Production
Taking on the Producer’s Role:
Elevator Pitch
by Kerry Hishon
Written by Kerry Hishon
The following exercise gives students the opportunity to pitch their dream
show to the rest of the class. This is a great exercise to do with
students after you’ve polled your class. Now that they’ve identified which
shows they are interested in working on, they are going to take the next
step: discovering what it takes to get the ball rolling towards actually
producing a show.
This exercise combines students’ theatrical knowledge with a useful
technique taught in business class: SWOT analysis. SWOT stands
for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
A SWOT analysis is used to specify the objective of a business venture or
project, and to identify and evaluate different internal and external factors
(both positive and negative ones) to achieve the objective. In this exercise,
the objective of the project is to select the best possible show for your drama
class to produce.
Students will select partners and decide on a show that they wish to
produce. As a team, they will complete a SWOT analysis, identifying the
following aspects of their show:
Strengths: Characteristics of the show that give it an advantage over
other shows.
Weaknesses: Characteristics of the show that place it at a disadvantage
relative to other shows.
Opportunities: Elements in the environment (the class itself, the
school, the stage, etc.) that the class could exploit to its advantage to
produce the show.
Threats: Elements in the environment (the class itself, the school, the
stage, etc.) that could create obstacles for putting on the production.
Students will fill out the following table with answers to each section:
Helpful Harmful
(for achieving the (for achieving the
objective) objective)
Internal Factors
(attributes of the show itself) STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
External Factors
(attributes of the environment
– the class, school, stage, etc.) OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
The following ideas will help students get on the right track for identifying
ideas for their SWOT analysis. These are just a few concepts that producers
have to consider when selecting a show to produce!
Why do they like this show?
How big/small is the cast? (Do you have enough boys to do the show? If
not, can you cross-gender cast some roles?)
Is it a musical or a play?
Where would they stage the show? (Does the show have any scenic
limitations or challenges involved, like requiring a fly gallery or a
trapdoor?)
What costs are involved in producing the show? (Think about things like
rights and royalties, hiring staff, budget for props and costumes, etc.)
How would this show challenge the actors and backstage crew?
What is the students’ vision for the show? (For example, do they want to
do a show with a huge ensemble wearing period costumes, or a stripped-
down version wearing rehearsal blacks?)
How would they market the show to an audience?
Is the show currently available for schools to produce? (There go your
students’ dreams of producing Hamilton at your school, for the
foreseeable future…)
Once students have completed their SWOT analysis, they will work together
to create a short “elevator pitch.” They will present their SWOT analysis to
the class with the goal of convincing their classmates that their show should
be produced. Encourage students to emphasize the strengths and
opportunities of the show, and identify the weaknesses and threats. To go
further, students should try to come up with creative solutions to address the
weaknesses and threats–perhaps even turning them into strengths and
opportunities!
After each pair has presented their SWOT analysis to the class, they will
complete an individual reflection on the process and presentations. Who
knows what creative shows and solutions your students will come up with!
