I don’t get this dichotomy between “creative” and “business”.
Are we talking about intuitive versus analytical?
Or are we talking about values?
I do theatre (direct, act, choreograph, etc). I find that it requires a great deal of organisation. I write and do tai chi. I find that it requires an immense amount of discipline if I am to be any good at it. So good art, if it’s not a fluke, requires analytical skills and discipline. I wouldn’t make it the exclusive aim of business.
Now where there is conflict, I feel, comes in a matter of values. Do I make theatre for money? Do I make it for the community, or for myself?
Certainly where there are business models where they think of the user and social impact, at the root of business is profit. I have to be very clear with myself that this is not why I create. Money is good, money pays the bills, money is energy. But money should never rule my creative expression.
There will be compromises that I would reject making (e..g, product placement, when it has no room in the play; grants/sponsorship that sets down too many rules and interferes with the integrity of the work)—and I have to say in today’s world, it can be a fight to insist on certain working conditions. Heck, it’s a fight to make theatre viable over here. Far too many productions are produced too quickly, and are determined by production cycles and audience sizes that are determined by $$. They become commercial.
As a director, I am aware of the box office and community support, but I also make sure that I am in a place where I don’t have to depend on box office income. I don’t want to make a play worrying if I will fill seats. Argh, I have enough to worry about creatively as it is. I’ll pull my weight on the publicity (and as I’m in small theatre, the directing/producing roles often overlap), but I’d much much rather pitch my battles on the creative battlefield.