Introduction; 8/09- Nunc Licet is now available for purchase in a published 6" x 8" spiral bound edition, technical and directing notes are included within the body of the text, an appendix is provided which includes character descriptions, updated designs, additions to production notes and production contract and management information. IMS Publishing, on demand, prepaid $17.95 plus $4.95 S&H (check, money order, or PayPal) contact via email: imagemindag@verizon.net
Archive; (edited, dates excluded)
Since the play is listed with Amazon.com, I think I better make it available.
Thankfully, in February of 2009 New Church Life published a small portion of Nunc Licet. Selections from Act II containing dialogue with Emanuel Swedenborg were presented.
I hope to sell copies the play thru the New Church Bookroom, so you may inquire there, put an order in with them, or order it directly from me. The script will also be available on CD at some point in the near future. If you prefer that format, you should let me know. All publishing is on demand. I do expect to propose publication to The Swedenborg Foundation.
I've had a number of inquiries about putting this play up in a few locations across America and mention has been made of cities in Europe as well. It is my position that the play must be mounted in Bryn Athyn first. Thus, my current objective is to pull together a reading of the play "script-in-hand" and videotaping that. BACT: The Bryn Athyn Community Theatre is currently considering participating and assisting with this objective.
One of my goals is to build a production management team for this show. That team can be comprised of individual producing and management partners implementing IMS policies and management of the Limited Partnership, or corporate entities who have bought certain ancillary or distribution rights or entered into a Joint Venture. In all events, any profit sharing require a vested interest. Previous investment has established the Front Money Agreement and it's link to the Limited Partnership, so any future agreements must take this into account.
The stage and the film efforts must take place simultaneously. For various reasons, it is very difficult to pull together a cast & crew to mount a production, particularly one of this nature. Not only because it is a challenge to find dependable and talented thespians, but many people are very occupied and unable to make a commitment of this nature.
I believe this will also be a challenging show for the actor. Although I have tried to simplify the action & the dialogue and to divide it up into small segments, the volume & complexity of the dialogue still concerns me.
It may be difficult to achieve the diversity in the casting. Unless we hand this off to a casting director, in which event we will likely be dealing with Equity and consequently IA. I have been striving to produce this non-union only because, so far I have not (personally) been able to deal with the unions. If I have another producer or organization on board who can, then I don't have a problem with that.
Because of these factors, when the correct components are in fact pulled together for a successful production on the stage, it is most advisable, indeed critical, to access those people, costumes, and other resources to carry on the effort for the cinema.
The goal then, in that regard, would be to use Cairnwood Mansion as the primary shooting location and the surrounding area for other shots.
The stage production will be videotaped and I would very much like to find a video producer who would like to take charge of doing a documentary "The Making of Nunc Licet", which would culminate in a "theatre on film" piece. That would be different than the narrative film.
My objective then, is to bring together a number of persons who wish to partner in the effort to mount the stage production, the video documentary, and the cinematic production.
I will serve as the Executive Producer, unless someones else steps up to the plate. We will need one or more producers, which include associate producers, line producers, and supervising producers. Obviously the money needs to be raised and that will be part of the duty of all the producers as it pertains to their respective areas of management.
The management will be appropriately divided and delegated accordingly. I will also be serving as the Director for both the stage & the film versions, (unless somebody else can prove to me that they would be better at doing that). I am looking for assistant directors as well as all levels of personnel needed to fulfill the production goals.
This can be achieved either internally (as in employees) or externally (as in service vendors), so any persons with the knowledge of production, interest in being involved, resourcefulness and willingness to commit for the long haul, are invited to speak up.
I have spent time working on developing an Academic Program for producing theatre which may come into play with this, but it will be implemented by the management team and not myself individually. My role in that regard is conceptualization.
Keep watching here as I continue to refine this new site for information about Nunc Licet.
AG
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Relevant Management Information
Since the publishing of "Nunc Licet" in New Church Life, I've been inclined to work on this play again. Although I'm quite busy with The Gnomes of New Hope and The Shakespeareans of Tamanend Park, I do think that a staged reading of the script would be appropriate at this point and so I am initiating more activity in this direction. Recent Publication News- A special thanks to Erik Sandstrom, editor of New Church Life, for publishing four pages from the script in the February 2009 issue. New Church Life reaches over 1,300 subscribers around the world. He has helped me to kick start my goal of getting this play around the world and to gain some degree of credibility for the play. Quite naturally he selected portions of the script which include Swedenborg in the dialogue, but for me personally, I'm particularly fond of the opening portions of the script that get the characters to that point. Because I needed to prepare the script for his use as a digital file, I am now very close to being able to offer the script on CD Rom. Keep an eye out for that if you are interested.
Other Web Pages; Nunc Licet: a stage play As you may have noted by now, the AOL web pages are no longer posted on the web. I did copy them and at some point will translate them into documents that I can either post here (or elsewhere) or use as an attachment to an e-mail. In one way this is good, because it forces me to update my thinking on all of that material.
Management Notes;
This BLOG has become the primary web site for IMS and thus this page will be reformulated to provide the most current and direct source for information about all production efforts.
It has always been a primary goal to build an international management effort for " Nunc Licet". So I am beginning to do that and I Invite competent vested partners
In the future, IMS will be establishing a secure server for specific management documents & files. But as a means to develop our network, we will use this site to engage in conversations about the developments in our specific regions. I am working to devise a management structure that allows for a full array of exposure to all the possible scenarios by which Nunc Licet may be presented and exploited.
The play still requires further development but it is nonetheless presentable in it's current form. I absolutely want changes made before a full production premieres, but they will only happen in production. No more writing is taking place on this script.
The CD ROM of the script will be made available as soon as possible, but in the mean while, I will build this site and the other management systems assuming that core groups will manifest on a world wide basis.
What this means is that, with the assistance of this web page, we will be able to collectively implement productions of this show in any location around the world. The design of the show will stem outward from here, both in terms of the management of individual productions and the refinement of the production in creative terms.
Basic Terms;
We will be moving forward to produce this show at this central location, Byrn Athyn Pennsylvania, but also I will be open to traveling to anywhere in the world to assist in other productions which might manifest.
The terms of the Production Contracts relevent to this show are very simple, 20% of all income produced by any means including but not limited to the box office goes to The Alpha & Omega Society. Accounting reports (identifying all sources of income) along with the appropriate renumeration, must be submitted to Image of the Mind Studios either prepaid, or within two weeks of the close of the show. Professional productions require a deposit against income. My travel & living expenses must be paid, in order for me to participate in a production (the per diem and duration is open to discussion). Contracts outlining the specifics of the production must be signed prior to any public offering of the show or the production of any anncillary product (including publications) devised as a result.
Production Assistance;
There are numerous marketplaces where this play can be presented and the method of operation in those marketplaces vary widely. With this in mind, I am working to design a method of supporting the growth of the show, while helping to make it easier to present the show, within those various markets. An example would be the difference between the educational, community, and professional presentation venues.
I expect to prepare a rental package of core materials that can be made available to any group wanting to present the play. This will include sets designs (or possible the sets themselves) costumes, audio materials, playbill layout, video tape support materials, text for resale, etc.
It seems appropriate too that any group producing the show might consider selling their supplies to the next group who may be considering producing the show. So I encourage this consideration.
Although a First Class Production has not gone up, when it does there will be a documentary film produced about the process and this will be available to consequent productions as a resource to assist in their efforts.
I am expecting to produce this show as a feature film as well. This film will be shot in Bryn Athyn and other appropriate locations as needed. Personnel need to be gathered for this project, so I invite inquiry.
Hobbyists;
I am striving to produce this show as a professional endeavor and I expect persons who show interest or wish to participate in the project to conduct themselves in a professional manner. I am willing to entertain dialogue with hobbyists, only to the degree that such discussion does not impede the forward momentum of the project. I am adamant that persons who stand up to be counted on this project must be counted on for the full nine yards. If you can't do the job, don't offer yourself for the position, whether you're being paid or not. It is critical that once someone has been delegated a job, they can be counted on to either complete the job at hand or find someone else who can take their place. This is an absolute requirement. The progress of this show has been greatly impaired by hobbyists in the past and I will not allow that to occur again.
I am working to devise a management system that allows for hobbyist and apprenticeship activities which will involve understudies for each of the roles, both in management and performing. This is linked to discussions on an Academic Apprenticeship Program which I have begun to design. I am considering open up a new discussion here for this subject, if I find others who would like to discuss or participate in this program.
Associate Production Companies;
Although IMS is continuing to move toward production of "Nunc Licet", I have no objections to anyone else wanting to take a stronger role in pushing the project forward. If another producer wants to be involved or a production company chooses to push forward faster than IMS, accomodations will be made and implemented in the contracts, most probably in the Joint Venture Contract or possibly in the Front Money & Limited Partnership , or General Production Contracts. In any event, the existing contract and management perameters must be maintained. I don't see any reason for there to be a problem with that, so it's not an issue.
The Developmental Production;
The next stage of operations is the Developmental Production, after which is the Premiere , which I feel must take place in Bryn Athyn. If we conduct the Developmental Production else-where, which leads into a Premiere event, so long as that same show then moves to Bryn Athyn for an opening there, we can have the World Premiere anywhere. It's the only fair way to proceed.
That means that- part of the professional management design includes, where-ever the show goes up, that show must pay for moving the production to the next venue. This is the only way in which the show will continue to gain world-wide momentum and an ongoing professional presentation. If the Developmental Production is unwilling to move the show to Bryn Athyn, then the World Premiere cannot happen there. It's as simple as that. The details of this budgetary element will be discussed later.
I expect to continue to work toward the Developmental Production and Premiere taking place in Bryn Athyn.
Touring;
The cost of mounting AND touring the show must be written into the Premiere Event. The objective is not to mount the show and say YIPPIE... it is to move the show around. So at the very least, the show must be amortized over a specific number of performances. It is unlikely that there will be a performance space available for a period of time that is long enough to recoup, so touring is the only option in that regard. That means that set-up costs will represent a fixed percentage of the box office and that touring costs will likewise represent a fixed percentage. These elements have to be analysed in the budget to determine the number of performances verses the ticket price and the other means of support available. Once the show moves into a touring scenario, we are looking at Union rules & costs, so whoever the Touring Production Manager is will need to have a grip on these aspects of the production. It's possible that the General Manager will over see the touring companies, in which event the Production Manager will answer to him or her. This will be determined when we locate a General Manager (which has not been done yet).
