CelebrityAccess Industry Profile:
Craig Hankenson

— By Jane Cohen & Bob Grossweiner

Craig Hankenson, president of Producers, Inc., continues to have a rich and rewarding career, having been in the entertainment business since 1958. He also conceived the idea of the first computerized box office.

Producers, Inc. has a wide mixture of genres on its roster including big band, nostalgia, contemporary Christian, Irish, popular, on-stage, folk, crossover, jazz, family and symphony pop. "We probably book more big band dates than all other agencies combined," says Craig. "Lots of presenters look upon Producers, Inc. as the main source for big bands. The bands we book most are The Count Basie Orchestra, The Cab Calloway Orchestra, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Guy Lombardo, Jimmy Dorsey and Artie Shaw. We secure a good percentage of the dates for The Gene Krupa and Duke Ellington Orchestra.

"We are working very hard now for crossover artists like The Capitol Quartet and Andrew Schulman's Abaca, and we have a growing number of artists in that category," Craig continues. "Since we recently added CeCe Winans to our roster, we've booked a lot of dates for her. We are also a well-known source for Irish acts and have had a lot of recent interest in The Prodigals. We also enjoy the work we do with Jack Jones, The Four Freshmen, Betty Buckley, Roger Williams. The artist we book the greatest number of dates for is The Capitol Steps.

"We don't represent hard rock or teenage rock. However a number of our acts are rock music," Craig explains. "The Four Tops and CeCe Winan's great band are among the highest energy rock bands out there, and the Irish rock band, The Prodigals, really rock."

Craig's career course was set at the age of seven when he began singing solos in church as a boy soprano. Singing remained his passionate interest through college at the U of Southern Mississippi for two years, then Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., where he earned a Bachelor and Master of Music in voice, opera and music literature.

After serving three years as chairman of the Voice and Opera Department at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., and singing professionally, he received a Ford Foundation grant in opera management, which took him to the San Francisco Opera for three years in the early 1960's. There he served as an assistant to the general director. This experience changed his career path from performing to performing arts administration.

Craig became a pioneer in using computers productively in the performing arts. While in San Francisco, Craig came up with the idea of loading ticket inventory into a computer and printing the hard ticket when and where it was purchased. In 1962 he began sending proposals to computer companies to interest them in creating a system, which would utilize this concept. Conceived for marketing and accounting control, it was not until 1968 that his concept became practical.

Craig saw his idea realized while he was the director of The Saratoga (N.Y.) Performing Arts Center (1967-78) when a member of the Center's board of directors, Edgar Bronfman, funded the idea. Ticket Reservation Systems (later renamed Ticketron) was born and SPAC became the first facility to have a fully computerized box office; SPAC was the summer home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, The New York City Ballet and John Houseman's The Acting Company (which SPAC participated in founding). In the late 1970's, using the newly available personal computer, he wrote software to streamline the budgeting, programming and management activities of his office.

When Craig left SPAC to become executive director of Wolf Trap (1978-80) in Vienna, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C., he introduced computerized tickets there. At SPAC and Wolf Trap, Craig was in charge of programming and administration and worked with a multi-million dollar budget. At Wolf Trap, he was also director of the Wolf Trap Opera Training Program.

Craig resigned from Wolf Trap in 1980 to form PICASTAR (Producers, Incorporated Covering All-Stage, Television and Recording) to serve as a programming consultant to numerous performance facilities, including Wolf Trap. The company has evolved from a consulting firm to an full-service agency with established relationships with all types of presenters as well as with artists, managers and other entertainment agencies.

Craig's experience with using technology in arts management led to the position of chairman of the University of South Florida's Department of Arts Management (1983-86). He established a graduate program focusing on the use of technology in arts management, and relocated Producers, Inc. relocated to Tampa from Vienna, Va.

During his career, Craig has served as consultant to or as a member or board member of many performing arts organizations, including National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Governor's Commission on Arts in Education, New York State Title III Advisory Council, New York State Council on the Arts, Eastman School of Music Alumni Council, Clemson University, New York Empire College, Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, City of Concord (CA) Pavilion, Meadow Brook Music Festival, Mud Island Festival, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, University of South Florida, The Richmond Symphony, The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and The Florida Orchestra, and for numerous performing arts centers and summer festivals both for start up, strategy, programming and operations.

He has also presented numerous popular attractions as varied as The Count Basie and Duke Ellington Orchestras, Jesus Christ Superstar, Oscar Peterson, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Donna Summer, the Four Tops, Kenny Rogers, Barbara Mandrell, Tony Bennett, Maureen Mcgovern, Manhattan Transfer, Bernadette Peters, Peter, Paul & Mary, Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, the Beach Boys and a multitude of others. These include the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet, the New York City Opera, The Joffrey Ballet, The Acting Company, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the American Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony, Leontyne Price, Beverly Sills, Pavorotti, and Isaac Stern. On Broadway he was executive producer of the "Brigadoon" revival at The Majestic Theater and produced one-person Broadway productions featuring Hal Holbrook, Tom Paxton and John Denver.

For TV, Craig served as executive producer of the Great American Music Festival for ABC in 1974 and produced eight productions for PBS's Live From Wolf Trap series, 1977-1980.

Craig's biography can be found in the Marquis Who's Who in Entertainment, Who's Who in The United States and Who's Who in The World, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in The East, Who's Who in The South and Southwest, Who's Who In American Education, Music Industry Directory, Notable Americans of the Bicentennial Era, National Directory for Performing Arts & Civic Centers, Dictionarie des Biographies Internationale, and Biographies of International Executives and Leaders.

To summarize all of Craig's accomplishments, in addition to serving as president of Producers, Inc. since its incorporation in 1980, Craig has also served as chairman, Fine Arts Management and Events, U. of South Florida (1983-86); executive director, Wolf Trap (three seasons); director, Saratoga Performing Arts Center (11 seasons); moderator, Summer Festival Managers (nine years); president, Performing Arts Association of New York (five years); associate director/business manager, Brevard Music Center (three seasons); Ford Foundation Management intern; San Francisco Opera (three years); business manager/stage manager, stage director, Chautauqua Opera (five seasons) and head of Voice and Opera, Auburn University (three years).

Craig is married to Kathy Donaldson Hankenson, vice president of Producers, Inc., who directs the contract and finance departments. They have a daughter Jennifer. Craig's older daughter by a previous marriage, Meridith, was an agent for the company before leaving to start her own agency.

What was it about your experience with the San Francisco Opera that made you change career paths from a performer to an administrator?
I was an opera singer. There was great competition for the few performing opportunities available in the U.S. Opportunity for success measurably improved if one was willing to serve time in Europe, mainly Germany. The opportunity for happiness and success seemed greater in management, and I discovered my talent and potential was perhaps greater in the field of administration than in performing.

How did you come up with your computerizing ticketing concept? You were way ahead of the times.
While I was in San Francisco plans for Bay Area Rapid Transit were announced, including an IBM computerized fare system that printed a ticket out for your fare wherever it was purchased. I immediately saw the benefits of this application if applied to theater tickets and began proposing the idea to IBM.

Did you patent your concept?
I didn't. IBM informed me that the concept was not patentable. When Edgar Bronfman picked up on the idea years later when I pushed the concept again for SPAC, I was never made a part of the financial deal. I was extremely flattered to have the concept brought to fruition. The project was enormously expensive and problematic. Bronfman made a sizeable investment in the project, and it was not a profitable venture for him for a long time--if ever. Earning from the idea was never a consideration or an issue for me.

Do you miss working at a venue?
Occasionally I do, but I enjoy the independence I have now.

How important are performing arts centers to Producers Inc?
We wouldn't exist without performing arts centers. The symphonies, corporate entertainment buyers and meeting planners are an important part of our business, and performing arts centers are our principal nourishment--by far the largest segment of our buyer data base.

How important is it going to the Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference (APAP) and other conferences?
We give a lot of attention to conferences. They represent the largest item in our expense budget, and the cost of participating in them is increasing dramatically. We devote a lot of attention and time in preparation for them. They offer an opportunity to communicate face to face, to explore new ideas, and to network. However, the majority of our clients don't attend conferences, and I'm noticing a growing number discontinuing attendance or appearing at, but not participating in, conferences. Are conferences pricing themselves out of existence? That's a radical thought, but corporations and institutions, even industries, thought to be securely permanent have radically changed or disappeared. Will conferences of the future be online? Is there a "techonference" in our future?

First concert attended
A performance of The Grand Ol' Opry in Nashville, the summer of 1941.

First concert worked
1942 -- I was a boy soprano and at age seven began singing solo engagements at church events, school choral contests and at several conferences.

First industry job
As a graduate student at Eastman School of Music; I was Howard Hanson's graduate assistant.

Career highlights
After pitching the idea for five years to IBM, seeing my plan for selling tickets on a computer network supported by a SPAC board member Edgar Bronfman, then participating in the birth of "Ticket Reservation Systems," later name changed to Ticketron. Then seeing my venue, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, become the first in the world to have its ticket inventory fully computerized on Ticketron.

Receiving the first Ford Foundation Arts Management grant and working for three years as Kurt Herbert Adler's assistant at the San Francisco Opera; Working closely for 14 years with Eugene Ormandy, George Ballanchine, Lincoln Kirstein and John Houseman at Saratoga and Wolf Trap; Working with Kay Shouse at Wolf Trap; Setting the all-time attendance record for a single concert at SPAC with over 33,000 attending a performance of The Who in the summer of 1975 or 1976; working with Shelly Schultz on a multitude of special projects, including the comeback tour of Frank Sinatra; Executive producer of the Broadway revival of Brigadoon at The Majestic Theater in 1978; Meeting and maintaining friendships with hundreds of interesting and talented artists, managers, agents and fellow presenters throughout my career in this fascinating and rewarding industry; and starting and running Producers, Inc., then hiring Kathy Donaldson as one of my first employees, who later became the love of my life and my wife.

Career disappointments
Very few: the lack of booking success of several artistically excellent tours a few years ago - Midnight In The Garden Of Good & Evil, Rhythm Of The Dance, Last Swing Of The Century - and not seeing the deserved popularity of several very talented and entertaining artists I attempted to help.

Greatest challenge
Running my own company.

Best business decision
I'm still waiting for that one.

Best advice you received
From Thomas Edison - "Always look upon any setback in achieving a goal as a lesson rather than a failure." and from Christ, the importance of love and forgiveness.

Best advice to offer
Honesty can be costly, but there is no better investment.

Most memorable industry experience
You're asking me to write a book, and I don't have time to do that at this stage.

Favorite Team/Athlete
The Green Bay Packers, Bret Favre. My mother was a Favre.

Favorite restaurant
Ichiban, Tampa, Fla.

Favorite hotel
Opryland Hotel, Nashville.

Industry pet peeve
Lack of sincerity and of commitment in communications and negotiations.

Office paraphernalia
The clutter on my desk.

If I wasn't doing this, I would be...
..involved in projects which help people who need/want help.

Industry mentors
Pete Wait, president, SPAC; Eugene Ormandy; Kay Shouse, founder of Wolf Trap; Gordy Singer; Shelly Schultz; tens of colleagues who have shared generously and spiritual teachers through written words.

Craig can be reached at: (813) 988-8333; e-mail: craigh@producersinc.com