Evan Snow: And welcome back to another episode of the Choose 954 Podcast, episode 93, with Broward's very own Timothy Mark Davis of New City Players. If you didn’t know about Choose 954, myself, Evan Snow, and my business partner, Mr. Andrew Martino, as arts advocates, community builders, and placemakers, started an initiative a few years ago to cultivate culture and community here in our native Broward County. Our goal is to keep people in the know about all the great things going on and make this a better place to live—not just a better place to vacation, because we live here, and we’re both from here. The point of the podcast is to connect you with people in the community like Timothy, who do important things, and he’s got quite a lot going on that we’re excited to share with you. So without much further ado, Timothy, why don’t you give us a little bit of a high-level intro as to who you are, what you do, and kind of how you got started in the arts?
Timothy Mark Davis: Yeah, for sure. A high-level intro is I am a theater and film producer, director, actor, and sometimes screenwriter. I got started in the arts when I was in eighth grade. My dad told me about a Christmas show and said, “Listen, if you try out for that Christmas show and get a solo in it,”—it was like a Christmas musical—“I’ll pay you a hundred bucks.” I was very shy at the time, playing in the band, and involved in sports. My parents wanted me to be well-rounded and try out the stage, so I auditioned. I got a few solo lines in the Christmas show, got that hundred bucks, and then I wasn’t paid again for acting for about 15 to 20 years. But it was a nice check as an eighth grader. That spring, I tried out for the school musical, got the lead, and have kind of been refusing to grow up ever since.
Evan Snow: That’s a good way to put it. Where did you grow up?
Timothy Mark Davis: I grew up here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in North Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach. I moved to Pompano Beach in high school and now live right off Commercial Boulevard, pretty much been here my whole life.
Evan Snow: And did you study art and theater and film in school?
Timothy Mark Davis: Yeah, so my undergrad was a Humanities degree, and I minored in theater. I did theater all through college, and then I did my master’s in theater, a Master of Arts in Theater Studies. That was sort of the education, but a lot of it has come from doing, especially on the film side—that has come from trying and failing and collaborating. On the theater side, it’s come from starting New City Players with a group of friends and trying to figure out how to be a fundraiser, a marketer, an artistic director, and still an actor and director, wearing a lot of hats to make it happen.
Evan Snow: And first and foremost, for those who are not familiar with New City Players, why don’t you give us a little bit of a high-level overview?
Timothy Mark Davis: New City Players is a nonprofit theater company based in Broward County. We currently perform in Wilton Manors at Island City Stage, which is where we are right now. Our mission is to create community through transformative theater. It’s really built on the idea that people gathering in a space is unique and very human. It’s something that’s often lacking as we become increasingly addicted to our phones, couches, and computers. Life is mediated through technology, which has its benefits, but at the end of the day, we are still storytelling creatures who want to sit around a campfire and talk about the day’s exploits. Theater is one of the most visceral and moving places where that can happen, and that’s what our mission is about—bringing people together, starting conversations, continuing conversations, reflecting the community’s stories and identity, and exposing the community to new stories they might not have experienced before.
Evan Snow: Amen, and you’ve done a great job of that. Maybe for those still unfamiliar, what are some of the productions or programs that you guys have done up until this point?
Timothy Mark Davis: We started in 2016 with our first official season. That year, we did The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, which is the same playwright as A Streetcar Named Desire, which we’re in production for right now. I directed that show, which was actually my master’s thesis, so we’re revisiting that playwright all these years later. We’ve done plays like A Raisin in the Sun. We’ve done original world premieres; this past year, we did two world premieres—A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Garcia, a Miami playwright, and A Christmas Carol adaptation by one of our company members who’s a Broward native. We usually do things that are Pulitzer Prize-winning or have been on Broadway or Off-Broadway, and we also do new work. We try to invest in the local community, the writers who are here, and produce their work.
Evan Snow: And you do a great job of that. You briefly mentioned what you guys currently have going on at the moment. Can you share more?
Timothy Mark Davis: Yeah, so at the moment, we’re doing what has become our biggest show ever, both in terms of the scale of production and ticket sales. We’re starting our second week of A Streetcar Named Desire, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams. We run that for four weeks, and 80% of all tickets are already sold. It’s surpassed our top-selling show of all time. People love the play; we just got some reviews in, and they’re raving. People are responding to it. It’s a really cool moment for us to be doing such a massive play in a small space. The farthest seat is 15 yards away, so it’s an intimate space where you can see an actor tapping their foot, shaking their finger, or raising their eyebrow. It’s a special experience in this venue.
Evan Snow: For those who are not familiar, it is very intimate. How many seats does Island City Stage have? What other things take place here, and what else can people enjoy in the area?
Timothy Mark Davis: This is a 69-seat theater with six rows. Island City Stage is another wonderful nonprofit theater company, and this is their home space. We come in as their guests, and we have a great relationship with them. They focus on LGBTQ theater and produce five shows a season. They just did an amazing Emerging Directors program as well, where they’re training up the next generation of directors. Right next door is Plays of Wilton, where Ronnie Larsen is the artistic director. They also focus on LGBTQ work and have a brand new musical running right now that is selling out. Across the street is one of my favorite restaurants in the county, Union Kitchen and Bar. The owner, Roberto Colombi, is an amazing supporter of all the companies that work here. Their menu is outstanding, changes every few months, and features great appetizers and entrees. If you want a cocktail, they do this smoked bourbon cocktail where they literally smoke it inside a case. I don’t know what’s happening scientifically, but it is very cool and delicious. So we kind of have our own little theater arts district right here. There’s always a show going on and a great restaurant across the street.
Evan Snow: Island City Stage has been very active over the years with multiple noteworthy shows. Thankfully, the Wilton Manors community and the LGBTQ community throughout Broward County have been very supportive of the arts, which we’re grateful for. I’m glad you mentioned local small businesses, restaurants, and coffee shops because we like to highlight them too. I’ll definitely check out that smoked bourbon cocktail. If people come to your show, I understand there’s a special cocktail themed after the show?
Timothy Mark Davis: Yeah, this ties back to our mission of creating community. We’re always looking for ways to take what happens on stage and extend the experience beyond that. For this show, every Friday is Jazzy Fridays, where we have young musicians from Broward College playing live jazz for 45 minutes to an hour after the show. We’ll serve up some wine, so you can have a glass of wine and enjoy live jazz. Every Saturday is Saturday Spirits, where we have four character-themed cocktails crafted by a local mixologist, Eric O’Keefe. He’s been a bartender all around town and specially crafted these four different cocktails. One of them is just a shot, Stanley’s Shot, which is some Woodford Reserve for you bourbon lovers. The other three are specialty crafted cocktails, all delicious, and they’re included with your ticket purchase. You come on a Saturday, you get a free cocktail after the show, and the cast and creative team stick around to talk about the show, the ideas, and celebrate. It’s more than just what’s happening on stage—it goes beyond the stage.
Evan Snow: Amazing. You mentioned going beyond the stage and community. I’m not going to ask you to address the community at large, but specifically within film and the performing arts, what is the importance of production companies like yours to the community? From your perspective, now that you’ve been in it for quite a few years.
Timothy Mark Davis: Yeah, so I wear two hats, right? I run the business, which is a nonprofit, but I also help produce the art of the nonprofit. On the artistic side, which is where my heart truly is, it’s a question of identity. Who are we, and who do we want to be as a culture, as a community? We can call that Broward, or Fort Lauderdale, or the greater Fort Lauderdale area. There is no thriving city on Earth that doesn’t have a thriving arts and culture scene—fact. That’s the number one thing, and I’m starting to put on my business hat a little bit, but I’ll keep that at bay. It goes back to what I said about us being storytelling beings. Seeing human expression, emotion, and other people’s experiences made live in front of us, whether through dance, music, or visual art, is what makes life worth living. It’s what makes life something you can get through. Ethan Hawke has this amazing clip that gets shared on social media every few weeks. He says most people don’t care about poetry—they don’t think about poetry—until their mom dies. Then they come across a poem that speaks so clearly and perfectly to their experience, and suddenly, this poem becomes a lifeline for them.
I know for me, I love music, right? Everybody loves music, but I’m kind of a podcast guy, so when I’m at the gym or driving, I’m usually listening to podcasts—except when my life is unraveling or something is going bonkers. Then I’m listening to music, looking for that thing that can emotionally sustain me and feed me. I go to art for that. I go to the theater for that. I watch movies for that. So there’s this cultural, artistic side that being human is about—expressing yourself is a huge piece of that. Then there’s the business side, which is that there’s no thriving city on Earth that doesn’t have thriving arts and culture. We just did a huge economic study; I’m sure you know about it—it’s a 9-to-1 return on investment. Every dollar put into the arts has nine times the effect on the greater economy. So it’s not just this fluffy, gooey, “I’m sad, and I read a poem, or I look at a piece of art, or I go see a play,” but some people don’t do that regardless. They just nine-to-five it, and maybe they watch some reality TV or Netflix—they don’t care about the theater. Which is art and film, by the way. I don’t want to sound elitist by any means, but I also know people who watch nothing—it’s like sports radio and that’s it. The drama of sports is real, of course, and it’s fascinating, and I enjoy it as well. But seeing art as a true economic driver and recognizing that we have the data on that now, we have the studies. When people go to something, when they leave their home, they’re buying dinner, gas, and a ticket to something that’s paying multiple people and supporting multiple jobs. They’re hiring a babysitter if they have kids. There are so many things that trickle out from someone choosing to engage culturally. If there’s nowhere to go, nothing to see, and if it’s not a community and a culture that values and prizes gathering and experiencing, it’s not going to flourish economically, psychologically, socially, or educationally. Go down the list—everything suffers when we don’t invest in our arts and culture.
Evan Snow: Very well put. A lot of people don’t think about the bigger impact of the creative economy and that 9-to-1 return, in addition to the intrinsic trickle-down benefits you mentioned—the graphic designer who creates the flyer, the usher, the valet person at the car. You mentioned the cleaning company that Marty hires to clean this place—if there wasn’t a production, you wouldn’t need the cleaning company. Those dollars arguably stretch further than the 9-to-1 that the Arts & Economic Prosperity study tracks. That study only tracks nonprofit spending in the arts and doesn’t include galleries, for-profit businesses, studio space rentals, and so on. I really appreciate you highlighting that. I always like to point out, more on the visual art side, that nobody wants to live in a place like Youngstown, Ohio, where it’s gray, dark, and desolate, with nothing to see and nothing to do. Ultimately, to your point, those economies suffer, people leave, and you need things to not only attract talented, skilled workers who work in the economy but also to retain them. You and I, both being from here and still living here, have seen so many people come and go. This is why we’ve done a panel discussion annually on art, culture, and the creative economy and ways that people can get involved and support. Not everybody thinks about those trickle-down effects and all the lives impacted, in addition to the attendees whose lives are enriched by culturally enriching experiences that are thought-provoking, creating new pathways, and expanding minds. With that being said, what are some ways, including attending shows, but not just attending shows, that patrons, donors, or philanthropists who want to support an organization like New City Players can do so?
Timothy Mark Davis: Yeah, putting that business hat back on. But I do want to say one more thing to what you just said, because this is always a fascinating conversation to me. A good friend of mine, Matt Stabile, is the artistic director of Theatre Lab at FAU, which is up in Palm Beach. He has this phrase that has always stuck with me. He says, “In South Florida, we export talent and import work.” My experience of that—I grew up in high school thespians. The Florida State Thespian Festival has 7,000 students attending every year. It’s the largest state thespian festival in the entire world. But how many of those kids end up moving away after high school? Some stay for college, but then they move away after college. It’s a foregone conclusion that if you want to succeed as an actor, a theater maker, or a filmmaker, you need to move to Atlanta, New York, or LA. I’ll add Atlanta to that list—that wasn’t the case 20 years ago. That’s a community that decided to invest and change the makeup of its economy and culture. It’s happening in New Orleans right now—they’ve seen a boom in film. If you want to create a hub of creativity, see an overflow of culture, and then see the economic benefit, you’ve got to start investing in those things on the front end. We continue to export talent—the most talented people go to high school here and then leave. They don’t stay.
Evan Snow: Frederick Blake Sadwell, an incredible media artist who shot the first recap video for Art Fort Lauderdale’s opening reception, lived in South Bend, was a very talented filmmaker, one of the most talented videographers I’ve ever met, moved to Atlanta. He’s now producing Netflix shows, has his own soundstage, and is absolutely crushing it. It’s really unfortunate that those opportunities weren’t available here. I’m going to come back to the ways people can support New City Players, but with that being the case, what would you like to see specifically within your sphere—within film and the performing arts locally? What are things we need? Do we need more soundstages? More programs to train the next generation? More incentives? What could we benefit from based on your travels, experience, and what you’ve seen?
Timothy Mark Davis: I remember talking to Joe Adler six or seven years ago. He’s one of the godfathers of South Florida theater, the artistic director of GableStage for 20 years before he passed a few years ago. He came and saw A Raisin in the Sun in 2019, and I talked to him in the lobby. Joe was a very straight-shooter, old-school guy. He just said to me, “Is the county giving you any money?” I said, “Yeah, they’re giving us X amount of money.” He replied, “It’s [expletive] ridiculous. They should be giving you a hundred grand. They should be giving you ten times what they’re giving you,” because that’s what he was getting in Miami. So the first thing I’d say is one of the best things our community has done is hire Phil Dunlap as our cultural division director. I think he does a great job connecting and talking to the artistic leaders. I appreciate his transparency around the fact that Miami’s budget is still five times ours, and Palm Beach’s budget is even more. We’re still the smallest budgeted county by far in South Florida. So on a nonprofit level, on a county level, and then on a state level, we need more investment. We need more investment because how much more can we keep going to donors and asking for more? The cost of everything is going up—people won’t work for those wages anymore. The pandemic changed things. You can’t get lumber for that price anymore. Everything has gone up, and I just keep begging donors, who are older and retired. Do I raise the ticket price, making it even more of a thing that’s for a certain demographic, excluding others? It creates so many issues, and if we believe that art is important, it has to be funded by our government. The expense of producing these things at such a level is too high for it to make sense economically unless I’m charging $300 a ticket, which people aren’t going to pay in a culture of celebrity. Even Broadway can’t survive unless they’ve got a famous person in a play. I’m ranting and raving, but incentives and funding—there’s no shortage of wealthy folks in Broward County and South Florida who are sustaining all of us. Many of our new residents are coming from New York, LA, Chicago, and well-cultured places. One of the most frustrating things I’ve experienced with people who recently moved here is that they come, visit, and it seems great. But then they come to live here and realize we don’t have Michelin-starred restaurants. We do have the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, one of the top performing arts centers in the country, where I went to see Hamilton, but that’s not South Florida. We’re importing work.
Evan Snow: We’ve got people coming to the Broward Center to see Hamilton who went to high school here. Or even the Black Violin—two high school graduates from Dillard High School, top of the Billboard charts, but they understandably have to tour. Every artist should advance their career if they have the opportunity, but if they’re not incentivized to stay and cultivate something here, why wouldn’t they leave?
Timothy Mark Davis: The incentives, the need for more philanthropy, patronage, and support of the arts are important. I admittedly do not know much about this, but I’ll speak from my experience specifically within the visual arts. Talking about sustaining—there’s no guarantee that the current major private funders, individuals, foundations, or family offices will continue supporting. There’s no guarantee that their kids will continue. They could go away tomorrow. Everyone knows if you go to any art building in Broward County, you’ll see the names Francy Bishop Good and David Horvitz. Francy Bishop Good is a noteworthy artist, founder of the Girls’ Club, and her name is on every single arts building in Broward County. I hope her kids will continue supporting, but there’s no guarantee. I have a ton of admiration and respect for Wayne Huizenga, one of the most successful business people of all time from Broward County. I’ve heard his kids are not very philanthropic and even raised the rent on one of the most noteworthy artist studios, Nilda Comas, who had been renting it for 17 years, like they needed more money. These are conversations we should have publicly. You mentioned Broward County, unfortunately, lacking in funding. Due to a very ill-informed decision by our wonderful governor, the State of Florida is now literally at the bottom of arts funding—zero, as low as you can go. From what I understand, it was a misunderstanding because apparently, he didn’t agree with the Fringe Festival.
Timothy Mark Davis: Oh, see, I haven’t heard any of this. I know we were inquiring about the reason, but I haven’t kept up with it.
Evan Snow: We used to have a Fringe Festival, which I don’t believe we still do. It was a great show, but it was a little risque and edgy. I understand the governor has some values that might not align with those, and ultimately, that’s what the news came out with this week. The Fringe Festival actually said, “We’ll give our funding back if you can give the funding back for the other arts organizations throughout the state.”
Timothy Mark Davis: Wild.
Evan Snow: So incentives, more sound stages, and more training on the filmmaker side are needed. Sandy Lighterman becoming the film commissioner—that’s huge. She’s a champion, knows how to get stuff done, and has been very supportive of me as a local filmmaker. Partnering with her staff, I’m always promoting what they’re doing at different events I’ve had, and they’re promoting the work I do in their newsletter. They have this local faction as well, and that’s what I appreciate about Sandy. There’s this idea that we want to cultivate our local filmmakers, but we also want to create an environment here where Hollywood is attracted because this is a unique environment. We’ve got the beach, downtown areas, and different communities and beaches, each with its own identity and look. This could be a place where much more film and television is shot if it made sense financially, which it doesn’t because of the state incentives. But I do think there’s also a lack in Broward—many of the filmmakers I know are Miami residents. We have a lack in Broward, and maybe I don’t know them yet, so if you’re a filmmaker in Broward, let’s get coffee and connect. But there are fewer that I know in Fort Lauderdale and Broward County—most of my friends and colleagues are Miami residents, born and raised in Miami.
Evan Snow: I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but even some of the ones who live in Broward call themselves Miami filmmakers.
Timothy Mark Davis: Absolutely. On my casting profiles, I’m an actor, I do commercials, narrative stuff, and I’m listed as a Miami actor. That’s the market I’m in—the Miami market.
Evan Snow: Thankfully, with the addition of Sandy and her staff and Film Lauderdale, we’re issuing more permits, there are more incentives, and more incentives are on the way.
Timothy Mark Davis: Correct, the menu. If you go to Film Lauderdale and check out the menu, there are great incentives there, but it still pales in comparison to other communities in attracting film.
Evan Snow: Correct. I’m even thinking of some amazing things coming out of Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Pete from their film commissions.
Timothy Mark Davis: I’ll just say, since I know you have many filmmakers and people in the film industry in your network who might see this, we have a phenomenal film location database through the Film Lauderdale website. If you’re looking to shoot something, you could rent this venue. We have a studio space location at the Galleria Corporate Center across from the mall that has a former bank vault and a walk-in cooler from a restaurant that’s both vacant. People have done multiple horror movie shoots, commercials, and stuff like that. I certainly encourage people to engage further.
Evan Snow: So aside from the incentives, what would you like to see or what are your thoughts for the current and future landscape? You’re at 80% capacity—what can we sustain? What are we lacking in funding or programming? Last year, I got into improv and found out about Second City. We don’t really have a Second City here. We have people doing some things, but what are some things we need? My friends at Broward Theater mentioned we don’t have many open calls or things you find in New York and LA. For the current and future landscape, what would you like to see to make it more sustainable so that a filmmaker, actor, or production worker can sustain their passion here in Broward County?
Timothy Mark Davis: This is where it becomes easy to say, “That’s what’s wrong, and that’s what’s wrong,” but then you turn it on me and ask, “How do you fix it?”
Evan Snow: You’re doing a great job.
Timothy Mark Davis: Well, and that’s just me saying it shouldn’t just be, “I’m making a piece of art, therefore people should show up for it.” That’s also not true. It needs to be of a certain caliber and quality. It needs to mean something, say something, and be a beneficial experience. That’s a piece of it—being sensitive and understanding where we actually live. We can’t just pretend we’re New York City—we’re not. We can’t pretend we’re Chicago. We can say we want more culture, feel more like those places, and see that type of growth, but we’re South Florida—we have a different identity. This goes back to the question of identity. I’m not sure I know what our identity is because we have the beaches, sports teams, Fort Liquordale, and the stigma of spring break that follows us. But then we also have amazing arts things. Finding how all those things fit together in an ecosystem that serves every faction of the community—not just in terms of taste but also demographics—is important. Serving men, women, non-binary people, the Black community, the Hispanic and Latinx community. We are a third of a third of a third—that’s what makes our county unique, whereas Miami and Palm Beach are not that way. That’s a superpower—we are the future of the world, really, in Broward County, with this mix of cultures and races coming together. Creating programming that speaks to those communities, not in a patronizing or tokenistic way, but involving those people in the creation as leaders, writers, actors, or whatever medium. That’s a piece of what we have to do—acknowledge that we are in a diverse community. Yes, we have an older, whiter, wealthier population, but when all of those people are gone because they will die—that’s the way of life—who is filling that gap? Are their children picking up the mantle and continuing the funding, or are we going to be in a tough spot because we’ve been catering to a certain demographic for decades, and now that demographic doesn’t exist here anymore? Who are we making art for now? Those are the essential identity questions for the art-makers that we have to think about as we create.
Evan Snow: Very well put. Even further, you can make great art, a great film, or a great production, but if nobody knows about it, then what? We were having a conversation before about whether there are critics writing about film, production, and the performing arts. Unfortunately, as anyone listening to this podcast knows, arts coverage across the board has suffered. Education, writing, and publications have unfortunately been the way they are. There’s no dedicated art section in the paper—you might get an arts review in the lifestyle section. I would motivate, maybe call out, and inspire the next generation of a culture crusader, an arts advocate, or a community builder. I didn’t know what that was eight or nine years ago when I just started exploring the arts, but the art had a profound impact on my life. I felt the call because I saw a gap and void, specifically here in Broward, when I was going to all the early-stage FAT Village events and other happenings. I didn’t see the people I grew up with just 35 minutes away in Coral Springs. That’s part of why I started Choose 954—to show better than I could tell with the platform. I think we probably do need more arts writers, more influencers within the arts, more content creators within the arts—not just artists. That’s the other challenge—how can I both be making the work, which takes an incredible amount of time, focus, and energy, and also be championing it every single day or every week? It’s just not possible.
Timothy Mark Davis: Correct, so where are the people who are becoming the leaders in government or nonprofits, the nonprofit board members who might have their nine-to-five job but their passion and hobby is arts on the side? That’s a huge gap. I don’t even know if people think that could be a thing, but that’s what you’ve done, which is kind of amazing. But who else does what you do?
Evan Snow: I have contemporaries and peers in Miami and other markets who I’ve drawn inspiration from. There’s a woman, Diana Tapia, who has Art Scene 365, which has now become a global platform. She’s based in Miami, highlights Miami artists, and does highlight artists outside of Miami as well. She’s become the go-to art guide from a local Venezuelan woman’s perspective in Miami. She does support Broward too, and God bless her, but yeah, there needs to be more. I don’t think people from our generation are thinking much about joining boards or maybe the next generation, because we’re involved and have started nonprofits. I would also encourage, and I’m not going to ask you to do more work because you already do so much, but if you have an idea for a play, a film, or something, reach out to one of us or both of us. Maybe we have a contact or resource that can connect some dots. So many people don’t know about ArtServe’s entrepreneur program. So many people don’t know about Sergio Gomez, who recently relocated from Chicago, where he was very successful, down here to Broward. He’s one of the leading arts marketing and mindset coaches in the world, and he’s making his platforms available with in-person workshops. We’re partnering with him on a wellness retreat, a cruise for creatives, really helping with mindset blocks, marketing, and so many other things. If you reach out and connect and be part of the community, you can get the benefits and resources. Every time I’ve spoken with you, I’ve left more enlightened, knowing more, and wanting to do more, even broadening my perspective because I’m not as into the performing arts world as I am in the visual arts or music worlds. I appreciate you, and I encourage young aspiring theater majors or anyone who just went to a play in middle school—come connect. You’ll have opportunities to ask questions, and you never know how that interaction could change the course of somebody’s life, their community, or the world beyond.
Timothy Mark Davis: That’s something I’ve committed to as I’m now coming up on 10 years of trying to live a creative life, wear all the hats, and not grow up, however I want to put it. One thing I’ve committed to is that if someone asks me for my time, especially someone earlier in their career—they could be 30 years older than me but just starting their artistic career—I make time. I’ll go to coffee, hop on a Zoom, or take a phone call. When I’ve had my workshops, like the screenwriting workshop or the film screening last fall, I’ve included things like, “Hey, there are grants available. You may not know this, but the Cultural Division has artist grants. Apply for them—that’s how I did this event.” Some people just don’t know. They sit at home with a dream or want to make something but don’t know that there are people willing to give advice or help them, offer a step or lily pad to help them move forward. I’m one of those people. I don’t know what I don’t know, but I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and I’m still chipping away at it. I’m happy to share that, but there are also ways in our community to find funding to make your project a reality. So I’m here as a resource to share that with people and happy to have coffee, hear your idea, and maybe we can connect and create something together.
Evan Snow: Beautiful things have come from that. I’ve seen films you’ve produced at Reel Lauderdale and other film festivals where there was local talent—some I recognized, some I didn’t—but it all started with a conversation, an idea, “Let’s do this.” You just mentioned ways that you altruistically help people. If someone here is feeling philanthropic and wants to become a patron of New City Players, aside from just a straight cash donation, what are some ways they can support New City Players?
Timothy Mark Davis: Yeah, besides money, which is great and welcome—click the donate button—we’re looking at our budget for next year. I’m always trying to develop how I think about fundraising, trying to get better at it, better at talking about money. I’m an artist at heart, so when money gets involved, sometimes I don’t want to talk about it, but I’ve had to learn and grow beyond that. I’ve learned how to sit down at lunch with someone and ask them to write the check. Thinking about our next season as we grow our budget—this will be our ninth season, our biggest budget ever—we’ll be paying people, paying the artists more than we’ve ever paid them, raising wages across the board. I’m looking at our annual fund, a term I’ve never used before. We really have to raise $120,000 from donations. That’s not including grants, ticket sales, or sponsorships—that’s just individual donations. $120,000 next year to fulfill our annual fund. That’s done through end-of-year giving, major gifts, and executive producers. If you want to get more involved in the process, come to our read-through, meet the cast and crew, come to a rehearsal, and be part of the family that helps create the production.
Evan Snow: What’s the ballpark number?
Timothy Mark Davis: $15,000 per show next year.
Evan Snow: Very reasonable.
Timothy Mark Davis: It’s not crazy, right? We’re a small company. But it’s only $15,000 to be an executive producer, get your name on everything, and be part of the whole process.
Evan Snow: Amen. Tell a friend to tell a friend—attend shows, donate. A Streetcar Named Desire runs through August 4th. We’ve only got a couple hundred tickets left; it’s probably going to sell out. If you want to come see this, there are tickets available still. We encourage you to buy them at newcityplayers.org. You can also make donations there. We encourage everyone to come out—it’s a classic play, and people are really responding to it. We’d love to have you here. Where can they follow you on social media and the web?
Timothy Mark Davis: New City Players at newcityplayers. You can follow me at timothymarkdavis on Instagram, and you can also go to my website, timothymarkdavis.com. You can sign up for my newsletter there—it’s a great way to connect. As I offered to meet with anyone who wants to meet, it’s a great place to find me, and maybe we can connect and create something together.
Evan Snow: A couple of current films out, a couple of films soon to premiere—exciting times.
Timothy Mark Davis: Yeah, so I worked on a short documentary with United Way called The Cost. That premiered a couple of months ago and is a really cool project. It’s the story of one woman’s life and her relationship with her brother, understanding the economic, psychological, and community cost of untreated addiction in our community. The narrative film that is trying to get on the festival circuit right now is called Thank You, Places. It’s my first feature film, about a theater company trying to survive a pandemic.
Evan Snow: Sounds like a reality TV show.
Timothy Mark Davis: You have no idea.
Evan Snow: Kudos to you on that. I appreciate everything you’ve done in support of the arts and the community. If you’re an artist and you’d like to join fellow artists, we host the Choose 954 Artist Potluck quarterly. The next one is August 10th at our Zero Empty Spaces Gulfstream Park location. Bring a dish for five or six people—not everyone eats everything. We sit around the table, introduce ourselves, talk a little bit about our work, and have a prompt every month. It’s a way to connect and another way to connect, engage, and inspire the creative community, make friends, and get supporters. Sergio Gomez, who I mentioned from Art Next Level, is going to do a free workshop for artists before that at 5:00. The potluck is at 5:30 and generally goes until about 7:30 or 8:00. That’s the Choose 954 Artist Potluck. We’re still doing our monthly breakfast lecture series, a mini TED Talk, Creative Zen, every second Friday morning of the month, which Tim’s going to speak at in the future to share his story. Another way to connect, engage, and inspire people—that’s where I had my aha moment many years ago, which changed the course of my life, my world, and the community through that inspiration. So I pay back, pay forward, and continue to host. That’s in the Kotler-Coville Gallery at the Alvin Sherman Library on the NSU campus. It’s a free event, with free parking, coffee, breakfast bites, community, connection—all that good stuff. If you really want to see some visual art and performing arts, every third Saturday night of the month, I still lead a free tour of the Downtown Hollywood Art Walk, a great family-friendly event. I do free tours at 7:00 and 9:00 PM. There’s a free magic show at 10:00 inside Cinema Paradiso, living sculpture artists, and performing artists throughout the art walk and the streets. That’s the Downtown Hollywood Art Walk. Lastly, if you’re an artist looking for more connection, mindfulness, clarity, peace of mind, and wellness, we just announced our first Wellness Retreat Cruise for Creatives, taking place March 2nd through the 8th on Virgin Voyages. No kids allowed—it also runs parallel with my birthday. It’s an extension of the potluck. We’ve had many great potlucks over the last six years, so we’ve built a nice community of creatives, and we want to take it to the next level. We’re going to have workshops, partnering with Art Next Level, on mindfulness, going from burnout to balance, and motivation. That one you do have to pay for, but we have a payment plan starting at $140 a month.
Timothy Mark Davis: I’ll do that for the rest of my life for a great creative cruise.
Evan Snow: Only have to pay until March. Look at that. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’m an open book—@evansnow13954. I’d love to hear why you choose 954. The last question we always like to ask—why do you choose 954?
Timothy Mark Davis: Well, first of all, it chose me. I was born and raised here. But I also think, coming from the conversation we’ve had, there is so much opportunity here. It’s fertile soil to create, to try new things. It’s not a fixed culture where people say, “We don’t do that here.” It’s kind of like, “Try it and see if it connects.” I think that’s something special and exciting about the 954.
Evan Snow: Love to hear what you want to try. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to either of us—we’re open books and glad to help. Appreciate you tuning in. We look forward to seeing you on the next one. Cheers.
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