Category: Transparency

2021 Transparency Report

12/2/2021

Theater in Asylum believes that transparency enables the sharing of power and responsibility. We commit to being open with how company decisions are made and money is spent. Below please find an overview of our finances in 2021. This is also on our website’s transparency page, a page we launched earlier this year as a way to showcase a snapshot of our finances and decision-making.

Big Picture

Some Takeaways of Theater in Asylum’s 2021 Finances:

We projected to spend ~$25,000 in 2021, but actually spent ~$21,000.
We projected to earn ~$25,000 in 2021, but actually earned ~$27,000.
We received extra support from grants, along with donated performance and rehearsal space.
We will enter 2022 with a healthy reserve to get new projects started.

2021’s Major Projects:

The Debates 2021, created by Theater in Asylum, was originally envisioned as a live production that would tour around New York City. Due to the pandemic, the piece was presented live on Zoom May 27 and 28, 2021. Approximately 100 people watched it live, 50 people watched it streaming on demand.
Occupy Prescott, by Andy Boyd, was presented October 16-31, 2021 outside at the Jalopy Tavern. We sold out all six scheduled shows and one added show. About 200 people saw the production.
Cold Readings were mostly online, with 3 in-person. We held 33 readings in all with approximately 15 people at each, 500 people total.

2021 Expenses

Budgeted Expenses

Personnel: $11,900
Production Costs: $6,930
Space: $3,900
Administrative: $1,100
Anti-oppression training: $600
Contingencies: $1,092
Total Budgeted Expenses: $25,522

Actual Expenses (as of 12/2/21)

Personnel: $14,141*
Production Costs: $3,670**
Space: $1,003***
Administrative: $1,147
Anti-oppression training: $300
Contingencies: $838
Total Actual Expenses: $20,882

* Personnel expenses rose when we unexpectedly won grants from the NYC Artist Corps, allowing us to increase collaborator stipends for Occupy Prescott.
** The Debates 2021 was revamped from an in-person production to an online production, drastically reducing production costs.
*** Our space costs fell drastically with the revamping of The Debates 2021 to an online production, as well as space donations for Occupy Prescott.

How Theater in Asylum paid people in 2021

The Debates 2021: 15 collaborators were paid an equal stipend of $200.
Occupy Prescott: 19 collaborators were paid an equal stipend of $399, plus a $100 “cost-of-living” reimbursement.
Cold Readings: 9 people guest facilitated a total of 14 Cold Readings. Facilitators were paid $50 for each Cold Reading they facilitated. One guest theater company was paid $100 for facilitating.
Theater in Asylum company leadership were not paid for their general administrative work, nor their work facilitating Cold Readings. They were compensated as collaborators in The Debates 2021 and Occupy Prescott, receiving stipends equal to all other collaborators on each project.

2021 Revenues

Projected Revenue

Donations: $12,500
Grants: $3,000
Tickets: $6,600
Drawdown of previous years' surplus: $3,000
Total Projected Revenues: $25,100

Actual Revenue (as of 12/2/21)

Donations: $13,517
Grants: $10,700*
Tickets: $2,654**
Drawdown of previous years' surplus: $0 needed
Total Actual Revenues: $26,871

* We won support for our 2021 Season from the Brooklyn Arts Council and the New York City Artist Corps.
** With the revamping of The Debates 2021 to be an online production, ticket revenue was lost as we were not able to tour to different neighborhoods (with different audiences).

How Theater in Asylum Charged Audiences in 2021

The Debates 2021: Sliding scale tickets from $0-$20. Roughly a third of people paid less than $10 per ticket, while another third paid the full $20 per ticket.
Occupy Prescott: Sliding scale tickets from $0-$30. Roughly a third of people paid less than $10 per ticket, while a fifth of people paid the full $30.
Cold Readings: Free for all attendees. Donations were solicited for organizations doing good work at online readings. Donations were solicited to cover the cost of wine and snacks at the two in-person Cold Readings we had during the summer.

Conclusion

We are so appreciative of our community, who has helped us organize our company, our budgets, and our work. We invite feedback (contact info on our Community page) as to how we can make Theater in Asylum more transparent and fruitful for all.

Thank you,
Paul, Katie, and Kathryn
Theater in Asylum

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2020 Transparency Statement

4/18/2021

This was originally posted April 18, 2021. We have since developed how we community transparency, which you can find in the form of our 2021 Transparency Report.

Completed 2020 Budget
Major projects

Two productions (Hephaestus — commissioned by the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center — and the online, free version of The Debates 2020)
One cabaret (The Electability Cabaret)
Cold Readings
In lieu of the planned party to commemorate our 10 year anniversary, we published a retrospective magazine. Many plans changed throughout the year due to COVID-19.

Expenses

Personnel: $4,418 (38%)
Production Costs: $2,361 (20%)
Space: $1,203 (10%)
Administrative: $3,418 (29%) **This is largely our magazine publication
Anti-oppression training: $370 (3%)
Total: $11,770

Revenues

Donations: $8,121 (61%)
Grants: $0 (0%)
Tickets: $0 (0%)
Special Events: $1,142 (9%)
Commissions: $4,000 (30%)
Total: $13,263

Projected 2021 Budget
Major projects

Two productions (The Debates 2021 and Occupy Prescott)
Cold Readings

Expenses

Personnel: $11,900 (47%)
Production Costs: $6,930 (27%)
Space: $3,900 (16%)
Administrative: $1,100 (4%)
Anti-oppression training: $600 (2%)
Contingencies: $1,092 (4%)
Total Cost: $25,522

Revenue

Donations: $12,500 (50%)
Grants: $3,000 (12%)
Tickets: $6,600 (26%)
Surplus from previous years: $3,000 (12%)
Total Revenues: $25,100

How Theater in Asylum is paying people in 2021

In 2021, we project hiring 54 people (18 for The Debates 2021, 18 for Occupy Prescott, 18 for Cold Readings).
Company leadership (4 people) is not paid for their administrative work.
For The Debates 2021: All collaborators (regardless of role) will be paid a $200 stipend.
For Occupy Prescott: All collaborators (regardless of role) will be paid a $300 stipend.
For Cold Readings: Individual Guest facilitators are paid $50 per reading and theater companies guest facilitating are paid $100 per reading. Theater in Asylum facilitators (Paul, Katie, Hilarie) and Readers are not paid.

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Theater in Asylum (TIA) is a New York-based theater company founded in 2010 to challenge and empower our community. TIA joyfully pursues a rigorous research and an ensemble-driven approach to theater-making. We create performances to investigate our past, interpret our present, and imagine our future. We prize space to process, space to question—asylum—for ourselves and our community. Core programs include original productions; themed cabarets to present new work from our community; and Cold Readings to read and discuss published plays.

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