The Actors' Gang

What The Actors' Gang does

The Actors' Gang is a Culver City–based nonprofit theater company founded in 1981 by eight UCLA students and led continuously since inception by Artistic Director Tim Robbins. It operates a 99-seat theater inside the historic Ivy Substation (Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument No. 182) and runs four core program lines: mainstage theater productions, an Education Department serving students across Compton, Culver City, LAUSD, and Pasadena Unified School Districts; a Prison Project delivering rehabilitative theater across 16 California state prison yards and reentry facilities; and international touring productions reaching five continents and more than 40 U.S. states. The organization's core "technology" is its proprietary Signature Style — a highly physical and emotional ensemble technique developed by Tim Robbins and Cynthia Ettinger over four decades, drawing on Commedia dell'Arte, Théâtre du Soleil, Grotowski, Viewpoints, and punk rock.

The business model combines earned revenue from ticket sales, season passes, and theater/space rentals with philanthropic revenue from tax-deductible donations, grants, and an outcome-tiered donation menu (e.g., $125 to bring an incarcerated youth to theater, $2,160 to support an Alumni Teaching Artist in a reentry facility). A separate free Shakespeare in the Park program and a $5 TeenTix youth access partnership expand reach and serve as funnel activities for fuller-priced ticket revenue. Distribution is primarily through the company's own box office, OvationTix-powered online ticketing, the Ivy Substation rental channel, and international touring bookings; marketing runs through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, the corporate website, and press relationships handled by Davidson & Choy Publicity.

The company is governed by a Board of Directors chaired by Gina Belafonte with a Treasurer (Rick Marcus) and notable Advisory Board members including Jack Black, Don Cheadle, Giancarlo Esposito, Eddie Vedder, Jackson Browne, Sister Helen Prejean, and Alfre Woodard. It maintains a staff of approximately 11–50, with about 50 committed ensemble artists touring and running programs. Programming is delivered by three functional departments — Mainstage/Education, Prison Project, and Development — each with dedicated Directors. The Prison Project distinguishes the organization commercially and reputationally: third-party data shows a 10.6% recidivism rate among participants versus much higher national baselines, an 89.9% decrease in in-prison infractions, and a 77% employment rate for Reentry participants, outcomes that differentiate the company within the arts-rehabilitation sector and underpin its grant funding and donor positioning.

Name

The Actors' Gang

Legal name

The Actors' Gang

Website

https://theactorsgang.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Actors' Gang is a Culver City–based nonprofit theater company founded in 1981, operating a 99-seat venue while delivering mainstage productions, school-based arts education, international touring, and a data-validated Prison Project rehabilitation program across 16 California state prison yards.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Culver City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Revenue from theater productions, season passes, and special event performances at the 99-seat theater and touring venues.
2. Donations and Fundraising: Tax-deductible donations from supporters to support operations, education programs, and prison project initiatives.
3. Theater and Space Rentals: Rental income from the Ivy Substation theater space to external groups for productions and events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Actors' Gang is a nonprofit theater company that produces and presents live theatrical performances at its 99-seat Ivy Substation venue in Culver City, delivers performing-arts education programs in Los Angeles-area schools, and operates the Prison Project providing rehabilitative theater arts programming in California State Prisons, juvenile facilities, and reentry programs. Revenue is generated primarily through ticket sales, season passes, theater rentals, donations, and grants that subsidize free participation for incarcerated and underserved youth.

Product overview

The Actors' Gang is a theater company offering live theatrical productions and performing arts education. The company operates a 99-seat theater in Culver City, California, presenting mainstage productions, touring shows internationally and domestically, and running educational programs. The portfolio includes mainstage theater productions at their Ivy Substation venue, education programs for youth (weekend classes, summer camps, afterschool programs), the Prison Project providing rehabilitative theater in California prisons and reentry facilities, touring productions worldwide, adult training classes, and free Shakespeare in the Park outdoor performances.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mainstage Theater Productions Live theatrical performances presented at the 99-seat Ivy Substation theater in Culver City, featuring new unconventional plays, reinterpretations of classics, and ensemble-driven productions developed in the company's signature Style. Targeted at general theater audiences in Los Angeles.
• Education Programs Theater arts education serving K-12 students across Los Angeles County through weekend classes, summer camps, after-school programs, and in-school immersion, including the Front & Center Theater Collaborative with Culver City Unified since 2005. Reached 1,000+ students in 8 months across Compton Unified, Culver City Unified, LAUSD, and Pasadena Unified.
• Prison Project Rehabilitative theater arts programming for incarcerated adults in California State Prisons, youth in juvenile justice facilities, and participants in reentry programs. Operates across 16 yards in 14 California State Prisons and has served 3,245+ participants since 2006 with documented outcomes including an 89.9% decrease in in-prison infractions and a 10.6% recidivism rate.
• Touring Productions International and domestic touring theater productions including works such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1984, Harlequino: On to Freedom, and The New Colossus, performed across five continents and 40+ U.S. states including London, Milan, Beijing, Shanghai, Buenos Aires, and Sydney. Targeted at international theater audiences and festival circuit.
• Adult Training Classes Eight-week classes introducing The Actors' Gang signature theater Style and ensemble approach based in Commedia dell'Arte, taught by founding Artistic Director Tim Robbins and Cynthia Ettinger. Targeted at adult learners and aspiring actors.
• Shakespeare in the Park Free outdoor summer theater productions performed at Media Park in Culver City and at Burbank's Buena Vista Branch Library, including adaptations such as Two Gentlebots of Verona and Toy Story Tempest. Targeted at families and general public audiences.

Quantifiable outcome

• 89.9% decrease in in-prison disciplinary incidents (115's) among participants
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Comedia del Arte TecateminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Bi-national program in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico led by former Prison Project participant Ezequiel Gonzales Lemus. Open to the community, 45 people have taken the program, 7 trained as facilitators to take program to local schools and rehabilitation centers.
• Anti-Recidivism CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Expanded Reentry Project partnership in 2020 to serve men and women returning home from incarceration, providing continued support and programming.
• Alumni Advocacy ProjectcoreOthers · 1 January 2018Internal program launched in 2018 for formerly incarcerated participants who want to continue training and become Teaching Artists. Currently has 83 members with 17 working as Teaching Artists.
• Walden House/Health Right 360coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Reentry Project partnership providing a welcoming space for new participants and residence for qualified Prison Project participants at the end of their sentence, allowing continued programming as they transition from prison to community.
• Culver City Unified School DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2005Long-standing partnership since 2005 for education programs, including the Front & Center Theater Collaborative. The Education Department runs workshops at schools during and after regular school hours, with programs running at full capacity in Title I schools.
• Inner City ArtsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCommunity partnership for arts education serving Los Angeles communities.
• Get LitminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLiterary and arts programming partnership supporting youth engagement with literature and theater.
• Turnaround Arts CaliforniaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerArts education partnership supporting schools through arts programming.
• Arts for Healing and Justice Network (AHJN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth Project is a member of AHJN, working to integrate arts as effective sentencing alternatives, trauma intervention for incarcerated youth, and strategy for successful reentry.
• LA's BESTminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAfter-school enrichment partnership providing theater programming to LA's BEST sites.
• BHS Lincoln HeightscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth Project programming location for justice-impacted youth, featuring Alumni Teaching Artists with lived experience.
• Los Padrinos Juvenile HallcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth Project programming location for incarcerated youth in Los Angeles County juvenile justice system.
• Community Warriors 4 PeaceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth Project partnership for community-based youth programming.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Geffen Playhouse: LA-based regional theater running a mainstage season, education programs, and community initiatives — directly comparable size, geography, and programming mix to The Actors' Gang.
• Arena Stage: DC-based regional repertory theater with an explicit social-impact orientation, education programming, and longstanding commissioning work — comparable mission and community-programming footprint to The Actors' Gang.
• California Shakespeare Theater: Bay Area regional repertory company known for summer Shakespeare festival programming plus education/outreach — closely mirrors The Actors' Gang's combination of repertory productions, Shakespeare in the Park, and school partnerships.
• Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Chicago-based ensemble theater with a comparably strong artistic identity built around a founding group, a long-tenured artistic director, and a roster of notable alumni — directly analogous to The Actors' Gang's ensemble-and-founder model.
• Actors Theatre of Louisville: Regional repertory company distinguished by new-work development (Humana Festival), touring, and education programming — a near-analog peer at similar organizational scale to The Actors' Gang.
• La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club: Long-running NYC experimental ensemble known for developing original physical-theater work and international artist exchange — comparable to The Actors' Gang's signature ensemble Style and global touring history.
• Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Large regional repertory company with an established summer Shakespeare-in-the-Park program, multi-program education/outreach work, and year-round season ticketing — directly parallel to The Actors' Gang's Free Shakespeare in the Park and season structure.
• San Francisco Mime Troupe: California-based political/physical theater ensemble that combines ensemble practice, free outdoor performance, and explicit social-justice programming — directly comparable to The Actors' Gang's intersection of art and social mission.

Broad incumbents

• The Public Theater: New York's Off-Broadway presenter that originally hosted The Actors' Gang's Bat Boy: The Musical; operates a comparable mix of new-work development, free summer Shakespeare (Shakespeare in the Park), and civic-engagement programming.
• Center Theatre Group: LA's largest resident theater operator (Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson, Kirk Douglas) offering mainstage productions, education, and community programming in the same city — overlaps on mission but operates at substantially larger scale and broader portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/theactorsgang
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ActorsGang
• Facebookfacebook.com/theactorsgang
• Instagraminstagram.com/theactorsgang
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-actors-gang

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Actors' Gang