Producer (Immersive Arts)

Salary: £34,364 per annum

Watershed is looking for a Producer to work on their new Immersive Arts programme, which will commission and support a new wave of artists to make and share extraordinary immersive work.

Purpose of job

Immersive Arts will convene, commission and support a new wave of artists to make and share extraordinary immersive work. The programme brings together two universities, four producing venues and UK-wide expertise from organisations with specialist expertise around inclusion, training, showcasing and research. The partners – Pervasive Media Studio (Watershed, UWE Bristol, University of Bristol, England), Wales Millennium Centre (Wales), Nerve Centre (Northern Ireland), Cryptic (Scotland), Crossover Labs, Unlimited, XR Diversity Initiative and Immerse UK – are united by an ongoing commitment to support artists and reach audiences while building equity in the sector.

In three years, we will commission over 200 artists to engage, experiment and explore the possibilities of immersive technology. We will create inclusive opportunities for artists of all backgrounds, from across the four nations and multiple languages of the UK to bring their creativity to the fore. Through an integrated programme of research, we will capture and share insight and learning about what works best for the wider sector. We will establish a powerful network of practice and exhibition within which a distinctive UK immersive arts sector can emerge and flourish.

Immersive Arts is supported by a new funding consortium; the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Arts Council England, Arts Council Scotland, Arts Council Northern Ireland, and Creative Scotland. We aim to act as a creative catalyst, raising profile and ambition, and generating a culture in three years that becomes the foundation for the next twenty.

Read more in our latest News Post.

Hours: Full time
Contract type: Fixed Term – Contract runs until 31 Jan 2027

Main responsibilities

• First point of contact for artists based in England, brokering connections and signposting opportunity.
• Drafting briefing documents for our opportunities and supporting the assessment process for artists applying to our opportunities.
• Producing workshops, training sessions, peer to peer networking and public sharing events.
• Leading relationships with the artists attached to Watershed; helping them to define their vision, identify audiences and ensuring access to structured and bespoke support.
• Managing the Watershed delivery budget in line with Watershed teams and systems and in dialogue with Programme Partners.
• Feeding in local context to national programme and learning from partners to evolve our own practice in line with the aims of the programme.
• Work with partners’ Communications Departments to contribute towards the production and publishing of marketing and publicity material.
• Working with the Research Team and partners to support the evaluation and learning outcomes.
• Support the legacy of the programme through consideration of how learning can feed into other areas of work.
• Represent Watershed and the programme at events/receptions/conferences.

Key performance indicators

• Artists on the programme are well supported and connected to opportunity so that participation has a positive impact on their career development.
• Work that the Artists on the programme create is original and relevant to audiences (as demonstrated through engagement and critical feedback).
• Programme strands are well delivered; including production plans, contracting, risk assessments, health and safety (including safeguarding), budgets and cash flow.
• Commissioning opportunities are structured and communicated well and all agreed processes, principles and policies for decision making are implemented consistently.
• The principles of the programme and Watershed are embodied and there is active learning where mistakes are made.

Essential criteria

• Experience of producing projects with artists who are experimenting with new technologies.
• Experience of relationship management and working within partnership projects.
• Experience of managing budgets.
• Able to communicate clearly – presentations and conversations with stakeholders form a significant part of the role
• Understanding of how artists work and the support that they need in developing new work.

Further information

To see further details of the position and how to apply, please visit our website.

The closing date for this position is 28/02/2024 at 17:00