Performer Interviews, Q & A, and performance excerpts
with Marsh and MarshStream founder Stephanie Weisman
Thursday, December 10 at 7:30pm
Click Box to Watch!
Founding Director of the first Theater Industry Department within NYC Government, Carla Hoke-Miller outlines partnerships, responses to the shutdowns due to the Pandemic, and industry initiatives to address equity and inclusion upon recovery.
About the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME)
The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) works to support New York City’s thriving creative economy and make it accessible to all. The agency comprises four divisions: the Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting which coordinates film and television production throughout the five boroughs; NYC Media, the largest municipal television and radio broadcasting entity in the country with a reach of 18 million viewers within a 50-mile radius; workforce and educational initiatives in film, television, theater, music, publishing, advertising and digital content to support the development of NYC’s creative industries, which account for over 305,000 jobs, and an economic output of $104 billion; and the office of Nightlife, supporting the sustainable development of New York City’s nightlife industry which accounts for close to 300,000 jobs and an economic output of $35.1 billion.
About the Guest
Carla Hoke-Miller is a cultural programs strategist and veteran of New York City government with a background in theatre studies, playwriting, production, and political science and urban studies. Named Director of the first theatre programs and partnerships department within the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in 2015, Carla collaborates with peers in government and is liaison to colleagues in the worlds of commercial and not-for-profit theatre and performing arts. She is responsible for creating more than twenty partnerships and initiatives to further awareness and affect policy surrounding access, inclusion, and equitable career opportunities for New Yorkers within the theatre industry. Initiatives include live performance series featuring thirty versions of Broadway and Off Broadway musicals. A major 2019 citywide advertising campaign, All New York’s A Stage, was followed by the release of a commissioned, ground-breaking report, All New York’s A Stage: NYC Small Theater Industry Cultural and Economic Impact Study, in which it was revealed 748 NYC theatres, organizations and companies (beyond Broadway) contributed an economic output of $1.3 billion, paid out half a billion dollars in wages, and supported over 80 thousand jobs within this sector of the industry, shown at that time to be growing, notwithstanding challenges. Support for theaters and companies forced to pivot during the Pandemic include Off Broadway in the Boros: Pop Ups, an outdoor series of live performances produced with local theaters and filmed on public plazas in each borough, promotion of JanArtsNYC, a month-long partnership among 9-13 NYC-affiliated independent multidisciplinary festivals, industry events, and an international marketplace surrounding the annual Association for Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) conference, all of which will be presented virtually throughout January 2021. Support of other recent virtual productions includes region(es) LatinX Festival and a Curator Collections section, in partnership with NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, within NYC & Company’s Virtual NY website featuring listings of more than 400+ online experiences available throughout the city.
Early in her career, Carla assisted in the creation of a Special Projects Unit in the Office of Manhattan Borough President David N. Dinkins and advocated for the leveraging of government funding for not-for-profit performing arts groups and promoted awareness of the arts with the inception of an annual juried arts award ceremony. This led to a position in Mayor Dinkins’ Office of Special Projects where she co-produced the Mandela Ticker-Tape Parade down the Canyon of Heroes, facilitated the Inner Circle performances with Broadway cast members, and produced hundreds of constituent events at Gracie Mansion and well as acting in a duel role for a time as Interim Administrator there. Carla later structured systems to support The Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute at Baruch College, served as Publicity Manager at Brooklyn Museum of Art, led membership and special programs at Miami International Film Festival and created a Conference/Events Division at Advertising Research Foundation and MediaPost Communications. Prior to creating her department at the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Carla was a Collaborating Partner at Growth for Good, a company helping NYC not-for-profit arts organizations and social justice institutions with fundraising, strategy, leadership, and marketing, securing more than $50 million in grants in its first five years.
NYC.GOV/MOME
Questions for Carla? cphokemiller@media.nyc.gov
Resources
NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment Program/Partnership Links:
ALL NEW YORK’S A STAGE
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/mome/news/09252019-local-theater-nyc.page
ALL NEW YORK’S A STAGE: Small Theatre Industry Cultural and Economic Impact Study Link:
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/mome/pdf/mome-small-theater-study-2019.pd
Made in New York WOMEN’S FUND FOR MEDIA, MUSIC, & THEATRE Grants for women and those identifying as women
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/mome/industries/womens-fund.page
Roundabout Theatre Theatrical Workforce Development Program
https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/education/career-training/theatrical-workforce-development-program
Music for the Soul
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/mome/news/05202020-music-for-the-soul.page
Virtual NYC: Curators Collections:
https://www.nycgo.com/virtual-nyc/curator-collections/.
Off Broadway in the Boros Press Release Link:
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/mome/news/12022020-off-broadway-boros-pop-ups.page
JanArtsNYC 2021
Some resources and arts groups actively addressing a change in policy surrounding social and economic Justice and advocacy for the arts to post in chat
- Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC): Next Stage Report: https://sdcweb.org/next-stage-report/
- HERE ARTS CENTER: https://here.org/
- Alliance of Resident Theaters (A.R.T./NY): https://www.art-newyork.org/
- New Yorkers for Culture and Arts: https://www.ny4ca.org/
- Costume Coalition: https://www.costumeindustrycoalition.com/
- Broadway Advocacy Coalition: https://www.bwayadvocacycoalition.org/about
- Black Theatre Coalition: https://blacktheatrecoalition.org
- Black Theatre United:https://www.blacktheatreunited.com
- Broadway Serves:https://www.broadwayserves.org
- Be An Arts Hero: https://beanartshero.com
- Americans for the Arts:
- https://www.americansforthearts.org/
About the Host
Stephanie Weisman founded and has been the Artistic/Executive Director of The Marsh since its inception in 1989. Under her leadership, The Marsh has grown from a one-night-a-week performance series to producing 600-700 shows annually on its four stages. In addition to its developing work performance series, The Marsh’s programs include: artist-in-residencies, after-school and summer workshops for youth both onsite and in 5 SFUSD, and performance development classes, workshops and Performance Initiatives. In 1996 Stephanie spearheaded the drive to successfully buy their 12,000 sq ft facility on Valencia Street in San Francisco. This increased The Marsh’s programs four-fold as well as provided for a stable Bay Area arts organization. In 2010, The Marsh added a second venue in Berkeley. In 2020, Stephanie initiated MarshStream. She is currently at work developing her opera, Aphrodisia, with dancer, Wei Wang.