It’s been a big year for the Circus and Physical Theatre Independent Producers Initiative (CIPI)! 

CIPI encompasses 3 different programs that support and develop Victorian producers of circus and physical theatre including the Emerging Producers Lab, the CaPT Salon Series, and the CaPT Coaching Program.  

The Emerging Producers Lab 

In April we launched the CaPT Emerging Producers Lab that supports 4 Victorian producers of circus and physical theatre facilitating their professional development and capacity to work with CaPT artists and organisations.  

Our amazing cohort of producers is Dylan Singh, Samantha Martin, Karina Schiller, and Harlow Carey.  

Since then, the four producers have attended a meeting once a month with an expert guest presenter diving deep into the topics, skills and conversations the group selected as most urgent or relevant to developing their independent CaPT producing practices.  

In June the Lab had Kate Malone from Cluster Arts present on pitching circus works to arts marketplaces in Australia and overseas and how to build a strategy for pitching as an independent.  

In the July session Lauren Eisinger from Lauren Eisinger Productions discussed how to build a sustainable CaPT producing practice including models of producing, building relationships with presenters and structuring your capacity.  

And in November the Lab had Natano Fa’anana from Casus Creations facilitate a discussion on cultural safety and inclusivity in circus and physical theatre and the actions producers can take in their projects and collaborations. 

Throughout the 12-month Lab program the producers are also paid as employees of TNA, employed to work 2 days a week on their independent producing practices, as well as a mental wellbeing allowance to put towards accessing mental health support.  

The CaPT Salon Series 

The Salon Series includes professional development sessions, networking and peer learning for the wider Victorian CaPT sector across 18 months. 

In February we delved into producing for circus beyond the Fringes with a free webinar on applying to pitch CaPT works at arts marketplaces looking closely at Showcase Victoria. In May at a free in-person workshop with the inimitable Kate Sulan we learnt how to facilitate groups and mediate conflict in working relationships. Over our full-day Producing Fundamentals event in July, attendees heard from guest presenters on how to build a holistic database and network, discussed intercultural collaborating, and explored pathways for CaPT producers through a roundtable discussion. And in our free grant writing workshop in December we approached grant applications from the perspective of peer assessors gaining insight into what makes a strong application.  

We have four more Salon events planned for 2024. 

The Peer Coaching Program 

We also held the first instalment of the CaPT Coaching Program pairing emerging and established producers for paid one-on-one mentoring sessions.  

If you’d like to receive information about the Salon events coming up in 2024 including another round of the Coaching Program, sign up for the TNA e-news and CaPT bulletin at the bottom of this page.