The arts have always suffered from a top heavy economic model that relies on a huge imbalance between the supply of creative talent and the demand for them. The overwhelming majority of artists don’t make a single dollar in any given year. For example, pre-Covid, roughly 86% of professional union actors in the US received no income from practicing their craft. The remaining 14% had a median income of about $7,500.

The conventional commercial / nonprofit theater paradigm is structured largely to limit the crush of artists trying to “break in” to the business by placing a series of hurdles that increase in height as one runs down the lane. All while extracting as much revenue as possible from the competitors gasping for air as they run down the track.

We all know talented, worthy individuals that spent years trying to “make it” only to give up broke and broken after years paying for headshots, coaches, classes that all turn out to be investments with no return. Unless they have a direct connection into the industry, or a trust fund that supports livelihood, the only thing that can be relied on is luck and the odds are similar to winning a 100 million dollar lottery.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, this system was always destined to self destruct. The present state of things is not unlike that of a rat snake that, in order to satisfy its hunger during a collapse of available prey, decides to begin nibbling on its own tail. Unable to stop, it consumes itself.


The solution?

I think there’s an emerging opportunity to reform the system. The Phoenix from the ashes. Attention needs to shift away from the 10% or so of artists that provide income to the army of intermediaries and gatekeepers to those in the 90% who have the same (or better) talent, technique and professionalism yet cannot afford to create.

This approach would radically expand the number of artists who are able to earn enough to support themselves, invigorate development of new works and expand access to communities heretofore too small and/or poor to support a sustainable theatre company. It doesn’t rely on 20th century funding models that require wealthy patrons or accredited investors. Instead, it gets its energy from a much broader base of support.

Equity crowdfunding allows everyone the opportunity to be a stakeholder in a local theater company or, perhaps more importantly, a new work. One can earn equity by providing services (an actor doing a table reading) or direct small investments for which they receive current benefits (access to a live stream of a table reading, ability to participate in a talkback, etc.) and an actual financial interest in the success of the piece. Of course, creative team members, friends and family are able to invest hard cash in a project just as they always have. If a project develops to the point where it shows great commercial potential, folding accredited investors and commercial producers is simple. In the end, if the project turns into the next Broadway hit followed by a three year tour the people who invested their time and money at the beginning are the ones who would receive the biggest return on investment.

The key is to democratize funding the arts so it’s no longer run exclusively to benefit the 1%. The technology threatening artists (and all human labor) can also be used to improve the prospects for many more artists than were previously deemed worthy of participation in the system.