ABOUT US
Broadway DNA is an international theatrical producing & licensing agency connecting emerging theatremakers to global markets.
What We Do
Through strategic producing and licensing, Broadway DNA aims to promote a swifter diversification of the transnational global theatre and musical theatre landscape by:
Producing original work for global audiences;
Licensing new shows internationally with a focus on partnerships outside AUKUS;
Promoting foreign musicals in the U.S.
What does it mean to have Broadway DNA?
There’s a certain level of American exceptionalism that seeps into many conversations regarding what it means to be a “Broadway musical.” While the singular physical location’s production value still holds meaning, a contemporary global fusion of world culture is occurring, opening new opportunities to re-examine singular ownership of the genre in favor of reciprocity, rooted in historical and cultural realities of countries’ theatre practices around the world. Additionally, our modern landscape of instantaneous, incessant idea-sharing has brought down borders to allow for previously un-thinkable artistic and economic reach and collaboration.
By providing economic and cultural exchange opportunities to new work, Broadway DNA
Disrupts the traditional, narrow “aim for Broadway” pipeline;
Champions distinct yet universal themes and stories;
Uplifts and empowers emerging writers.
Our Difference
Balancing art and commerce involves finding the right partners in line with new audience development goals, negotiating a production that is priced right and creates consumer demand, and overseeing the execution of a production that appears as if it all came out of and respects original author intention.
This requires a very unique background and skill set, and these limitless details become a devil’s playground for other agencies busy lining their own pockets, or managers without direct experience in the craft.
At Broadway DNA, we value:
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While recognizing that the U.S. is a global leader in cultural exports, U.S. and Broadway-first language and thinking plagues our industry and subconsciously affects how we view artistic considerations in contracts and production practices.
Some ways we seek to challenge this include:
Inherently prioritizing providing economic and production resources to new work without a Broadway credit;
Utilizing the term “Base Country” to indicate where an Author originates work, recognizing and encompassing work of non-U.S. origin;
Eradicating the term “foreign rights” in contractual work, replaced with “Non-Original Territory Rights” to minimize non-U.S. Othering and emphasize the fluidity of a contemporary global IP market.
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We believe in leading toward a swift diversification of the global theatrical landscape by actively providing financial and cultural exchange opportunities directly to Authors of new work— when they think they’re ready, not when commercial investors have an afterthought to achieve new revenue streams on a singular commercial production. Playwrights and musical writers are found throughout the world, and their art deserves to be prioritized and shared outside of the NYC/Broadway paradigm, to further communal discussions and the progress of the human spirit.
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Trained in intellectual property licensing from a product sales and marketing perspective, BDNA is uniquely positioned to elevate a show’s identity from singular one-off to cohesive global package.
Work includes:
EPK and visual/title identity strategy;
Translation oversight and management;
Local merchandise and promotional brand extensions.
We aim to encourage dialogue among individual theatre makers, producers, and promoters to maximize a play’s DNA and matchmake an optimal ecology rooted in the show’s unique authenticity.
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Whereas famous shows can rely on existing fanbases cultivated over time to bring in leads and passive income through licensing, promoting new work involves active pitching, not reactive processing. The majority of our time is spent in the field, on the phone, and with our partners around the world, learning about producers’ wants and needs and matching that DNA to a show in our catalogue.
Our Mission
There’s a lot of pressure on artists to do a lot of the pivoting and heavy lifting in promoting their own work until it is “deserving” of a global stage, so we’re taking on the challenge and inviting our colleagues to do the same, rethinking our business model so that artists have time and space to create the way they want to engage with the world and their communities without a singular prescribed path.
At Broadway DNA, we aim to:
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Challenge the infrastructure of current international commercial theater— we need to leave archaic notion of American exceptionalism and realize we are at a global round table.
Since the rise of international licensing post 1980s, Western leadership and exportation of work to “over there” can bring patronization through misguided time, infrastructure, and capital that heretofore has neglected our role at this table in promoting responsible socio-political messaging, climate action, local labor in cross-cultural workplaces, and equitable distribution of wealth in artistic revenue streams.
Democratizing international revenue opportunities for artists needs a modern day global artistry’s intention, NOT a capital investment, corporate colonization.
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Producers need shows, and shows need producers. How can we best create deeper, meaningful relationships cross-borders and work together in more consistent supply chain patterns? How can we create patterns of market and property “stickiness”? How can we invite the artist into our community?
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Ground our business practice in resource and knowledge sharing. The Writer is at the center of our industry, and the more we work together to empower and uplift authors, the more diverse stories are brought into the world.
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As a global business, we seek to strategically consolidate international air travel to maximize impact while minimizing carbon footprint;
Digital script licensing perusal and production packages, digitally protected;
Digital collaboration for pitching and new work development;
“To be global, you have to have your local context very well understood.” —Whenever possible, are there local community artists that could be given this opportunity instead of flying someone in?
Prioritizing producing funding toward sustainable (often meaning local or reusable) production choices.
What We Believe:
01 — Art translates across languages and borders.
02 — Passive income in the arts shouldn’t be gatekept, hidden, or elusive.
03 — The difference between a play (one-off) and a property (longevity) is strategic intention.
04 — Every choice in producing and marketing— from investment structures to brand extensions— should be rooted authentically in the show’s unique DNA.
There is no one-size-fits-all, and the only cookie cutting we do is at Christmas.
Our Founder
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Founder and CEO of Broadway DNA, an international theatrical producing and licensing agency committed to connecting artists and new theatrical work to a prosperous life through distribution on global stages.
Currently: Business affairs & investor relations for BSL Enterprises/Broadway’s The Road Company. Previous IP management & distribution: Peanuts Worldwide, Broadway Asia.
Her publications include “Devising, Decolonizing, and Disrupting American Musical Theatre Aural Anatomy Through the Playlist Musical” (Critical Stages/Scènes critiques), “Immersive Theatre as Christian Liminality” (American University, Robyn Rafferty Mathias Research Conference), “Fiscal Collaboration as Urgent Artistic and Humanitarian Practice Within the US-International Producing Model” (Nová dráma, Bratislava, Slovakia), and multiple industry articles for Stage Natalie (Japan).
She currently serves on the Membership and International Committees for the American Theatre Critics Association. In her efforts to demystify and uncolonize Broadway licensing, she publishes bi-weekly global licensing news and reviews on the Broadway DNA Blog.
Nearly fluent in Korean, when she's in the country she can most often be seen walking around Manhattan with Starbucks and her Lion King Shanghai tote bag.
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I'm on a mission to help theater-makers turn their dreams and ideas into licensable, profitable properties — ones to empower you to see your work reach audiences all over the world.
I am a great writer, critical thinker, and an even better listener. I explore ideas without losing personality or distinction. I am highly allergic to projects that view producing as just money-raising and avoid them at all costs.
“But Natalie, I thought Hal Prince said creative producing is dead”
That’s funny.
I enjoy bridge building, connecting ideas and people. I live for dreaming up big ideas, strategizing, and destroying my Notes app with copious furious typing throughout the day. I love watching clarity flash over someone's face and hearing the excitement in their voice as they see their show abroad for the first time.
My personal work is informed by notions of Henry Jenkins’ participatory culture, Nuno Bernardo’s transmedia storytelling, and Gordon Kaufman’s theories on God as creativity.
Above all else, I’m passionate about taking what makes up an IP’s unique DNA and cracking it open to find authentic expansions within its realm of storytelling possibilities.
I can't wait to get to know you.
What Else We’re Up To
Jeanealogy Productions LLC
— Theatre, film, and immersive IP project producing and development
Broadway DNA Blog
— A weekly newsletter about theatrical IP from around the world, written by founding producer Natalie Rine.