Duke Burger MA ’20

Prosceneium is a new streaming media platform that delivers filmed performances from theaters on demand to viewers across the country. It is designed to increase access to performances for audiences and revenue to the theaters that make them possible. The platform will allow theaters to digitally distribute a performance with ease, without having to build an in-house infrastructure.

By building partnerships with theaters to distribute their filmed performances, Prosceneium streams content to theater-lovers across the country, aggregating viewers into larger audiences for theaters and connecting those audiences to performances they might not have access to otherwise. These two markets–theaters and their audiences–are connected through our platform in ways previously unavailable.

The COVID pandemic has hastened changes in the media industry, and encouraged theaters to consider filmed and streamed performances in a way they previously did not. With the explosion of streaming technology and a lack of access to in-person events, people now have the ability to connect to multiples forms of media, wherever and whenever. In a media landscape that is changing, this is both an opportunity and a challenge.

Through a revolutionary model, Prosceneium plans to distribute the bulk of its revenue to theater companies streaming their productions on the platform, lowering the barriers to take part in the platform and contributing meaningfully to the revenue and audiences of theaters. During its start-up phase, Prosceneium will collect only a 3% fee of each virtual ticket sale in order to maintain the platform and ensure that theaters are benefitting from the platform, in addition to the audiences accessing the performances.

Taking advantage of the flourishing of streaming media, Prosceneium embraces distribution as a way of unlocking access and connecting people to the stories and performances that they want, thereby generating larger audiences for theater companies. Using the technology of streaming media, Prosceneium increases access for audiences, equity in representation, and the strength of the theater community in this country.