T
hose were Ralph Sevush’s words to me when he reviewed the first contract I submitted to the Guild’s Department of Business Affairs many years ago. It was an unsigned commission agreement from a large, well-known regional theatre. The terms were outrageous, starting with a clause on page six that said the producers had the right to change the script in any way they pleased.
I was younger. I was still pretty green. My collaborators and I really wanted this opportunity: a splashy production at a 3,000-seat house. Even with the substandard contract terms, we were guaranteed to make more than we’d made from previous productions of our work. Also, this was a prestigious theatre; the show would be a great resumé-builder. But was it worth giving up our most basic right as dramatists: the integrity of our words? Was it worth accepting contract terms that were well below the industry standard, just because we weren’t well-known?
We attempted to negotiate. They wouldn’t budge. We wrestled with our decision. Ultimately, we walked away. End of story. (Or is it? There’s a postscript. Read on…)
I’ve recalled this incident many times in my career, usually when I’ve received—or heard about—a similar substandard contract offer. I’ve also remembered it when I’ve received a respectful agreement from a theatre that recognizes that the playwright is, in the words of the Guild’s Dallas/North Texas Regional Rep Franky Gonzalez, “the architect of a blueprint for creating community.” I cherish my connections with those theatres and industry leaders who offer contract terms that demonstrate that they both respect and value dramatists.
Why did I join the Guild? In truth, it was because my teacher and mentor Douglas Post encouraged me to join. He told me that belonging to a national trade association that protects authors’ rights was an affirmation of my professionalism. I joined long before I had any sizable productions. With Doug’s encouragement, I began thinking of myself as a professional before there was much evidence of it.
Doug didn’t stress the economic advantages of Guild membership, but over the years, access to our Department of Business Affairs has saved me thousands of dollars. At the time I joined the Guild, the Playwrights Welcome program didn’t exist. These days, between Business Affairs consultations and the comp tickets available to DG members at theatres that belong to the Playwrights Welcome program, membership more than pays for itself each year.
There are real financial benefits to membership, but the intangibles outweigh the dollars and cents. I’ve met the most extraordinary artists through my connection with the Guild, in my own community and across the country. By maintaining my membership, I belong to a creative community that includes the foremost dramatic writers of our time. That feeling of belonging bolsters me through the inevitable fluctuations in opportunity that are part of a career as a playwright. I belong, and if anyone attempts to infringe upon my rights, the Guild has my back.
Here’s the postscript to that story of the big regional theatre that offered us the outrageous contract years ago: nearly twenty years later, that same theatre was taken to task for making extensive—and unauthorized— changes in a production of a musical written by several prominent DG members. The theatre didn’t just make a few trims, which would have been bad enough. They actually changed the plot. The authors, with the support of the Guild, pulled the rights to the show, shutting down the production.
There are some “bad actors” in our business, and most of them aren’t on stage.
Thankfully we have the Guild to advise us about our rights and defend them, to promulgate model contracts that reflect professional standards for dramatists, and to support us with individual Business Affairs consultations. Even more than that, we have a creative community of fellow professional dramatists who understand the vagaries of this challenging career and who provide faith and camaraderie in the trenches.
