The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company

What The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company does

The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit theater organization (EIN 47-1909563) founded in 2014 by Rodney Earl Jackson Jr. and Marcelo Javier and headquartered at the Brava Theater Center in San Francisco. The company produces world premiere plays and musicals, develops new work through the Creators Lab playwright incubator, runs the free Young Actors Lab pre-professional program for high school students, and hosts the annual New Roots Theatre Festival showcasing BIPOC arts organizations. Programming centers on historically marginalized voices and Bay Area cultural stories, including musicals such as 'Sign My Name to Freedom' (2024) and 'Every Saturday Night' (2026) and plays such as 'Arab Spring' (2026) and 'The Day the Sky Turned Orange' (2025), produced either independently or in co-production with peer institutions like Golden Thread Productions, Z Space, Brava, SFArtsED, YBCA, and Magic Theatre.

SFBATCO operates a standard nonprofit performing arts technology stack with no proprietary software: a Squarespace-hosted website (sfbatco.org) for content and direct ticketing, OvationTix for donation processing, Salesforce-based ticketing for Golden Thread co-productions, ACT-SF ticketing for Strand Theater productions, Eventbrite for one-off events, and Google Forms for workshop registration. Pricing is per-production and ranges from $20 for preview performances to $80 for top-tier mainstage tickets, with student, senior, military, and early-bird discounts; youth programming is free.

Revenue is generated from four streams: ticket sales (one-time per performance), individual donations including the recurring monthly Curtain Up Club membership and securities donations, institutional grants and corporate sponsorships (National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan Act, California Arts Council, San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Theatre Bay Area CA$H), and special events such as the annual Bourbon & Broadway gala. Distribution is regional across the San Francisco Bay Area via direct website sales, partner ticketing platforms, and venue box offices, and the company is governed by a Board of Directors with Mecca Billings as Board President and Adam Maggio as Managing Director. The organization has 1-10 employees and celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2024.

Name

The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company

Legal name

San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company

Website

https://sfbatco.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SFBATCO is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit theater company founded in 2014 in San Francisco that produces world premiere plays and musicals, free youth acting programs, and the annual New Roots Theatre Festival, serving Bay Area audiences and emerging artists with a focus on BIPOC and historically marginalized voices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Live Theatre / Performing Arts

NAICS

Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (71111), Performing Arts Companies (7111)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Regional & Repertory Theatre Companies (MPAGABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Theater & Drama Education (Acting, Improvisation, Musical Theater) (EDAMAAAG), Musical Theatre (Non-Broadway/Fringe) (MPAGABAG), Theater, Musicals & Performing Arts (THAJAFAB)

Keywords

• Live theatre productions
• World premiere plays
• Youth acting programs
• Playwright development
• Community theater

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Primary revenue stream from live theater performances. Tickets sold directly through company website and partner ticketing platforms (ACT-SF, Salesforce ticketing). Pricing varies by production from $20-$80.
2. Donations and Contributions: 501(c)(3) nonprofit relying heavily on individual donations, monthly giving program (Curtain Up Club), gala events, and general contributions. EIN: 47-1909563.
3. Grants and Corporate Sponsorship: Funding from National Endowment for the Arts (American Rescue Plan Act grant), California Arts Council, San Francisco OEWD, Theatre Bay Area CA$H program, Zellerbach Family Foundation, and corporate sponsors.
4. Special Events: Annual gala events (Bourbon & Broadway), benefit events (Moonlit Masquerade), and producer's circle programs generate additional revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SFBATCO produces live theatrical world premiere plays and musicals featuring multicultural and BIPOC voices at Bay Area venues such as Potrero Stage, The Strand Theater, Z Space, Brava Theater, and Magic Theatre. The company operates companion development programs including the Creators Lab playwright incubator, the Young Actors Lab free pre-professional training for high school students, and the annual New Roots Theatre Festival for BIPOC works-in-progress.

Product overview

The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theatre organization offering a portfolio of theatrical productions and arts programs. The core offering consists of mainstage world premiere productions including plays (Arab Spring) and original musicals (Every Saturday Night), supported by cabaret series performances at Feinstein's at the Nikko. Youth development programs include the Young Actors Lab (free pre-professional training for high school students) and the Creators Lab incubator for emerging playwrights. The company also produces the annual New Roots Theatre Festival, special fundraising events like the Bourbon & Broadway Gala, and educational workshops. SFBATCO operates as a producing organization, not a software platform, and does not offer a unified software product but rather live theatrical experiences and associated community programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Creators Lab: Annual incubator program for playwrights developing original plays
• New Roots Theatre Festival
• Young Actors Lab

Products and services

• Every Saturday Night (A Harlem of the West Musical) World premiere original musical celebrating San Francisco's Fillmore District 'Harlem of the West' era, exploring displacement, gentrification, and community resilience, performed at The Strand Theater (October 10 – November 1, 2026).
• Arab Spring World premiere dark comedy by Denmo Ibrahim about siblings returning home to perform an Islamic burial, exploring family, grief, and identity; co-produced with Golden Thread Productions at Potrero Stage (June 19 – July 12, 2026). Preview tickets start at $20; full run tickets range from $30–$80.
• SFBATCO Cabaret Series Performance series at Feinstein's at the Nikko featuring themed cabaret productions such as 'Black Broadway' and 'The Lin-Manuel Effect' for adult theater audiences.
• Creators Lab Annual incubator program supporting emerging playwrights through development, workshops, and showcase presentations of original plays, including the Creators Lab 2026 Showcase.
• Young Actors Lab Free pre-professional acting program for high school students at Brava Theater Center, operating as part of the Mission Academy of the Arts.
• New Roots Theatre Festival Annual BIPOC theatre festival celebrating diverse voices and providing a platform for works-in-progress productions; 2022 edition featured 6 arts organizations and 80 arts workers and engaged approximately 1,200 audience members at Brava Theater.
• Free Teen Acting Workshop Free workshop for high school students exploring kinesthetic acting techniques using dialogue from current SFBATCO productions; registration handled via Google Forms.
• Bourbon & Broadway Gala Annual fundraising gala featuring speakeasy-themed entertainment and live performances, scheduled for September 10, 2026.
• Curtain Up Club Monthly giving membership program for recurring donor engagement and community building, offering Founding Member status to supporters.

Named customers5 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

Integration4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supportive.

• Golden Thread ProductionscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2026Co-production partnership for Arab Spring world premiere at Potrero Stage. Golden Thread is a resident company at Potrero Stage. Deep collaborative relationship including shared production resources, creative teams, and artistic development. Playwright-in-Residence arrangement for Denmo Ibrahim.
• Brava! for Women in the ArtscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 April 2026Co-production partnership for She Kills Monsters (Young Adventurers Edition) at Brava Theater. SFBATCO leads the Young Actors Lab program at Brava Theater Center as part of Mission Academy of the Arts. Long-term venue and programming partnership.
• Z SpacecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 September 2025Co-production partnership for The Day the Sky Turned Orange world premiere. Venue partner for Sign My Name to Freedom production. Z Space serves as performance venue for SFBATCO's larger productions.
• SFArtsEDcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 July 2025Ongoing partnership for youth musical theater programming. Co-production of Into the Woods at YBCA (2025). Co-production of I, Too, Sing America: The Next Gen at Presidio Theatre (2023). Collaborative youth training programs.
• YBCA (Yerba Buena Center for the Arts)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 July 2025Partnership for Into the Woods co-production at Blue Shield of California Theater. YBCA serves as venue and programmatic partner for community arts programming.
• Magic TheatremajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 February 2025Joint general audition partnerships. Venue partner for Cuckoo Edible Magic world premiere. Collaborative programming initiatives.
• Lorraine Hansberry TheatremajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 November 2024Joint general audition partnerships. Collaborative programming to support Bay Area theater ecosystem. Joint initiatives for audience development.
• Playwrights FoundationsupportiveStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Bay Area Playwrights Festival developmental support for Arab Spring. New play development resources and workshop opportunities.
• Round House TheatresupportiveStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023National Capital New Play Festival provided developmental support for Arab Spring script development.
• Mission Cultural Center for Latino ArtsmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2019Historic venue in Mission District for Death and the Artist production. Cultural center hosting multicultural theater productions. Performance venue partnership.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Playwrights Foundation: Bay Area new-play development organization supporting emerging playwrights; developmental partner on Arab Spring through the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, making it a complementary ecosystem player rather than direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Lorraine Hansberry Theatre: Historic San Francisco BIPOC-focused theater company; partnered with SFBATCO on joint general auditions and Bay Area ecosystem programming, sharing comparable mission, scale, and target audience.
• Brava! for Women in the Arts: San Francisco venue and theater company with a focus on women and multicultural voices; long-term venue/programming partner hosting SFBATCO's Young Actors Lab and She Kills Monsters co-production.
• Z Space: San Francisco new-work venue and producing entity; co-production partner on The Day the Sky Turned Orange and venue for Sign My Name to Freedom, sharing focus on world-premiere development.
• Magic Theatre: Fort Mason-based Bay Area theater with a comparable emphasis on new play development; venue partner for SFBATCO's Cuckoo Edible Magic world premiere and joint audition collaboration.
• Golden Thread Productions: Bay Area theater company focused on Middle Eastern voices and new plays; active co-production partner with SFBATCO on Arab Spring at Potrero Stage, sharing similar size, mission, and BIPOC/multicultural positioning.

Emerging players

• SFArtsED: Bay Area youth arts education nonprofit; ongoing co-production partner with SFBATCO on youth musicals including Into the Woods and I, Too, Sing America: The Next Gen, with overlapping youth programming.
• Crowded Fire Theater: Small Bay Area theater focused on new plays with a similar scale and mission to SFBATCO; competes for overlapping audiences, playwrights, and grant funding in the SF new-work ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• TheatreWorks Silicon Valley: Substantially larger Bay Area regional theater producing new works and musicals; competes with SFBATCO for playwrights, audiences, and foundation funding across the broader SF theater ecosystem.
• American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.): One of the largest Bay Area theater institutions, operating The Strand Theater where SFBATCO premieres Every Saturday Night; broader portfolio with overlapping new-work programming.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sfbatco
• Facebookfacebook.com/sfbatco
• Instagraminstagram.com/sfbatco
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/san-francisco-bay-area-theatre-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company