Producing
I am an events and project producer with experience producing one-off events for both large audiences and small groups, recurring events for a growing audience and long-term projects which I have built from the ground-up.
OUT OF YOUR HEAD!
It is ‘an event for those of us who think too much and share too little.’
I began producing it in March of 2022, when the idea was to create a one-off event to raise money for a local charity, but before that first event even happened, it was clear that OOYH! was going to amount to a lot more than just one eventI design all assets and posters, run the social media, liase with and book performers and produce and host the event on the night
The audience (both on social media, and in person, has grown exponentially since the first event, and I have lots of exciting plans for OOYH! in the near future.
In 2024, I was commissioned by Helix Arts to produce ‘Narrative Shift’, with the aim of Changing narratives around queerness and disability via spoken word.
Narrative shift is currently in progress and I am producing the project as well as facilitating across two groups. It will be a 6 session spoken word project for people who are both LGBTQIA+ and disabled (of any experience level) to work with me to create a permanent online exhibition.
The project was open to anyone who identifies as both LGBTQIA+ and disabled wanting to get involved with the work Helix Arts does to reframe narratives, especially for those who are often spoken about or for in mainstream media and history.
This project will culminate in a set of recorded spoken word poems from participants which will be added to a permanent online exhibition that I will curate.
This project is supported by core funding from Arts Council England.
One-off events
Here are two examples of one-off events I have produced (or supported the production of) :
Curious Arts
As part of my work with the Curious Arts Newcastle Youth Group, I organised many one-off trip events for the group. One of which was a two-part experience for the young people to interact with Northern Print, a local charity based in Ouseburn.
In December of 2021 I organised for two members of Northern Print to visit the group in their usual space and do a beginners printing workshop where the young people made christmas cards or cards for friends and family. This was a way to ease the group into a new craft, and get them excited about it.
A few months later, I organised taking the group in a trip to the Northern Print studio for an intensive beginner printing class, where the young people got to try out lots of different techniques and equipment for printmaking with a professional.
West Start, West Middle, West End
I facilitated the Poet in the City Newcastle Producers Programme, walking them through the process of producing an event from scratch. All participants had minimal or no experience in events production at the start.
I assisted the group through the whole process of production, helping them with coming up with the initial concept and ideas, advertising, design for marketing, liaising with and booking acts, catering and all of the other aspects of the event.
I assisted production in the run-up to the event and on the day. The outcome was a brilliant culmination of all of the hard work of the producers in a final event called ‘West-Start, West-Middle, West-End’, celebrating and welcoming acts and audiences from the West-End of Newcastle.
Acts included poetry from Tahmina Ali, Music from Black Moss and a group performance from the young people involved withNew Writing North’s Excelsior Academy project.
Long – Term Projects
Here are two examples of long-term projects I have produced :
Queer Joy Captured
I produce the Queer Joy Captured project, which provides free affirming photography services for the local Trans and Queer community.
I work with the brilliant photographer Thom Robson (whose idea QJC was), and I do the production and admin side of things – designing assets, booking participants and running the social media. I also came up with the name, logo and brand idenity.
It was important to me that this project was done right and reached who it needed to reach. After only a few conversations with Thom, I knew the direction QJC could go in.
We, ultimately, want to create and capture Queer joy. We also want to share it, to show the world that Trans and Queer people will always be here and have been here all along, and experience such joy not currently being shown by any mainstream media.
Generation Lockdown Writes
In 2020, I was asked to run a creative writing competition for 7 – 17 year olds called Generation Lockdown Writes. The goal was to have 5 winners from each age category published in an anthology.
I wrote for the website, got guest judges on board, narrowed the large amount of submissions down to 15 per category and ran the social media for Generation Lockdown Writes.
We had a published author judge each category. These authors included Chris Callaghan, Ross Welford, Cathy Cassidy and Lisa Heathfield.
After the judges made their decisions, I emailed winners and edited the manuscript together, writing an introduction for each chapter.
“I met Amy at their event OOYH, the welcoming atmosphere a direct result of the hard work they have done to cultivate a positive space in the poetry scene.
When it came time for me to start working on an idea, I knew Amy was the person to go to for advice. […] Their expertise, contacts, and ideas would see [Queer Joy Captured] become an ongoing success, I couldn’t do it without them.
Amy’s organisational skills, friendly demeanor, and enthusiasm makes them very easy to work with […] Their presence on photoshoots and hosting at OOYH! puts everyone at ease.”
– Thomas Robson (Photographer and co-creator of Queer Joy Captured)
“I met Amy at their event OOYH, the welcoming atmosphere a direct result of the hard work they have done to cultivate a positive space in the poetry scene.
When it came time for me to start working on an idea, I knew Amy was the person to go to for advice. […] Their expertise, contacts, and ideas would see [Queer Joy Captured] become an ongoing success, I couldn’t do it without them.
Amy’s organisational skills, friendly demeanor, and enthusiasm makes them very easy to work with […] Their presence on photoshoots and hosting at OOYH! puts everyone at ease.”
– Thomas Robson (Photographer and co-creator of Queer Joy Captured)
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