Touring is a great way to extend the life of your production and reach new audiences. There are many opportunities for touring, but some are quite complex and those new to the game can be put off by some of the jargon and acronyms.
Funded Touring
Most funded touring mechanisms throughout Australia are along the lines of the ‘presenter-driven model'. This means that presenters will generally call the shots when it comes to choosing what productions will tour. The upside for producers, however, is that in this model, the presenters generally pay a fixed ‘sell-off fee' and take all the box office risk.
Victorian Touring
A lot of Victorian regional touring is initiated by Showcase Victoria, an event produced annually in partnership with VAPAC.
RAV supports Victorian-based producers and Tasmanian producers (in the case of national touring) who have productions ready to tour or works in development with potential to tour. RAV works to broker relationships between producers and presenters that lead to tours nationally and to regional Victoria.
National Touring
AAV is involved in national touring through the Blue Heeler Network, a network of tour coordinators throughout Australia which develops and delivers national tours. The national tours AAV coordinates are initiated by Longpaddock, an annual event for producers and presenters nation-wide.
RAV and Tour Development
Both Showcase Victoria and Longpaddock result in a strong indication of presenter interest which then leads to a shortlist of productions that then go into tour development. Arts Victoria (Victorian tours) and Playing Australia (national tours) funding applications are submitted to apply for funding that covers the touring costs of the tour.
RAV and Tour Coordination
If funding is approved, RAV draws up a contract with the producer and individual contracts with each of the presenters involved.
Preparation for Touring
Assuming you have a production ready to tour, the key information you need in order to start discussions with presenters and tour coordinators falls under the headings of show information, budget information, technical specifications and marketing materials.
Image: Josh Earl vs Australian Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake Book touring Vcitoria in 2012
