Creative Producer Development Programme

I'm a queer producer and creative based in Manchester, particularly passionate about creating highly accessible community work in non-traditional spaces. I love a good cuppa (has to be Yorkshire tea) and currently am really enjoying exploring poetry! 

https://www.instagram.com/_ayersie_/

I am a Choreographer/Performer/Producer working in the Northwest, specialising in contemporary dance & alternative performance events. I am the founder & co-director of my own company, 'Night People', and have been choreographing & producing for the company since 2020. Night People specialise in the cross-collaboration of Dance-Theatre, Visual Art & Sound Design, platforming events & performances across both traditional/non-traditional venues. The company platforms work that explores Queer/Femme narratives & club inspired stories, focused on mix-medium performance, audience participation & cabaret styled events. The Company has been commissioned by several arts orgs, most notably Arts Council England, Social Conventions London, GM Artist Hub and ATOM Bulgaria, with independent choreography commissions from National Dance Company of Wales.

I also work across project coordination & dance lecturing, specialising in working with young people & shaping community led projects focused on dance access and creative technology. I enjoy producing work/projects that are audience driven and enable artists to challenge their skillsets & creative ambitions.

https://www.nightpeople.co.uk/
Instagram: @daysbelle // @nightpeopleevent

I'm an early career creative producer who works across a range of disciplines including music, theatre and dance. I'm also the co-founder of Uplift - our aim is to platform and resource global majority artists and provide incredible experiences for the communities of inner-city Manchester.                                                                                       
Instagram: @theupliftproject_mcr

PJ Cunningham (she/her) is a Creative Producer whose work focuses on community, collaboration and sharing feminist & LGBTQ+ stories. She is the Producer of So La Flair Theatre; a multidisciplinary collective based in Manchester who create and produce live theatre, cabaret and other various spectaculars. Most recently, PJ produced Is This Thing On?, a co-production between So La Flair and MissMatch Theatre, which toured around the North Of England supported by Arts Council England (★★★★★ Lost In Theatreland). The show then went to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 (★★★★ Broadway Baby) where it was longlisted for the Queer Performers Award 2024 and featured on both The Guilty Feminist and Mervyn Stutter's Pick Of The Fringe. 

Elliot Hughes is a Mancunian performer, writer and theatre maker; creating work with an unashamedly working-class voice, informed by a childhood raised by a single mother on the poverty line, spent making games, telling stories, and constantly moving house to run away from bailiffs. Elliot is no longer running away from bailiffs, but never stopped with the games and stories. 
 
Elliot is Artistic Director of multi-award winning interactive theatre company Hidden Track, and has written and co-produced all of their shows to date. His original script for ‘Standard:Elite’ won the Greater Manchester Fringe 2016 award for ‘Best New Writing’, 'Best Newcomer' at Brighton Fringe in 2018, was nominated for the Venues North Edinburgh Fringe Award in 2019, and received seven 5* reviews from publications including Broadway World, Everything Theatre and Spy in the Stalls. 
 
Outside of Hidden Track, he has worked as an actor and writer on many professional productions, with commissioning partners including The Lowry, HOME, Harrogate Theatres, Oldham Coliseum, Theatre Deli and Word of Warning; and has also worked on projects such as The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience and Jurassic World: The Exhibition. 
 
Elliot is highly experienced with immersive and interactive performance, and has taught workshops on the subject at MA Level, as well as for a wide range of youth/participatory groups including Oldham Coliseum and The Royal Exchange Young Company . 
 
Elliot is currently writing in the third person. He thinks it makes him sound serious. 

Jessica Lawrence is a producer and actor from Oldham, Manchester. She is currently associate producer with Dare to Know Theatre, producing projects that range from new writing nights to community projects, all the way up to mid-scale theatre. Since beginning working with the theatre company in January 2024, she has produced 4 projects. 

After meeting Manchester based Producers, I took part in a 2-month introduction to producing program at the factory academy, behind the scenes at MIF learning from Producers. I was then hired as the Producing Apprentice at Factory International on a 1-year placement, with my first job being on the Producing team for Free Your Mind to open Aviva Studios. Shows worked on the Producing team: Free Your Mind Lost & Found Ark Unannounced show with RSC & US Broadway Producers Productions assisted with administratively & on the ground: Jungle Book, The Accountants, The Welcome, The Fete of Britain, Joe Wick’s Move, First Breath

Rae is a producer and writer from originally from Warrington, living in Manchester. She graduated from ALRA North with a First Class Hons in Acting. Rae works regularly with devised work and new writing and has a passion for creating highly comedic work about sensitive subjects, with local communities.

Producing credits include: Identities, A play about boobs Edinburgh Fringe 2024, Identities, A play about boobs UK Studio & Community Tour 2023. 

Writing Credits include: Identities: A Play about Boobs, The Invisible Dog. 

I am a 23-year old producer and performer living and working in Manchester. I love how supportive, welcoming and uplifting my Manchester theatre network is and am always looking to learn more about what I can do. I’m currently producing immersive theatre in Manchester, as well as working with Welsh queer producers and theatre makers, where I am originally from. I also know my way around a lighting desk!  
Instagram: @jessedwards1 

Bo is a non-binary creative producer originally from the South-West, now living in Manchester. They founded their theatre and podcasting company Quantum Egg last year, having produced an anthology of science-fiction new writing in April as its inaugural event. They are interested in making work that is as accessible as possible for audiences and participants across societal groups marginalised from the arts, and processes of working that centre wellbeing and radical care. They are interested creatively in the fantastical, queer and/or intrinsically weird, and the possible intersections between audio and visual performance.' 

Instagram: @bo.warnerx

Twitter: @Bobbie_W123 

Kieren King is a Salford-born spoken word artist and producer. He has been writing and performing his work since 2008 and has featured at festivals and spoken word nights throughout the UK and Europe, including Glastonbury, Amnesty International and Musicians Without Borders. He was the co-creator and former host of the acclaimed independent spoken word night Evidently, where he found his passion for producing live events.  
He aims to produce quality events that are welcoming, organised, and accessible for people who wouldn’t normally engage with the arts, and to give a platform to innovative new writing and working-class voices.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieren-king-992402291/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kierenjking/

After years with the producing team at Factory International/MIF, I embarked on an extended period of travel, which gave me the space to refocus my energies and work out where I want to go next. This time confirmed my deep commitment to pursuing a career as a creative producer. I’m now freelancing in my hometown of Rochdale, where I contribute to a variety of events and production companies.

My portfolio spans a wide range of experiences, from leading and supporting events to producing theatre, visual arts, and immersive dance shows. I’m particularly passionate about large-scale productions that challenge creativity, participation and innovation, though I’m open to working on any project that sparks my artistic interest. 

Participating in the CPD program alongside fellow emerging producers is a unique opportunity to learn, grow, and connect with like-minded individuals in Manchester and beyond. 

Meg is a Theatre Maker & Aspiring Producer based in Greater Manchester. She has a keen interest in physical performance and movement direction. She has just recently finished Project Managing ‘Sanspective’, the debut show from Weird Alice Entertainment, which had its premiere at the Lowry in June.  

Elizabeth is a Nigerian – British multidisciplinary artist from who was inspired to take up photography in part by her maternal grandmother who was a photographer in Nigeria, and also by a want to preserve memories. With a background in drama, Elizabeth aims to weave story telling into her artistic style. 

I have extensive experience of supporting the delivery of live creative work, within reputable 
institutions and across a wide variety of mediums – including theatre and live performance, live event activity attached to film screenings, festivals, panel discussions and academic lectures.

Likewise, I have direct, hands-on experience of producing a range of live events, performances and themed activity; this includes work with/for HOME, the BFI, Manchester Animation Festival, Manchester Art Gallery, Peaches Christ Presents and Manchester Metropolitan University, among others.

Ylana is an early-career producer and stage manager particularly interested in comedy and queer-led theatre. She is currently working with L Squared Theatre on an ACE bid for an R&D.

Instagram - @ylanagibert
Twitter (X) - @ylanagibert