–ORIGINALLY POSTED ON DIRECTOR LAB WEST YAHOO GROUP ON Wed Aug 27, 2008–

Okay everybody… this is a can of worms so get ready.

Gloves off. Thought as it has been a while since I last wrote anything here that I would kick start a little discussion about some things that I am thinking about a lot lately… salaries and working in arts management in the theatre.

I basically LIVE on TCG’s Artsearch Website (for those of you who don’t know about it - it’s basically Monster.com for the professional  non-profit theatre world)… and I constantly look at the jobs that I  could do there, the ones that I would like to do, and the ones that I  will never get to do - at least for a very long time. I’d say it’s a  pretty decent cross-section throughout the year of what the market is  like. When you check in every day or two you really get a sense of  what the world is looking for.

Here’s my totally opinionated run-down of what I see:

1.) If you want to go into DEVELOPMENT - actually any sort of fundraising you should be jazzed cause that’s more than half of what  they list.
2.) If you are a Managing Director you are set because you will  always be needed if you love theatre and understand money - lots of  these around the country - continually.
3.) If you are in Marketing Communications & or Publicity you will also find lots of good paying gigs out there to supplement your artsier leanings.
4.) If you are in Education you will more often than not find plenty of stuff low on the totem pole. Lots of Associates and assistants needed.  A smattering of Directors and Managers as well - in weird  places - like the Midwest and Florida. Lots of people want individuals with Theatre for Youth degrees so if you have that
leaning GO back and get that MFA. Which brings me to what should be  like #1.B on my list…
1.B) If you have a Master’s your life should rock because you can  pretty much ALWAYS get a job and teach just about anything you’ve  touched at just about any Junior College or Private University out  there. There are so many jobs in Advanced Education, I can’t even  tell ya. It’s kind of ridiculous that with my 2 year Certificate in  acting from PCPA and a BFA in Directing I’m basically chopped liver  compared to Joe Schmo with an MFA from ANYWHERE… just what I’m  seeing.
5.) If like me, you are interested in the Artistic Director positions  or anything mid-management (company manager/associate producer/assistant to any of the above) that will send you up that ladder,  there’s a bit out there and they are really scattered all around the  country - things that I just couldn’t pursue because my wife would kill me if I moved us to rural Mississippi or Missouri or even Maine or any number of small states that may begin with an “M”.
6.) Beyond that I do see lots for people who could be Technical  Directors - in cool places like Hawaii - why oh why didn’t I go into Technical Direction?
7.) There are occasional listings for Literary Manager folks and  Dramaturgs but they are few and far between.

And that’s pretty much the gist of what I’m seeing…

So back to my story… I did find a potential artistic director gig in Pennsylvania recently that actually looked like something I could  do and was in at least a somewhat interesting place - not the  boonies. So I submitted my stuff and I heard back - and they wanted  to know for their sake and mine before we danced any more how much  money I would be looking for. This brings me to the MAIN point of my  note here… Money. I wondered about this a bit. You see, I’ll just  come right out and share so we can actually friggin discuss this. I make about $40k, was making about $60k in LA in casting and while I  am not totally embarrassed to be making 40k in the theatre, know that  I am worth more - that I have made more and could make more and probably should make more.  I’m not money driven - really. I was a headhunter in the staffing world and was making about 40k base a  decade ago and one of my best friends just left that same company where he was making 220k doing the exact same thing I did. I COULD recruit for a living and make that. I’m not doing that. I’m chasing my bliss - livin the dream - tryin to be a theatre guy. I know that there are people on here who have never made 40k doing anything and it may seem a lot to some - and in some ways it is… but it’s NOT -  really. I live in San Jose. It’s the Silicon Valley - a very  expensive place to live. People make craploads of money here. And I don’t. But it’s the theatre and I’m working so I shouldn’t  complain… right? Wrong.

So this search for what I should tell this theatre in Pennsylvania led me to discovering this resource. If you go to google and type in  Guidestar you will find this fundraising resource. There are a few of  them out there. I found it all via this site if you want to read my  source…

http://playgoer.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-much-does-new-york-ad-
make.html?showComment=1207089180000

There are these things called 990’s - which is basically a tax form  for the IRS where a non-profit has to make declarations about earnings and costs and what it’s top 5 officers who make over 50k make. I discovered what a lot of people in this theatre world make and LOTS was put into perspective. The 60k that I was thinking to ask my current employer for was exactly what I should be asking. It’s what the last person in the Production Manager role at my company made and what I will be asking for in a week when I chat with my AD.  60k was also what the founding A.D. at the theatre in Pennsylvania  was making and what I should be asking for there. What blew me away  was the cross section of what people who I admire are making as
Artistic Directors…

FYI - This is all PUBLIC info…

The top 6 on my list for the 2006 tax year:
Robert Falls Artistic Director $325,000 Goodman Michael Ritchie Artistic Dir/Dir $302,500 CTG
LIBBY APPEL ARTISTIC DIRECTOR $219,638 OSF
Martha Lavey Art Dir $180,000 Steppenwolf
DAVID J. ESBJORNSON ART DIR/EX-OFFICIO $175,000 Seattle Rep
TIMOTHY RUTH NEAR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR $162,173 SJ REP
Sheldon Epps Artistic Dir $160,000 Pasadena Playhouse

All this…
While the AD at the Perseverance Theatre in Alaska is making 36k or the AD at the “Next Theatre Company” in Chicago is making 44k

I guess what I am saying is that all this stuff we’ve been chatting about here - the Mike Daisy article, the future of American Theatre - all of it - it’s powerful stuff when you think about what our “non-profit” theatre world is really worth. When you take a look at how much money it takes for the Goodman to put up a season or the Taper or Ashland. I mean why can’t we all make a bit more? Why do the people on the lower end of this totem pole not even know what their bosses make? Mine makes 135k. How much is his job really worth?

How much is mine?

Daniel Paul Wilson