Graphic Design, Marketing, and Playbills - New Plays Festival

For The New Plays, Columbia provides a graphic designer for generation key imagery for the festival as a whole, and an email marketing campaign. Columbia does not provide graphic design for the creation of key art for individual shows in the festival.

The marketing calendar for the New Plays Festival can be found on the Festival Marketing Calendar tab of the 2025-26 New Plays Festival Dates and Deadline document.

The playbill for each theatre production is created in-house by the Theatre Admin Office, based on the information provided by the show.

The SOA Communications Office in collaboration with the Playwriting Faculty will create key art for the festival as a whole.

Is a production wishes to create key art for their specific show, the following guidelines should be followed:

  1. Refer to the SOA Style Guide, SOA Brand Guide, and make use of the School of the Arts Logo for any key art. Please use the logos marked as USE THESE FOR SHOW POSTERS.
  2. For posters, it is recommended to design them for 11"x17". This is mostly due to printing cost - the poster size is ultimately up to the production.
  3. For website and email banners: 1000 pixels wide x 500 pixels high with no dates or playwright/director names (minimal to no text on imagery, School of the Arts logo is not required).
  4. For the TV screens around campus: 1920 pixels wide x 1080 pixels high - all details including a QR code linking to the website.

Please send any artwork created for the show to Production Management for approval and so the SOA Communications can incorporate it into marketing emails and the website.

Each production will be given access to show-specific documents called Marketing Copy and Playbill Copy. The Company Manager, supported by the Producer and Director, will collect and submit all the information in these documents:

1. Marketing Copy Document
The basic marketing information will have the earliest due date, as it is used to generate the website and marketing emails. Basic Marketing Information Includes:

  • Title of the Show
  • Marketing Blurb
  • The Performance Schedule
  • Approximate Run Time
  • Cast
  • Creative Team and Crew
  • The bio for the director
  • Any requirements for billing, advertising, etc. that are part of the rights/licensing agreement

2. Playbill Information Document:
Due later than the Basic Marketing Information, the Playbill Information includes:

  • Bios for the Cast and Creative Teams
  • Headshots (both physical and digital) for the cast
  • Note(s) from the Director and/or Dramaturg(s)
  • Special Thanks

Once the SOA Communications Office receives the final key art and the Basic Marketing information, they will build the ticketing website for each show. Each production will have 2 eblasts go out to the Columbia Theatre Program’s internal email lists, which include industry invites, press releases, and the greater Columbia community. The Theatre Admin Office generates these emails, and the shows' producers will be involved in proofing them before they are distributed. The schedule for these emails is:

  1. When tickets go on sale to the general public (approximate 4 weeks before opening).
  2. The week of the show opening.

If a production wishes to create a larger marketing plan (e.g. digital ad purchases, direct reach outs to specific individuals, etc.), they are welcome to do so provided that any stipulations in the rights agreement and/or union contracts are followed. Any additional costs would come from the production’s discretionary budget. 

If the production desires printed posters, the cost of these would come from the discretionary budget for the show. The most common size of posters is 11”x17”. Production Management can place the order for posters on behalf of the show, if they are wanted. 

The printer the Columbia Theatre Program uses most often is Village Copier on Amsterdam. As of May 2024, there is no minimum run when placing an order through that vendor.

The Theatre Admin Office will create playbills for each production based on the information in the Marketing and Playbill Copy. There is a standard template for all Columbia Theatre Program thesis playbills.

After the playbill is created, it is the responsibility of the Producer to verify with the cast and creative team that all their information is correct. This is typically easiest done either just before or during one of the first tech rehearsals. 

A full-color digital copy of the playbill will be linked to a QR code printed on each ticket for the show. By default, 25 black and white playbills will be printed at Dodge for the run. It is the Producer's responsibility to coordinate bringing those playbills from Dodge to Lenfest before opening night.

If a production wishes to have more playbills printed, that can certainly be done. Black and white playbills can be printed at Dodge at no additional cost to the show. Color playbills will need to be ordered from an outside printer, and any associated costs would come from the production’s discretionary budget. 

A small number of large-print programs will be printed for any patrons who request one. These can be printed at either Dodge or Lenfest.

The approved Theatre Program billing order for the title page is:

  • Playwright
  • Director
  • Dramaturg
  • Producer
  • PSM
  • ASMs
  • Company Manager
  • Composer (in playwright position for musicals)
  • Choreographer
  • Assistant/Associate Director
  • Scenic
  • Costumes
  • Props
  • Lighting
  • Sound
  • Projection
  • Fight Choreographer
  • Intimacy Director
  • Dance Captain
  • New Plays Festival General Manager

The approved Theatre Playbill order for Bios is:

  • Cast, in alphabetical order
  • Director (if a directing thesis) / Playwright (if a show in the New Plays Festival) followed by Creative Team, in alphabetical order

Credits listed in bios should follow the following formatting:

  • Italics for titles of longer works (books, titles, TV shows, films)
  • Double quotation marks for shorter works (single poems, essays, episodes of a show, etc.)
  • While it's typical in the theatre and film industries to use ALL CAPS for titles, we do not use that format at SOA, and stick with italics instead.

You can find the most up to date style guide on our Communications webpage (also linking it directly here for ease). 

Reviews of New Plays Festival productions are allowed, provided that this does not conflict with any rights, licensing, or union agreements made to produce the show.