Thoughts from a Los Angeles Theater Producer

When I started this blog my intention was to write about issues in the Los Angeles theater community that are relevant to me.  If you have read my posts you know that I have a lot of opinions on various different aspects of the theater community.  I write my opinions in an attempt to challenge our community to improve.  I know that not everyone will agree with my opinions, not everyone should.  But I do hope we can all agree that discussing these issues openly is important. Hopefully, these discussions will lead members of our community to begin changing things for the better.

Part of creating a forum for open discussion includes being able to point out the flaws in our system.

Steven Leigh Morris recently wrote an article about the ethics of blogging.  In this article he used my blog as an example of unethical behavior.  Referencing this post, he wrote in his article the following: 

Earlier this year, local stage producer Rick Culbertson wrote on his Web site, rickculbertson.com, an accusation that the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle was ensnared by conflict of interest. According to Critics Circle member Les Spindle, Culbertson hadn’t bothered to check the facts with the organization, or even to contact its people before making the accusation.

Mr. Morris and I agree that people who write publicly should exercise ethical behavior.  That said, I realize that I made two mistakes with my statement about the LADCC.  My first mistake was that I didn’t reach out to the LADCC prior to my post.  My second mistake was that I did not print my supporting evidence.  These are mistakes I will not make in the future.

But, in fairness to myself, prior to my statement I did research and verify the information I used to determine that there are conflicts of interest within the LADCC.  I was satisfied then and I am still satisfied that there are conflicts of interest.

I am concerned about our theater community when conflicts of interest occur.  The best way to improve our theater community is to openly discuss these issues.  To that end, I have reached out to the LADCC and asked them to sit down with me and talk.  In doing so, we will have an opportunity to work together to improve things.

After all, we all want our theater community to be the best it can be.