I started producing entirely by accident.
When I was 15, I decided I wanted to start a Student Ambassador’s Program at the theatre I grew up training at. I wanted to help other young artists find the connection and community I had formed in the program. One of our first initiatives was a cabaret style show/hangout – we had donated food, performances, and chances for performing arts interested teens to meet up. I thought – it’s just planning a party! How hard could it be?
Six years and four production companies later, I finally feel equipped to answer: so much harder, and so much more fulfilling than you could ever imagine.
Producing to me is like solving an escape room. You build a team of people whose brains thrill you and who you want by your side in a crisis, you walk in and have no idea how to start, and then you start finding new challenges, solving puzzles and working your way to making an idea into a tangible reality. It’s parenting, it’s mountain climbing, it’s puzzle solving, it’s dreaming, it’s bringing yourself back down to earth, it’s magic-making.
Armed with a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts Management from the University of Toronto, over half a decade of indie producing experience, and a lot of passion, determination and spunk – I’m proud to say that I make impossible things happen. I’ve worked on everything from project management (love a good Gantt chart), social media marketing and web design (like this website! Cool!), fundraising and grant writing, contract negotiations, board relations and governance, licensing deals, event management, space bookings, logistics, co-ordination, administrative tasks and 3am down to the wire pep talks.
Have a project you’re working on and need advice on how to get it off the ground? Contact me! I’d love to help you get out of the Escape Room with time to spare.
Colette Richardson 