FST’s Emporium: 4th and 5th March 2015, Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock
FST’s Emporium is a well-established event facilitating connections between producing companies, venues, producers and promoters. Since the first event in 2006, the demand for an event allowing companies to ‘sell’ their show has grown and the attendance increased by nearly 300%.
In the Theatre Review conducted by Creative Scotland, a gap was identified for longer-term planning, where producing companies and receiving venues / promoters could establish links at the very early stages of planning their productions.
The new format of FST Emporium will allow for exactly that: the first day of the event will allow companies and artists to pitch work which is at very early stages of creation, while venues and promoters will have the opportunity to discuss it with them or express their interest at this stage. The second day will resemble the already successful Emporium format, allowing the artists to promote their existing work which is available for touring within the next 6-12 months.
How will the new format work? The applications for the event will be done in two stages, starting with the long-term pitching, namely:
- Creative companies wishing to pitch their long-term projects will be invited to apply. The applications will close on 31 October.
- A panel of promoters and venue programmers will choose the pitches.
- The first day (the pitching day) will be free of charge to attend.
- On the day, the companies will pitch to small groups of promoters / venues.
What can the pitching companies expect?
For the pitching companies, it will be a great opportunity to start their dialogue with the venues and promoters at very early stages of creation of new work. FST will also provide training and support around constructing a perfect pitch and on the day, you will have the chance to present to a range of programmers, venues and producers.
What can the promoters and venues expect?
For the promoters and venue programmers, this new day will provide the chance to engage with creative companies at the early stages of their future projects. It will be possible to express interest in the work being pitched for future booking or potential collaborative projects as you feel is appropriate.
The second stage of bookings will open on 26 November to both promoters / venues wishing to attend Day 1 and to all the other attendees of the usual Emporium event:
- When booking the places, attendees will be able to specify whether they would like to attend Day 1, Day 2 or both.
- Just like in previous years, the bookings will close around 30 January, allowing for the selection and matching process for face to face appointments to be completed before the event.
We hope that this event will be an important step in establishing a three-way relationship between the creator, venue and audiences at the earliest possible stages of creating new work.
Further information:
Federation of Scottish Theatre is the membership and development body for professional theatre, dance and opera in Scotland. It is a network of over 160 companies, venues and freelance arts professionals based across Scotland.
Emporium is one of FST’s flagship events, which was established in 2006 and ever since has significantly increased in size (from 58 delegates in the first year to 167 delegates in 2014). The event is a theatre marketplace, allowing the artists / companies to connect with venues and promoters who are looking to book work. Over the course of the day, around 400 one-to-one meetings take place, while there is also a number of informal networking opportunities.
For more information on FST, please visit www.scottishtheatre.org or contact info@scottishtheatre.org