CREATIVE PRODUCING PROGRAM

CREATIVE PRODUCING PROGRAM

envisioning the future of creative production…

The Call: Adapt to a changing creative landscape by examining the role of the creative producer across disciplines and practices.

The Outcome: An global cohort of twenty two interdisciplinary creative producers assembled at Ars Electronica to author, deconstruct, and re-author a Manifesto for Creative Producing.

The Impact: An evolved, common language to articulate the value and values creative producers bring to a process.

As interdisciplinary collaboration emerges as a vital linchpin in an increasingly interconnected world, the role of the creative producer is rising to the fore. They typically operate as transformative agents steering creative processes with fluidity rather than force. But little theory exists that unites a mostly self-defined practice and makes legible their value, which is often uncredited, unrecognized, or unpaid. Along with my producing partner, Lizzie Crouch, we partnered with the renown Ars Electronica Festival and put out a global call to gathering…

We received applications from Boston to Brisbane, and over six weeks convened a cohort of twenty-two interdisciplinary creative practitioners online. I designed and facilitated the structure for this interrogative space, toggling the group between playful experimentation and critical synthesis to reveal unexpected layers and insights into our practice. Collectively, we compiled our findings into A Manifesto for Creative Producing, which provided new language for defining the act and occupation of creative production.

It became the basis for several professional collaborations, citations in academic research, courses of study, and award-winning projects. Two years latter, Lizzie and I reconvened the cohort in person at the Ars Electronica festival and opened the floor for more voices to break down and reassemble the manifesto in alignment with our growing understanding of how creative producers drive both value and values.

  • "I found that my participation in the program was genuinely transformative..."

    "The program gave shape and language for what was previously an instinctive approach and provided additional tools to not only work better and more efficiently, but to BE better as a collaborator, a producer, and as a citizen of the world."

    —Justin Berry, Yale Center for Collaborative Arts and Media

  • "The process of collective building...and the interaction with this amazing group of progressive thinkers enriched me in so many ways..."

    I’m only glad that it did not end there!

    —Zeynep Birsel, WAAG

  • "The biggest impact was having fun, inspiring, and ego-less conversations at a deep level with thoughtful people..."

    “The ideas that were shared helped me to broaden my own perspectives and develop a stronger sense of trust in people, the process and collaboration.”

    —Kazz Morohashi, Japanese American National Museum

  • "Being part of the program allowed me to think of my skill set differently..."

    “It allowed me to see that I could bring the creative producing mindset that I use in my own artistic practice to other people’s projects.”

    —Illya Szilak

The program and its continuing projects serve as a record of the evolving way creative production is understood by those who practice it

Using this language to advocate for their value, many participants have now navigated to their first role under the formal title of Creative Producer

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