Company & Show Information Forms Guidance

The Show

Specific Show Features: Shows change during their development, however it is important that we know as much as possible about the show now. Please include as much as you can about the show including:

• What the show is like (synopsis, style, visually, musically)
• Number of performers
• Type/style of music in the show – is the music live?
• Set description
• Writer, Director, Designer
• Is there anything about the show that is particularly interesting? (Clever set? Famous performer?)
• Is there anything about this show that you think is particularly suitable for people with impairments?

Menu Copy: Please provide 200-300 words of copy for our Menu. This should be written with a view to telling the local Promoter why they should put on this show in their local venue for their audience.

Intervals: Community promoters far prefer to have an interval in which to boost their catering income and to provide a comfort break for older members of their audience. This is very important for some promoters who will simply not book a show without an interval. If the show itself does not lend itself to having an interval please tell us in the show information sections about any additional activity you can offer for the evening.

Shows in Development: If you are offered in the Menu, please ensure that we are kept up to date with changes that affect the marketing or technical aspects of the show. Classic issues that have arisen that we would absolutely need to know about ASAP:

• Age range and target audience
• Change of show title
• Number of performers
• Space requirements (once its in the menu, asking for a larger performance area is a huge problem for us; requiring less space can result in more bookings)
• Script – has swearing, nudity etc crept in during the development process?!

Marketing and Print

Please read our Print & Publicity Guidelines. For the avoidance of doubt, we only need a digital version of your leaflet/poster, but designed as per the guidelines.

Images: We will need images to help us assess your show and for the online Menu immediately (please submit with this form), then subsequently for selling the show to audiences via our website(s), What’s On Diaries, press and any other print or online opportunities:

• Colour images. 300ppi. 10x15cm is an ideal size (1800 pixels x 1200 pixels). Ideally several images in different formats (Landscape/Portrait)

Target audiences: In our menu we categorise each show to help promoters choose which ones would work best for different audiences in their venue. Please tell us which of the following your show best suits (+ age range) however feel free to expand on this very basic information!

• Adults/Older children (+age range): Suitable for adults attending without children and for older children;
• Adults/Family (+age range): All ages can enjoy the show. But not for large groups of children;
• Family (+age range): Aimed at a younger audience. Will be enjoyed by accompanying oldies!
• Children (+age range): Particularly aimed at a young audience including “groups” of children.
• Suitable for All.

Technical

Technical Equipment and Support: Your shows and performances should be entirely self-contained. If your show needs lights and/or sound then you should tour with them. There will rarely be any technical support at the venues although there usually is help with get-ins and get-outs and to familiarise you with the venue. You must be technically self-contained. Live & Local does not provide lighting, sound or technical staff support at venues. If your show requires LX or SX you should tour with this equipment. Most of our venues will need at least sound reinforcement. However the venue PAs are not suitable for high quality sound reinforcement and most venues have little or no 'stage' lighting.

To be clear - Companies and bands that need a PA must tour a PA. Companies and bands that tour their own lighting, however basic, are more likely to be offered in the menu than those who do not.

Performance areas: Tell us your IDEAL performance area (height (headroom), width & depth) and your absolute MINIMUM performance area. By performance area we mean an area required to fit everything, set and required ‘offstage’ areas.

NB: If you require a 2m x 6m; area, only 25% of our venues can even consider booking you. If you can manage 5m x 5m this becomes approx 50%. (Flexibility as regards less width for more depth and vice versa can make all the difference)

Seating layout: i.e. ‘theatre’ style rows or a more informal ‘cabaret’ layout with tables and chairs (or both). The latter tends to give a different feel to the evening with a different interaction between audience and artists, to the more formal theatre style.

Finances and Expenses

Please read information below about outstanding funding applications, confirmed tours and co-productions.

Inclusive price: Ideally we want an all inclusive price for the show that includes the show, all technical support, travel, accommodation and publicity.

However if you can offer a more attractive price by only including accommodation on a case by case situation then please give prices on this basis and see below re our guidlines.

Print: Print & Publicity Guidelines

Travel expenses: Should be included in the fee. On rare occasions we will agree additional travel expenses and in those situations pay a max of 30p/mile for the round trip for one vehical from base. We don’t cover the cost of getting to any subsequent non Live & Local performance.

Accommodation: Live & Local does not book accommodation other than for international visitors. We will not allow promoters to provide home hospitality for insurance and safeguarding reasons. If our agreement includes an occassional accommodation element for some events it will be on the basis of up to £25/head/night subject to accommodation being used and the following guidelines:

• Performers and stage management/technical staff only.
• Only on the night(s) after performance(s).
• Not after the last performance of a run or after one offs, apart from for people who have further than 80 miles to travel to base.

Hospitality and Refreshments

At this stage this information is a request to the promoters.

Not every promoter group is able to provide hot meals. Live & Local does ask that at least tea and coffee making bits and pieces are available and at least ‘light refreshments.’ Please give details of numbers, when you would like any food and any special dietary requirements. Also tell us if you have any basic needs for the performance/interval e.g. water. This is what we will ask our Promoter to provide BUT this still must be finally confirmed with them by companies.

Funding, Investment and Co-Productions

Please note this section is about funding, investment and partnerships for getting a show to the stage that it is available to tour, NOT about having enough bookings to make a tour viable.

It is damaging to our relationship with the voluntary promoter network if we confirm a show/date/tour only to have it cancelled. Our objective therefore is to balance the the need to provide assurance to the promoters at the point we confirm their dates/shows with the challenge companies have in raising funds within the same timescale.

Our default position is that we will not offer a show in the Menu that is relying on any funding, investment or co production arrangements for making and/or touring a show unless those finances or arrangements can be confirmed before our promoter’s request deadline in mid-May as being in place for the tour period.

We will reconsider this position for a some shows or companies if they have come through our DART programme and/or meet our priority shows or Arts Council England Investment Principles. Also as our Menu offers shows for the following October to May period we will reconsider this position for shows only available in the following Feb to May period so long as funding and investment can be confirmed by mid-august.

The following applies to shows/tours that are in particular relying on an Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant:

For less than or equal to £15,000 the turnaround time is six weeks. So, a company could put in an application after they have been successful in making it into the Live & Local menu on or before 1st April and have a decision before our requests’ deadline in Mid-May. For over £15,000 it is 12 weeks, therefore a company would have to apply on or before 18th February. We would generally be able to tell companies whether they are in the menu or not by this point.

Please note that to offer any show in our menu that is relying on ACE funding we would need to see similar creative, technical and other information (and assurances about other tour bookings) as you would have to provide for an ACE application. Therefore, we would generally want to see relevant parts of the application.

 

Additional Support

• Eyes Wide Open: the NRTF Guide to Rural Touring.
• About Live & Local: Information for artists and companies who are considering putting  themselves forward for work on the Live & Local community performance scheme.