This blog covers three projects – 1. UK Korean Connections, 2. Producers’ Persona a database of and for creative producers across UK and beyond, and 3. Essential Creative Producing, the 10th course offered under my CGO Institute banner– this time 13th-16th Sept in person in London. Please have a quick skim/read and contact me for more information.
As I head on the train to the EdInburgh Festival Fringe from 2 weeks in London, I have been completing an email list of all the people my Korean colleagues met on their visit to UK Theatre. 12 experienced executives and creative producers were chosen by the Korean Arts Management Services (KAMS) to join us in London. For the 3rd year my role was to facilitate their visit and to attract an array of UK talent to meet with them. My email list has 53 people from our industry that were in their schedule – from the most senior producers and venue programmers, through to providers of key services they might need, and onward to a good array of mid and early career “West End” and “Off West End” producers from whom they can learn the thrills and spills of the UK industry.
The Korean commercial, family and musical theatre industry is the 3rd largest in the world. And they have many more off-broadway theatres at the heart of Seoul than, probably, New York and London combined. 220 theatres ranging from 50 to 600 seats. [As I type this I realise that is almost exactly the same number of theatre spaces (226) that are open for the EdFringe this year – but in Seoul they are seeking to fill their seats 52 weeks a year]
We have so much to learn from their vibrant industry and its very different business and performance/casting models. And they can learn from our development process involving Fringe, Regional producing houses, and off-West End in a flow towards “fame and fortune” in the glittering West End or on Broadway.
If anyone reading this is saying “I never knew this” then do explore further, consider a visit to Seoul, and definitely talk with the theatre producers in the UK who are building IP and production partnerships moving forwards. K-Pop, K-Fashion, Kimchee and Korean film are going global. Now KAMS and the commercial producers in Korea are developing the brand K-Musical one show at a time.
Since April I have been working with a small specialist data management and programming company to develop a resource for producers around the world – especially, to start, for UK based producers to be able to connect with other UK producers. Producer’s Persona is not for the general public, or the wider theatre community. It is a searchable database of producers for producers.
In the coming few weeks I will be reaching out to StageOne, SOLT, UKTheatre, FST, ITC and the Facebook and Linked in communities, as well as making the offer to join this free dataset to all my colleagues in Producers’ Pool. Around 45 Broadway to Fringe producers have been beta-testing the database. Yesterday I worked with the programmers to plan the next 3 programming ‘sprints’ working through all (well quite a lot) of the great ideas that have been suggested to make Producers’ Persona the most useful. I’m delighted that it is getting great thumbs up from these early users. It works, and provides a way for producers and programmers of other people’s work to make connections with peers.
If you are a producer or programmer of other people’s work and you don’t get an invitation from one of your existing networks, then feel free to email me with a tiny reminder of your role/world of producing (20-30 words is fine) – and I will send you the joining link. chris [at] chrisgrady [dot] org
Producers’ Persona is searchable already by location, artform, job role and name. Soon it will have a “what do you need?” and “what can you offer?” function, and the ability to create smaller discussion groups. But most importantly, already, you can find other producers around the UK and beyond who may be interested in your next producing project, or who might feed into your future programming.
And my third excitement is to let aspiring and inspiring producers know that CGO Institute is coming off zoom for an intensive, in the room, 4 days producing course in London 13th-16th September. We will probably have 6-8 producers from UK and Europe joining us. I will have a group of CGO Faculty and producers to explore the worlds of budgeting, marketing, fundraising, leadership, UK arts ecology, and the pathways to production.
Since starting the Mountview MA n 2015 I have worked with 3 MA cohorts who are established all over the world up tp Executive/CEO level, 4 DipCP 16 week lockdown & zoom cohorts who are establishing themselves as freelance and inhouse producers and creatives, 2 Essential 5 week zoom courses which attracted a great array of self-producing artists and producers, and now Essential Intensive in London. Producers from London, the Netherlands, and around the UK are choosing to explore producing pathways with me. They will join an amazing alumni/family of producers who have shared their journeys with me as they decide how to make sh*t/stuff happen (to quote one alum).
If you are a producer who knows an assistant, mentee or colleague who would benefit from this Intensive personal development and skill building programme – just have a quick look at https://www.chrisgrady.org/intensive-london-producing-course/
If you are wondering about your pathway after College or considering an MA or an online MBA or other training route, or you want to hone your skills (and remind yourself how much you actually know) then this might be good for you.
And if you, my Gentle Reader, are just interested in what I get up to in this phase of my life, then I hope you will kindly share this blog on your networks and with friends/family.
My train is nearing Newcastle on my homeward and EdFringe journey. 40 shows booked for the next couple of weeks – so I’m taking it gently, whilst also having some days working at home.
Have a great summer – and I will try and blog thoughts on some shows as the month progresses.
Chris
2nd August 2024