PRODUCERS WEEK – BREAKING BARRIERS
23 Mar
From the 10th to the 14th of March, I attended a course hosted by Breaking Barriers designed to highlight the skills and knowledge required to be a producer. This course highlighted six distinct aspects of being a successful producer and included informative discussions with experts in the field. These six aspects gave a great insight into the varied areas of producing and it was interesting that the representatives from the industry that were sharing their experiences and expertise were all coming from a different part of the process. Many people on the course spoke about the fear factor of being a freelancer and the financial uncertainty of this method of income. After the course, the anxiety generated from freelancing seemed to have been reduced somewhat. Of course, though, becoming a freelance producer has a lot of beneficial steps so quite a sizeable amount of information was conveyed in a relatively short period of time.
However, it was the way the course was delivered that made the difference. There was a lot of details, yes, but practical tasks were given in order to consolidate what was learned in order to drive home what was being delivered and I found this to be quite fruitful due to the fact that I could apply what was being told to a real situation immediately. A great example of this was when ‘Accessibility in the Arts’ was covered by Rachel Moorhouse. The task here was to think about the accessibility needs of ourselves and what accessibility needs others might require in our own and other people’s projects after being guided through the thoughts and emotions of disabled people. It gave me a greater sense of awareness for access needs and broadened my perspective when thinking about how best to aid the disabled community.
This course also broadened my perspective towards the existing culture of my home- town of Rochdale. This was achieved through an appreciation for the newly renovated Town Hall in which we reflected upon the history of its architecture by visiting this magnificent, newly renovated centrepiece. The appreciation of Rochdale’s existing work was also followed up by an experience named ‘elevation’ in which a walk across Blackstone Edge, close to the county border, was accompanied by a piece of audio. This included people from Rochdale sharing their own stories of life within the borough and the past of Blackstone Edge through the use of narration which employed personification by making the landmass a character that communicates with you as you walk through the vast countryside overlooking the town centre.
Amongst all the great things that this course provided, one could say that the people I got to meet was one of the strongest and most vital parts of the week. There was always more insight around every corner as people like me, only just beginning my career, and others who have lived experiences of production came together to create a medium in which both parties could learn and grow as creatives. From this, I have had the privilege of meeting great people from across different art forms and seeing the industry through their eyes; seeing what they want from the industry and perhaps the future of the arts in Rochdale.
Overall, I would like to fully commend Breaking Barriers for hosting such a fantastic week for people like me and, if such an event was to occur again, I would recommend it wholeheartedly to creatives across the Rochdale borough. It really was a week that gave me a vision into what my future could look like and could give bloom to many local creatives and pave a path towards Rochdale becoming a great contributor to the arts in the future.
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