Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2003 13:40:09 -0400
Subject: Re: PUPT: help on commissioning a show
From: Christopher Hudert <heyhoot-AT-mindspring.com>


Amy, et al,
 One of the things you are not concidering here is the fact that you are
selling several services, all of which you should incorporate into the total
cost: 
 First there is the writing of the show.
 Second there is the design of the show.
 Third there is the building of the show.
 Fourth there is the ownership of the show.

 Time is money and all of the above incur more in time costs than in
materials. However, materials ain't cheap either. You need to figure in both
costs and Stephen's formula is a good place to start.
 When we work on a comission we approach it from several ways, being sure
that they are aware of all that they are getting for their money (see
above). Usually there is not enough budgeted to pay for this - especially
their ownership of the puppets, sets, etc. - and so we retain ownership and
lease them back to them for each production. They also must pay for repairs
above normal wear and tear. This is sort of a pain, as we have to store them
and since it is built for them and we are not really marketing the show to
others there is little opportunity to make more money than from this one
client. Another down side is the possibility that they will decide to just
stop doing this show. Have to concider that in the contract too. (You are
doing this with a contract I hope.) The up side is that the money still
comes in on each run of the show. You might get the same results with a
royalty set up - they pay you so much for each run.
 Another way to cost out the value is figure out the cost of the show spread
over the run of the show. Your cost to them may seem like a lot of money at
first, but when broken down into a per show figure - even for the first run
- it starts to look economical. If there are to be extended or future runs
for which they retain ownership of materials, script, etc, the cost gets
even cheaper. You, on the other hand, have to look at this as the money you
should be making on the show and come up with a figure that is somewhere in
between and a reasonalble sum for all parties involved.
 This a very complex issue, but I encourage you to get everything settled up
front and in writing BEFORE the prossess of building, writing, etc is
underway. It is almost impossible to be a nice guy AND get what your time
and efforts are worth once the project is done. This does not mean all fees
must be totaled before hand - only that there will be an honest estimate of
the total and that the rate for determining the uknowns be establish at the
begining. 
 Also remember that if the client has "input" to the design and such, it
will add time to what you expect the creation time to be and this time is
money. Be sure that it is their money and that at some point you default to
the "two out of three" principle mentioned in an earlier post: You can get
it fast, good, and cheap but you only get to pick two of the three. When
time runs short they are left with fast and cheap but not good, or good and
fat but not cheap. 
 Oh, I could go on for a long time on this but I think you get the idea.
Good luch with your project. Let us know how it (and the negotiations -
without the exact figures of course) comes out.

Christopher

on 9/30/03 7:33 AM, Amy Weinstein at saltamontesarts-AT-hotmail.com wrote:

> Dear Puppet Theater friends,
> 
> I have been asked to give a price for  a show to be commissioned and I am
> unsure how to go about this.  I know how I price puppets I make or a
> performance of one of my own existing shows but there I'm not sure what the
> best way is to figure out how much this particular new show would be.  There
> are also several unknowns right now but I still need to get a monetary figure.
> Does anyone have any suggestions?  Things I  do know is that I will not retain
> {quot}ownership{quot} of the show, puppets and sets.
> 
> Thanks in advance for your help,
> 
> Amy Weinstein
> 
> Saltamontes Puppet Theater



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