CREATING, MANAGING AND PRESENTING THE ARTS

MGMT 253/THAR 280

 

An Interdisciplinary Course

Sponsored by

The School of Arts and Sciences and The Wharton School

University of Pennsylvania

 

 

Course Description:

 

A study of the creation and presentation of art (e.g., theater, film, music, painting, etc.), the context of public culture and the management of for-profit and not-for-profit cultural organizations.   The course will consider management structures, distribution of the cultural product, strategies for acquiring and spending capital and decision-making, with emphasis on the differences between the public and private sectors. A combination of lectures by instructors and practitioners, case studies and consulting projects with regional institutions will illustrate the relationship between art and business.

 

Who Should Take This Course:

 

1)            Undergraduates who are considering a career in private or not-for-profit organizations that present the results of creativity to the public.

            2)            Undergraduates who wish to study the relationship between the arts and business.

 

Instructors:

           

            1)            Dr. Larry Robbins, Adj. Prof., Mgmt. Email: robbinsl@sas.upenn.edu

            2)            Dr. John Katz, Visiting Professor, English. Email: jkatz2@dept.english.upenn.edu

            3)            Dr. Cary Mazer, Assoc. Prof., English.  Email: cmazer@dept.english.upenn.edu

 

Prerequisites: None

 

Course Requirements:

 

            Papers:                         Two 3-5 page case analyses (due 10/2 and 10/25 or 11/13)            35%

                                                One 5-7page historical/analytical essay (due 10/11)              30%

 

            Term Project:               Group paper and presentation of

                                                  consulting project (paper due, 11/27—12/6)                           35%

 

            Required Reading:              Coursepack of case analyses and supporting

                                                       information

 

  

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION -- UNDERSTANDING THE CULTURAL CONTEXT OF THE                         ARTS (Katz, Mazer, Robbins)         

                                   

            Sept. 5 --  Issues Related to Creating and Presenting Art (Katz, Mazer, Robbins)

 

·                  Commodity and Consumption

·                  Film as a Reflection of Culture

·                  Decision Making in the Arts

 

THE STATE OF THE 20TH CENTURY THEATER INDUSTRY

           

Sept. 10 -- Commercial Theater, Not-for-Profit Theater:          

 An Historical Overview  (Mazer)

 

·                    The  Rise and Fall of the Syndicates

·                    The Rise of Regional and Not-for-Profit

 

Langley, Theatre Management and Production in America,  Ch. 5-6

 

            Sept. 12  --  The Business of Show Business  (Mazer)

 

·                    Developing, and Exploiting Properties: Real Estate, Script, Production, Touring 

                                   

Sept. 17  -- The Not-for-Profit Theater I (Mazer)

 

·                    Defining the Mission

·                    Finding the Audience

 

Sept. 19  --  Guest Speaker: David Stone, President, Stone Productions

 

Sept. 24  -- Curating Performance (Mazer)

 

·                    Touring Houses

·                    Presentation Houses

 

Readings: Langley, Theatre Management and Production in America, Ch. 10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Sept. 26 --  Case: The People’s Light and Theatre Company

                       

Guest Speaker: Grace Grillet, Managing Director, People’s Light and Theatre            Company

 

Oct. 1     -- Art Follows Business; Business Follows Art (Robbins)

 

·                  Creating and Sustaining an Institution

·                  The Tension Between and Art and Business

 

Readings:  Kotler and Scheff, Standing Room Only, pp. 29-63; 157-185

                       

Oct. 3   --  Regional Theater

 

            Guest Speaker: Naomi Grabel, Managing Director, Wilma Theater

                                   

Readings: Carver, Boards That Make a Difference, pp. 24-39

 

THE FILM INDUSTRY: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

 

            Oct.  8 --  A Brief History of the American Film Industry  (Katz)

 

·                  Hollywood

·                  Independents

                       

          Readings: Squire, ed., The Movie Business Book, 2nd ed., pp. 96-165

                        Litwak, Dealmaking in the Film and Television Industry, pp. 218-250

 

            Oct. 10--  Putting the Deal Together (Katz)

 

·                  The Property

·                  Financing

 

Readings:  Baumgarten et al, Producing, Financing and Distributing Film,

    pp. 229-242; Overview (Flowchart) of the Film Industry

 

Oct. 15  --  Production  (Katz)

 

·                  Studio

·                  Post-Production

 

Oct. 17  --  Marketing and Distribution

 

            Guest Speaker:

 

 

 

Oct. 22  -- Exhibition and Exploitation (Katz)

 

·                    Audience

·                    Festivals

·                    Action Figures

·                    Television

 

THE NOT- FOR- PROFIT WORLD

           

Oct.  24  --  The Anatomy of a Not-For-Profit Institution (Robbins)

 

Readings: Carver, Boards That Make a Difference, pp. 24-39; Wolf, Managing a Nonprofit Organization in the Twenty-first Century, Ch. 2, “The Board,” pp. 45- 81

 

Oct.  29  --  The Cultural Complex

 

            Guest Speaker: Janice Price, President, Regional Center for the Performing Arts

 

Oct. 31  --  Case:  Lights Out at the Met (Robbins)

 

Nov. 5 -- Finance: Do Budgets Reflect or Create the Cultural Product?

 

                        Guest Speaker: Mark Weinstein, General Manager, The Pittsburgh Opera

                        Reading:  Blaug, Where Are We Now on Cultural Economics?

 

Nov. 7 --  The Marketing of Popular Culture

 

Guest Speaker:  Paul Burger, CEO, SONY Europe

 

Nov. 12   -- --  Fundraising for Culture (Robbins)

 

Readings: Stolper and Hopkins, Successful Fundraising for Arts and Cultural Organizations, pp. 1-18; Graham, Keep the Money Coming, pp. 16-24; 38-58

 

            Nov. 14  --  Decision Making in the Arts (Robbins)

           

 

                        Cases:  Philadelphia Museum of Art

Festival Repertory Theater

 

 

            Nov. 19  --  Making the Case for the Future (Katz, Mazer, Robbins)

 

            Nov. 21  --  Student Presentations

 

            Nov. 26  --  Student Presentations

 

            Nov. 28  --  Thanksgiving

           

            Dec. 3     --  Student Presentations

 

            Dec. 5     --  Student Presentations