CASE STUDY
MEDIA RELATIONS: STELLA ADLER
The Challenge
The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is one of the most prestigious and highly respected acting programs in the country. It has been teaching theater arts for over a century. The Studio asked The TASC Group to help publicize its innovative Outreach Division program, an arm of the Studio, that brings actor training to underserved populations in schools, rehabilitation centers and prisons in an effort to empower these populations through theater and the arts.
The Challenge
The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is one of the most prestigious and highly respected acting programs in the country. It has been teaching theater arts for over a century. The Studio asked The TASC Group to help publicize its innovative Outreach Division program, an arm of the Studio, that brings actor training to underserved populations in schools, rehabilitation centers and prisons in an effort to empower these populations through theater and the arts.
The Strategy
TASC identified the Studio’s work with the Rose M. Singer women’s unit at Rikers Island as the most impactful and media-worthy program. TASC worked to establish a relationship with the New York City Department of Corrections (DOC) at Rikers in order to broker media access to classes and performances within the prison. TASC worked with the Studio on messaging and storytelling, met with program participants, teachers and officials at Rikers to better understand the impact of the program and learn how to package it for members of the media. The team’s initial efforts led to an exclusive with The Associated Press and a cover story in American Theater Magazine. TASC also worked to prepare program participants to be interviewed by the media and to be photographed for feature stories.
The Results
TASC was able to secure coverage of the Studio’s work at Rikers in numerous publications including The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Daily News and Voice of America. The AP story was picked up by hundreds of other publications, and The Wall Street Journal story ran on the front page of the Greater New York section. The Studio’s work earned it a cover story in American Theatre Magazine and attracted the attention of donors, including a major Broadway producer, who consequently joined the Studio’s board. As a result of the impact of the program and positive media it garnered, the DOC hired a full-time employee to oversee arts programming at Rikers. In partnership with the Studio, TASC won three Big Apple Awards from the Public Relations Society of America and two PR News Nonprofit Awards.
MEDIA COVERAGE
