Box Office Commissions: Commissions the Presenter may be entitled to receive out of the Gross Box Office Receipts (GBOR) to cover their internal ticketing commissions.
Direct Company Charges: Charges that are paid for 100% by the Show during an engagement. Some examples could be studio space rental at the presenting theater, Daywork, Telephone and Internet use, Lag bolts, etc.
Facility/Restoration Fee: A fee that is part of the ticket price, which the Presenter puts towards the upkeep of the venue. A facility fee may be inside the ticket price, or on top of the ticket price.
Fixed Expenses: A fixed amount of money required by the Presenter to cover internal expenses during the run of an engagement. Fixed Presenter “Packages” typically include, but are not limited to, box office running, venue rent, venue cleaning, administrative costs, local licenses and permits, Presenter’s League dues, ticket printing, show program up to a certain number of pages, utilities, etc. The Presenter is not required to show any receipts to the Producer for fixed expenses.
Four-Wall: A deal in which the Producer is essentially renting the theater from the Presenter. In a “four-wall deal,” Presenters typically receive their Fixed Expenses, ticket commissions, and possibly a very small percent of any overage. The Producer assumes all the risk in a four-wall deal.
Full Week: Typically a standard eight show week with a dark Monday.
GBOR (GWBOR): Gross (Weekly) Box Office Receipts. Gross revenue before deducting taxes, fees and commissions.
Gross Potential: The maximum amount an engagement can possibly earn based on calculations involving ticket prices, seating capacity, and the number of performances.
Guarantee: A deal in which the Presenter pays the Producer a guaranteed, fixed amount of money for an engagement, plus a percentage of the NAGBOR, sometimes called a royalty, or more commonly referred to in recent years as a “variable guarantee.” A “guarantee deal” also typically includes local documented expenses and fixed expenses, and Presenters usually receive a percentage of the overage. The Presenter assumes all the risk on a guarantee deal.
Local Documented Expenses: All local expenses related to the presentation of the engagement. Local Variable Expenses can typically include, but are not limited to, stagehands for load in/out and performances, wardrobe, equipment rental, insurance, ADA, advertising and local musicians. Presenters need to be able to provide receipts and back-up to the Producer for any costs incurred that fall under documented expenses.
NAGBOR (NAGWBOR): Net Adjusted (Weekly) Box Office Receipts. The net gross after any taxes, facility fees and commissions.
One Nighter: A one night engagement. Typically tours that play smaller markets will be made up in large part of one-night engagements.
Overage: The money that remains after all Presenter expenses, including producer payments (ie: guarantee, variable guarantee, etc) have been deducted from the NAGBOR.
Parri Pasu: A situation in a deal where middle monies owed to the Producer and Presenter are equally managed without any display of preference. For example, if a deal requires the Producer to defer his 10% Royalty and the Presenter to defer 10% of her fixed in order to cover documented expenses, each party will be fully reimbursed from the remaining monies. If the remaining monies do not cover the total amount of each party’s deferred monies, then both parties will be reimbursed equally out of whatever money remains in relation to the amount they each deferred, as opposed to one party being reimbursed more favorably than the other.
Settlement: The point at the conclusion of an engagement in a market when the Presenter and Company Manager reconcile all receipts and determine the engagement’s final profit or loss. The Presenter’s and Company Manager’s numbers must all match. If their settlements do not match, they must work to locate the errors or discrepancies until all final numbers are in sync.
Split Point: After all box office deductions are taken, and any guarantee, variable guarantee, and expenses are paid, this is the point at which there is overage that can be split between Producer and Presenter if there is any money remaining.
Split Week: A split-week engagement. A split week is usually four to five performances over a three-day period. The “front end” of a split week would most often be Tuesday-Thursday, and the “back end” of a split week would typically be Friday-Sunday.
Sub Load-in: The number of subscribers (”subs” colloquially) in a market. A healthy sub load-in is very appealing to Producers, as it guarantees there will be a certain amount of ticket sales since the show will be on season, and, therefore, part of a subscription package.
Tech Rider: A document that is part of all contracts describing in detail all the technical requirements of the show.
Terms: “Terms deals” are deals in which the Producer and Presenter share risk more equally. There is no Guarantee paid to the Producer. A common terms deal is “ads off the top,” meaning the money spent on advertising is deducted from the NAGBOR first, and then the Producer and Presenter will split the remaining money. How that split, or splits, is calculated varies from deal to deal.
Ticketing Commissions: Commissions that the Presenter must pay to credit card companies, group sales staff, internet companies, phone sales staff, etc for ticket sales.
Wraps/Daily Sales Report: A document showing how much a show “wrapped,” or, in other words, how much revenue was earned through ticket sales over the course of a day. Wraps give a continual overview as to how well a show is selling after going on sale by percentage and revenue in relation to its Gross Potential.
Yellow Card: A “Yellow card” show is a touring production that must use union labor. The required number of hands needed for each department on a unionized travelling show is listed on a Yellow card.
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