Britney Spears Play "Saving Britney" In Need of Funding

[DavidShopland]

My name is David Shopland, I'm an award winning theatremaker from the UK. I have written, directed and produced a 5 star, award nominated one woman show starring the phenomenally talented Shereen Roushbaiani called 'Saving Britney'; inspired by the #FreeBritney movement.

I first learned about the movement around 18 months ago thanks to BreatheHeavy, as there was little coverage in the UK at the time. I was instantly both fascinated and disgusted at the conservatorship situation and how Britney has been treated over the years. So much so, I was inspired to write 'Saving Britney' as a way of publicising the movement here in the UK through a theatrical production. The show itself focuses on a fan of Britney Spears (played by Roushbaiani, a real life Britney Spears superfan!) as she goes through her own life and explains how Britney's music had helped her through difficult times, as well as going into the controversies surrounding the conservatorship battle. 

I wrote the play itself assisted by interviews and discussions I'd had online with #FreeBritney activists, as I was very passionate about ensuring the play did not come across as exploiting Britney or the situation, and we've been conscious of always using our platform and the show to promote the movement.

We recently completed a month-long run at one of London's biggest Off West End venues, the Old Red Lion Theatre, where we re-opened the venue after 425 days of Lockdown. We sold out the run, garnered multiple 4 and 5 star reviews and were nominated for 2 'Offie' awards, which is one of the biggest awards you can get in UK Theatre.

We are now planning a UK Tour in early 2022, with a view to hopefully bringing the production to Los Angeles for the Hollywood Fringe Festival in July 2022, depending on international travel restrictions by that point. I'm currently in the process of securing funding for the production, which is why I thought I would get in touch to see if anyone on here might be able point me in the right direction. I am applying for theatre funding from various bodies here in the UK, but I was wondering if anyone knew of any companies or organisations stateside that have been vocally supportive of the #FreeBritney movement that might be interested or able to invest in our production or offer sponsorship? 

Our overall budget we're trying to raise would work out to around $15,000 in US dollars, which is actually relatively low for a UK Theatre tour, but we've managed to keep our overheads low in order to give us the best chance of raising all the money we need. 

We're really passionate about spreading the #FreeBritney word out to all parts of the UK with this upcoming tour, and I would be incredibly grateful for any help or assistance anyone might be able to give with potential financing avenues we could explore.

For more information on the production, please check out: www.savingbritney.com

Many thanks in advance for all of your time.
 

 

[Jordan Miller]

Featured onto the homepage for ya @DavidShopland. Wishing you a lot of luck and success with this! 

[bas che]

Whoa this has been in the works for over a year? How come it only saw the light just now?  Not to sounds negative but if this is as acclaimed as the post says then how come it has been low number of likes and engagement on social media? 

[kneetap]

Hey! Probably no use at all and I can't currently help fund - however, if you need an unpaid intern to assist in anyway (outside of my current 9-5 ofc) please drop me a message I'd happily help out :-) 

[DavidShopland]

10 hours ago, bas che said:

Whoa this has been in the works for over a year? How come it only saw the light just now?  Not to sounds negative but if this is as acclaimed as the post says then how come it has been low number of likes and engagement on social media? 

Hi Bas Che, you're absolutely right. Unfortunately social media isn't one of my strongest points as a producer (probably as I'm in my mid 30s and a lot of it has been hard to keep up with!) and we marketed the show through more traditional methods (online and in-print advertising, physical posters and flyers etc) but we've been trying over the last few months to engage more on our social media channels, but my theatre company is just me and I have several other jobs so it's been quite tricky unfortunately! However despite that we managed to sell out almost all of the performances in our London run and as mentioned have got multiple 5 star reviews and a couple of theatre award nominations, so there's definitely an appetite for the show out there I think.

In terms of it taking a year, I'm not sure how much you already know about how uk theatre works so apologies if I'm teaching you to suck eggs here, but generally most venues will programme their shows around 18 months in advance, so the pre production on theatre is a pretty lengthy process. I was also really conscious of wanting the show to be as respectful as possible to the movement and to Britney herself, so I wanted to take a lot of time in re writing and re devising the show with input from Free Britney advocates etc. not to mention the UK was under a total lockdown for most of 2020 due to the pandemic.

Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to reach out and hopefully you'll get to see the show one day!

[bas che]

2 hours ago, DavidShopland said:

Hi Bas Che, you're absolutely right. Unfortunately social media isn't one of my strongest points as a producer (probably as I'm in my mid 30s and a lot of it has been hard to keep up with!) and we marketed the show through more traditional methods (online and in-print advertising, physical posters and flyers etc) but we've been trying over the last few months to engage more on our social media channels, but my theatre company is just me and I have several other jobs so it's been quite tricky unfortunately! However despite that we managed to sell out almost all of the performances in our London run and as mentioned have got multiple 5 star reviews and a couple of theatre award nominations, so there's definitely an appetite for the show out there I think.

In terms of it taking a year, I'm not sure how much you already know about how uk theatre works so apologies if I'm teaching you to suck eggs here, but generally most venues will programme their shows around 18 months in advance, so the pre production on theatre is a pretty lengthy process. I was also really conscious of wanting the show to be as respectful as possible to the movement and to Britney herself, so I wanted to take a lot of time in re writing and re devising the show with input from Free Britney advocates etc. not to mention the UK was under a total lockdown for most of 2020 due to the pandemic.

Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to reach out and hopefully you'll get to see the show one day!

Thanks for the clarification. I’m no expert in theatre so maybe traditional marketing is the way to go. Always nice to see the passion towards the movement and I would gladly support however I can. Do you have a GoFundMe campaign? I think ask a little trailer / promo for the show goes a long way but I’m sure you have already thought about it.