The Earthlight Plan – Earthlight Theater

February 15, 2020

Allan Mann, creator of the 1969-72 New Age stage revue company Earthlight (Earthlight. show), the one that saved the Woodstock Festival, has decided to revive the company for stage performances, video recording, Quick Bits for the internet, book, documentary film, song recordings and possible feature film. The book would be released prior to the stage opening and the documentary released the day after the opening so that it can be used as the end of the film. All three would cross promote each other.

As the world economy moves away from artificial reliance on non-renewable material production based on ‘planned obsolescence,’ and excessive military production, major causes of climate change, and increases its use of robotic production, we must move toward an economy based more on infinitely renew-able artistic production, the natural direction of human evolution. The Earthlight Revival Plan is an excellent opportunity to move human and capital resources in that direction and not only be a very pro-fitable venture [see attached “Revenue Projections” (p 8)] but also serve as a financing and marketing engine for other artistic business enterprises.

Earthlight is seeking working and/or investing partners. These do not have to be parties familiar with the entertainment business. This is an excellent opportunity for people in other lines of work or just out of school to get started in the entertainment business or for companies seeking to diversify as well as for existing media companies. To help build the consumer arts base of the future, at least 5% of net revenues will endow a fund to increase teaching and supply tickets & negotiate deals for grade and high school students to attend or view professional performances of dance, theater, music, art galleries, museums, etc.

This proposal not only includes financing for the total Plan but also for a limited private offering under the new SEC Regulation D, Rule 506(c), limited to $1 million but CAN BE ADVERTISED, unlike traditional SEC private offerings, to get things moving. We currently plan to offer 400 shares at $2,500/each and advertise in magazines & newsletters of all the colleges, theaters & churches we performed at, for a 7% commission (see p 7).

Excerpts from reviews of Earthlight shows:

“… nothing less than pure, essential theater – L.A. Times, Frederic Milstein

“… the kind of experience that is rare in any theater… It is the style of each individual piece that really makes the show. Some have a verbal brilliance that suggest what Pinter or Joyce might have done if they had been born in this country. – Harvard Crimson, George Sim Johnston

“a near-perfect balance of theatrical tightness and free-form expression … the audience … comes as close to enjoying a total theatrical experience as it is ever likely to get.” – Queens College Phoenix, Pat Henry

“… excellent modern theater entertainment … Its effect is strong and leaves one feeling…HOPEFUL. It’s something everyone should see.” –The Stute (Stevens Inst. Of Technology), Bernard A. Mallon

“This is a superb musical legit offering which is honest, simple and moving … It is excellent entertainment.” – Variety, Sege

“…pure contemporary adrenaline…witty, deeply satirical, …a captivating piece with a lot for the mind in it.” – Red Deer Advocate (Alberta, Canada), Don Towers

“this troupe … might well take the rock opera out of its rigid all-musical stages and add the dramatic element that is now lacking in the form. ‘Tommy’ and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ were fine starting points in the dark. Now let’s shed a little Earthlight on the matter.” – Cash Box, T. B.

“… ‘Earthlight’… is strictly on the beam …a corking good time … thoroughly enjoyable … musical sunburst and elastic warmth…” – NY Times, Howard Thompson

“After seeing their show several times now, I’m left with the same desire I felt after the first show – wanting each and every individual I know to see them. Their show is at once funny, serious, revealing and an artistic whole, and leaves me with a real, positive sense of human potential.

Kathy Patterson, Northwestern U. Symposium Speakers’ Committee

“… someone will eventually realize just how brilliant they are … magnificent simplicity …”

– The Hollywood Reporter, Tony Lawrence

“These are the best reviews I’ve ever seen for anything.” – Judi Davidson, noted L.A. theater publicist

WHERE EARTHLIGHT PERFORMED

The company was formed in February, 1969 at Treehouse II, NYC.

April-Aug., 1969: Earthlight Theater (5 performances/wk), White Lake, N.Y.

July, 1969: Grossinger’s Hotel

Aug. 15-17, 1969: Woodstock Festival, White Lake, NY

Sept., 1969: Open Theatre, NYC.

Oct.-Nov., 1969:
Radio City Music Hall West (Fri. & Sat. nights),Hollywood; Climax Discotheque (Thurs. nights), Hollywood; Meredith Experimental Theatre, Hollywood; Bullock’s Christmas Party, L.A.

Dec., 1969-Dec., 1970:
Earthlight Theater, Venice, CA (6 performances/wk)
Clubs: The Fig, The Brass Ring, The Ash Grove, The Beach House, etc.
Events: Earthmother’s Wedding, L. A. County Youth Day; Renaissance Pleasure Faire, various charitable events, etc.

Jan., 1970:
Northwestern University,
Evanston, IL

April, 1970:
Earth Day, Union Sq, NYC;
Northwestern Univ.,
Rutgers Univ., New
Brunswick, NJ
Wabash College,
Crawfordsville, IN

Sept.-Nov., 1970:
Augustana College, Rock
Island, IL
Fairleigh Dickinson Univ.
Rutherford, NJ;
Notre Dame U., Notre Dame, IN;
Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO

Nov., 1970:
Gracie Sq. Theatre, NYC (10 performances)

Dec., 1970: Queens College, NYC

Dec., 25, 1970-March 21,1971:
The Garrick Theatre, NYC (7 performances/wk)

April-June, 1971:
Chaffey College, Alta Loma, CA;
Fitchburg College, Fitchburg, MA;
Portland State, OR;
Project Artaud, San Francisco (6 performances)
San Jose State, San Jose, CA
UCLA;

UC Berkeley;
Washington St. Univ., Pullman, WA
Western Washington Univ., Bellingham, WA

Sept., 1971: Red Deer College, Alberta, Canada

Oct.-Nov., 1971:
Charles Playhouse, Boston (7 performances/wk)

Nov., 1971: Queens College, NYC

Feb., 1972: Unity Center Theater, NYC (7 performances)

March, 1972:
Colorado St. Univ. Ft. Collins, CO:
Univ. of Arizona, Tempe, AZ

EARTHLIGHT PAST REVENUES

YEAR/VENUE	SEATS/ SHOWS	PRICE	SHOWS PER WEEK	WEEKS	TOTALS	YEARLY TOTALS	2021 EQUIVALENT
1969 (6 mos.) Earthlight Summer Theater, White Lake, NY	80	$3	4	15	$3,600	0	25,200
hotels & camps	3	200			600	0	4,200
Woodstock Festival		1,000			1,000	0	7,000
Radio City Music Hall West	49	5	2	10	4,900	0	34,200
Climax Discotheque		100	1	10	1,000	0	7,000
Sub Total					7,500	11,100	$77,700
1970 Earthlight Theater, Venice,CA	80	2	4	30	19,200	0	134,400
Tours	10	2,000			20,000	0	140,000
Gracie Sq. Theater, NYC	200	4	7	2	11,200	0	78,400
Sub Total					50,400	50,400	352,800
1971 Garrick Theater, NYC	190	5	7	17	113,050	0	791,350
Tours	12	2,000			24,000	0	168,000
Project Artaud, S.F.	300	2	3	2	3,600	0	25,200
Charles Playhouse, Boston	400	5	7	5	70,000	0	490,000
Sub Total					189,050	189,050	1,323,350
1972 (2 mos.) Tour	2	2,000			4,000	0	28,000
Unity Center Theatre, NYC	300	2.50	7	1	5,250	0	36,750
Sub Total					9,250	9,250	64,750
Grand Total						259,800	1,818,600

SEC Regulation D rule 506(c) Budget for the “EARTHLIGHT PLAN”

12/23/20

PRODUCER		2,500/wk	16 wks	40,000
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER				20,000
WRITER/DIRECTOR				50,000
MUSIC DIRECTOR				20,000
CASTING DIRECTOR				12,000
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER		1,300/wk	16 wks	20,800
PRODUCTION MGR.		2,200/wk	10 wks	22,000
PERFORMERS	12	250/day	3	9,000
PERFORMERS	8	1,000/wk	4 wks	32,000
MUSICIANS	4	1,000/wk	3 wks	12,000
THEATER		20,000/wk	4 wks	80,000
MARKETING DIRECTOR		2,200/wk	8 wks	17,600
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIST		1,600/wk	8 wks	9,200
RESEARCHER		1,400/wk	6 wks	8,400
ASSISTANT RESEARCHER		1,000/wk	6 wks	6,000
SOUND EDITOR		2,200/wk	4 wks	8,800
VIDEO EDITOR		2,200/wk	7 wks	15,400
ASSISTANT EDITOR		1,200/wk	10 wks	12,000
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT		1,000/wk	16 wks	16,000
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT	2	900/wk	12 wks	10,800
ATTORNEY		450/hr	60	27,000
ACCOUNTANT		250/hr	30	7,500
TECHNICAL COSTS (video, sound, etc.)				70,000
OFFICE/REHEARSAL SPACE		4,000/mo	4 mos	16,000
OFFICE EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES & UTILITIES		1,200/mo	4 mos	4,800
ADVERTISING & PROMOTION				100,000
DISTRIBUTION				76,000
BOOK WRITER				15,000
SCREEN WRITER				15,000
TAXES/BENEFITS/INSURANCE/ETC.				40,000
FINANCING COSTS				15,000
MISCELLANEOUS				40,000
SUBTOTAL:				848,300
CONTINGENCY		10%		84,830
SUBTOTAL:				933,310
COMMISSION		7%		65,319
TOTAL:				$998,629

“EARTHLIGHT REVIVAL” SEC Regulation D rule 506(c) offering Worldwide Gross Revenue Projections *

The following Projections are based on:

“Tommy” and ”Jesus Christ Superstar” were fine starting points in the dark. Now let’s shed a little Earthlight on the matter.” – CashBox (trade magazine); “One of these post-“Hair” rock shows should be entitled to make it. “Earthlight” is a decent entry.” – ABC News

& other favorable comparisons to these shows.

3 yrs 10 yrs

PRODUCT	HIGH	LOW	HIGH	LOW
Stage Productions	$3,000,000	$500,000	$5,000,000	$1,000,000
Animation or Video Recording & “Quick Bits” for the internet	3,000,000	1,000,000	5,000,000	1,500,000
Book	15,000,000	800,000	18,000,000	1,000,000
Feature Documentary	25,000,000	1,500,000	35,000,000	2,500,000
Music Recordings	25,000,000	800,000	35,000,000	1,500,000
Ancillary Rights **	10,000,000	800,000	12,000,000	1,500,000
TOTALS	$81,000,000	5,400,000	110,000,000	9,000,000

* gross revenues to producers & investors would probably be about 70% of these estimates, after costs & fees to distributors, theaters, talent, agents, etc.

** Ancillary Rights: merchandising, use of music in commercials, publication of the script, etc.

Development Budget for the “EARTHLIGHT REVIVAL PLAN”

8/3/2019

PRODUCER		2,500/wk	18 wks	45,000
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER				10,000
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER		900/wk	20 wks	18,000
ALLAN MANN				25,000
PRODUCTION MGR.		2,000/wk	14 wks	28,000
RESEARCHERS	2	$900/wk	6 wks	$10,800
MUSIC DIRECTOR				10,000
AUDIO EDITOR`		2,000/wk	3 wks	4,000
VIDEO EDITOR		2,000/wk	4 wks	8,000
ATTORNEY		400/hr	50	20,000
ACCOUNTANT		250/hr	30	7,500
TECHNICAL COSTS				25,000
OFFICE/REHEARSAL SPACE		4,000/mo	4 mos	20,000
OFFICE EXPENSES		1,000/mo	4 mos	4,000
CASTING DIRECTOR				7,500
PERFORMERS	12	900/wk	1	10,800
PERFORMERS	8	900/wk	3 wks	21,600
MUSICIANS	3	900/wk	2 wks	5,400
PR FIRM				10,000
BOOK WRITER				7,500
SCREEN WRITER				7,500
TAXES/BENEFITS/INSURANCE/ETC.				15,000
FINANCING COSTS				20,000
SUBTOTAL:				340,600
CONTINGENCY		10%		34,600
SALES COMMISSION		8%		27,200
TOTAL:				$402,400

“EARTHLIGHT REVIVAL” Total Funding Needs

PRODUCT	HIGH	LOW
Development	$402,400	402,400
1^st Class* Stage Production	2,000,000	700,000
Video Recording & “Quick Bits” for the internet	900,000	250,000
Documentary	1,500,000	400,000
Book	300,000	150,000
Feature	30,000,000	8,000,000
TOTALS	$35,102,400	9,902,400

“EARTHLIGHT REVIVAL PLAN” Worldwide Gross*

Revenue Projections

The following Projections are based on:

& other favorable comparisons to these shows.

3 yrs 10 yrs

PRODUCT	HIGH	LOW	HIGH	LOW
Stage Productions	$ 40,000,000	2,000,000	200,000,000	3,000,000
Video Recording & “Quick Bits” for the internet	18,000,000	1,100,000	25,000,000	1,300,000
Book	20,000,000	900,000	30,000,000	1,200,000
Documentary	30,000,000	2,000,000	45,000,000	2,800,000
Feature	120,000,000	16,000,000	150,000,000	18,000,000
Music Recordings	35,000,000	1,100,000	40,000,000	1,200,000
Ancillary Rights **	40,000,000	1,600,000	50,000,000	2,000,000
TOTALS	$303,000,000	24,700,000	540,000,000	29,500,000

* gross revenues to producers & investors would probably be about 70% of these estimates, after costs & fees to distributors, theaters, talent, agents, etc.

** Ancillary Rights: merchandising, use of music in commercials, publication of the script, etc.

HELP NEEDED

RESEARCHERS:

1. Hunt down material on Earthlight from the places Earthlight performed to secure materials we do not have, i.e. photos, 8 & 16 mm film, B&W video of performances in theaters & parks; reviews, articles, etc., and explore interest in booking the Earthlight Revival.

2. Find worldwide revenues of comparable products (i.e. Hair, Tommie, Jesus Christ Superstar) from TV, DVD, internet, stage performances, movie theaters, recordings, etc.

3. Find costs for theaters in Southern California and/or NY.

4. Contact former Earthlighters to get their stories, memorabilia, etc. for use in the book and documentary & see if they would like to become involved in some manner.

5. Gather information on prospective producers, agents, etc.

6. Contact the people who wrote those glowing reviews, letters and articles about Earthlight to see if they would like to help this revival in some way.

7. Assist the Producer in finding writers for the book & screenplay

SOUND EDITOR/MIXER:

1. “Sweeten” and edit the various audio and audio and video recordings of Earthlight shows to use for promotional purposes, the documentary and presentations to music companies.

2. Record & sweeten sound for new video recording & feature documentary.

VIDEO EDITOR:

1. Edit the existing B&W Earthlight recordings for promotional purposes and the documentary.

2. Edit new video recording into a show that can be licensed to TV/Internet & sold directly.

3. “Quick Bits:” edit individual pieces to license to purveyors of short entertainment pieces on the internet & as promotion for the various long form products.

PRODUCTION MANAGER:

1. Research theaters and prepare budgets for possible stage openings in Southern California., NY and other venues

2. Prepare budgets for book, documentary film & possibly feature film.

3. Rent suitable space for Earthlight office and rehearsals.

4. Research and interview the various craft people for stage and film production.

PRODUCER, hired or partnered to oversee all aspects of the revival including:

2. Negotiating deals with agents,

3. Prepare list of possible venues for the revival opening & related costs.

4. Explore coproduction and distribution possibilities, including music companies.

5. Work with attorney & agent on possible deal with WB.

7. Work with PR firm.

8. Supervise preparation of detailed budgets for stage revival, tour, book & documentary film.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Liaison between financing & producing parties. Can be business person interested in learning the entertainment business.

CASTING DIRECTOR: Place casting notices, organize & supervise the casting process, coordinate with agents & managers, deal with actors for certain things instead of director or producers.

MUSIC DIRECTOR: have lead sheets and arrangements mad, hire musicians and participate in selecting cast, making sure there are at least 2 great singers, supervise audio editor.

PR FIRM: Need to figure out the best way to represent Earthlight to its mostly new audience.

WRITERS: Writers will be selected & given an advance to begin work on the book & screenplay.

Earthlight History

Earthlight, a New Age stage revue company, was founded in January, 1968 by Allan Mann & Jane Richardson in a storefront in Little Italy. To devote full time to their innovative work they moved to White Lake NY in April to build a theater in a double barn, & put on a summer stock season of The Balcony, Camino Real, Alice Tripping in Wonderland, The American Dream & The Beard, while con-tinuing to work on developing their own original theater pieces. In July, they arranged for the Woodstock Festival to relocate to White Lake, were hired to create theater pieces for the Festival & invited Swami Satchidananda to do the benediction.

In September, Earthlight showcased their first original show at the Open Theater in NY for one night & were picked up for college touring by the Walker Agency. To avoid having to do other jobs, the company to L.A. where the cost of living was much less. They performed late shows at Radio City Musical West & Climax discotheque in Hollywood &, thanks to a rave review in the Hollywood Reporter, were able to open their own theater in Venice in November. In December they did their first college date at Northwestern which led to a cross country tour in April. That summer they incorporated the band Pure Love & Pleasure. On the fall they played 2 weeks at the Gracie Sq. Theater in NY which led to an offer to open at the Garrick in December. The show ran for 5 months & the group went back on tour in the spring of 1970.

Since the original group had broken up (see “Personal History” at (Earthlight.show) Allan & Jane decided to try Berkeley & teamed up with composer David B. Cohen to create a mostly new show, casting local per-formers to go on tour that fall. At the same time Allan went back to NY to cast a second company which played at The Charles Playhouse in Boston for a month. After splitting up with Jane (see “History”) Allan teamed up with composer Joel Mofsenson to create a mostly new show to play the Unity Center Theater in NY for 2 wks and do one last tour in March of 1972.