WA Showcase 2020 is ON, and now is time to start thinking about what performing arts project you might like to speak to Western Australian presenters and communities about.
What is WA Showcase?
WA’s biggest arts and culture conference, WA Showcase presents the best opportunity you have to rub shoulders (or elbows) with ‘people who book shows,’ and who can possibly support your next project.
With a focus on ‘Arts as…’ this year, we’re taking the time to focus in on the huge range of tangible benefits that art delivers, in improving the lives and wellbeing of communities.
So this is your call to action –
Do you have a work that speaks to communities?
Does it tackle issues related to major social issues, audiences or topics?
What was your driving force behind creating the work in the first place?
Join us November 9-12, 2020 in a gathering of the most creative arts people in WA.
Pitching your show or arts project
This is your chance to tell your story to the people who present performing arts across WA. At the end, we hope to be as excited about your work as you are! Show us the heart and soul of your work, and the reason why it is something WA audiences must see and why regional centres should have it in their venues.
Benefits to pitching
There are some really amazing benefits to pitching and sharing your work or ideas with venues and other producers and artists. You will:
- Make new connections and open doors to new opportunities for collaboration and possible presentations;
- Meet the presenters face to face and solidify or develop relationships. Getting to know the presenters and understanding they and their communities needs and wants is vital;
- Get to see other work pitched and meet other artists and producers. See how others do it;
- Learn from the Professional Development sessions on offer. You will pick up some great learning for yourself and your own practise, but you will also learn about what challenges regional venues are facing, and perhaps see ways your work can support them. You’ll also learn about the practical stuff like audience development and engagement as well as funding.
- Receive feedback
- Get your show out there! The connections you make at WA Showcase will ultimately lead to touring or presentation outcomes in the future. It is your best chance to get heard above all the touring work in play.
The aim of the game is to see quality of WA work gets to tour to WA venues.
Benefits to presenting work in the regions and touring:
- It is a wonderful, rewarding and exciting experience;
- It will broaden your audiences and engage with new ones;
- It will develop your skills in producing, tour coordination and management;
- You will be contributing to the wellbeing and liveability of the state!
So, you’re ready to apply. Which category should you apply for?
There are four types of pitches at WA Showcase;
- Hello – A 5-minute presentation with no tech that is an update or an introduction to an artist, venue or organisation. (This is not a pitch).
- Call Me – A 10-minute ‘pitch’ session for artists and organisations with tour-ready work.
- Get Together – A session designed to allow for a dialogue in a small group providing a forum to support creative projects that require deeper discussion/ explanation/ understanding and where the project will benefit from or requires a closer relationship between the parties involved. For example, this may be a work in development or discussion of a process or you may be seeking feedback on ideas. We see this as a 30-minute conversation between interested presenters and you.
- More than Words – 15-minute session comprising of a 10-minute performance excerpt from your production and 5-minutes of pre or post performance presentation
We are also looking for interest in performing as part of the event at Subiaco Arts Centre. If you are interested in performing a full-length work as part of the program, please indicate this in your application.
If you’re still not quite sure which category you should apply for, feel free to give CircuitWest a call, 6202 1042.
Can I apply with more than one work?
Yes. Please complete a separate application form for each show you are wanting assessed by the panel. You might have a tour ready work that’s best suited to ‘Call Me’ and a work still in development that’s best suited for ‘Get Together’.
How will my show/ project get chosen to pitch?
Applications to pitch are assessed by a curatorial panel.
As of 2020 we have aligned our priorities with DLGSC criteria, which are currently used in the assessing the Playing WA grant. The panel will now consider the following when assessing your application:
- Quality: demonstrated by quality of content of your application, stage of development and intent of the work, your support materials, and the skills and experience of the people involved in the activity.
- Good planning: realistic, achievable, considered – demonstrated by accurate and realistic budgets, time frames, engagement plans and technical considerations.
- Reach: diversity of content and genre or voice, scale of work, flexibility, engagement, participation, where the outcomes align with those of communities/ venues and marketing
What happens after my pitch at WA Showcase?
CircuitWest collate the presenter interest in each pitch straight after the event, and pass onto you/ the producer the contact information for you to get in touch directly and keep those conversations going.
We recommend that as part of your preparations to pitch, you build a pack of information that can be provided in an email or DropBox. Include things like show information, video, images, reviews, some commentary from you about why the show is a good fit for regional communities, tech specs, costs, and any community/ audience engagement opportunities that exist.
If you receive a large amount of interest from presenters, CircuitWest may offer tour coordination services to you, to help get the tour up. As part of this service, CircuitWest will help to liaise with the presenters, build the itinerary, fine-tune your budgets, work with you to apply for a Playing WA (regional touring) grant, and write up contracts. If successful in the grant, we would engage in a contract with you and the presenters to deliver the tour. You remain the ‘producer’ (and lead the delivery of the show/ product) and we just take care of the tour coordination.
I’m ready to apply!
Great. Visit the ‘Pitching Page’ on the WA Showcase 2020 website http://www.showcasewa.com.au/pitching, watch our gorgeous new video for some inspiration and complete your application form.
Still got questions?
If you have any further questions about pitching, preparing your product or WA Showcase in general, please reach out to Rebecca at CircuitWest on tourcoordinator@circuitwest.com.au or 6202 1042 for a chat. We’re here to help!