FREELANCERS MAKE THEATRE WORK
WEEKLY MEETING MINUTES
09:30-11:30, FRIDAY 19 March
Big Freelancer Report
Tuesday is the desired date to publish The Big Freelancer Report. The Access team is working hard to make sure we have the right provisions in place for when it comes out.
Core Values
These are almost solidified and we are aiming to make these distributable as soon as possible.
The Stage
The Stage is running a multi-day ticketed event where industry leaders talk about the future of theatre.
- We have advocated for freelancers to be on the panel and are in ongoing discussions with them to suggest who.
- To make this open to freelancers, The Stage has offered us free tickets available to freelancers, which they have asked us to distribute. We will distribute this as a link (provided by The Stage) through our newsletter.
- We will touch base with The Stage to encourage them to reach out to other groups so that we are not the sole distributor and so that we are including as many as possible in the event.
- We will also ask about what accessibility they plan to have for the event.
- In the lead-up to the event, they are also running a series of free events if you’re a Stage subscriber.
National Theatre Workshops
By Monday we are hoping to confirm ten facilitators for an upcoming opportunity for our community.
Future Guests
We have invited Amanda Parker in again from Inc Arts to speak to us about challenging racist structures within the arts. We would also like to sign up to the IncArts Charter and see how we can make it an active piece of work within our group.
Culture Commons
Culture Commons was set up to bridge the gap between culture, creative industries, networks, smaller organisations, and individuals with decision makers. Trevor MacFarlane and JP Cherrington joined us to discuss the cross-party 10 point pledge they’ve developed for Metro Mayors to commit to.
The pledge will hopefully be signed by mayoral candidates. All people who are/aren’t unionised/part of a movement or political party but feel passionately about this, can send it to their Metro mayoral candidates and say they will vote based on who signs up to the pledge and who does not. There will be an online tool to help with this. Meanwhile, Culture Commons will be working in briefings, meetings, the press to drive this home.
Where this is happening
- They do not have a London pledge because of Sadiq Khan’s work toward a cultural strategy already.
- It’s specific to Metro Mayors, speaking to the 10 places elections are happening.
- It is not currently addressing anything happening in devolved nations.
Other discussion points
- Culture Commons is demonstrating that they can build policy with Metro mayors, which should serve as an example to what unions can be doing.
- We questioned whether or not the nature of the pledge as a cross-party policy will embrace inclusivity to the degree that we at FMTW would strive for.