Theatreflix, or Archive Fever
Seattle's On the Boards explores the benefits of filming live performances for a small cost to consumers
By Eliza Bent
Clockwise from top left: Kourtney Rutherford with Erin Douglass, Joseph Silovsky, Maggie Hoffman, Eric Dyer in Radiohole's Whatever, Heaven Allows.
Challenge
To archive live theatre and make it look good, not flat.
Plan
Locate funding for four HD cameras per performance, plus pick-up shots. Edit footage in tandem with the lead artist. Set up a website and charge viewers.
What Worked
Artists get archival footage. Theatre lovers get access to performances they might've otherwise missed.
What Didn't
Equity contracts are problematic. Filmed footage still isn't the same as the real live thing.
What's Next
More contracts with universities, and more online databases and archives of performances.
For me, one of New York's greatest pitfalls is choosing what to see on any given night. When it comes to theatre, there are usually about 8 million options. Of course, this pitfall is also NYC's greatest asset. Offerings range from Broadway tap dancers to subway break dancers, from psychological dramas to scrappy experimentalism—pickings aplenty. Even the most inveterate theatregoers miss something every now and again. And when I speak with friends in San Francisco, Chicago and Boston I can't help but rue the shows I miss in other cities. Not to mention cities in other countries!
The other side of the theatregoing equation is just as tricky. You live in a remote bucolic area. Sure, you can hear birds chirp and the air may be clean, but catching contemporary performances—particularly ones driven by leading international artists—can be darn near impossible if those groups don't tour through a cornfield near you. Why should geography get in the way of seeing theatre when we live in the digital age?
In a time when you can access nearly any film via Netflix or YouTube, theatre lags staggeringly behind, rooted in another century. But just because theatre is an ancient art form doesn't mean it needs to thumb its nose at today's technology, especially when it comes to archiving. Yes, part of theatre's beauty is its ephemeral nature, but why not document live performances when there is a desire and a demand? We've seen general manager Peter Gelb's success in doing so with performances of the Metropolitan Opera—why not try it with theatre?
On the Boards, a Seattle not-for-profit that presents international dance, theatre and music, as well as work by Northwest artists, has seized upon this dormant opportunity. After receiving sizable grants from both the Wallace Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation through DanceUSA's Engaging Dance Audiences initiative, On the Boards researched how to best film live performances, put footage up on its website and charge viewers a small fee for the pleasure of watching.
The research led the company to a four-step process. First, On the Boards selects leading artists to partner with. "We try to present work that is relevant in a global context," says artistic director Lane Czaplinski. "And we view OntheBoards.tv as simply another stage of our space." Second, the live performance is filmed. Most often this is preceded by a meeting between artist and filmmaker to talk about the arist's vision and how to set up the four high-definition cameras that record the performance. These cameras are operated by Matt Daniels and his production team, Thinklab, who return for a second performance to tape pick-up shots and close-ups. Third, the Thinklab filmmakers edit footage as needed and send a pass to the lead artist, who then responds with edits. Filmmakers and artist go back and forth until the latter is satisfied with the outcome.
"For filmmakers, it's pretty straightforward," says Czaplinski. "Their job is to capture what's on stage, and so much of that has been already framed by the performance." On the Boards managing director Sarah Wilke adds that artists have a time code on the footage so that they can easily pinpoint any spots where they prefer another shot or angle. Editing generally takes two to three months. During final distribution, performances are uploaded to OntheBoards.tv and made available in HD and regular streaming; they are also available to download in HD for a computer, iPod or iPhone. In all, Czaplinski and Wilke estimate that $12,000 goes into recording a performance—and that doesn't include On the Boards staff time or online maintenance. For the artist, the process is free of charge.
Consumers may rent a performance for 48 hours for a charge of $5. Or, they may download and own performance footage for $15. For $50 they receive a year's worth of unlimited streaming, and for $100 they get unlimited streaming plus rentals, too. Institutions can pay $250 for unlimited streaming—a useful tool for students who might not have access to contemporary performance, notes Wilke.
Students aren't the only ones that benefit. Take the case of Belgian multidisciplinary artist Jan Fabre. "Fabre's performances have rarely been seen in the U.S.," says Czaplinski. "He goes right beside theatre greats like Romeo Castellucci and Peter Brook—but he'd never been west of the Mississippi." Until, that is, On the Boards programmed and taped his Orgy of Tolerance earlier this year.
Good thing Fabre's cast was without Equity actors, though. Union rules can be a drag when it comes to documenting live performances. "Equity talks about protecting the artist," declares Czaplinski. "But, in fact, they are hurting artists by not allowing them to participate in an endeavor like this." Wilke chimes in, "We're a non-union house, so that provides us with a lot of flexibility that other theatres might not have." Czaplinski and Wilke are hopeful that Equity will soon loosen its constrictions, and cite the opera-in-the-cinema example as inspiration. Asked to clarify AEA's position on the matter, spokesperson Maria Somma responded, "Actors' Equity Association has negotiated with many of its bargaining partners language that broadens the ability to capture performance footage while acknowledging the enormous contributions the actors make to the production through a media payment to each of the cast members." She goes on, "For a situation to occur in which a theatre creates a revenue stream from the sale or rental of performance footage without industry standard compensation to all the actors and other creative staff in the production is unfair and unequitable and goes against the collaborative nature of the professional theatrical industry."
Disagreements about union rules aside, there are, of course, purists who will decry digitalizing altogether, sighing, "But it's not live." Czaplinski and Wilke are the first to admit that seeing a live performance is preferable to seeing it taped. "But recordings of classical music haven't stopped people from seeing orchestras live," observes Czaplinski. Adds Wilke, "OntheBoards.tv gives you a different experience. You have the chance to see a detail you may have missed in performance, or to catch a different angle. You can't rewind when it's live."
There are currently 10 performances available via OntheBoards.tv. Most have been filmed in Seattle, though a few were shot off site, notably Temporary Distortion's Americana Kamikaze and Radiohole's Whatever, Heaven Allows at New York City's P.S. 122. Czaplinski and Wilke hope to expand and film in other areas but will need to secure further funding in order to make that dream a reality.
For artists—who do share in the profits, though OntheBoards.tv doesn't dictate standardized splits among creative collaborators—it's a sweet deal. "We were founded by artists in 1978 and call ourselves an artist-centric organization," boasts Czaplinski. "When someone downloads Young Jean Lee's The Shipment," the project's best-seller so far, "they pay $15, and $7.50 of that goes to Young Jean." Ms. Lee isn't complaining. "From start to finish there was absolutely no downside to the experience," she says. "OntheBoards.tv has given us the best work sample we could ever ask for, free of charge and with zero strings attached." Radiohole's Eric Dyer likens the OntheBoards.tv experience to "a step toward making performance art more like drinking a cold beer on a hot day."
Czaplinski and Wilke aren't territorial when it comes to making the consumption of performance art more like chilled refreshments. "We're not trying to be a final business model," say Czaplinski. "We're trying to be more of a catalyst or case study for exploring what it means to shoot live shows. Ideally, more of our peers will join in on this effort so that there will be a lot of different databases and archives of live performance. " Just think, a cool drink of contemporary performance can reduce your archive fever.
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