What, How & Why

Blog by Xav & Sally

In July 2014 Sally Rose & Xavier de Sousa began a residency as Live Art Producers at the Live Art Development Agency. Both were working as independent freelance producers at the time with a variety of projects and artists.

More information about Xavier and Sally’s experiences at the Live Art Development Agency here: http://thisisliveart.co.uk/blog/lada-producers-residency/

As part of a research project generated during the residency, they began a series of Producer Gatherings across the UK. The research enquiry proposed to connect independent producers, and all types of people who take on the role of producer, by way of informal conversations and knowledge sharing.

Started as a way to create a shared space between live art producers currently working in the UK, the gatherings quickly became a space for producers of all artistic backgrounds to meet, share and talk with each other.

These open gatherings provided spaces for discussions around working independently, working in venue-based environments, supporting the work of artists across art-forms, and any current producer-sector issues raised by those present. They also functioned as spaces to initiate a platform for a collective representation of indie and non-indie producers. Informed by these conversations, the aim was to create an understanding of the independent arts landscape in the UK, and the creation of an online place for open sharing of resources and future training opportunities.

There were lots of ideas from the meetings of ways to better support producers in the field:

• a formal network website
• a mapping tool which showed which independent producers were working in which region
• peer training
• wider advocacy for this role and its value

Gathering events were hosted across 2015-17 by Xavier de Sousa, Sally Rose, Emma Beverley, Jen Smethurst and Lauren Church, taking place at BUZZCUT Festival (Glasgow), Mayfest (Bristol), DEParture Lounge Festival (Derby), Transform Festival (Leeds), LiveCollision (Dublin, Ireland) and Fringe Central (Edinburgh Fringe festival 2015 & 17).

Sally & Xavier were unable to keep up with the voluntary work they were doing with Producer Gatherings and took a break in 2017.

In late 2019, Sally and Xavier were reunited by an invitation from The Marlborough Theatre (now Marlborough Productions CIC) to participate in a pilot producer development project, funded by ACE South East, with focus in that region but accessible and also representative of various producing practices across the UK, for broader perspective and mutual learning/sharing.

In discussion, we decided that it would be a good opportunity to build on the Producer Gathering ethos of open source sharing of resources, connecting those working in producer roles, and increasing awareness of the role, and trying to make the role more accessible to more people. And this is the result! A revamped website, shining a light on Producers with a range of experience from the South East region, and a place to host resources and signpost to other individual producers and organisations who are generously creating and sharing resources.

In 2019, Sally was also very fortunate in receiving a Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) grant from Arts Council England, to help a transition from project working to a period of mini-sabbatical which allowed her time to reflect and start to re-focus her work with more balance. She applied to DYCP because she was at a moment of burnout and really struggling with how to envisage a sustainable career going forwards. Her own pathway was feeling unstable and stuck at a point where progression felt impossible. Issues she wanted to address, such as if and how independent working can be sustainable, how professional development and leadership skills can flourish, and how the independent spirit and workforce influences the ecology of the art sector are all still very prescient now – we recognise that lots of people will be feeling this keenly now, made all the more stark by the difficult conditions that 2020 has brought to this sector.  You can read a report Sally wrote as a result of the DYCP grant in the resources section of the website – but some findings were that there needs to be: clear signposting to the pathways and progression options available, clearer information on strategies to achieve balance, information sharing from those who’ve made it work &/or been burnt, and canvassing for support & resources to make it more possible for people to continue – or importantly to even start out.

Accessibility, privilege & inclusion – important personal and professional issues clearly impact who is able to take up a precarious role like this in the present climate. Producing and creative work is often taken on alongside other paid work or day jobs, but the pool of people taking up this role is at present quite limited in terms of the backgrounds people are from, and the needs of individuals needs to be considered to encourage a wider workforce.

Evidence from the ‘Arts Pay Survey’ from Arts Professional (2018) found that freelance fees have stagnated over as much as two decades. Average hourly rates now range from £20 to £35, and daily rates from £138 to £150. The average freelance salary was estimated at £22,000; with the likelihood that this was less for many skilled or experienced workers. This is something to consider across the creative freelance board, with regards to hours worked on projects – data will no doubt now be affected critically by the current climate. In the resources section of this website you’ll see a recent report from the Producer’s Group of the Freelance Task Force which has more up to date data.

It feels imperative that more investment and advocacy continues for this  important and undervalued role, and freelancers in general in the arts workforce.

More initiatives and investment are clearly needed across the sector to support this vital role and a wider demographic of people to establish this as their career path.

We know this website is a small action amongst big challenges. We hope that further support for independent freelance workers will be galvanised, and we’re here to support any other initiatives that are coming through.

It has been a pleasure and privilege to connect with so many dedicated and brilliant producers across the years, and we hope this is the start of celebrating them and the backbone they provide to many. We hope you enjoy reading and listening to the information here, and following the signposts to the other producers offering resources and expertise across the sector. 

Sally Rose & Xavier de Sousa

Co-Founders of Producer Gathering