Directors

THE PLAYWRITING SEMINARS > BUSINESS > PRODUCTION > DIRECTORS

'. . . he called ANGELS IN AMERICA into being, shepherded it through many perilous places, and brought it safely home. Without him it would have neither been begun nor completed.'

-- Tony Kushner on his director

While playwrights have the power to approve casts, exercise this right with great care, unless you've been in this business a long time.

Performers are a Director's business. If you're new to this, for your own sanity let them be your intermediary with the cast. You'll need an interpreter. When performers say to you, "This is such a fantastic play!" -- what they often mean is, You've written a great role for me! This single-minded focus is what makes them so good at what they do. The downside is, it also makes them not so great at assessing your play as a whole. That's what you need a Director for.

A word of caution: Just because a Director of the premiere production of your play is of immense value to you, doesn't mean they deserve a piece of your action. The Dramatists Guild will back you on this. Directors get paid for being directors. Playwrights get paid for writing.

So don't get talked into any agreement that gives a percentage of your royalties to a director for contributions to the script, no matter how much you think you owe them. You don't. Good Directors know that. They also know that making you look good as a playwright makes them look good as a director. So everybody wins when this business runs the way it's supposed to.