The reality of this business is that art and commerce co-exist like feuding sisters sharing a bedroom. The hope is that the two can reach a compromise that still preserves the family dynamic. Today, I learned that we have to double up one of the roles for the radio play. There are a few minor characters in the piece, and because we're dealing with voices rather than faces, the compromise isn't too much of a hardship.
However, I've been involved with other projects where commerce trumps the creativity, which in my experience always does more damage than good. I've also seen what happens when there is an excess of creativity when some parameters would have made for a better production. All in all, it's about finding a balance that works for everyone. They key is the artists have to view the economic decisions as opportunities to push their creativity. As for the business people, the best way they can serve a project is to give the bottom line and let the artists figure out where to make the cuts. Micro-managing is the death of any artistic venture.
Thankfully, in this case, we're lucky that the higher-ups have given the bottom line and let us figure out how to make the show work within the parameters. I much prefer having the control over what I have to trim away, because it gives me the chance to figure out if there's a better way to make the cut work.
Also, today, I had the chance to write a couple of throw-away pieces for interstitials in case we need something to change up the pace of the play. The tough part was figuring out how to work these interrruptions into the radio play without destroying the reality of the world. I opted to make the pieces live in a different world (ie. the broadcaster world rather than the world of the characters). I sent the interstitials to the producer. Hopefully, he goes for them.
