Profession venue programmer

Venue programmers are in charge of the artistic programme of a venue (theatres, cultural centers, concert halls etc.) or of temporary settings (festivals). They follow artistic trends and up-coming artists, keep in contact with bookers and agents to build a consistent programme and encourage artistic creation. All of this happens within the boundaries of the artistic and financial scope of the organisation they are involved in.   

Personality Type

• Enterprising / Conventional
• Enterprising / Investigative

Knowledge

• Business management principles

  Principles governing business management methods such as strategy planning, methods of efficient production, people and resources coordination.

Skills

• Monitor programming finances

  Oversee the monitoring of the budgets for each production, and find as many funds and sponsors as necessary in order to contribute to the financial optimisation of the production.

• Program artistic productions

  Set up a complete season planning. Meet all requirements in terms of resources, budget and staff, both overall and per production. Ensure compliance with the limits of personnel required by the business direction.

• Draw up artistic programming policy

  Formulate ideas, possible plans and concepts concerning the artistic policy in the medium and short term. More specifically, focus on the season programming in order to contribute to the development of a coherent, high quality and realistic policy by the artistic direction.

• Manage venue programme

  Coordinate the artists' tour agenda and availability with the seasonal venue program and respect the deadlines.

• Negotiate artistic productions

  Negotiate the terms for artistic productions with the selected companies, keeping within the budgetary limits prepared by the business leadership.

• Engage artistic staff

  Search for and engage appropriate staff for upcoming artistic events and productions by recruiting talented and competent employees in order to carry out high-quality artistic projects.

• Keep up with trends

  Monitor and follow new trends and developments in specific sectors.

• Communicate in English in a competent way

  Competent use of English; R351refers to level C1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

• Promote event

  Generate interest in an event by carrying out promotion actions, such as placing ads or distributing flyers

• Select artistic productions

  Research artistic productions and choose which ones could be included in the programme. Initiate contact with the company or agent.

• Coordinate operational activities

  Synchronise activities and responsibilities of the operational staff to ensure that the resources of an organisation are used most efficiently in pursuit of the specified objectives.

• Coordinate artistic production

  Oversee the day-to-day coordination of production tasks so that the organisation fits within the desired artistic and business policies and in order to present productions in a uniform corporate identity to the public.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB