Artistiek producent / Creative producer

NTGent is looking for a creative producer to strengthen its team. We are looking for someone who knows the (international) field inside out, understands how artistic processes work, and recognises that the best productions come about when vision, people and resources come together at the right moment. 

NTGent is a dynamic city theatre that challenges, inspires and moves a diverse audience. With provocative productions and theatre as an engine for social debate, NTGent connects the perspective of Ghent to international activities. 

The two artistic lines Art & New Technology and Art, Well-being & Rituals, along with the city itself, form an urban fabric, the basis of a many-faceted house of creators where different generations of artists work together. NTGent is constantly in search of new forms of theatre. It addresses major issues and tours with its productions throughout Flanders and the world.

As a sustainable and accessible theatre, firmly rooted in the city with venues at the KNS and Minnemeers, NTGent plays a pioneering role in the performing arts landscape. Here, art is seen as a connecting, transforming and healing power. 

Its artistic directors – Yves Degryse and Barbara Raes – have chosen a shared and caring form of leadership alongside the business director, Daan Vander Steene. They are currently working with a wide range of makers, including Luanda Casella, BERLIN, Lara Staal, Ferenc Balcaen, Beyond the Spoken, Werktoneel and collectives such as Ontroerend Goed, Wolf Wolf and Wunderbaum. Internationally, NTGent is producing plays by Tiago Rodrigues, Julian Hetzel and the collective Wu Tsang/Moved by the Motion. Together, they form the polyphonic and pluralist house of creators that is NTGent. 

For the further development of its activities, NTGent is looking for a creative producer to work on artistic strategy and implementation – from the initial idea to the final show in Ghent, after the touring period – and, along with the team, to ensure a good alignment between the artistic activities and the business and organisational side.

In this capacity, the creative producer will form part of the artistic team and Studio Verbeelding, and they will help manage the artistic projects along with the other team managers (production, technical, and business).

JOB DESCRIPTION    

The creative producer operates alongside the artistic directors and, as a member of the artistic team and Studio Verbeelding, works closely with the business, production and technical teams. You are not the implementor of an artistic agenda but a co-architect of that agenda. You combine a sharp artistic judgement with strategic insight, a strong network and the organisational power to make concepts and artistic ideas stick. You move with equal ease in a creative conversation with a maker, a project meeting or a European subsidy application.

This is a role for someone who is thoroughly familiar with the terrain (also internationally), who knows how artistic processes live and breathe, and understands that the best productions emerge when vision, people and resources come together at the right moment.

RESPONSIBILITIES 

1. Artistic strategy 

Along with the artistic directors, you will be responsible for the development and elaboration of NTGent’s artistic strategy. This means that you will be among those determining the long-term direction the theatre will take: what issues and tendencies are the crucial ones, what blind spots does NTGent wish to seek out, and how do artistic choices relate to the broader cultural context. Along with the artistic directors and the team, you will actively select the makers that NTGent will work with, and you have a broad, deep network in the Flemish, European and international theatre scene to help you do so. 

2. Producer and connector in artistic creations 

NTGent aims to surround its makers with the best possible support to enable top-quality productions. The creative producer initiates the conversion of the artistic strategy into concrete projects and monitors these processes closely. The production, technical and business coordinators and you form the core support structure for the creation process. You provide the appropriate support, with specific attention to artistic ambition and the artistic dialogue.

As a creative producer, you connect the theatre and the maker throughout the entire creative process, from the first artistic exploration to the final showing of the play. You are the permanent artistic contact person for makers whom NTGent supports, and throughout the entire process, you safeguard the continuity and trust that make a fruitful collaboration possible.

This accompanying role requires expertise. You are a conversation partner in the creative process, you help makers navigate within the structures and possibilities of the theatre, and you ensure that the maker’s artistic intention for the content of the production is challenged and strengthened in line with the operational reality of NTGent. To do so, you constantly coordinate with colleagues to ensure that the production, technical and business aspects support the artistic core and make the artistic story even bigger and stronger. You are aware of the specific vulnerability and dynamics of artistic processes, and you know when to offer support and when to provide space.

You take account of the processes and partnerships at all levels of the organisation and contribute to a culture of clear communication and shared responsibility.

3. Strategy for distribution

You will develop a strategic touring plan with the person in charge of distributing the artistic work, which reflects the artistic positioning of the work and the international ambitions of NTGent. You consider with them which productions should tour, which contexts and partners they should visit and how these choices contribute to the broader visibility and impact of the theatre. You safeguard the connection between artistic ambition and distribution policy, and you contribute to a coherent and broadly supported approach. 

You contribute actively to creating a strategic distribution plan for the search for international co-creations, coproductions or extra fundraising/subsidies. For this, you work closely with the business team and take an active role in preparing the content of applications. 

4. Artistic representation, from local to international

You participate in the artistic representation of NTGent, both locally and internationally. You help to represent the artistic management team on the international arts scene at festivals, showcases, networking events and in bilateral contacts. You know the international contours of contemporary theatre, and you are capable of positioning NTGent clearly and convincingly within that landscape. At the same time, you remain strongly rooted in the local, Flemish context and represent the artistic interests of NTGent in relevant professional and policy networks.

PROFILE: KEY SKILLS FOR THIS ROLE

• Artistically inspired with a strong understanding of content, without wanting to work as a maker yourself.
• Healthy interest and curiosity about the further development of a maker’s artistic language, and an enthusiasm for working to serve the artistic process.
• Working in the service of makers and projects: a midfield player/arbitrator who connects and strengthens processes.
• Experience with production activities in a medium to large-sized organisational structure, including experience in Belgium and abroad.
• A team player through and through, focused more on co-creation than solo work.
• Someone with leadership skills: able to make decisions and act decisively, whilst supporting makers with their process in a caring and clear way.
• Familiar with organisational processes and institutional dynamics.
• Undaunted by figures, budgets and business models, and able to connect these to artistic ambitions.

OUR OFFER

We are offering a full-time, permanent contract at one of the largest theatres in Flanders, with a salary under Collective Labour Agreement joint committee 304 (pay scale A), plus an attractive package of fringe benefits.