Here's two of them I have a response to:
It's my firm opinion that Festival Glut is not actually our problem--it's the combination of the showcase code and the large amount of work produced (regardless of "Festival" or non-festival) that creates the problem. As in, the work in-and-of-itself wouldn't be a problem, so long as the time wasn't artificially squeezed.(1) Since it's mentioned above: Festival Glut
(5) The current showcase code makes remounting and/or extending shows very difficult
See, in the absence of a showcase code, suppose 200 shows go up at a Festival. Most of them will be crap. Reviewers will spot a few good ones, and they'll say "HEY EVERYBODY GO SEE _______" And then people will flock to ______ and _____ will extend, move into higher-visibility places, and maybe go on to bigger and brighter things.
From my perspective, however, multiple times I've just gotten word of THIS GREAT SHOW AT FRINGE... the Sunday it closes. I've seen a lot of posts that go, "Man, I wish everyone had seen ______ but its closing now."
That's why we feel overwhelmed by festivals: if we don't see the good shows in that narrow window of hundreds of shows, they're gone... and they're gone for good. If we could extend shows easily, then the good shows would live on past festivals, and we'd get the chance to see the good ones. The bad-to-mediocre ones would come, the committed festival-enthusiasts would see it, and then it'd be gone.
So yeah, festival glut isn't the problem.
Add to the Solutions List:
- Showcase Code - Create an easier and fairer showcase code to let independent theaters reap the successes of popular showcase codes without having a gigantic step up in costs.
