Back Stage West Acquires Weekly Drama-Logue

(BPI) LOS ANGELES--Casting their lot together, L.A.'s two actors' trade weeklies have become one. Drama-Logue, the 26-year-old trade weekly which has been a longtime staple of the starving Hollywood actor's diet, has sold its assets to the publishers of Back Stage West, a competitor which began publishing in 1994. Starting June 4, the new Back Stage West/Drama-Logue will incorporate the casting information, advertising, and circulation of both papers under the supervision of Back Stage West's staff.

Drama-Logue was first published Feb. 2, 1972, by a struggling actor named Bill Bordy, and eventually grew into what some called Hollywood's "third trade." Bordy modeled his fledgling paper on New York's venerable actors' trade, Back Stage. Years later, BPI Communications, the publishers of Back Stage, launched a West Coast competitor to Drama-Logue called Back Stage West.

But after years of competing for the West Coast actors' market, it was time to make a deal. Explained Bordy recently, "I'm at a point where I want to simplify my life, to unload or sell my worldly goods. What's the sense of working all your life if you can't enjoy it?"

Said Back Stage West editor Rob Kendt, "Bill Bordy built a paper for actors in a town that offers few resources and little respect for actors. That has also been the mission of Back Stage West, so I'm proud to assume responsibility for the readership and mission of Bill's paper, as well. I also think that with Back Stage West's resources and track record, we'll be able to offer an expanded, more authoritative trade paper to West Coast performers."

The Drama-Logue acquisition highlights a busy year for Back Stage West, now entering its fifth year of publication. In January, Back Stage West hosted its first theatre awards show, the Garlands; like the combination of the papers, these awards will in the future take the place of the famed Drama-Logue theatre awards, which the paper began giving out in 1977. And recently Back Stage West hosted its fourth annual ActorFest, an exclusive "Day for Actors" trade show with seminars and exhibits