Colorado Theatre Guild Creates Commercials to Promote Scene

When the Colorado Theatre Guild released a commercial promoting theater in mid-December, it didn’t advertise a specific show or venue. Instead, the spot makes a broader case for why live theater matters, and why audiences are essential to completing the art form itself.

“Half of the art of theater…is you,” says CTG President Betty Hart as the video begins. “The audience is the witness. You complete the circle. You bring the connection, and the spark, that makes every performance unique … So step away from the noise, be immersed in culture and feel connected to community. Across Colorado, stages big and small are waiting for your presence.”

The minute-long spot, produced in collaboration with Struck Media, has quickly become the most-watched video the organization has ever released. The commercial, which debuted on December 17, had more than 21,000 views on YouTube as of January 26, outpacing previous recordings of Henry Awards ceremonies and educational workshops.

For Hart, the campaign grew out of a familiar challenge: how to support the entire theater ecosystem, not just individual companies. “CTG — and the board in particular — is always thinking about what are new and additional ways we can benefit the Colorado theater community?” Hart says. “People tend to give us ideas that benefit a subsect, and we try to think global.”

Early conversations explored the idea of grant programs for small theaters, but the logistics quickly proved daunting. “Grant management is time-extensive,” Hart says, adding that helping a handful of companies could also leave others feeling excluded. The board ultimately landed on a different question: “What is something that every single theater needs?” The answer was clear. “Increased audiences,” she says.

Hart kept returning to comments she heard from friends outside the theater world: “’I never know what’s going on. I only hear about it afterward. I wish I knew about all the things happening.” That, she says, is “what led to the idea of, ‘What if we created commercials that would feature theaters from across the Colorado theater community to help everyone?'”

To bring the concept to life, Hart turned to Struck Media founder Matt Struck, whose conversations about investing in the arts had stuck with her. “The board was like, ‘Well, who are you going to get to do it? Who’s not going to overcharge us and help us to do this, and who’s going to really understand the spirit of community?” Hart recalls. “And I literally was like, ‘I think I know someone.'”

For Struck, the appeal was immediate. “Being in media and film, I’m always so entranced when I’m at a play,” he says. “It’s the one time my phone doesn’t come out, and I can just be with a piece of art.” A former high school theater kid, Struck says the project aligned with his interest in making high-quality media more accessible to mission-driven organizations. “It’s about figuring out how to do it without losing quality but being very strategic.”

Rather than creating a single ad, Struck proposed creating a reusable library of footage from theaters throughout the state that could support multiple commercials over time. The first spot features a video of Hart speaking, cut together with scenes from six companies: the Arvada Center, Candlelight Dinner Theatre, Empire Lyric Players, Local Theater Company, Lone Tree Arts Center and Platte Valley Theatre Arts.

“The one rule that I have when it comes to media creation is, does it serve the story?” Struck explains. “I gave my editor full creative rein and said, ‘Pick whatever clips.’ We have a lot more to use, so there are going to be other theaters that are going to be featured, but it’s really about choosing the images that match the script, that match the music and that match the feel. So if there are any theaters that weren’t in this first one, it’s not because we don’t like your stuff or anything like that. It just doesn’t fit with this first one.”

Hart emphasizes that geographic diversity was central to the plan. “It was really important to all of us in CTG that the breadth of our Colorado theater community be represented,” she says. “Everything isn’t just metro Denver. We want the state of Colorado to know that with 90 percent odds, there’s a theater in your backyard, and you can go and experience it.”

Hart cites inspiration from AMC’s now-famous Nicole Kidman ad and conversations about the physicality of live performance. “We talked about how heartbeats are synced up in the theater,” she says. “Matt really understood the appeal of live theater, from kids to seniors, and the idea of getting people to put down their phones.”

Early engagement suggests that approach is resonating. According to CTG vice president Lia Kozatch, the video surpassed prior benchmarks within days. “People were willing to watch more than the five seconds,” she says. “It’s meeting that threshold of, ‘We are watching your video.’” While full completion metrics are still being analyzed, Kozatch notes that the forthcoming thirty-second cut created for PBS broadcast will allow for comparison across formats and platforms.

Distribution is rolling out in phases. CTG has allocated funds for YouTube advertising, with placements beginning this month. PBS has agreed to air the shorter version and the guild is exploring additional opportunities with local TV stations that maintain community commitments. Conversations are also underway with organizations like the Denver Center for the Performing Arts regarding integrating the commercials into broader marketing packages.

The current spot is just the beginning. Three additional commercials are already in development, each building on a larger narrative. The second will highlight the scope of theater available across Colorado, the third will frame theater as a meaningful shared night out, and the fourth will focus on the role CTG plays in connecting and supporting the community.

“I think the old model would be just making one, but we’re in such a competitive media landscape that I’m really curious to see which of these four performs the best and speaks to people the most,” Struck says. “It will help shape any future messaging for CTG of, like, ‘People really like this angle, so let’s hit this angle again.’ But we’re starting off with four … I’m really happy that we were able to pull this off, because coordinating with all these theaters and getting the footage was a feat, so I have to give props to CTG for organizing that.”

This forward-thinking approach to community building is consistent with CTG’s vision for 2026. This year the organization will celebrate the twentieth Henry Awards on July 20 at the Arvada Center, as well as renewed community programming, the return of its Community Standards Committee and the appointment of new board members. More broadly, Hart says the guild is leaning into collaboration on over top-down solutions.

“We’re a community-based organization,” she concludes. “It’s less of, ‘Hey, why don’t you all do everything for us,’ as if we were Bill Gates, and more of, ‘How can we partner together?’ Because collectively, we have solutions to help our community. That’s really what we want for 2026. Too often, people want us to be the solutions to everything, but that’s not really community-based. We’re here to listen. We’re here to partner. We’re here to co-create together.”