Alternative Structures in the Real World (do I really have to start a theatre company?) Amy Clare Tasker, 9 January 2016 Thanks to all who came to this session to talk about the infrastructure that is needed to produce work. I am an independent theatre maker, often self-producer, and have been resisting the idea of starting up a theatre company for some time. I don't know how it works over here and I've been dragging my feet on finding out. (I started my career in the U.S. and one of the things that I really like about the UK landscape is that in theory you can get funding as an individual artist.) The other thing I've been struggling with is that I don't want to work in a traditional company structure. I'm developing two really different pieces at the moment, which don't seem to me to belong under the same umbrella, and which have two completely different creative teams. The only thing they have in common is me. How could I create a company to produce both of those shows? And whatever comes next, which I think will be totally different again. (If I have a “brand” as an artist, it's that I'm always experimenting and never do the same sort of thing twice.) So this is the question that my fellow D&Ders came to help with. I'll share their advice and questions and resources, in the hope it may help others. 1. The main reason to create a company as a separate legal entity from yourself is to protect yourself from financial risk. The company is responsible for its bills and insurance, etc, not you as an individual. 2. As a company, depending on what structure you choose, you can apply for more and different pots of funding. If you're applying to the Arts Council, you can ask for amounts over £15,000. 3. The ITC (Independent Theatre Council) runs a one-day course on how to set up a company. 4. Commercial producers create a company for each show they produce, to spread out the risk from production to production - and also to separate the accounts of each production. The paperwork for this camps get tricky, though, and I was advised to set up just one company to produce all my work. 5. A company needs a board of directors, who in my case might be people from the creative teams I'm working with right now. I'll need to research more what this means for them, and what the responsibilities are. 6. The umbrella company that is producing these shows doesn't need to be splashed in big letters on all our publicity - we don't need to create a new website or identity for the company unless we want to. I can keep using my personal artist website, and be “trading as” the company for legal/financial/practical affairs. 7. It was suggested that for some grant applications which require charity status, an individual artist or small company can partner with an organisation/charity to be eligible, rather than becoming a charity themselves. 8. Another way to partner with an organisation with a different legal status is to become a resident company at a venue. 9. I have been looking for a producer to start a company with, but the feeling of the group was that the company could exist without a producer, and then hire a producer for each show. Resources for finding a producer: UK Theatre Producers Facebook group; Young Vic producers network; Producers Pool (Chris Grady). Thanks again to everyone who dropped in and out of the session! I didn't manage to collect names, but feel free to add your names in the comments or click the “I was there” button at the top. Amy Clare Tasker [email protected] Those two really different projects, if you're curious: www.amyclaretasker.com/hyphenated www.amyclaretasker.com/directors-notes/the-Helen-project Tags: financial risk, ITC, Producer, Theatre Company, Charity, legal, independent theatre maker, Funding, funding, charity, producer, theatre company