Hey, if you are a CMU type person, or a theatre type person, or a college type person, could you take a look at this thing and let me know if I got the nail on the head?
PTM One Sheet
It's an insert for our regular full school brochure - which doesn't have much information. I can't tell if I've forgotten something or someone important, or got something wrong, or just not used good language or sense or whatever.
Give a peek, let me know? Thanks.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Advertising/Marketing
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
17 comments:
Looks good, though you may be overstating the actual opportunities to crossover to the other colleges in the university.
Good symmetry, you used the rule of three and set up each section in the same way. It reads well.
Two Alumni list notes:
I'm an Assistant Project Manager on my business cards, not Associate (I really have no idea what all those levels really mean, but whatever, your comments page is not the place to rant)
I think that its La Jolla Playhouse for Deano.
sorry to post twice, but Nick McDermott is BFA'04, Adrienne Wells is BFA'05, Ellen Juhlin is BFA'04, Cory Cope is BFA'03. Unless you know something about our degrees that makes them not necessarily match up with the year that we finished in.
associate production manager, philadelphia theatre company.
- lindsay
I really like how it looks, but I didn't see anything about liking theatre in it. I mean, I doubt kids who don't really like the field would apply (except the several in each class, though they are typically design), but they should really like the art, not just the different pieces of the puzzle or building things, organizing people, whatever.
If they don't really enjoy the theatre and contributing to the process, making the art, all that stuff (the big picture)...it just isn't going to work.
When I was thinking about coming here, I was told that I should only even consider a theatre conservatory if I saw myself as being unhappy doing anything else.
I guess I think the first question in each section should be “do you love theatre?” If yes, keep reading. If no, turn the page.
Not to bash the sheet, but it seems like this would almost be better fitting for a pre-college advertisement…something they can get out of after a few months.
Something more apt for this program would be like:
Are you serious as hell about theatre?
Are you committed to spending the rest of your life in this industry?
Are you ready to dedicate your heart, mind, and body 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 4 years to this program and to your art?
and things more along that line…
yeah…possibly inappropriate comments, not what you were looking for, and certainly nothing you would want to put on a brochure…but sortof how I feel about it.
hey the one thing i've learned about being on the production side of it is this.. (and im not trying to be cynical) its NOT about the art. yeah, you may work on a show you love once every year, and you may feel like you're contributing to the world art community, but most of the time, from eveyone that i work with in Off broadway and On, and especially in the shops... its about BEING A MERCENARY. about being the best and winning the job and getting the most cash. because you will go out, and it will be poorly run, and there will be no production meetings, and no collaboration and things will go to hell, and you know what your gonna think? your gonna think "sweet, i can bill more hours" and while you cant put that in a brochure, dont err towards making them think that theatre is like a big art commune, it is't burning man with happy hippies and artsy druggies. cause the one thing i've discovered that cmu, amazingly, has stopped stressing is that the real world is cut throat, and even if that means out bidding your friends (and everyone will become a friend) the bottom line is always about being the best, doing it for less and makeing the most cash. end of disillusioned rant.
Yikes, I'm laughing and shaking my head at that one. With that attitude, all the cash from the extra hours you bill while fucking over people L-R&C will go straight to your therapist in a couple of years. Seems like a funny definition of "being the best" to me...
im not saying that you should fuck people over, im just saying that it's not all sugar and spice and art in the real word. and come on, unless you're david in disguise, post your name so we can have a real conversation and not a flame war here.
Um, steph is right. But so is Chris. But that anonymous poster needs to get an account, or at least sign the post.
If you're going to choose to attend CMU for school, you'd better like theatre (with an RE) because that's what you're going to be doing for 4 years.
Out in the world, very little of it is Not-For-Profit, regional theatre, doing it for the love of the game work. David's job descriptions are good adverts to get someone to focus on a specific area of technical production. The theatre background and training will make you a better player in the entertainment industry, because you know where all that stuff started from, but it sure isn't art.
Overheard at various times:
With Confusion comes Profit.
Can we Change Order that?
Not in my scope.
We're Capitalists, not Artists.
I don't know - I think it depends where you are... Most of the theatre in San Francisco is happy hippies and artsy druggies, and you'd BETTER be doing it for the art, 'cause there's no way you're making enough to be doing it for the money... Not saying it's not about being the best too - there's a lot of competition whereever you are, but just 'cause you're the best doesn't mean you're necessarily making the big bucks...
I was indeed BFA '02, and in case you care, I have officially quit my job (or lack thereof) at ACT - but you can leave me on the list, since I never had an actual job to start out with... Maybe you should put something about being able to function in an excessively bitter state in that brochure - it's very important to be able to be bitter while maintaining your love of the art... =)
i guess philly's more like SF than i thought... because if i didn't have my "love of the art" i would have headed for the hills long ago.
i do work for a not-for-profit regional theater, and for the amount you get paid, the amount of hours and work there is to do, and crap you put up with, you do really have to love what you're doing to keep going. we're a non-union house, so sure, in our overhire crew we do have quite a few of the "mercenary" types, and to some point as a freelancer, you have to be... you gotta take care of you. but i don't doubt their committment or love of the theater. after watching the kind of work and hours they put in during a project like the fringe festival, you can't doubt that.
i think there's a balance to be struck between the two, as there is in any field. finding that balance can be a bitch, but it's important and takes time. you just gotta hope you don't burn out before you find it.
i think if you're looking at some place like CMU, the love is there, or at least i would hope so if you're about to sink that kind of time and cash into an intese training like that... it's just a matter of if you can hold on to it through the four years without it being killed... just kidding... mostly ;-)
i think that document is a pretty true representation of how it is... you can look at it, and if you're not absolutely sure it's for you and that theater is going to be your life, maybe you look into a liberal arts degree until you know. i came from a liberal arts program, and as a senior in high school, even though i was pretty damn sure this was going to be my life, if i read that i definitly wouldn't have changed my course... and i know i absolutely made the right decision for me. in a document like this, clarity and specifics are key... so people really know what they're getting in to.
- lindsay
I think (as a current student) that you have to have some level of love for the art...enough to make you want the show to succeed, enough to make you care. At this level there is no pay. At CMU it is about finding away to make it work. It is putting a puzzle together just like the brochure says, part of that puzzle might just end of being your life. But you gotta love it or it will just piss you off and get the best of you and you will probably not finish whatever you're working on.
But I also think that a person can learn to love it. That is why we are able to recruit non-drama people into our ranks.
But I agree with Chris too, there should be something about the program commitment, because it is a huge one. It also makes people feel like they are/will be a part of something.
Great format, nice read.
I'm not certain, but I think this sort of print device is actually more about parents than applicants. I would guess that an applicant these days is going to look at the web site more than anything in print.
Does that track with people?
If thats the case, then the talk about the "vocation" and the level of dedication, I think that scares parents. What I believe they want to see is strength of program and content and to be reassured that people are working.
Does any of that make sense?
I think that David's logic about the target audience, and what scares parents away, is solid. As an instrument to get kids thinking about how they wish to focus within the PTM option, and bragging about depth and breadth and resources and alums working in jobs that directly relate to what they studied, it is effective.
I also like that you mention the drama lit component in every section. As my least favorite part of the program regains prominence, I feel that it is only fair to warn people. =) Though there isn't anywhere that won't make you read plays. Parents also feel better about academic rigor, and not just practical things, which tends to be what the kids are looking for. My mom wouldn't even let me consider NCSA because of the lack of academic opportunities for the few required non-drama electives. Not that I really took any non-dramas (gotta love the AP), it made her feel better to know that the opportunity was there.
Geez, I'm getting verbose on this topic.
Hey sorry to be chiming in late. I agree that the connections with other colleges is probably overstated unless things have changed quite a bit. I know I would have loved to use some of those cool toys in the robotics labs. For the most part it's a very concise way to explain what exactly we do to non-theatricians. I might forward it to my own parents as I'm still not sure they understand exactly what I do on a show. And while we're editing, thank you Katy, yes it's La Jolla and of little consequence we have dropped the "associate" from our titles. We Three TDs offer gold, frankenstein, and mirth...
-deano
I definitely agree with Deano - reading it again in a "for the parents" light, it makes a lot more sense to me. It seems to me that most people who are really interested in the program already know all of the "job description" stuff that's in the brochure, and they're going to skip ahead to the curriculum part.
The parents, though, are going to eat it up - I've run into a lot of people in the last few years who are in theatre now but did their undergrad in something else because their parents wouldn't let them go to theatre school. I think if they had read something like this, they might have been more inclined to see their kids' chosen careers as something solid and worthwhile. If you're targeting the parents with this thing, you're definitely on the right track.
Just my two cents... =)
um, i don't know about the art or the billing people extra hours, i just think it's cool to be listed on the recent grads section. yay! i would also like to point out that our PTM grad class-Matt, Celeste, Nicole and I-all have real jobs in our field of study. maybe that could be another good bullet point (?) 100% placement after graduation (for us at least)!
sorry for the late response.
becca
So...I would like to give my two cents worth personally, but I'll put this out there...
It seems that you are making a TREMENDOUS effort to be very unbiased, but some of your word choices seem like you aren't being.
I also think that your listing of classes is a little skewed. While we do have many more TD type classes, I think it's important that it appear balanced...when I entered the school a few business classes were listed on the requirements list. Maybe you should put some of those back?
I also don't see anything about the balanced program. There is a brief line at the top on the right, but it seems that might be something to mention.
Random notes:
Stage Mangers, Production Managers, and Technical Directors-
"Students also participate in School of Drama productions
as Stage Manager"
Some of your comma use, etc. on the second page under "On site shop & studio facilities:" seems a bit odd.
---
I will stop by if you let me know when you might be free.
Iz
Post a Comment