Various Theater Companies - Chicago, San Francisco, New York

What Various Theater Companies - Chicago, San Francisco, New York does

Jenny Seidelman is an individual playwright and screenwriter operating as a sole proprietor under the legal name "Jenny Seidelman" since 2008, based in Chicago, Illinois. She is a one-person creative enterprise with a stated headcount of one and no formal business entity, parent company, or institutional backing. Her product offering is an original creative portfolio of full-length plays, one-acts, ten-minute plays, a musical, family theater scripts, and feature screenplays, with a thematic through-line in the "travellers trilogy" (Reckoning, Henry Moore is Melting, The Traveller of Tenby). Works are produced and developed through partnerships with regional theaters in Chicago and New York, with selected reach into Philadelphia and Las Vegas.

The underlying technology is traditional creative writing with no proprietary software, AI tooling, or platform components. Distribution is project-based: scripts are produced live by partner theater companies (e.g., Cold Basement Dramatics, Ivy Theatre Company, Gorilla Tango Theatre, Ground UP Productions), individual scripts are published through TADA! Youth Theater for school and camp use, and screenplays are submitted to industry competitions (BlueCat, PAGE Awards, Academy Nicholl Fellowships, ScreenCraft, Final Draft Big Break) for recognition and industry exposure.

The business model is a hybrid of one-time commissions (e.g., the Gorilla Tango Theatre commission for "...Because I Love You"), one-time script licensing to theater companies and schools, public-sector grants from the Illinois Arts Council and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and product crowdfunding via Kickstarter tied to specific productions. Customer segments are theater companies (primary), schools and youth theaters, and screenplay competition gatekeepers. Go-to-market is community-led within the U.S. regional and festival theater ecosystem, supplemented by an active online portfolio at jennyseidelman.com and an Instagram presence. Pricing for individual scripts is not publicly disclosed; family-theater rights are offered free for non-paying audiences.

Name

Various Theater Companies - Chicago, San Francisco, New York

Legal name

Jenny Seidelman

Website

https://jennyseidelman.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Jenny Seidelman is a Chicago-based solo playwright and screenwriter producing an original portfolio of full-length plays, one-acts, ten-minute plays, a musical, family-theater scripts, and screenplays, distributed via commissioned productions, regional theater partnerships, and screenplay competitions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Playwriting and Screenwriting Services

NAICS

Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (711510)

SIC

Services-Allied To Motion Picture Production (7819)

akta.pro primary industry

Creative Writing & Storytelling (Fiction, Poetry, Screenwriting) (EDAMAAAI)

Keywords

• Original playwriting
• Screenplay writing
• Theatrical commissions
• Script licensing
• Family theater scripts

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Play and Script Sales: Revenue from selling play scripts to theater companies for production, including works available through TADA! Youth Theater for schools and summer camps
2. Commissions: Commissioned work from theater companies, such as the Gorilla Tango Theatre commission for '...Because I Love You: A Comedy About Parenting'
3. Grants: Grant funding from Illinois Arts Council and City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
4. Crowdfunding: Kickstarter campaigns for specific productions, such as 'Henry Moore is Melting' ($2,140 from 38 donors) and 'The Dreamer and the Devil' (103% of goal with 92 backers)

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Jenny Seidelman is a freelance playwright and screenwriter who creates and licenses original full-length plays, one-acts, ten-minute plays, a musical, family theater works, and feature screenplays. She sells script licenses to regional theater companies for production, accepts commissions for new works, and submits screenplays to major industry competitions. Her portfolio spans multiple genres including comedy, drama, thriller, and fantasy, with works developed through theater company reading series and workshops.

Product overview

Jenny Seidelman is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter offering a portfolio of creative works including full-length plays, one-act plays, ten-minute plays, family theater productions, a musical, and screenplays. Her works have been produced, developed, and received readings at various theater companies across Chicago, New York, and other cities. The core offering consists of dramatic and comedic theatrical scripts across multiple formats (full-length, one-act, ten-minute, musical) as well as feature-length screenplay adaptations. Her notable works include the traveller trilogy (Reckoning, Henry Moore is Melting, The Traveller of Tenby), political comedy The Candidate, and screenplays including Your Best Life and The Thief.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Lynchpin A comedic thriller full-length play set in 1950s Argentina, where a diverse group of American women are tasked with hunting an ex-Nazi scientist. Licensed to theater companies for production.
• The Candidate A political comedy full-length play about the 2014 mid-term elections, exploring race and political identity when an African-American campaign staffer questions her beliefs.
• Reckoning A drama full-length play about three generations of Irish travellers (gypsies) dealing with family secrets and a past transgression that must be avenged.
• Outside/Inside A comedy full-length play exploring race and cultural identity when a Chinese American man's ideas about assimilation are challenged after meeting his boss's China-born daughter.
• Quest An action-adventure fantasy full-length play that reimagines the classic adventure story from the perspective of the lowly sidekick character with elemental manipulation powers.
• Henry Moore is Melting A drama full-length play inspired by the true story of Irish travellers who stole a 2-ton Henry Moore sculpture in 2005, examining consequences for one who values art over community bonds.
• The Traveller of Tenby A drama full-length play about Irish gypsy Finn Barrett seeking absolution in Wales for past transgressions against the traveller community.
• The Dreamer and the Devil A musical telling the true tale of architect Daniel Burnham, serial killer H.H. Holmes, and the 1893 World's Fair that bound their lives together.
• A Crime in a Rhyme A family theater play set in Nursery Rhyme Land where Mother Goose characters face issues of theft and justice, available for production by schools and summer camps for non-paying audiences.
• The Little Prince A family theater adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's classic about a crashed pilot forming a bond with a young prince on an intergalactic journey.
• Your Best Life A comedy screenplay about a talk-show host whose identity is turned upside down, leading to international self-discovery with her entourage.
• The Thief A romantic comedy/heist screenplay about a British pick-pocket in Paris who falls for his mark and gets caught up in a dangerous theft.
• Henry Moore is Melting (Screenplay) A dramatic thriller screenplay adapted from the stage play, inspired by the true story of the 2005 Henry Moore sculpture theft by Irish travellers.
• ...Because I Love You: A Comedy About Parenting
• Ten-Minute Play Collection A collection of short ten-minute plays including Wet Work, August 8 1974, The Barber Shop, This is Grand, Boxing St. Stephens, The Gift, Just Like Jello, Wartime Nurses in Love, and Dr. Mysterious, produced at festivals and short-play series.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 600 attendees over 2 nights at One-Minute Play Festival featuring her work
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Women's Theatre Alliance of ChicagocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive member and participant in WTA's New Play Development Workshop, which provided development support for multiple plays including 'Reckoning'. WTA is devoted to supporting, promoting, and showcasing Chicago's female theatre artists and has been serving the community since 1992.
• Stockyards Theatre ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipant in 'Play for Keeps' new play development program which helped create 'The Traveller of Tenby', the final play in her travellers trilogy. Stockyards is a 501(c)(3) non-profit devoted to improving women's lives via theatre.
• Theater Communications Group (TCG)minorOthersIndividual member since 2009. TCG is the national organization for the American theatre with nearly 700 member theatres and over 12,000 individuals nationwide.
• Dramatists Guild of AmericaminorOthersAssociate artist member. The Guild is the professional association of playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists with over 6,000 members nationwide.
• Cold Basement DramaticscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduced the world premiere of 'Henry Moore is Melting' (January 2013), which played to sold-out houses and was their most successful production. Also developed multiple plays through readings with this company.
• Ground UP ProductionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduced readings of 'The Traveller of Tenby' and 'Outside/Inside' through their From the Ground Up New Works Reading Series in New York.
• Polarity Ensemble TheatrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelected 'Outside/Inside' and 'The Traveller of Tenby' as finalists/semi-finalists for Dionysos Cup Festival of New Plays, providing development support and public readings.
• Porchlight Music TheatreminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered on reading of 'The Dreamer and the Devil' musical, providing production coordination and artistic support.
• Gorilla Tango TheatrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned Jenny Seidelman to write '...Because I Love You: A Comedy About Parenting' and produced the world premiere March-April 2017.
• Ivy Theatre CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduced the premiere of 'Outside/Inside' (September 15-October 1, 2016) following successful reading as part of Ivy-ISH new play reading series.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• New Play Exchange: New Play Exchange is an online catalog and discovery platform used by playwrights to share scripts and by theaters to find new work. Comparable to Jenny Seidelman because it serves the same new play development ecosystem she operates in, including reading series, festivals, and submissions to theaters.

Direct peers

• Playscripts, Inc. Playscripts is a play licensing platform that licenses short and full-length plays from hundreds of contemporary playwrights to theaters, schools, and community groups. Comparable to Jenny Seidelman because it monetizes the same type of catalog (full-length plays, one-acts, ten-minute plays) through the same licensing model.
• Pioneer Drama Service: Pioneer Drama Service publishes and licenses plays and musicals for educational and community theater, with a particularly strong position in youth and school productions. Comparable to Jenny Seidelman because it serves the same customer segment (schools, community theaters) and licenses the same type of family-friendly theatrical content like her *A Crime in a Rhyme*.
• Eldridge Publishing Company: Eldridge Publishing is a play licensing and publishing company that has published plays, musicals, and church/community theater scripts for over a century. Comparable to Jenny Seidelman because it serves the same community and educational theater market and licenses the same type of family-friendly theatrical content.
• YouthPLAYS: YouthPLAYS is a play licensing publisher focused on plays for young performers, schools, and youth theater programs. Comparable to Jenny Seidelman because it monetizes the same family/youth theater segment, distributing scripts through similar channels (TADA! Youth Theater, school programs) for non-paying youth audiences.
• Stage Rights Publishing: Stage Rights is a play licensing publisher representing independent playwrights and licensing their works to theaters, schools, and community groups. Comparable to Jenny Seidelman because it represents the same type of individual playwright author and uses the same licensing model to reach amateur and professional theaters.

Broad incumbents

• Broadway Licensing: Broadway Licensing represents and licenses plays and musicals for professional and amateur productions globally. Comparable to Jenny Seidelman because it operates in the same theatrical licensing value chain and serves the same type of producing partners (regional theaters, community theaters, schools).
• Concord Theatricals: Concord Theatricals is the largest play licensing and theatrical publishing company in the US (successor to Samuel French). It represents and licenses thousands of playwrights' works to theaters, schools, and community groups. Comparable to Jenny Seidelman because they operate in the same play licensing value chain, though as a broad incumbent aggregator rather than an individual creator.
• Dramatists Play Service: Dramatists Play Service is a long-established play licensing agency that represents hundreds of playwrights and licenses scripts to professional, community, and educational theaters. Comparable to Jenny Seidelman because it operates in the same script licensing channel and represents the type of mid-career playwrights whose work she produces.

Others

• Dramatists Guild of America: Dramatists Guild of America is the professional association for playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists with over 6,000 members nationwide. Jenny Seidelman is an Associate Artist member. Comparable as an ecosystem/industry organization that supports the same population of independent playwrights she belongs to, providing resources, contract support, and advocacy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/jennyseidelman
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/various-theater-companies---chicago-san-francisco-new-york

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 →

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