May 15, 2009

WELLINGTON PRODUCERS ROOM Update – May 2009  

Since launching in November 2008, the Wellington Producers Room has been a hub of activity. This brief newsletter is to orient you to what we’ve been up to and where we are headed.

The Wellington Producers Room houses up to five independent theatre and dance producers who share resources, information and support. We produce and initiate our own theatre projects, but also provide a service role to the independent sector. We are supported by the Wellington City Council.

Workshops – Fringe and Comedy Festival

In December 2008, we facilitated one of the Fringe Festivals’ "Fringe Friday" sessions (a networking and learning opportunity for those involved in creating Fringe shows). Our session was on creative producing and the role of the producer. This provided an opportunity to engage in some deeper issues about the way we make work, and integrating a producer into the process from the beginning as well as giving participants the chance to ask practical questions about getting their shows up.

In April 2009, we ran a session for producers of shows in the NZ Comedy Festival, offering more practical advice. Last week, Eleanor facilitated a session with the Class Comedians (which teaches secondary school kids to be funny) about producing.

Monthly conversations

In March, we hosted our first Friday night discussion evening, beginning with a discussion of the role of the producer over some food and wine. We are curious about how we understand the culture of working so we can make stronger work more effortlessly. Declared a success, we’ll be continuing these monthly from May.

Plans for an ‘arts hub’ at Toi Poneke are underway and we’ll build our conversations and discussions into that space when it is up and running.

One-to-one sessions

In addition to the above activities, we are often contacted by emerging and mid-range practitioners who want to have a chat about their work, the direction of the career, strategic planning and such. We are able to meet for coffee and give advice, ask tough questions and provoke!

Individual projects

Leo Gene Peters devised and directed Building Strong Families, a piece of community theatre with refugees from five Wellington communities performed for communities in early February. The project was initiated by Changemakers Refugee Forum and will perform at Parliament later in the year. Gene has just returned from Singapore where he was running workshops with Short & Sweet Singapore, an international 10 minute play festival, as well as teaching at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), interning with Spell#7 and building links with several companies toward future partnerships and collaboration. Director of the already highly successful Strange Resting Places (Taki Rua Productions), he spent February rehearsing two different companies for seasons at Auckland’s The Pumphouse, Wellington’s Downstage Theatre and for the National Museum of Singapore (original cast). Strange Resting Places (second cast) performed at Rotorua’s Spellbound Festival and then the Capital E Festival season in Wellington. They worked to develop a special version of the show for younger audiences, which premiered as part of the Capital E National Arts Festival.

Eleanor Bishop worked with Gene on Building Strong Families. She also directed and produced Eli Kent’s The Intricate Art of Actually Caring, performed in Eli’s bedroom which won "Best Theatre" at the NZ Fringe Awards. It has just finished a highly successful season as part of the Downstage "Pick of the Fringe" season. She also produced Sleep/Wake which had a successful season at the Auckland Town Hall as part of the Auckland Festival 2009, and A Brief History of Helen of Troy which played for three weeks at BATS in March.

Angela Green has been working closely with Strike Percussion during their transition between management, and produced the highly successful Strike Soundsystem show. She has functioned as a sounding board for a number of independent companies such as Awkwardd Productions and a slightly isolated dog over the last few months. Lately Angela has stepped back from the Producers Room to focus on her work with at Downstage where she is the newly appointed "Associate Producer". While still in the Producer’s Room and as part of her role at Downstage she produced the "Pick of the Fringe" season and manages the new music and literary events programme. We see her role at Downstage as completely compatible with the goals of the Producers Room and given Downstage’s exciting new direction, Angela functions as a strong link and ambassador between Downstage and the independent sector.

Hot desk service

Glenn Ashworth, production manager and designer has been "hot desking" in the Producers Room since December and brings strong technical and design knowledge to the room.

Welcome Aimee! 

Also joining the room from May is Aimee Froud. Aimee has had a varied career so far, producing with Theatre Militia, as well as stage managing for WOW and both seasons of Sara Brodie’s The Kreutzer. Production Manager for the Young and Hungry Festival of New Works at BATS, Aimee joins the room as part of our new partnership with the Young & Hungry Festival.

We are keen to make further links with other organisations such as this and see how we can partner with you. Please feel free to contact us,

Love,
The Wellington Producers Room

The Wellington Producers Room is supported by the Wellington City Council.

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The Wellington Producers Room
04 385 7740
wellingtonproducersgroup@gmail.com
Studio 14, Toi Pôneke, 61-69 Abel Smith Street, Wellington