We recently connected with Andy Shultz and have shared our conversation below.

Andy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Worst Ever Productions was essentially born from the need for me to find a new challenge and a new direction.

I started doing theatre in college and fell in love with writing and directing. In 2015, I made the leap to doing theatre in the “real world,” when I did a show at Zombie Joe’s Underground in North Hollywood. A buddy of mine was a company member there and introduced me to Zombie. I wrote and directed a few shows at Zombie’s theatre, but I’m most grateful for the awesome people I met there. Eventually, I joined another theatre company and eventually became general manager there.

After several years of being the general manager, I was starting to find myself in sort of creative slump. As artists, we are constantly creating and explore our art, whether it’s as a writer, director, actor, musician or painter. That’s where our passion is. To create and to share our work with the world. I wasn’t writing, or at least, not writing something I really cared about. I had lost that passion. I was bored. Don’t get me wrong, I was proud of the shows we were creating, but I wasn’t happy. To have something that you love become a chore and something you dread, is horrible. And that’s where I was. At the end of that season, I made the decision to step down as the general manager of the theatre company and take a long break. And to be completely honest, I didn’t know if I was ever going to do theatre again.

Fortunately, that break only lasted about six months. It was in June of 2019 that I started getting that itch again. And it came out of nowhere. I was thinking of show I wrote and directed years earlier- “Lonely At The Top,” a 1940s style slapstick comedy murder mystery, and how much fan I had with it. And over several days, my interest in the show grew and grew. I wanted to do it again. But I wanted it to be different. I wanted to challenge myself in a way I hadn’t before. I wanted to start at zero and produce it myself. That was the one thing I hadn’t done. I was excited. I hadn’t been that excited in a long time. I wasn’t sleeping I was so excited. But then the realization hit me- I’m producing. I’m not just writing and directing- I’m starting a business. I’m doing the whole thing.

Now, one of the biggest misconceptions of producing is that most folks believe is that all a producer does is finance a production. And that may very well be true with million dollar productions and companies. But for us little guys, it’s different. In addition to financing everything, I was also figuring out the entire operational parts of a theatre production: budgets, finding a venue and securing dates, and then finding rehearsal locations because the venue for the show had no rehearsal times available. Then there’s marketing the show. Setting up a company website, a site to sell tickets, creating social media accounts to promote the show and the company, reaching out to reviewers and posting the show on theatre sites. Then there’s the legal stuff- Register the company for business purposes and get insurance. It’s a whirlwind of things. Now, when I was general manager of a theatre company, I did have some experience in the world of producing, I never did the whole thing. It was scary and exhausting, but it was also thrilling. It was new and the creative juices were flowing in a different way. I was happy and feeling like an artist again.

Though, before I could start, I had to deal with the most difficult part of starting the company- naming it. I struggled for days coming up with a name. If there was a name I liked, it was already taken. It was frustrating. In the end, it was my Dad who came up with the name… sort of. He suggested I use the same name as I called my theatre scripts in college- A Worst Ever Production- named after my very first script, “The Worst Date Ever.” I thought he was joking at first, but he was serious. And the more I thought of it, I liked it. If anything, people will remember our name. So, we had it- Worst Ever Productions.

Ironically, casting and crewing was the easiest part of the whole process. Normally, one would hold auditions for a show. Since this was my “first production,” I wanted to use my friends, who are some insanely talented actors. I was worried some of them weren’t going to be available or interested, but they all agreed to do it. They were excited and they believed in me. And that meant more than words could describe.
Now, I had all the puzzle pieces. I just had to put the puzzle together.

Over the following weeks, as my excitement grew, fear and anxiety grew as well. “What if this is going to be a disaster?” “What if I fail?” In the past, I never really worried about this because I always had the safety net of the producer being there to catch me if I fell. I was producer, so there was no one to catch me. There was a point where I thought about canceling the show. I could come up with an excuse and then postpone it until everyone forgot. But I don’t think would be able to forget. I’ve never wanted to live with regret. And I didn’t want to regret this. I would rather try and fail and than never live with regret for not even trying. So, we kept on with it. Come Hell or high water, we were going to have a show.

As the final days to opening arrived, everything came together. The cast was ready, the theatre was ready and I was ready. The only thing we were waiting for was an audience. We had sold only a few tickets leading opening night. I was worried no one was coming. And in true Hollywood fashion, as most people do in Los Angeles, waited until the last minute to get their tickets. I was in shock when I opened the lobby door to see so many people outside, just waiting to come in. It was incredible. We ended up selling out both performances. The show went up and was a success. We received several great reviews and people really liked it.

To this day, I can’t describe how incredible that weekend was and how much I needed it. My passion was back and I was being creative again. But I also had a new direction- to produce. I loved the rush and I was hooked on it. I wanted to do it again. And that is what I’ve been doing for the past six years. Since 2019, Worst Ever Productions has put on more than forty shows.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m Andy Shultz, the producing artistic director of Worst Ever Productions, a theatre production company based in the North Hollywood and Burbank area.

Worst Ever Productions is a theatre company that focuses on collaboration to bring ideas and imagination to life. We provide a safe and encouraging environment where artists have the freedom to explore, experiment and have new opportunities.

My career in theatre started at Moorpark College, a community college in Ventura County, As a history major; I never intended to get into theatre. It happened entirely by accident. I needed an art class to transfer and all the art and music appreciation classes were full, so the only class that was available was beginning acting. I’m not the greatest actor. I can get by in a scene. The thing that really caught my attention was that every semester the theatre department put on “The Original One Acts”- a series of short one act plays that were written and directed by the students. I thought it was a cool concept and I wrote and submitted my very first play, The professor running the program, Dr. Katherine Lewis, liked the piece I wrote and accepted it. It went up that following semester, And from that, I was hooked on writing and directing.

As I said earlier, after college, I began doing theatre in North Hollywood and that’s what led me to starting my own theatre company.

The thing I’m most proud of is the incredible and talented artists I’ve gotten to work with. Their passion and dedication is truly awesome. Especially the writers and directors. I’ve gotten even more enjoyment helping others bring their works to life. I’ve grateful that someone once gave me the opportunity to do what I love, so feel obligated and grateful to be able to do that for others.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The most prevalent story that comes to mind would be 2020 and the Covid Pandemic. After a successful first year in 2019, we all thought and were hoping that 2020 was going to be better.

I had just booked two shows that were supposed to open in April, then the pandemic happened. Like most of the entertainment community and the world, we postponed everything and waited. What was supposed to be a few weeks turned into months. After all the success we had the previous year, we were dead in the water. Even though it was out of our control, on some level, I felt like a failure.

After many months of waiting, that itch to create grew and I turned to do zoom theatre. We did several different shows, including a live 72 hour play festival that was done entirely online. Zoom theatre allowed us the opportunity to be creative, have fun and be safe. Though, in all honesty, we couldn’t wait to get back in the theatre.

By the time we were allowed to get back into a theatre, it had been over 600 days since we last performed in front of a live audience. It felt so good to be back.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

When I started Worst Ever Productions, I knew this isn’t something I could do entirely on my own. So, before I did anything, I turned to my two best friends, Vincent Miller and Tyler Bianchi.

I met them both 20 years ago in theatre classes at Moorpark College. Vincent auditioned for show I was directing called, “I Should Have Gone To Dabo,” about a dark comedy about a funeral gone wrong. After a rehearsal, we were hanging out after a rehearsal and discovered we had many of the same interests in comics, movies and TV, including a fondness for 80s cartoons. We just clicked and have been best friends since. We work extremely well together and when I started Worst Ever Productions, he became the general manager. He’s also acted and teched many of our shows.

I met Tyler the same semester in an improv comedy class and I thought he was hilarious. We also had a lot of similar interests, especially a passion for writing. I’ve been a big fan of his writing since his first show in college, “The Z Word,” and zombie apocalypse comedy. I’ve been fortunate to work with him as writer many times. So, when we started Worst Ever Productions, it was natural for him to be the head writer. I had the privilege of producing his first major show, “Life, Death and Blankets” in 2022, and that show went on to be a part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2023.

Worst Ever Productions wouldn’t be possible without them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Worsteverprods.com
• Instagram: @worsteverprods
• Facebook: @worsteverprods
• Twitter: @worsteverprods
• Youtube: @worsteverproductions8426