A consult client stepped into my stripped bare office last week (we’re moving!) and said, “Ken, I hope you can help, because I’m extremely frustrated.”

“What’s the matter?  Can’t get producers to attend your reading?  Having trouble raising money?”

“No,” he said, slamming his script on my wobbly desk.  “I have a Producer!”

I know . . . you’re thinking, “#SpoiledPlaywrightProblems,” right?  So many playwrights and composers are beggin’ for someone to produce their work, and this guy has one?

He continued, “I have a Producer .  . . but still, nothing is happening!”

“And what have you been doing since you got this Producer?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“What have you been doing to help your project along?”

“Nothing!  That’s not my job, that’s his job!  I’m not the Producer,” and he banged the desk again (Hold on for a few more days, little desky!).

That’s when I had to explain that getting a Producer doesn’t mean your work is done.  On the contrary, it actually means you need to work harder.

It’s the same for actors who get agents.  They often think they can sit back and just wait for Steven Spielberg to call, because their agent is taking care of everything.

Getting a Producer is quite a feat, and one that you should be very proud of if when it happens to you.  But if you want your show to be a success, and you want that success to happen yesterday, then there are a number of things that you can and should do even when you have a Producer.  Here’s a quick rundown:

• Do you have a Director yet?  I often found that Directors respond to “asks” when they come from an Author more than a Producer.  So if you’ve got someone you want to use, better start working on that personal and professional relationship.  Even if you don’t make the ask, that Director will certainly give your project stronger consideration if they know and respect you.
• You’re also going to need a theater.  And in the current crunch both on and off Broadway, you’re going to need to cozy up to the crew of theater owners too.  Getting a theater is like getting into the Dakota.  You really gotta impress that board.  And the Producer is going to need your help.
• You are making rewrites, right?  A script can always improve.
• Got a website?  Promoting yourself will help promote the show.  And that’s good for everyone.
• And finally, just because you got your Producer doesn’t mean they don’t need a little prodding every once in awhile.  Producers work on a bunch of things at once (we have to . . . putting all your eggs in one show is a sure way to end up with no nest egg), just like Writers, Actors, etc.  So remind ’em that you’re around, willing to do whatever you can to help get your show off the ground.

I know, I know, you wish it weren’t this way.  You fantasized that once you got a Producer, all your playwriting prayers would be answered.

But it is.  So you have two choices – sit back and hope things happen, or do what you did to get that Producer in the first place, and work with the Producer to help make things happen.

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