Your reports Find reports How do we support small scale companies to make them more sustainable? How do we support small scale companies to make them more sustainable? elaine knight, 26 September 2012 Elaine, Kirsty, Chris, Simon, Wendy, Kathryn Is this necessarily a bad thing? Why are companies not sustainable? - shift in funding - venues and rural touring schemes booking a year ahead - perception that local isn't good enough - venues need to feed back as to why they aren't booking - regional ‘showcases’ to see new work - small scale is often seen as too risky and unknown Some solutions: - companies need to think of other ways they can be supported, funding isn't always the only answer - free advise, rehearsal space, ask for letters of support - be prepared to work on partnership projects to broaden horizons - CPD - work with venues, other companies, NPO's to sign post to collaboration and nurture and develop new companies - think about new business models - understand the audiences of the venues you are trying to ask to book you - is your show relevant to them? - Don't expect to be booked just because you are based in the local area. There needs to be an appropriate product - Connectivty of organisations such as LOV to work together to greater support companies, ie Catalysty, Grants for the Arts etc - Exploit the work in your repetory to enable more people to see the work ie - tour 2 pieces at the same time with 2 different groups of actors etc - Don't get stuck in a rut Tags: understanding audiences, Funding, funding, Partnership working