A new programme of paid professional development workshops begins this September – built specifically around what local artists and producers say they actually need.
Delivered by The Old Electric as part of Creative Blackpool’s Sector Development activity, Incubate is a schedule of training workshops, skills-sharing sessions and behind-the-scenes insights into how real projects get made, running from September through to next spring. It’s shaped directly by feedback from the sector and built on a simple principle – if your time and expertise are being asked for, you should be paid for them.
The programme takes a pick-n-mix approach, mixing practical skills-building with the kind of inspiration that comes from watching how other artists have actually done it. Because spaces are paid and limited, most sessions run on a light-touch application basis rather than first-come-first-served, with attendees invited to apply for up to three sessions and asked to think about which ones will be most useful at their current career stage.
Applications opened on Monday 3 August and close three weeks ahead of each session, with successful applicants notified within two weeks of the date. A handful of sessions are simply bookable, with no application needed.
Mr Blackpool – Making The Show
The programme’s first session, on Thursday 3 September, is a deep dive into one of the town’s boldest recent theatre exports. Mr Blackpool, an end-of-the-pier show at the end of the world from multi-award-winning theatre maker Harry Clayton-Wright, was commissioned and produced by Marlborough Productions and the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, with research and development support from a string of venues including The Old Electric itself.
Harry will lead the session in person at House of Wingz, giving eight attendees hands-on access to the original materials used in making the show. It’s billed as a practical case study covering how work is initiated, developed and scaled up, with honest insight into the funding realities and the value of finding the right collaborators along the way. It runs 10am-4pm, is open to 18+, and the eight participants will each be paid £100 for the day.
What else is coming up
The Mr Blackpool session kicks off a run of similarly hands-on opportunities. On Thursday 17 September, ACE offers a bookable Funding Support surgery: speed-dating-style 45-minute slots with one of their Relationship Managers to talk through funding ideas, whether for Developing Your Creative Practice or Project Grants.
A week later, on 24 September, Exploring Values & Vision invites creatives to step back from the day-to-day and reconnect with what actually drives their practice, led by creative facilitator and coach Rachael Slater, drawing on neuroscience, coaching and reflective practice.
Then on 1 October, four collaborative artists – a musician, sound artist, a movement artist and a videographer – are invited to spend a day in the room with Blackpool-born writer and Coronation Street actress Lauren-Nicole Mayes, developing her new play Birds Don’t Run. They Fly, which explores domestic abuse and is set in Stanley Park. They will be paid £250 for the day, with the script sent in advance so they can arrive with ideas ready to contribute.
Beyond these first few dates, the wider Incubate schedule stretches into next year and covers a lot of ground: an in-conversation event with filmmaker Shane Meadows; an introduction to working with people in probation; sessions on freelancing and budgeting; training and development opportunities through Erasmus+; skills-sharing days on parade and festival art and on music and sound design for theatre; workshop facilitation training; a session on making theatre for young children and families with Manchester’s Z-arts; and ongoing one-to-one mentoring from the Creative Blackpool team.
How to apply
Full details of every session, including application links, are available on The Old Electric’s Incubate page. Bookable sessions can be booked directly and sessions marked “by application” require the light-touch application form, open now.
Main Image: The Old Electric by Claire Walmsley Griffiths
