email marketer to assistant stage manager. I do consider it part of the deal of creating collaborative indie theater. And assuming we could all be compensated/rewarded for their contributions, wouldn’t it be great if all companies had skilled performing artists who could work in that way? Or wouldn’t it be even better if I could just use all of the skills to further my own acting career?

More than sturdy bootstraps to pull upward on are needed to develop a community of multitalented individuals, who are then willing to work for peanuts or love of craft. Particularly for performing artists like me, where there is little mentorship by other performers or loyalty from theater companies, we are often going at it alone. I frequently have the feeling that my chosen profession (though thank God I am now getting paid for this) is very professional at all. Occasionally I often even envy business types passing by in briefcases as I slop to rehearsal in my sweats (ok… most of the time I actually like this part). I look at those heading into their offices and just wish I had a place to go where I could receive personalized mentorship while completing daunting tasks like industry mailings, where I could print a resume as I am running out the door, or simply a place to commiserate with others while working on my website.

So then I had this revolutionary idea: Let’s create that space. A place for performing artists to go to work: where they can master the business needs the industry requires. A place where actors like me can receive training, mentorship, communal support. Let’s create a membership-based office space where we can work-out those skills together, or meet with our favorite personal trainer, like at the gym. So I launched this IndieGogo Campaign as a start. I’ve got some awesome supporters on board, including 2amt. With your help, we could:

-create an interactive learning space which contains a small library’s worth of industry information, scripts, sheet music, casting notices, call sheets, sample promotional materials, and more.

- train performing artists on cutting edge technologies, social media outlets, marketing skills and more so that they are empowered to apply the skills to their career, or elsewhere in the workforce.

-instill each member artist with a sense of security and pride that is gained from walking into the office each day to focus on a career that they love.

-create a base camp where incredible theater innovators can meet, provide training and services to our members, host meetings, and more.

- employ numerous out of work actors, musicians, dancers, and more who will then go on inspire others with their art.

I am hoping to rent an office space in Midtown Manhattan, and equip it with:

• Multiple workstations, desks
• Computers with Photoshop, web design creation tools, and more 
• Shared conference room and kitchen 
• Virtual library of usual documents, trade magazines, castings, industry guides 
• Physical library of industry mags, guides, call sheets, labels, and more 
• Necessary office supplies including headshot envelopes, highlighters, staplers, labels, organization tools and more 
• Online calendar for reserving the space and booking consulting sessions 
• EXPERT STAFF during all operating hours to assist members (So we aren’t just helping artists get employed, we are also employing artists who are doing it right)

Consider donating today to help create this place. We could develop a whole army of actor/marketer/promoter/producer/fundraisers, or simply, more well-trained and prepared actors. Either way, the theater community benefits. And the community that develops around the space itself might then create work, support each other, contribute financially, well the possibilities are endless.Make a space so I can get to work.