177: Living & Thriving Wage for Theatre Directors with Oliver Butler - Theatre Director

Artistic Finance

Theatre director Oliver Butler discusses the state of pay for theatre directors.

Topics:

⭐️ Director Fees at Non-Profit Theatres in NYC

⭐️ Giving credit to the non profits that pay above the SDC minimum.

⭐️ Actionable steps to address the issue both for individuals and institutions.

⭐️ Discussing theatre pay honestly and in public so we don’t uphold the myth that it’s livable.

Video Version

https://youtu.be/8uT8SPDBXnk

Artistic Finance

https://linktr.ee/artisticfinance

Oliver Butler Instagram Videos

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cw0mLWmvy4L/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxJR1gjPRHz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxpibFWO0Pe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Oliver Butler

https://www.instagram.com/oliverbutler/

A Knock of the Roof:

https://www.nytw.org/show/a-knock-on-the-roof/

https://royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/a-knock-on-the-roof/

WEER by Natalie Palamides

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WEER_(play)

GuideStar

https://www.guidestar.org/

The Public Theatre

https://publictheater.org/

Oscar Eustis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Eustis

Manhattan Theatre Club

https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/

SoHo Rep

https://www.sohorep.org/

https://sohorep.org/staff-board/

Playwrights Horizons

https://www.playwrightshorizons.org/

New York Theatre Workshop

https://www.nytw.org/

Non Profit Theatre Budgets - 33% of Income From Ticket Sales

https://thenonprofittimes.com/npt_articles/nonprofit-theatres-rebounding-but-expenses-skyrocketing/

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) Budget Reports

https://tcg.org/Web/Our-Work/Research/Theatre-Facts.aspx

Oliver Butler (he/him) is a theatre director who grew up in New England and is now based in The Rockaways in Queens. He directed the critically-acclaimed Broadway premiere of Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me (Best Play Tony Award Nomination, Obie Award Winner, Lucille Lortel Award Nomination, Drama League Award Nomination, Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination; and Drama Desk Award Nomination; Finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama), a film version of which is now streaming on Amazon Prime. He is directing the off-Broadway premiere of A Knock on the Roof by Khawla Ibraheem at New York Theatre workshop, which just returned from a sold-out premiere at The Edinburgh Fringe where they won 5 major awards including a Fringe First from The Scotsman. He directed the off-Broadway premiere of A Bright New Boise by Sam Hunter at Signature Theatre Company. Other recent credits include: the World Premiere of Tornado Tastes Like Aluminum Sting by Harmon Dot Aut, the World Premiere of Hester Street in Washington D.C., the NYC premiere of Will Eno’s GNIT at Theatre for a New Audience, the world premiere of Will Eno’s The Plot at Yale Repertory Theatre; the world premiere of Jordan Harrison’s The Amateurs at The Vineyard; the West Coast Premiere of Will Eno's Thom Pain (based on nothing) starring Rainn Wilson at The Geffen Playhouse; and the triumphant return of Thom Pain (based on nothing) to New York starring Michael C. Hall at the Signature Theatre Company. Additional career highlights include: Itamar Moses’s The Whistleblower at Denver Center, Christopher Shinn's An Opening in Time at Hartford Stage, Daniel Goldfarb's Legacy at Williamstown Theatre Festival, the world premiere of Timeshare by Lally Katz at The Malthouse in Melbourne, and the world premiere of Will Eno’s The Open House (OBIE Award for Direction; Lortel Award, Best Play) at the Signature Theatre Company. He is a co-founder and co-artistic director of The Debate Society with whom he has directed 10 premieres in 15 years including The Light Years (Playwrights Horizons), Jacuzzi (Ars Nova), and Blood Play (Bushwick Starr). He is a Sundance Institute Fellow and a Bill Foeller Fellow (Williamstown). He's a long-distance hiker who recently covered 500 miles on the Appalachian Trail and adventured near the Arctic circle in Hornstrandir Nature Reserve known as "The Iceland of Iceland."

Instagram Handles

@oliverbutler

@sdc_union

@nicolevsteimel

@ethansteimel

Interview by Ethan Steimel