The Business of Performing Arts: Balancing Budgets, Careers and Engagement

If you’ve purchased a ticket to an event that supports the local performing arts, such as a play or performance, you’d be correct to assume that your money supports the organization. However, ticket sales, for many organizations, only represent a small portion of the budget.

Film Streams Executive Director Deirdre Haj said if you picture the stub ripped off by the ticket taker at one of their showings, that’s representative of what your ticket has paid for.

“In film, [ticket sales] represent 20% of revenues, and that is the pre-pandemic percentage,” she said.