Who Calls the Shots on Broadway? She Does
As featured in The New York Times
Female producers, migrating from nonprofit theater and the entertainment industry, are bringing new skills and values to the commercial stage. … Broadway still has a long way to go: Among other issues, women continue to be significantly underrepresented as writers and directors. … Valerie Novakoff, an associate producer whose research found that 28 percent of commercial shows on Broadway in the last five years had a female lead producer, is planning to start a private equity fund next year to invest in productions with women in their leadership teams.
Broadway Women’s Fund Releases 50 Women to Watch List
As featured in Playbill
The Broadway Women’s Fund was launched earlier this year by Valerie Novakoff to promote women in leadership positions specifically on Broadway by investing in women-led productions. According to Novakoff, the Fund “will prove that including women in leadership on Broadway isn’t only the right thing to do, it’s simply good business.” … “Until now, non-profit companies have been doing the heavy lifting when it comes to promoting gender parity on Broadway,” says Novakoff. “The Broadway Women’s Fund is inspired by the finance industry’s increasingly popular gender lens investing model, and we believe that in such a commercial industry as Broadway, the real change will come when we can point to the fact that including women in leadership actually benefits the bottom line.”
A Chance to Invest in the Next ‘Hamilton’? Broadway’s Financiers Say to Call Them Now.
As featured in RIAIntel
But Novakoff is glad she kept the fund alive. Social justice movements this year have heightened interest in impact investments, including the Broadway Women’s Fund, and investing in Broadway’s women is “not only the right thing to do, it’s also good for business,” she explains. (Women represent about 68% of Broadway’s audience and are more likely than male attendees to make decisions about tickets.)