The New York Neo-Futurists

What The New York Neo-Futurists does

The New York Neo-Futurists is a 501(c)(3) non-profit performance art organization founded in 2004 and based in New York City, operating as one of four international Neo-Futurist ensembles (alongside Chicago, San Francisco, and London). Its core offering is The Infinite Wrench, a weekly live show performing 30 short original plays within a single hour, running 50 weekends per year and currently staged at Asylum NYC (123 E 24th St) following venue transitions in 2024-2025. The work is built on the Neo-Futurist aesthetic, a codified theatrical methodology centered on four tenets — authenticity ("we are who we are"), presence ("we are where we are"), immediacy ("we are doing what we are doing"), and timeliness ("the time is now") — that prohibits characters, scripts, and the fourth wall, requiring all content to be true, in-the-moment, and responsive to current events.

The organization's product portfolio includes the Hit Play podcast (four seasons, 300+ experimental audio episodes distributed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and RSS), a three-tier educational workshop program (Level 1 Intensive, Level 2 development, Level 3 ensemble creation) priced at $125-$250 per participant, corporate training workshops delivered on-site at enterprise clients (Regeneron, ESPN, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, Military Auto Source), touring performances at universities and festivals (Edinburgh Fringe, Peabody Essex Museum, Out of Bounds Comedy Festival), and a direct-to-consumer merchandise store. The ensemble comprises approximately 25 multidisciplinary artists working under a 21-24 week/year, 15-hour/week commitment at $225/week compensation.

Revenue is generated across ticket sales, corporate workshop fees, workshop tuition, Patreon recurring memberships, individual donations, and merchandise. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors (Co-Presidents Margo Johnston and Gary Belsky) with Co-Artistic Directors Amelia Bethel and Julia Melfi and General Manager Sean Tecson overseeing operations. There is no parent company, no disclosed funding rounds, and no external ownership; the entity operates as an independent member-driven ensemble within the broader international Neo-Futurist network.

Name

The New York Neo-Futurists

Legal name

The New York Neo-Futurists

Website

https://nyneofuturists.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The New York Neo-Futurists is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater ensemble founded in 2004 that produces weekly live performance art (The Infinite Wrench: 30 plays in 60 minutes), a podcast (Hit Play), tiered workshops, corporate training, and touring shows for arts audiences, educational institutions, and enterprise clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performance Art & Live Theater

NAICS

Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (71111), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190)

akta.pro primary industry

Fringe & Experimental Performing Arts (MPAGABAI)

Keywords

• Experimental theater performances
• Live performance art
• Ensemble acting workshops
• Corporate storytelling training
• Independent podcast production

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Weekly performances of The Infinite Wrench with tickets sold for Friday and Saturday night shows at $225/week artist compensation.
2. Merchandise Sales: Online store selling branded merchandise including hoodies, mugs, notebooks, and digital zines with prices ranging from $15-$50.
3. Workshop Fees: Level 1 and Level 2 workshops ranging from 1-day intensives to 5-session series, with prices from $200-$250. Also offers tuition sponsorship options.
4. Corporate Training: On-site workshops for corporate clients focused on storytelling, confidence, communication, and creativity. Clients include Regeneron, ESPN, Johnson & Johnson, GE.
5. Patreon Membership: Recurring donations through Patreon providing ongoing support with exclusive content or experiences.
6. Individual Donations: One-time and recurring donations supporting the non-profit's mission. Organization is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with tax-deductible donations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The New York Neo-Futurists is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater ensemble that produces live Neo-Futurist performances — most notably the weekly signature show The Infinite Wrench (30 short plays in 60 minutes), running 50 weekends per year — alongside an experimental audio podcast (Hit Play), a three-tier Neo-Futurist aesthetic training workshop series, corporate storytelling workshops for professional development, and traveling performance bookings at schools, festivals, museums, and corporate events. Revenue is supplemented by merchandise sales, Patreon memberships, and charitable donations.

Product overview

The New York Neo-Futurists is a non-profit theater ensemble operating primarily from Asylum NYC that offers live performance experiences and educational workshops. The core product is The Infinite Wrench, a weekly show of 30 short plays performed in 60 minutes. Complementary offerings include the Hit Play podcast featuring experimental audio stories, three levels of workshops teaching the Neo-Futurist aesthetic (from beginner intensive to advanced ensemble creation), corporate training workshops for professional development, and on-site performance bookings for schools and events. The company also operates a merchandise store. The portfolio centers on authenticity-based performance art that responds to the present moment using four tenets: we are who we are, we are where we are, we are doing what we're doing, and the time is now.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Infinite Wrench: The company's signature show featuring 30 short plays performed within one hour, running Fridays and Saturdays at 9:30pm. Each play offers something different - funny, profound, elegant, disgusting, topical, irrelevant, terrifying, or a song.
• Hit Play
• The Infinite Pride
• The Infinite Fright
• Cupid's Wrench

Products and services

• The Infinite Wrench (Live Show) Weekly signature late-night show performing 30 short plays within a single hour (Fridays & Saturdays at 9:30pm); each play offers something different — funny, profound, elegant, disgusting, topical, irrelevant, terrifying, or a song — and the content evolves constantly in response to current events and ensemble lived experiences. Runs 50 weekends per year.
• Hit Play Podcast Experimental audio podcast featuring wild, intimate stories where each episode follows one Neo-Futurist's attempt to accomplish an impossible task. 4+ seasons and 300+ audio experiments distributed via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and RSS.
• Level 1 Intensive Workshop 1-day or 12-hour intensive workshop focused on writing and performing authentic self-expression using the Neo-Futurist aesthetic; participants learn to dismantle the fourth wall, respond to the world through task-based theatre, eliminate writer's block, and produce a portfolio of short original plays.
• Level 2 Workshop Deeper dive into the Neo-Futurist aesthetic for artists ready to push their work further — develop existing body of work through writing prompts, deconstruction, revision, creating dialogue plays, anti-plays, and high-concept low-budget theater; includes multimedia, technology, and practical lighting exploration. Priced $200 (sale) / $250 (list) for a 5-session series taught by Clay Palmer.
• Level 3 Workshop Collaboration, creation, and performance workshop where participants create movement pieces, adaptive work, and plays that transform space with spectacle, culminating in a workshop performance that walks through the Neo-Futurist collaborative process of creating an Infinite Wrench show.
• Corporate Workshop Storytelling-based on-site workshop for corporate settings that strengthens confidence and communication while bringing creativity to professional life, built on the Neo-Futurist approach; covers comfort zones, freedom within limitations, ambiguity-fueled creativity, authenticity, and bringing one's whole self to work. Past clients include Regeneron, ESPN the Magazine, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, and Military Auto Source.
• On-Site Performance & Workshop Booking (Tours) Traveling show services bringing The Infinite Wrench to schools, festivals, museums, and community arts centers; performance of 30 curated short plays tailored to specific audiences, often accompanied by workshops on Neo-Futurism, storytelling, devised theater, and performance. Bookings include Peabody Essex Museum, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Virgin Cruise Lines, and various universities.
• NYNF Merchandise Store Direct-to-consumer e-commerce store selling branded merchandise including NYNF logo hoodies ($40–$50), white glossy mugs (from $15), spiral notebooks ($20), and digital zines ($20); some items made on demand to reduce overproduction.

Named customers17 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Peabody Essex Museum (PEM Presents)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership where NYNF performs at the museum as part of their PEM Presents programming series. The Neo-Futurists took The Infinite Wrench on the road to Salem for a PEM Presents performance, combining theater with museum visits for a full cultural experience.
• The Greene SpaceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYNF has performed at The Greene Space, a performance venue known for innovative programming.
• The Hudson River MuseumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYNF has performed at The Hudson River Museum, combining theater with cultural institution programming.
• Out of Bounds Comedy FestivalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYNF has performed at the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, expanding reach to comedy and improv audiences.
• Edinburgh Festival FringeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational touring partnership performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival.
• Wesleyan UniversityminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNYNF has performed at and conducted workshops at Wesleyan University as part of educational outreach.
• NYUminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNYNF has performed at NYU as part of educational institution partnership and workshop programming.
• Chicago Neo-FuturistscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding sibling company originating from Greg Allen's Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. The NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco companies collaborate on joint projects and have developed The Infinite Wrench together.
• San Francisco Neo-FuturistscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding sibling company. In 2017, all three Neo-Futurist companies began collaborating on the new ongoing weekly show The Infinite Wrench, sharing the experimental late-night production format.
• Degenerate Fox (London)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLondon-based Neo-Futurist company extending the international network of Neo-Futurism beyond the US.
• Virgin Cruise LinesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYNF has performed aboard Virgin Cruise Lines as part of entertainment programming at sea.
• A.R.T./New York South Oxford SpaceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrooklyn venue used for Level 2 workshops with Clay Palmer, providing rehearsal and workshop space for training programming.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• The Wooster Group: Long-established NYC experimental theater company known for devised, non-traditional performance work. Comparable to NYNF in pushing theatrical form, though at much larger scale and with deeper institutional backing.
• La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club: Iconic NYC experimental theater venue and producing entity supporting devised, avant-garde work. Comparable to NYNF as an Off-Off-Broadway experimental performance platform, though La MaMa operates its own venue.
• Elevator Repair Service: NYC experimental theater ensemble producing devised, text-driven work. Shares NYNF's ensemble-driven, non-illusion-based performance approach in the same New York Off-Off-Broadway ecosystem.
• Sleep No More / Punchdrunk: Pioneer of immersive, non-traditional theatrical experiences. Comparable to NYNF in rejecting conventional stage illusion, though operating at significantly larger commercial scale in NYC and globally.

Direct peers

• Degenerate Fox (London Neo-Futurists): London-based Neo-Futurist affiliate extending the international Neo-Futurist network. Uses the same aesthetic principles and ensemble-based experimental performance model as NYNF.
• San Francisco Neo-Futurists: Founding sibling Neo-Futurist company that co-developed The Infinite Wrench with NYNF and Chicago in 2017. Directly comparable weekly late-night experimental theater format and ensemble model.
• Chicago Neo-Futurists: Founding sibling company (1988) of the Neo-Futurist movement. Operates the same Infinite Wrench format in Chicago, sharing methodology, content development, and audience-development DNA with NYNF.

Emerging players

• Target Margin Theater: NYC experimental theater company producing devised and re-imagined work. Comparable to NYNF as a small-scale experimental ensemble in the New York Off-Off-Broadway community.
• Clubbed Thumb: NYC nonprofit producing new experimental plays. Operates in the same downtown experimental-theater ecosystem as NYNF and supports a comparable audience of adventurous theatergoers.
• The Civilians: NYC investigative theater company creating original work from real-world interviews and research. Comparable to NYNF in its commitment to non-illusionary, reality-based performance material.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/nyneofuturists?lang=en
• Facebookfacebook.com/nyneofuturists
• Instagraminstagram.com/nyneofuturists

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about The New York Neo-Futurists