ARTS & SOCIAL MEDIA ALIVE! But Not Kicking

One could almost hear the collective salivation at the mention of an opportunity for building audiences. It is, after all, touchstone of the OzCo charter and a Light On The Hill for arts marketers across the land. While the report looks extensively at how current audiences are using technology – there’s a bit of head scratching around how exactly we can get our box-office mitts on that elusive new audience…

TURN IT UP: ALL THE WAY TO ELEVEN

GAME CHANGER
Some commentary on recent developments at Belvoir St Theatre

As reported, the big news this week is the shifting fortunes of the downstairs theatre, which has such a place in our hearts that scarcely an artist in Sydney hasn’t been involved in a show there at some point in the last ten years or so. So it’s no surprise that it sort of feels like ‘our’ space. Well news flash: it ain’t no more, and never was. The good folks at Belvoir have been kind enough to let independent companies operate through their B Sharp season over the years – and it’s been a win-win scenario in many ways; diversifying the audience for Company B and allowing the sector to flourish. But like all plants raised in fertile ground, in twelve years it’s grown bigger than anyone could have imagined. So the powers that be have taken what they see as a necessary pruning measure. And haven’t the howls rung out as what was never really ours to begin with gets taken away. I’ve only got one thing to say about that for now. Get over yourselves.

MAINSTRRRM IN A TEACUP

…after the furore of the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards had settled (has it?); it occurred to me that there was a writer’s festival on, and I really should get a wriggle onto being there. And maybe tell a few people what happened. But that’s a story for another day, as one conversation lead to the conclusion that We Need to Talk About Funding, Kevin – what’s thirty grand in the scheme of things when Ms Blanchett asked for thirty million back in February and scarcely got a mention in the Federal Arts budget? Apparently business as usual is good enough for those of us struggling to get a snifter of a wage in creating new Australian theatre.