Author: Sam Freeman
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Arts Marketing: Freaks, Questions, Testing and Careers
How many of us send a season brochure? Pretty much most regional theatres right? Now we send them because we have an inherent belief that they work, that they bring in a huge amount of sales – but how much of these essential pieces of print is developed through research and how much is developed…
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2022 Resolutions
As I get older I’ve become more and more aware that these are things to help motivate me in life. I think back to my early twenties when I dreamt of being an Artistic Director, or late twenties where stand up really entered my life, and I worry that I’ve become directionless.
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Theatre, freedom and anti-vaxxer complaints.
It’s late. The clock has just chimed midnight. Or at least it would have should I own a clock with a bell that chimes. I’m wide awake, shoulders tight and I can tell I’m wound up. To begin. Welsh Government have introduced new rules surrounding showing your Covid Status when attending theatre and cinema events…
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The exhausting truth about booking a small-scale storytelling tour.
It’s been a long while since I wrote a blog post – to be honest, I’ve not written many for the past 9 months, a combination of tiredness, lack of inspiration and, well, doing other stuff. I’m in the midst of booking a tour at the moment for the show I made last year, Every…
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I’m touring a show that’s good.
As many of you will know I wrote a new storytelling show last year called Every Little Hope You Ever Dreamed (But Didn’t Want To Mention). It did an R&D in January for a week at Theatr Clwyd and then did three performances in late July (also at Theatr Clwyd) which went pretty well*. So…
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Performing, Panic, and the the problem with being alone.
I’ve not blogged for absolutely ages – here’s my excuse: I’ve been making a show. To give the quick intro for those who are unaware… Last year I wrote a new storytelling show, it did an R&D in January and then, last Fri, Sat and Sun I did performances in front of an audience, ostensibly…
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Nothing to do with Arts Marketing.
Astute regular readers of this blog will have noticed that, well, there’s been nothing regular about this blog for a while now. There’s a few reasons but most notably it’s this – I’m doing a show. Now straight away I can sense a bit of tension, “doing a show” you ask, “what does he mean…
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Arts Marketing: Preparing For What’s Next
Or ideas of things to do over the next couple of months… I’ve been in a weird mood since Christmas – a kind of grumpy, unfocused, curmudgeon, working hard but also not feeling like, well, I’m actually making a difference. Now, of course, some of that is the destabilising effect of being in lockdown, missing…
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Five Thoughts For Friday (19 Feb, 2021)
I was reading a blog of someone who, since lockdown, has written down 7 things every day, keeping a record of their thoughts and how it’s all been going. Now I totally don’t have enough thoughts to reach 7, but I thought I’d give it a go! Some are about arts marketing, some are about…
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A new show for 2021
I’m currently having a week off from my “proper job” of Arts Marketing after a Christmas doing online support for digital shows. The online support was eye-opening, I don’t think I’ll get annoyed with people replying slowly over support when I need help ever again, I mean, don’t get me wrong 99.9% of the people…
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New Year’s Resolutions 2021
Well fuck me thank God 2020 is over right? I mean don’t get me wrong – there was some nice bits in 2020 – friends had kids, I bought a coffee machine and Newcastle didn’t get relegated. But overall, on balance, not a terrific one. Regular readers (by which I mean all four of you…
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Vodafone: A tale of woe, poor customer service and being on hold.
This is a parable about customer service. I don’t do bills. Not because I’m a Elizabethan cad, rogue or rascal. Quite the opposite. In fact they stress me out to a point approaching tears and send my anxiety into overdrive. I once cried after speaking to the water company for less than 10 minutes. I…
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Doing R&D on a show
I’ve been feeling a bit down for the last few weeks – there’s the obvious reason for that, but also, because I’ve not done anything I count as ‘creative’ for a while now. I was feeling a bit, well, pointless. I’m also approaching my birthday, a time which consistently puts me in a foul mood,…
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Filming Theatre Experiment – Part #1
So here goes, this is a blog well outside my comfort zone of both arts marketing and winging about how badly I’ve died on my ass at a comedy gig. This one’s about recording theatre shows. When lockdown began there was a frenzy of people putting shows online – from the National Theatre’s NT Live…
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Ups, Downs, Dreams and Reality
To begin. This is not an Arts Marketing blog – for some people reading this that will be nothing but a blessed relief, for others I’m sure you’re now wondering how else I might disappoint you in a distinctly lengthy blog post. Today’s post is about confidence in one’s creative self (eventually). So if you’re…
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Arts Marketing – Predicting The Future
I started writing this post in late May, but then hit a block of “what the fuck am I writing any of this for” followed by “is this actually helping anyone?” I struggled to answer either question to be honest and now, in light of theatres closing and redundancies being on the card for people…
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Seat Wars – Episode II – Social Spacing Fights Back
Hey there! So if you’ve been here before then welcome back and if you’re new well, where have you been. This is a much less wordy blog than usual (which readers of my last blog (click here) will be undoubtedly relieved) – mostly because I’m leading a quiz tonight that promises to be (and this…
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Social Spacing (In Theatre)
****UPDATE 20 May – I’ve been rewriting lots of the info on here – as a result this blog is, at best, interesting discussion fodder – I’ll post the new version in a few days*** Welcome back (if you’ve been here before) and welcome (if you’re new). This isn’t one of my epic 5,000 word…