Publicity is one of the most crucial aspects of producing – after all, if no one knows about your play, no one’s going to see it. Publicity is somewhat less tangible than other elements such as props, costumes, technical aspects, but it will most certainly be noticeable if no one comes to see the production. Be careful not to leave publicity until it’s too late. Delegation is vital. Getting a publicist on board will really help. You will also need to delegate certain jobs (such as fliering and postering) to the members of the cast and production team.
One of the first jobs is to assign a publicity budget. There’s no point having amazing publicity ideas if your budget won’t stretch that far! £60 is standard.
Contractual Obligations
The Contract that exists between the visiting company (you) and the Pembroke Players contains certain publicity obligations. These are to ensure that your play receives the coverage it deserves, and to ensure that every effort is made to cover Pembroke Players’ expenses.
Contractual obligations include:
Posters and fliers prominently display Pembroke Players logo
All publicity material is checked by our publicist before being sent to print
Publicity must be sent to print two weeks before your opening night
Programmes prominently display the Pembroke Players blurb
Posters and fliers have been well distributed at least 5 days before your opening night
Copies of all publicity material and programmes have been given to the Pembroke Players secretary
Copies of any reviews you received have been given to the Pembroke Players Secretary
Fliers and Posters
Design
You will probably work closely with the director on this in order to achieve a design that suits the production aesthetic and target audience. Many productions have a separate designer – particularly if the producer or publicist is not familiar with graphic design programmes such as Adobe Photoshop, Quark, Illustrator (although these are easily learnt).
All poster and Flier designs should include:
Pembroke Players logo displayed prominentley
Title of play
Author of play
Venue
Dates of performances
Times of performances
Pembroke Players website
Details of how to purchase tickets (usually on door)
Any other details required in your Performance Rights contract
Ensure that you use a font that is easy to read from a distance, especially for the title, venue and dates of the production.
In terms of colours, it is often cheaper to print in black and white (providing this suits the production). In printers’ lingo, this is called ‘one colour’ instead of ‘full colour’. You can, however, normally find some very good deals for full colour Fliers, so it is worth checking before you decide on a design.
The standard size for Fliers is A6, and for Posters A3, although this need not restrict you.
Quantity
As a rough guide, 30-50 poster such sufficent, possibly more if you have a bigger cast to put them up
Printing
It is best to allow a week for printing. Some printers may be able to manage a much quicker turn over – RCS and Face Media offer a 2 or 3-day express service at a higher cost – but delays can occur unexpectedly.
The big rule is to get several quotations – they can vary a lot! When you approach a printer you will need to tell them:
What is you want printing (i.e. Fliers, posters) and what size
Quantities
Number of colours (i.e. ‘one colour’ for black and white, or ‘full colour’)
Type of card (the lower the gsm, the thinner the card. 300gsm is standard for Fliers)
You will need to ask what format they require the artwork (your design) in. Some will accept email attachments; other will prefer it on disk. Check whether they accept artwork saved as a JPEG, Photoshop Document, TIF, etc.
