- target business
- Fukushima Trilogy (adopted in FY 2017: 2 years)
- Speaker (Reporter)
- Kenichi TANI (Writer, director, translator, director of the theater company DULL-COLORED POP), Hiroshi ONOZUKA (produced by the Fukushima trilogy)
Part I Report
The series depicts the history of Fukushima and the nuclear power plant through the stories of three generations and three families over a period of 2 years, attracting a total audience of 10,000 people. In addition, his plays won the Kishida Kunio Drama Prize and the Tsuruya Nanboku Drama Prize (the second part, "1986: The Ring of Mobius"). The Fukushima Trilogy by the theater troupe DULL-COLLORED POP was undoubtedly the news of the Japanese theater world in 2019. How did this challenging project start and reach this ideal success? In this briefing session, the backstage of creation and production was clarified from the viewpoint of "funding."
It started on March 11, 2011.
The first date on the handout describing the progress of the project was March 11, 2011. DULL-COLLORED POP producer and director Tani Kenichi was born in Fukushima and has a deep connection to nuclear power. "I was born and raised in Fukushima Prefecture, and my father was a nuclear engineer who also went to and from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. In that sense, the date on this print might be May 11, 1980, the day I was born. It was only after the JOC accident when I was a high school student that I became aware of the relationship between myself and nuclear power plants. After that, I personally researched nuclear power plant issues, but I had never spoken out or communicated about them. Then, in March 2011, a major accident occurred. I felt a sense of crisis and fear that my hometown would become a place where no one could enter. Since then, I have always wanted to express something about Fukushima and the nuclear power plant."
It was in 2016 that these thoughts became the impetus to start a concrete project. He was selected as a junior fellow of the Saison Cultural Foundation and had an idea of how much money he would need to cover the story. "There are restrictions on the use of ordinary grants, such as the project must be completed within the fiscal year or it can only be used to cover the deficit, but Saison's grant does not have such restrictions. When I told them that I would like to take time to work on Fukushima, and that it might take one or two years ...... three years, they said that they would like us to use it for such things." Since it coincided with the time when the troupe was going to be on hiatus, I began my preliminary research that summer, and in December I conducted the first interview for three weeks. They will visit the prefecture by bicycle and meet people involved in the project. Although neither the framework of the performance nor the production system was fixed, the outline of the vision of the work, "take a few years" was clear. "There is no point in making plays that say nuclear power is scary and that radiation is dangerous. Everyone already knows that, and that's not the essence. The question is why local governments have allowed such a dangerous thing to exist and why residents have accepted it. I thought that the true darkness could not be depicted unless I wrote about the process of political and economic inclusion.I myself went to school after my father bought me a school bag with the money he received from the nuclear power plant. However, in that case, we would have to at least start talking about the period in the 1960s, when nuclear power plants were invited, and then draw up the history of the Chernobyl accident in the 1980s and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in 2011. I knew at this point that this was going to be a fairly long trilogy. "
From "support" to "co-creation". Start of crowdfunding
In May of the following year, he decided to set the story in Futaba and visited the town for the second time. Around this time, it was decided that Onozuka Hiroshi, who was involved in the production, would participate, and a crowdfunding campaign was launched to realize the performance. Onozuka, who also works as a producer for the garden theater troupe Penino, was also involved in the production of "Theatre de Annard," a project in which Tani teamed up with Masayuki Nomura of Drama Turku. "I also belong to the production company, Gouch Brothers, and among the company's future projects, there was only one title, Fukushima Trilogy. The creative process at the Théâtre de Anard was very interesting, and when I raised my hand to see if there was something meaningful about Fukushima, the president said "FIRST, IF YOU GO TO SEE TANI-KUN..."" said Onozuka. It was a big step forward that a one-man project became a two-man team. "It was the time when the production of the theater group had disappeared, and there was no theater that would raise their hand. That's why Onozuka-san, who I know very well about her abilities and her work, told me that she wanted to do it, so I thought I could do it in the theater company." Tani said.
The crowdfunding campaign raised 1,975,000 yen against the goal of 1.5 million yen. Of course, the money was enough to make the performance a reality, but more than anything, Tani recalls, "I was encouraged" by the large number of people who supported the project, which was started by the two of them alone. "Actually, I don't really like crowdfunding. I think that theater people should make a living with Kidosen. However, with regard to this trilogy, I was able to move forward with confidence because it has social significance and I had a vision of moving forward with the people who support it. Onozuka-san joined us and organized the crowdfunding, but at that point, we were the only two people in the world who wanted to do the Fukushima trilogy. As soon as we started recruiting, many people said they wanted to support us. Six or seven years have passed since the disaster, and I felt that people might have forgotten about Fukushima, so I was very encouraged by the fact that people were taking such an interest in Fukushima."
Crowdfunding sites that still exist on the Internet have the concept of "moving from 'support' to 'participation,' 'experience,' and 'co-creation.'". Along with credits in publicity materials and DVDs (not for sale), returns include sharing the creative process through e-mail newsletters, pre-events, and training tours, such as reporting on interviews and disclosing plans. Showing backers the gradual materialization of an idea would have been a guide for creators to confirm their response and direction from time to time.
To the opening of the first part. Incorporation and Theater Company Power
In parallel with crowdfunding, we also proceeded with fundraising using public grants, such as applying for Arts Council Tokyo grants (single year/not adopted) and applying for grants to the Arts and Culture Promotion Fund (1.54 million yen). In November 2017, he established DULL-COLORED POP LLC. This decision was made not only to make contracts and payments smoother, but also based on the disadvantages of not being able to apply for subsidies as a voluntary organization and being deducted from withholding tax at the time of contract. "Our theater company had not been very active in applying for grants until then, so we postponed the incorporation. However, when it was decided that we would do a trilogy and it was said that we could perform in Fukushima, there would be problems with the contract with the theater if it was a voluntary organization. It's quite difficult, but I've already decided to do this as a company."
The year 2018 has arrived. In May, prior to the first performance, a long-term grant of Arts Council Tokyo (4.8 million yen for two years) was also decided, and the project until the following year has been followed. The budget for the first part of "1961: The Sun Rises at Night," which opened at the Komaba Agora Theater in July, was about 8 million yen, including 500,000 yen of Arts Council Tokyo grants. "In the second year, it would cost more money, so in the first year, we kept the subsidy from the Arts Council as low as possible, and the troupe members collected costumes and Mr. Tani did the operations, and we were operating quite a bit more cutly." "When I want to cut my budget, I often do it at DULL-COLORED POP. The following year, I left everything to the operator for the trilogy consecutive performances, but at this time, I was taught how to do the sound, and I was able to hit the trigger in the booth and get the hang of it."
The first part of the premiere was mobilized for 20 stages and 1,972 people. Including the performance in Fukushima (Iwaki Arios), the attention was high, and the advance ticket was sold out. The audience also felt the heat, and drama reviews and interviews were published one after another. In addition, around the time of this performance, the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre was decided as the venue for the second and third parts of the following year's consecutive performances, which was news that brightened the future of the project.
However, there were also concerns and challenges because I experienced the first part. "In the first part, I was doing a lot of staff work to the theater company members, but it was still difficult to make ends meet, and I thought that if I had to do so much, I would have to manage it quite well." "Our theater company doesn't use much outsourced staff, because our policy is to shake what can be done to the theater company members and give out a lot of money. This time, the doll came out as a prop, but the troupe members also did part of the production work such as making the dolls. However, looking back now, I think it was good that I was working hard at that time to 'increase the number of galleries', but it took a lot of time and didn't go well because it was touched by non-professional people, and I think that was difficult."
Trilogy performed at once! Success including "miscalculation"
In November, after the first part of the performance, he applied for a grant from the Arts and Culture Promotion Fund as a "three-part performance in one fell swoop" and received a job offer of 4,571,000 yen. In addition, in addition to the previous performances in Tokyo and Fukushima, they also challenged crowdfunding to hold performances in Osaka, raising 1,041,000 yen against the target amount of 700,000 yen. However, in response to the success of the first part, the beginning of the one-time performance project, which should have been financially prepared, began with anxiety.
"When the second part ('1986: The Circle of Mobius') started in Iwaki on July 6, 2019, the ticket sales rate for the Tokyo performance from August was about 30%. Even when I entered the hut in Tokyo on August 5th, it was about 50%. We did a campaign on SNS, sold repeat tickets, and made various other ideas. The third part ("2011: Words I Want to Be Told") started on the 14th, and although reservations were gradually increasing, the seats in the back were still unsold."
The situation changed significantly after August 23, when the trilogy began to be performed consecutively. Reservations increased rapidly, and it was decided to increase the number of auxiliary seats and standing seats. Some people lined up for several hours in advance to get tickets on the day, and there was a series of information exchanges and impressions posted by spectators on social media. In the end, a total of 8,502 people were mobilized for the summer 2019 performances in Fukushima, Tokyo, and Osaka (the budget size is about 40 million yen). Combined with the first part of the previous year, more than 10,000 people came into contact with the "Fukushima Trilogy". Considering that the capacity of the Komaba Agora Theater, where the first part of the premiere was held, is less than 100 people, and that many small theaters have performances of a few days to a week, how large this number is.
In fact, in terms of funds, there was also a miscalculation at the end. Due to the increase in total revenue due to sales at the end of the period that exceeded expectations, the subsidy of Arts Council Tokyo, which should have left 4.3 million yen, ended up being 2,355,555 yen. As a result, the theater company refunded 844,445 yen to Arts Council Tokyo of the 3.2 million yen (estimated payment) that it had received as theater expenses in advance.
"The subsidy for Arts Council Tokyo is only for the Tokyo performance, so we should have divided the budget with the local area proportionally, but I put everything on Tokyo, and as a result, I received an approximate payment in the budget with a lot of expenditure. Also, depending on the degree of progress of the creation, the cost of the cast and staff will change, but the change process was not going well. Changes can be made up to the day before the first day, so I think it was necessary to frequently grasp the cost and revise the budget even during the busy period before entering the hut. It was also necessary not to be too bearish in relation to ticket sales. Ideally, at the time of one month in advance, it is ideal to create a budget that is close to reality while assuming all possibilities. Also, as a theater company, it is not good if one performance is in the black, but I also felt that we have to think about the balance of income and expenditure as a whole."
The Fukushima Trilogy brought together the power of the theater company and production in addition to his strong motivation and writing skills, and became a representative work of Tani and DULL-COLLORED POP. Of course, the theme of this report, "fundraising," was the foundation for this, but when we look back, we can see the relationship between creation and funding, not just a steady accumulation of money. Funds to freely nurture ideas without being bound by schedules (Saison Cultural Foundation), crowdfunding as a place to share the creative process that goes beyond "supporting/being supported", and funds to cover the costs of preparing and implementing more specific performances (Arts Council Tokyo, Arts and Culture Promotion Fund), each with different meanings and sometimes limited support, How do you capture and combine funds to drive creation? The behind-the-scenes efforts of the "Fukushima Trilogy" will be of great reference to artists, companies, and producers who will take on new creations in the future.
(Reporting and composition by Rieko Suzuki)
> Continued from the 9th "Fukushima Trilogy and Fundraising" (Part II)
Project Description: https://www.artscouncil-tokyo.jp/grants/program/16445/