Producer Information

Fertile Ground primarily gives Producers access to broader marketing and a larger audience than is accessible to self-producers with a limited marketing budget. Our marketing strategy includes:

• Digital and printed ads in major local publications like Oregon Live, Willamette Week, The Mercury, and the Oregonian.
• Radio and television presence on OPB and KGW morning shows
• Social media posts for every individual project, as well as a broad social media campaign for the overall Festival.
• A physical postcard mailing
• Digital newsletters to an enthusiastic Fertile Ground audience
• Inclusion in a magazine-style Festival Guide including descriptions, dates, and times for every project. 
• A Producer Showcase event to pitch your show to members of the media and the public at large
• Festival presence and promotion in the lobby of local theatres leading up to the Festival

Plus

• Free use of the Festival ticketing system
• Free workshops in self-producing and individual marketing
• The opportunity to apply for one of our Fertile Ground Partner Venues
• A unique page on the Festival website
• Access to audit the PATA citywide auditions

Producers should regard participation in Fertile Ground as though they are independently producing a show, just with additional marketing support. A few key points to note:

• Producers are responsible for all costs associated with producing their show, including paying all artistic personnel, and for the rental of both rehearsal and performance space. 
• Producers are required to provide Fertile Ground with information and assets to promote their show, including promotional images and copy for use on the Festival website, in the Festival Guide, and on social media. Producers also set up their own ticketing page(s), with support from Fertile Ground as needed.
• Producers are expected to market their project! We let folks know about the Festival, but *you* let them know about your show. Shows that rely solely on the general Festival marketing to bring in audiences tend to be disappointed by their attendance. We offer a free Marketing Workshop in early January to provide you with plenty of guidance and resources. The rest is up to you!

Festival Passes come in 3 options: 5-Punch Pass, 10-Punch Pass, and Unlimited Pass. Each Pass allows the Pass-holder to secure a single free ticket to any performance sold through the Fertile Ground ticketing platform. 

Fertile Ground reimburses Producers 50% ofthe ticket price for every Pass-holder who reserves a free ticket AND attends. Fertile Ground will NOT reimburse unclaimed Pass-holder tickets – we can only reimburse for Pass-holders who were officially checked in using the Ludus system.

Life happens – we get it. If you withdraw from the Festival before January 19th (the final date of late registration) we’ll provide a full refund. If you withdraw between January 20th and February 13th, we will refund half of your registration fee. After February, we will not be able to offer a refund, as the Festival registration fee exists to cover the administrative costs of supporting each project, and removing a project from the lineup at a later date requires additional administrative time. It’s not a punishment – it’s just what we have to do to make sure our team gets paid for their work.