Bringing a Broadcast

BROADCASTING AT THE COCKPIT

We have a variety of options for both ticketed and non-ticketed broadcasts. 

Ticketed (run via our box office)

The Cockpit has some basic models for ticketed broadcasts - these are open to combinations or discussions around your project's specifics

● On Demand

Broadcasting existing recordings of shows, where the recordings have been provided by external companies. We broadcast directly from our website, behind a paywall.
Eg: Ethereal Theatre Company’s Bog Roll Bandits’- three pre-recorded sit-com episodes, ticketed and broadcast on The Cockpit’s website. (recorded on zoom at the start of lockdown).

● Film & Broadcast​

Filming a production ‘as live’ at The Cockpit, which can then be broadcast the same evening, or at a later date. It's possible to mix in pre-recorded content too - it just gets more complicated/time consuming/expensive.
 Eg: Jazz in the Round - Pre-November 2020, recorded and vision-mixed ‘as live’ in The Cockpit auditorium, and broadcast the next evening. 

● Live Online Interactive

Using Zoom or other interactive platforms for readings, talks, discussions, classes and courses or as part of a live real-space event.
Eg: Theatre in the Pound & Journey To Nutopia - combinations of performances and discussions, broadcast live in a Zoom meeting.
 
● Watch Party
Using Zoom to play out pre-recorded content, followed by a discussion with the audience.
Eg: Tête à Tête Opera Festival - a series of opera's filmed live in the theatre with an audience by The Cockpit team, edited, and played out through Zoom followed by a discussion with the artists who created the work.

● Live Streaming (currently suspended until November)

Four-camera in-the-round live mix straight from the Cockpit auditorium. 
Eg: Jazz in the Round from November 2020 onwards

Any combination is possible - with or without live performance at The Cockpit or elsewhere. Our VOILA! European Theatre Festival in November contained three of these models.

If you want to bring something into the building, please have a quick look through our Covid-19 on-site guidelines.


Non Ticketed

We can also hosting third party broadcasts, on a non-ticketed basis, on our website and social media channels. This can include but is not limited to:

● Facebook Live/Premieres

These can be broadcasts and cross posts of live classes or shows, a pre recorded peice of work you want to share.
Eg: SK Shlomo's Homeskool Beat Box Adventures. A live series over a series of weeks. 

● Website hosting

Embedding pre-recorded work you want to share with out audience. 
Eg: Children's audio series The Quest by What's Coming Out Of The Box, and short theatrical film Indra & The Amrit by Haruman Tales
 

How do I make a broadcast enquiry?

For ticketed events, please email our Broadcast Producer, Tom via broadcastatthecockpit.org.uk​ 

For non-ticketed broadcasts, contact katatthecockpit.org.uk and she can talk through your options. There is no charge for these events. We are just keen to support artists creating at this tricky time. 

Read the rest of this page and then drop us a line. Please tell us:

● Who you are - please provide full contact info including phone number and email address.
● What the show is - provide any online links that help show what you have in mind
● Are you thinking of us helping you with ​Broadcast Only,​ ​Film and Broadcast​ or something ​Interactive Online​? If you don't know exactly what you want to do, that’s ok. Tell us what you think you might want to do.
● Scheduling information
○ When do you want to broadcast? What dates have you got in mind, approximately.
○ How many performances/broadcasts do you envisage at this stage?
○ Anticipated running time of each broadcast.
○ Interval or no interval (we advise a 5 min interval for audience for broadcasts)
● Technical needs
○ Will you need rehearsal space at The Cockpit? If so how long do you think you will be in rehearsals?
○ What support will you need? For example, will you have your own broadcast engineer (platform technical operator) and floor manager (stage manager) - or would you need us to help with this? 
○ Anticipated audience? This number will reflect the number of tickets we can put on sale, and affect which platform we use for the broadcast.
● The number of participants in the show/activity.
● Whether the broadcast involves people under the age of 18 as participants.
● If the broadcast is for adults or a family audience.

After an exchange of emails we’ll arrange a meeting with you (the Event Producer) and our Broadcast Producer (Tom).

  • When we've ​provisionally​ found the right dates for you, we ask you to email a schedule of all the dates and times required (we help with that).
  • Then we work out how much it will cost and get back to you.
  • Once we have agreed the price, we issue a ​Confirmation Email​.
  • You then upload details of you or your company and your event to our website.
  • Then we issue a digital ​contract​ to sign online,
  • Then you pay a deposit
  • Then we put the broadcast on sale - and start looking forward to getting it up and running with you.

How much does it cost?
We charge a negotiable mixture of up front fees and commision on sales (where we are selling the tickets).

Broadcast only
The lowest up front fee for setting up a single straightforward ticketed broadcast or bunch of broadcasts is about £85. The lowest ticket commission on sales in that case would be 15%. This covers all the visa/admin fees, admin costs, technical discussions and any promotion we undertake. There is no VAT to pay and there are no extras.
We can negotiate higher up front costs and a lower commission for those that prefer that (down to 6.5% of gross box-office which is what it costs us to sell the tickets.)

Filming and Broadcasting
As above but allow a minimum of £40 per hour with a minimum of four hours for filming/tech set up in addition to the broadcast costs. For larger productions requiring more tech input from us think in terms of £60 an hour.

Live Online Interactive & Watch Parties 
These often require hands on tech support throughout. Think in terms of £85 box-office set up/promotion/admin costs plus £20-40 an hour technician time depending on your needs plus 15% of gross box-office.
These prices are a guide only. Basically, the thing that costs is staff time. But we try to be helpful :-)

Does The Cockpit offer box-office splits? Does it buy shows in? Does it co-produce?
Yes we do all these things and more. There are many different ways of sharing costs, getting shows on and sharing proceeds and we do all of them. But the outline prices above reflect our costs and we always need to cover these one way or another. Box Office splits may be possible for returning hirers, once we've got to know you. Splits against a guarantee can help avoid big upfront costs and we often collaborate and produce work with our ever-growing constituency of known collaborators. If you have a project that's really ready to go with good marketing attached, talk to tomatthecockpit.org.uk (Tom).

Whatever the deal......
We run to contract and the show goes on no matter what. We expect the same from you. It’s your choice what to charge for tickets. We avoid hidden charges and contra charges. What you negotiate and agree in your contract is what you pay.
You need to make sure that you have secured the rights to use any copyrighted works such as plays and music. ​ ​ If you are coming in to film at The Cockpit you will also be responsible for your own insurance as you would be liable to any damage or injury caused by you or your company's actions.

What technical support do I get?
This varies according to what you want to do and what you need from us to help you do it. But technician time in the building (for example for those filming and broadcasting with us) is about £40 an hour. Otherwise, we don't usually charge just to talk to you. Unless you talk a real lot.
More information about our technical facilities can be found at here, if you have any technical or logistical questions about things which actually happen in the theatre talk to debatthecockpit.org.uk (Deb).

How does ticketing work?
Advance sales via The Cockpit. We will organise online sales via our website and live telephone advance sales and (if a live show is involved) coordinate these with door sales. We deduct 6.5% from all sales as a minimum. We can run offers, promos, two for one deals, earlybird sales and anything else to encourage people to buy your show. We also arrange daily sales reports emailed to you. All you need do is tell us what info you need and how often. You must agree any sales or ticket distribution elsewhere with us BEFORE you place any ticket. 
​

What about publicity?
Companies are expected to market their own broadcasts, but we energetically back up your efforts and help wherever we can. You tweet, we re-tweet. You FB, we FB. We will list your show on our website and send details out to listings publications and websites. We also publicise most professional, public shows via our email newsletter to around 20,000 subscribers. Inclusion is not guaranteed but If you want to check if your show would be included just ask. If we say it will be, it will be, we do need full info and sight of all marketing materials BEFORE we start telling people we are involved with your show.
Where in-venue promotion is appropriate, we'll display your approved posters and flyers around The Cockpit.
All posters and flyers need to be checked by our designer, Chris (chrisatthecockpit.org.uk), before going to print. He will provide logos, a footer and venue information, or do your design for you.
We can't print flyers, but we use and recommend ​alocalprinter.co.uk
We can have A3 colour photocopies of posters for around the venue printed up at around £1/copy.

All posters and Flyers must adhere to the following:

● All images and designs must be his-res and of a professional standard.
● All posters and flyers must contain our logo. This logo must not be mishapen or edited in anyway.
It must be used in its transparent form, must be displayed clearly with at least 3 cm surrounding space from any text and be on as plain a background as possible.
● All poster footers must be EITHER our standard footer which can be sent to you or added by Chris OR must contain all of the information that our standard footer contains. This includes.
● Cockpit address - Gateforth Street, London, NW8 8EH
● Box office contact number - 020 7258 2925
● Cockpit website - thecockpit.org.uk (home page address with no additional links or http// leads)
● Dates of the performance/broadcast(s)
● Time(s) of the performance/broadcast(s)
● Ticket prices.

 
For publicity for in-venue events, a map showing our location can be downloaded ​here (0.77Mb). Include it where you can. It can't hurt.

Soshul Meeja
In addition to print publicity we will also strive to promote your show via our social media channels, newsletters and press mailouts. For us to be able to do this with maximum effect we ask that companies do the following.

● Send all press releases and TEXT FREE images (Jpeg) to Kat at katatthecockpit.org.uk.  If you do not have a press release or would like some help creating one do get in touch with Kat as she has templates and guides that can help you.
● If you have a trailer, or video you want to use in your promotion, this needs to be sent as a URL not a file.
● Follow us on twitter and include us in your tweets. ​@cockpittheatre
● Like the Cockpit ​Facebook​ page and add us as a host of your event if you have one (Please note this is only possible if your event is created by a page rather than a person) Please contact katatthecockpit.org.uk (Kat) if you need more help doing this.
● Follow us on Instagram @Cockpittheatre
● Kat will also send you a copy of our marketing guide. This includes usual information about press, reviews, online content, trailers and more.

Posting a show on our website
You register for an account, we approve it and then you log in and submit your listing. We then check it through, make sure all contract details are sorted, configure the web sales, and publish it once you have signed your contract and paid the deposit.
Creating an account and uploading your show info is one of the first steps ​immediately after agreeing a deal with us. We use that info to draw up the contract.
To create an account, and to login, use the link at the foot of every page of this site. When uploading information please make sure you have the following:

● The name, address and full contact details for whoever is signing the contract with us, taking financial and legal responsibility and is in overall charge of your event.
● A title for the show/broadcast.
● A strapline (saying in one or two sentences what it is).
● Some blurb that explains your event in more detail and helps sell it to your intended audience.
● A production image that has NO logos or text of any kind. This image is for your shows page and our home page. Please be aware that the image that appears on the home page will be slightly cropped foreach page it appears on.
● Clear information about your show including a show title, a sub header and information about the show.
● Prices
● Times and Dates

We reserve the right to edit your uploaded information to ensure it is in keeping with the company policies.. These amendments are minor and rare.

What about a contract?
All shows and broadcasts at The Cockpit must be done under contract. It's a standard agreement with no hidden surprises and basically is your promise to us that you'll do the event and our promise to you that we'll help you do it.
We'll draw up the contract based on the details you upload to our site and your discussions with us. You’ll receive a digital copy via a contracting firm called SIGNABLE to sign online.
Once you’ve signed your contract and paid your deposit (we tell you how to do this) we publish the event and start selling tickets.

How do finances get settled up?
You will probably need to pay us a 30% deposit (it will detail this in the contract). If we are selling tickets for you we generally settle up after the end of the run. If we are not selling tickets for you then you will probably need to pay the full fee up front.

Ways to pay:
In person: Cash, card or cheque (payable to "CWC Enterprises Ltd")
Over the phone: By card on 020 7258 2925 (12-6, Mon-Sat)
Electronically: By PayPal or by BACS
By post: cheques payable to "CWC Enterprises Ltd"
We pay you any money we owe you up to 30 days in arrears (I.E. We'll settle up within a month of the last day of your show).
We usually take the rest of your hire fee out of your Box Office money (after 6.5% admin charge and/or any agreed split/commision) and either send you the rest or invoice you for the balance.
Akilah in our finance dept will handle settling up (financeatthecockpit.org.uk) so please let her know how you'd like to receive your money. By far the fastest way is Paypal so do let us know if you have an account. Note that the slowest method (for us) is actually BACS, and we can't pay in cash.

Easy aint it? Now all you need are broadcast Ideas and disruptive panache! x

For more information on how we are running the building in-line with current government guidelines, have a read through our COVID 19 Update