It's been a busy time at March For The Arts, with protest planning well under way. But it's business as usual for our Friday opportunities post.
As always, we have a mix of rolling, still open and new listings for you.
So please, read on, and we hope you find something helpful.
WELL BEING
The Theatre Helpline is a free (from mobiles and landlines), independent
and confidential phone and email service that provides support to people working in the theatre industry. It’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round
The number to call is: 0800 915 4617
Or visit https://theatrehelpline.org/ for
more information
Leading a movement against suicide. Open to all, they also have campaigns for males facing mental health struggles. Call: 0800 58 58 58. The helpline and webchat is open to all and can be accessed 5pm – Midnight every day, 365 days a year. Or visit their website here.
The wonderful people at Freelancers Make Theatre Work have links to some great resources to help with supporting mental wellbeing.
There are links to various avenues, including counselling services and peer to peer support.
To have a look and see if any may be of benefit to you or someone you know, follow the link here to take you to the page.
FUNDING
Theatre
Acting For Others is a consortium of 14 member charities set up to help provide financial and emotional support to professionals within the theatre.
Get into Theatre is a one stop shop of ways into a career in theatre. They have sections on training, experience and funding.
With information on courses and funding, this website is a useful resource whether you are a newbie to it all, or an experienced professional looking for further development.
Emerging theatre makers and directors!
The Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme offer paid professional development schemes for theatre directors.
Applications are open for RTYD's 18-month residency, which provides paid opportunities for emerging directors to spend time in a regional building-based company as a resident assistant director.
For more info and how to apply click here.
Deadline: Monday 12 October 2020 at noon.
Front of House and Backstage Workers
If you work backstage or front of house and are struggling right now then The Theatrical Guild might be a good place to look, they have set up a great resource for theatre workers at any stage of their career. It includes help with finances, funding, counselling and training. You can apply for help here, and if you aren't eligible, they will pass you onto an organisation that can help.
Playwrights and Writers
PRiSM, the RNCM Centre for Practice & Research in Science & Music, is seeking to appoint a visiting Writer for a 12-month residency period to begin in January 2021. They will be expected to undertake and original research project and contribute to the blog and give a final presentation.
The fee for successful applicants is £6000.
The Closing Date for applications is 23 October 2020.
For more details and what's involved follow the link here.
The Peggy Ramsay foundation is a charity set up to help give theatre writers the space and time to write. If you have had a play professionally produced, you can qualify for support.
To find out more details on eligibility and how to apply click here.
If you're a playwright you'll be pleased to know there is a new prize from the wonderful people at Hope Mill Theatre called Through the Mill. The winner receives £5000, and their play will be produced by the theatre. The finalists will receive on to one mentoring with Jonathon Harvey. Find out more about how to apply here.
Deadline for submissions: 27th November 2020
The Society of Authors has set up the Authors' Emergency fund.
Open to all professional authors who are resident in the UK, including writers, illustrators, literary translators, scriptwriters, poets, journalists and others. Note: those who have had ACE emergency response fund are ineligible for this grant. Find out how to apply here.
Theatre Uncut have opened their Political Playwriting Award for 2020. The winner will receive £9,500 and the deadline for submissions is 7th October 2020.
Radio
Are you a writer who's always been tempted by radio? The Alfred Bradley Bursary Award opens for applications on the 25th September. It's a £5000 bursary for a writer in the north of England who is new to writing for radio. Check it out.
Outdoor Arts
Have an outdoor show ready to book? Outdoor Arts UK have created an online directory for shows that are able to be performed in the current climate accounting for social distancing and safety measures for both artists and audiences. It’s a straightforward form to fill in, which you can do here.
Community Arts
The Police Commissioner for Merseyside is able to award charitable grants to organisations that deliver community projects that reduce crime, improve public safety or support victims.
You must be a charity, community group or social enterprise based in Merseyside.
You can read more about this award and how to apply here.
Closing date for applications: 5pm on Monday 28th September
Music Industry
Music Support is a charity who offer support and resources for those within any area of the UK music industry suffering from mental, emotional and behavioural health disorders. Find out more.
The Association of Independent Music has opened a crisis fund for music contractors and freelance workers in the independent music industry, whose source of income has been severed without warning due to lost work in April and May as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It's an ongoing fund and you can join here to apply.
Help Musicians is an independent UK charity for professional musicians of all genres, from starting out through to retirement.
They are a great resource for funding, information including health and wellbeing.
Below are two of their funding opportunities currently open for applications.
The award is open to emerging jazz musicians and groups with the creativity, ambition and commitment to develop a sustainable career in jazz. The fund is looking for proposals that will help artists to reach the next stage in their career.
Deadline: Monday 14th October
PRS Foundation have two opportunities open at the moment:
The fund can support projects by songwriters, composers, or artists, bands, producers and performers who are writing their own music or commissioning others.
The fund can support projects by women, trans and non binary songwriters, composers, artists, bands and performers who are writing their own music.
The deadline for both funds is: 5th October 2020 / Decision by: 15th December 2020
You can also sign up to their newsletter for further info.
Live /Performance Art
Emergency 2020 is a live socially distanced walkthough event being held at The Contact Theatre in Manchester.
They have put out an open call for artists to submit instillation based durational work that can be repeated over a 4 hour period. Loops are suggested as to be 10 mins max.
For more information about what they are looking for and how to apply click here.
Deadline for proposals is Friday 9 October, 5pm.
Black Artists
Creative Debuts have established the Black Artists Grant, which is on a rolling system so there is no deadline. Once a month £1500 will be given to black artists in the UK with each artist receiving £500. If you want to put yourself forward for a grant, you can find out more about how to do that here.
have created a screen writing bursary to address the under representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic writers in the UK
The scheme offers five successful applicants £20,000 each to be trained and guided through the development process of writing their own original screenplay.
Applications are open 21 September - 9 October 2020
And if yo want more information including how to apply, you can follow the link here.
D/deaf and disabled Artists
Graeae are offering free support to Deaf and disabled freelancers thanks to support from Arts Council England and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Support includes: access support for zoom meetings, purchase or loan of technology, help getting projects off the ground, and help with personal finance applications. More info here.
ArtsAdmin and Shape Arts have been co producing Unlimited since 2013, which is the worlds largest disability arts commissioning programme.
Professionally established disabled artists or companies that support disabled-led work across all artforms and who are based in England and Wales (unfortunately artists based in Scotland cannot apply for this award). Are invited to apply for commissions for up to £60,000 to fund projects.
The first stage is Expression of Interest and the portal for applications open on 1 October until 27 October 2020. For more details about the commission and the criteria follow the link here.
LGBTQIA+ Artists
Consortium are a national specialist infrastructure and Membership organisation created to help support LGBT+ communities.
As well as supporting members, it leads on projects, creates networking and funding opportunities.
Thanks to The National Emergencies Trust, funding is available to address the additional needs of LGBT+ people and communities most adversely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic
Any UK based non-profit group, organisation or project that works with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans + (LGBT+) people is welcome to apply.
There is no deadline, with funding being assigned on a rolling basis until all the funding has been awarded.
VISUAL
The Rebel Zine are looking for submissions.
It is a project that aims to create and artistic record of the work the Extinction Rebellion.
If you are connected to XR and would like to submit work it is free to do so and you will retain the copyright of your work.
You can find more information about the project here.
"Please also note that we do not “represent” XR. We are a group of rebels trying to engage artistically with the incredible work that XR does – and to document what happens so future rebels
may learn from it."
In Situ are an arts organisation based in Pendle Lancashire.
Through collaborations, they work alongside the local community to create visible, self-sustaining art and culture.
They currently have two residencies open for applications. One for established and one for emerging artists. The residencies aim to give artists with socially engaged practices an opportunity to test out new ways of working in response to the new restrictions brought about by COVID.
For information about the company and how to apply click here.
Deadline for applications: Sunday 4th October
VARIOUS
The Responsa Foundation curates contemporary art projects exploring our intolerance to others. They support projects by either inviting artists to partake in projects, or funding proposals submitted by artists.
The Foundation's objective is, 'promote the belief that the history of intolerance repeats itself. By producing art that people engage with, we can find ways of exploring this difficult subject matter together and get it out there.'
If you are an artist who feels passionately about this, or is interested in creating work exploring these themes, you can find out more information about the foundation and their application guidelines here.
RESOURCES/TRAINING
The Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse are taking applications for their playwrights programme. It is a free programme, which invites up to eight writers to explore the fundamentals of playwriting.
The group sessions will run in two terms: The term runs from 22 Oct to 17 Dec 2020 and Jan to May 2021. The programme meet fortnight on Thursday evenings between 6pm and 8.30pm.
Deadline for Submissions: Mon 5th Oct 2020
For more details and how to apply follow the link here.
Screen Skills have a range of opportunities and resources available to those interested in the Film and TV industry.
Ranging from free zoom events, study modules and training courses, there is plenty to have a look at. you can do so here
LADA - Live Art Digital Agency are running a six-week collectively-generated course on and in Fat Performance for fat people.
Held online, via zoom and facilitated by Gillie Kleiman it will bring together 12 participants to engage in reading, watching, talking and participate in short creative assignments.
"It will also be an opportunity to talk about fatness in our worlds of performance, share our experiences, and support one another to work to dismantle anti-fatness through, with, in and beyond Live Art."
Deadline for applications 11:55pm, Wednesday 30 September
We highly recommend reading the information about the course and what it entails. To do so follow the link here.
The Octagon Bolton currently have a range of online writing workshops for only £7 each. There are three available with playwrights Zoe Cooper, Juliet Gilkes Romero and Sarah McDonald-Hughes.
MENTORS AND MENTEES!
Arts Emergency offer mentoring and networking opportunities to young people looking to get started in a career in the creative industries.
Mentors work voluntarily with a young person over the course of a year, meeting monthly to set goals, explore higher education, creative projects and careers.
If you feel you have something to offer and are interested in becoming a mentor, you can find out more information here, including about the training process.
Aged between 16-25 and looking for guidance and advice from an industry professional? To apply to get a mentor, follow the link here.
The deadline to apply is midnight Sunday 18 October.
Writing On The Wall are offering a FREE 10 week online course.
Write to Work is aimed at developing the writing skills and confidence you need to find the job you want. This next course, beginning on Tuesday 6th October 2020.
The course will be hosted by published writers and industry professionals, all offering their personal insights and tips for success.
You can read the eligibility criteria and other information, including how to apply, by following the link here.
Application deadline is Friday 25th September at 12pm.
Did you know you could apply to The Arts Council get your podcast funded?
Neither did we.
This free zoom talk from Broccoli Content's #AnthemTalks series discusses how you can go about doing such a thing. To register to attend the event follow the link here.
Manchester based artist?
Seen a show at The Royal Exchange?
If so then joining the Open Exchange may be a help. An online community designed to connect other local artists and offer resources and training opportunities, you can check it out here in more detail, to see how it could help you.
Collective Creative Initiative is a project created by the people behind Pearson Casting.
A fantastic project, it is in essence, a bucket load of FREE resources for everyone consisting of 30 hours of online classes and workshops. All webinars are free and fully funded until December 1st 2020.
To check it out and see what webinars, online classes and Q&A's are happening and how to access them, follow the link here.
If you work within the arts sector, or certainly have a professional interest, you may find Arts Professionals a good place to find content.
It has sections on Jobs, News and Professional Development.
Out on the page is a place of support and connection for LGBTQ+ writers.
It offers many resources including Writing Retreats, Networking, Information sharing, Q&As with established LGBTQ+ writers and Online Events.
You can find more information about them, and a list of what events are happening here.
The Bruntwood Prize have published a fantastic toolkit for anyone who wants to make a start or develop their practice with writing a play. Check it out.
Are you a woman with a new business?
Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, is offering 10 Women in Innovation Awards to female entrepreneurs across the UK. The winners will receive a £50,000 grant and a bespoke package of mentoring, coaching and business support.
They are keen to fund work that focus on societal, environmental and economic challenges and ideas can come from any area of innovation and this includes art design and media.
Competition closes: Wednesday 14 October 2020 11:00am
All the information about the competition can be found here.
That's All Folks!
But see you in seven days, for another round. We hope you found some useful information you can use, or send to a friend.
Have a great week you can check out further information about the protest march that is happening Saturday 3rd October 12pm starting at the Met. Cathedral here.
See you then!
MFTA x
Heard about a great opportunity, or have an opportunity to offer?
You can let us know by sending us a email - info@marchforthearts.com
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