Indie theater is in trouble.
Competition has made us lose our way.
We’re trying to look like a big budget off-Broadway or even Broadway show with high priced tickets and unnecessary production costs. We’ve gone from trying to please an audience to trying to please industry to trying to please each other.

We’re starting to lose our art and heart

Then Covid hit, the audiences went away.
Our supporters went away.
Even some of us … went away.

2021 has taught us that they are not coming back fast enough … and in some cases, not at all.

News organziations are suffering just the same. They need advertising dollars to stay alive, so they cater to those with strong ad budgets. Historically, that’s not us. So they don’t care about us.

Reviewers need their own brand of visibility, so they will opt out of most shows that don’t have strong visibility.

They all don’t care about the 99 seaters. The clever solo shows. The limited run cabarets. The experimental pieces. THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US BECAUSE TO [MOST OF] THEM … WE. ARE. NOT. NEWS.

It was tough to play in their universe before the pandemic, now it’s impossible.

We need to make a universe of our own.

We need a paradigm shift.

Jay Michaels Communications uses the term visibility and not publicity because THAT is what it’s doing. Creating visibility … makes YOU seen.

Take a moment and think about a company or producer you worked with last year … the year before … the year before that. Where are they? Are they still around? If it’s no, why? If it’s yes, how do you know? Did you have to google them because you’ve heard nothing?

In the broad arts scheme … you’re not visible.

Now think about how many people – other than you – remember your shows/films after they’re done? What do you have to prove its (and your) existence?

If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one there to hear it does it make a sound?

NO.

The famed RULE OF THREES no longer applies … it’s now THE RULE OF SEVENS. This means that YOU/YOUR SHOW need to be seen SEVEN TIMES before people ackowledge its … or YOUR presence.

“Well, we artists know the value of our art,” I hear you say. Do we?

How many actors have left your show because they got ANYTHING that paid a dollar more.

Broadway is begging audiences to come back. They can afford to place enough adverts to do so.

How long before indie theater and off-off Broadway disappear completely.

How long before indie film is priced out of existance.

How long before self-published works are completely buried in the Amazon graveyard.

One problem is US!
We went from TRYING to please our audience to TRYING to please industry to TRYING to please ourselves. We do this by TRYING to make our indie works look like Broadway or studio films. We are TRYING to get into their playground, TRYING to share their visibility, TRYING to get their space in newspapers and sites.

Let’s stop TRYING to fit in to their world and take command of our own.

Paradigm Shift

Over the last two years, JMC
CREATED a video podcast
CREATED an audio podcast
MANAGES 10 arts sites dedicated to multi-faceted multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary multi-media art.
SUPPORTS a staff of peer-writers ready to review live events, films and TV, and even video recordings.

Before a press release is even written, JMC now can arrange
interviews (video, audio, content);
listings;
articles;
social media and influencer marketing.

All of this is guaranteed BEFORE offering the service that most other promotional companies provide.

THAT’S JUST THE START:
JMC also maintains mailing lists reaching more than 10,000 news outlets, industry professionals, and stage/film going audiences. But…
We guarantee coverage because we created the venues to do just that.

JMC is now actively adding production consultation to its menu.

The peer advisory includes directors, writers, producers on all levels, promotional executives, financial & educational professionals, casting agents, media influencers.

JMC now supports a non-profit organization, so assistance on levels including donations and grants is NOW available.

JMC is also enhancing content and services on its YouTube station: JMC: CHANNEL i

https://www.youtube.com/c/JMCChanneli

History is NOT written by the winners, its written by their press agents

The mission of Jay Michaels Communications and JMC: Channel i is to become a central location for independent theater and film. While most filmmakers and playmakers have their own YouTube channel or comparable social media platforms, Channel i can serve as a central connecting location, enhancing marketing, promotion, industry visibility, and networking.

Beyond video & audio, JMC offers full promotional services to all theatremakers, live event producers, and filmmakers and their companies on many different levels including: 

• E-PRESS KITS (content & design coordination)
• ADVERT BROKERING (JMC has relationships with numerous arts advertisers)
• INFLUENCER MARKETING (all social media platforms)
• BRAND AND IMAGE CONSULTATION (play, artist, and company)
• MULTIPLE PRESS RELEASE SENDINGS (all-inclusive and target marketing)
• EVENT & PRODUCTION CONSULTATION (see above)
• INTERVIEWS (Video Program, Podcast, Online)
• AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT (surveys and trageted mailing lists)
• DESIGN CAPABILITIES (animated and stationary)
• FULL SOCIAL MEDIA (10 diverse platforms)
• REVIEWS
  
• These services can be part of a full campaign or ala carte. ALL FEES ARE NEGOTIABLE.
  JMC works on a sliding scale with all promotional packages designed to assist in getting you everything from exposure, to portfolio, networking, investors & donors, reviews, and distribution.

IN HOUSE PRODUCTIONS: JMC in association with Genesis Repertory will also be producing readings of new plays and screenplays. This could be a great opportunity to get feedback on new works that is both relatively safe yet far-reaching enough to be quite effective. JMC has begun the process of speaking with the unions and exploring the concept of transforming the YouTube channel into a Roku channel.

Please feel free to contact a representative at 347-497-4814 about how JMC and Channel I can help you as an artist. There is no commitment to simply calling and talking about it.

HOW MANY CALLS DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE TO ARRANGE AN ENTIRE PRODUCTION OR PROMOTE YOUR FILM? Just one. 347-497-4814

FAQs

What good is all this internal stuff?

In promoting your work, this “internal stuff” simply comes up in search engines as promotion. It increases your internet footprint and the visibility of your production. That reviewer/producer/agent/manager/backer might Google you before deciding to attend your show. What will they find? With JMC, we offer a GUARENTEE of what they’ll find.

Great. I would like them to say I’m brilliant.

What our peer reviewers will do is provide HONEST COVERAGE about you and your show. Clear articles and interviews and honest reviews. We offer reviews not compliments.

I can do this all by myself, y’know.

Yup, you can, and do it well. Now ask yourself, what are you NOT doing while you’re pomoting you show? Maybe you’re not giving direction, performance, or writing the time it needs because you’re writing releases and making phone calls to places that we already know … AND KNOW US??

I’m broke.

This is the arts … we know that. JMC works on a SLIDING SCALE and can provide a campaign to fit your budget. Just ask. That part is free.

CALL FOR A FREE CONSULTATION: 347-497-4814

Well, I believe that my play/my film is something the New York Times will surely want to hear about because of its unique subject matter or the story behind its creation or the fact that we have an actor that was once in some thing that …

Great. Give them a call. Let us know how that goes for you. If they don’t pick up the phone, call us… we will.

I have 1, 6, 12 day-jobs and can’t get to a phone.

jmcommnet@gmail.com write us any hour. We’ll get back to you when YOU are available.