Creative Producer Development Programme

Jen is a freelance creative producer and photographer working across live performance, music and queer nightlife culture. She curated a multidisciplinary exhibition and showcase at Factory International, bringing together cross-disciplinary artists in an immersive, audience-focused context.

Alongside producing, her photography focuses on intimacy, movement and community - particularly within queer spaces - and she is currently expanding her practice into backstage and documentary music photography following a recent nomination for the Abbey Road Music Photography Awards.

She’s interested in immersive, cross-disciplinary work that blends visual storytelling with live performance. 
www.instagram.com/jenameliaphoto

Giulia is a writer, producer and theatre maker from Italy based in Manchester. She has experience in producing across theatre and live events both in Manchester and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and is most interested in stories centred around female and queer narratives, language and identity, often explored through a dystopian, supernatural or magical lens.

Instagram: @giulia_fincato

I’m a Manchester-based performer, maker, producer and teacher working across live performance, dance, film, and participatory projects. I trained at Central School of Ballet, graduating in 2006, and have performed nationally and internationally with choreographers including Dan Watson, Marta Bevilacqua, and Lucy Hind.

Recent projects include A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That (Lowry), co-created with my child, and Would You Care To… (HOME Manchester), an interactive film exploring care and sisterhood. As one half of Them Two Dance, I created accessible outdoor performances including Random Acts of Kindness, which toured festivals across Europe.

Across all my work, I draw on my experiences as a facilitator, collaborator, and parent to create art that is generous, joyful and built with care.

Linxi Shi is a project manager and producer currently working with Without Walls, supporting outdoor arts touring and partnership development. She studied film production in China before moving to the UK to continue her studies in theatre and film design, later exploring curating as a way of thinking about how stories exist in different spaces.

She previously worked with Lowry, assisting with programming and producing across a range of productions, and with Quays Culture on outdoor festivals and events. Linxi is interested in storytelling across live performance, film and public space, and enjoys bringing together people, ideas and practical thinking to make projects happen.

Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shilinxi/

Melissa works across film, TV and theatre, driven by a passion for projects that challenge norms, reimagine traditions, and tell bold, emotionally grounded stories. Her practice is rooted in collaboration and care, whether producing on set, coordinating behind the scenes, or creating spaces for artists to connect and thrive.

Drawn to grounded storytelling narratives that explore the truths of lived experience with empathy, complexity, and emotional intensity she champions female, queer and working-class-led narratives. 
 
Melissa co-foundesd Alora’s Productions, an independent film company dedicated to ambitious storytelling and opportunities for emerging and diverse creatives, and HellCat Creative Collective, a platform fostering safer, joyful spaces for women, trans, and non-binary artists to collaborate and showcase their work.

She is currently developing new projects on screen, on stage, and within the wider creative community. Her practice is guided by a few key questions: 

Who gets to tell stories?

How do we hold space for each other?

And how can we build more inclusive, imaginative creative environments?

https://www.melissaboyle.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/melissa_producer/

Courtney ‘CourtsWrites’ Hayles is a Manchester-based writer, director, spoken-word artist and facilitation practitioner exploring masculinity, music and community through immersive, narrative-driven storytelling. Working across theatre, film, audio art and installation, he creates projects that invite audiences into dialogue around identity, vulnerability and belonging.

Since establishing his independent practice in 2014, Hayles has developed a multidisciplinary body of projects that merge poetic language with visual storytelling. His short film Rage With Words (2020), a poetic response to the murder of George Floyd, was shortlisted at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival and demonstrates his ability to distil complex social themes into emotionally resonant narratives.

Alongside his independent practice, Hayles served as Associate Artistic Director at Young Identity, where he led the development of new theatre productions and helped shape international creative exchange programmes. His practice frequently bridges the cultural and commercial sectors, collaborating with organisations and brands to craft human-centred stories across multiple platforms.

His projects include Imprint (PUSH Festival), Blink for Manchester Collective, SICK! Cars! for SICK! Festival, an installation exploring masculinity and mental health created with illustrator Woodrow Phoenix, and Voice. Sealed. Shut. (2024). He has also directed narrative campaigns such as the Sound Mind, Sound Body series for ASICS.

Through this multidisciplinary practice, Hayles contributes to wider cultural conversations around masculinity, vulnerability and the evolving language men use to understand themselves and each other. 
Hayles’ practice interrogates themes of Black identity, love, trauma and the complexities of modern masculinity, often blending spoken word, music and physical theatre to create layered sensory experiences. Alongside his creative practice, he delivers facilitation, mentorship and creative consultancy for arts organisations, communities and brands, using storytelling as a catalyst for dialogue, reflection and cultural change.

Previous projects include: Asics: SMSB (2019), Rage With Words (2020), Blink commissioned by Northern Voices as part of Manchester Collective (2021), Imprint as part of PUSH ARTS Festival (2019-21), Jannis GRM Daily (2021), Sick!Cars for Sick! Festival (2022) Voice. Sealed. Shut. (2024), and REFRAME: Inspire Schools Factory International x Southbank Centre (2025).

Website: www.courtswrites.com 
Email: courtney@courtswrites.com 
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/courtswriteslimited 
Instagram: @courtswrites

Hi! I am a Mexican filmmaker whose love for storytelling drives my work across fiction, documentary, and commercial content. I started my career in post-production and now evolving into a keen interest in producing. I got the opportunity to study at Vancouver Film School and that led me to finish a masters at Manchester Metropolitan University where I currently teach filmmaking to Bachelor’s students. My experience ranges from contributing to projects for companies like Factory International, Imperial War Museum, and VKA Studios to currently participating in multiple film festivals [Whistler Film Festival 2025]. Having worked across the film industry in three different countries, my motivation is to constantly seek new ways of making cinema.

Instagram: farahkhalil.c

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farah-khalil-c

Hester is a creative producer and voiceover artist, who began producing over four years ago at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before moving to work in the producing team at Factory International. From there she moved to the Royal Exchange Theatre to work as the Den Festival Producer and recently made the leap into freelance producing.

Instagram: @hester_cox

My producing experience includes small creative projects, festival work and supporting roles in live environments. At DaDaFest, I supported events and artist activity, helping to coordinate programme elements, manage access and keep communication flowing. I’ve also produced and directed short pieces for the BBC. I’ve spent time in theatre settings through assistant directing placements at Storyhouse, the Royal Exchange and the Octagon.

Quinvean (Qinwei) is a multidisciplinary artist with over a decade of experience in dance, choreography, education, and stage production across China and the UK. Her work has been presented at major festivals, including Edinburgh Fringe, Colchester Fringe, and the UK Asian Dance Festival. Executive Director of “Chinese Culture Week 2025” and Co-Producer of the IC Award at the Edinburgh Fringe, leading international projects with massive exposure and enhancing the global visibility of artists worldwide.

She has directed international tours at venues like Sadler’s Wells and Aviva Studios.  Her cross-cultural productions, supported by Arts Council England, the Hong Kong Arts Development Fund, and China National Art Foundation, highlight her ability to bridge artistic platforms. Recent achievements include winning the New Youth Award for a dance film, marking her expansion into digital media. Also, placements with UK organizations have also inspired her to use her newly gained knowledge and ability to make a difference in the art industry.

IG： @quinvean_lee

Email: quinvean@gmail.com

Sam is a Manchester-based Creative Producer, Facilitator, and Theatre-maker dedicated to the power of participatory arts for social and civic change. Specialising in Legislative Theatre, she uses play and performance as practical tools for co-creating policy, collective wellbeing, and community building. Her practice is rooted in her identity as a neurodiverse, working-class creative, prioritising accessible, trauma-informed, and playful processes that transform lived experience into democratic expertise.

Sam’s portfolio spans youth leadership, regional policy, and immersive performance. She has designed and led Legislative Theatre projects with the Department for Education to develop national wellbeing frameworks for schools, and collaborated with the West Midlands Combined Authority, Trafford Council, and Birmingham City Council to shape policy on youth employment and the safety of women and girls. Internationally, she has worked alongside Catalan Youth Services to evolve youth mental health strategies. Whether working with local councils, national government, prisons, or community groups, Sam is committed to creating radically inclusive spaces that challenge systemic boundaries and foster meaningful engagement.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sam-dixon-8b494827b

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samdixonartist

Sydney Gilbride is a creative producer and artist working between Manchester and Leeds. Their interdisciplinary artistic practice reaches across painting, moving image and performance. Informed by an interest in graphic design, traditional typography and urban graffiti, their visual work brings together the aesthetics of street lettering with the craft and precision of traditional signwriting.

Alongside their visual practice, Gilbride works as a creative producer and is a founding member of LAX (Leeds Artist Exchange). Drawing on their experience as an artist, they develop and present live works that respond to the LAX exhibition programme, bringing together performance and collaborative practice. Across these projects, they collaborate with filmmakers, painters and performance artists to interpret themes of the work through a lens of identity, embodiment, and collective experience.

@oatmilknosugar

@lax.leeds

Matthew Rawcliffe is a dance artist specialising in inclusive practice, currently producing his own works in the UK and in Denmark. His main area of focus is sensory performance for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD). Matthew is currently working on re-staging two of his sensory works: Hades & Persephone for The Classical Association’s Annual Conference and Narkissos for the Foundation for Integrated Dance in Denmark’s PÅ TVÆRS festival. Matthew also works as an access consultant, most recently for Curious Seed.

www.matthewrawcliffe.com

https://www.instagram.com/matthewrawcliffe/

I’m a multidisciplinary creative producer who delivers projects across music, digital, performance, and community spaces. My work focuses on bringing people together through participatory, place-based creative experiences. I’ve produced projects in both traditional and non-traditional settings, from outdoor site-specific performances centred on participatory performance and public storytelling to multi-partner creative programmes in public, virtual and educational spaces.

https://aislingkiely.squarespace.com/ 

Adeola Adelakun is a creative producer and co-founder of Black Creative Trailblazers, with over four years of experience designing and delivering community-focused projects that celebrate and platform Black creatives. She has hosted a wide range of events including showcases, open mic nights, and creative activations at institutions across Manchester such as Factory International and Manchester Museum. Adeola has successfully engaged more than 3,000 attendees and collaborated with over 120 Black artists.

Instagram: @adeysilver

Martha Ford Tomlinson is a theatre and arts producer based in Manchester. Projects include 90+5, LALA Arts; THREE POINT STAR, by James Varney dir Clodagh Chapman; SHORTS, Not Long; IN LIMBO, by Judi Amato. They previously worked for the Royal Exchange Theatre for over three years.

Charlie is an actor, theatre maker and producer based in Manchester; specialising in creating high quality & accessible queer theatre for younger audiences in the Northwest. She is passionate that this work is created with access at its centre and is taken to hyper local spaces. They are passionate about getting more involved in producing queer theatre in the Northwest; specifically working with genderqueer and neurodivergent creatives.

They've previously worked with companies such as; Derby Theatre, Kindred Folk Theatre, Stute Theatre and Submerge Festival.

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. 

Jessica (Jess) is a creative producer, performer and designer, an honorary Manc but a Welshie at heart. She is currently the producer of Carnifolk, a queer-led, immersive theatre experience in Manchester, with bases also in Bristol and London, and has been one of the senior producers for just under a year. Set in 1225, Carnifolk is an immersive performance across an evening which champions self-expression and celebrates art across all disciplines, following storylines with recurring characters and questlines audience members can embark on to earn in-game currency and hand-made keepsakes. Jess was part of the creative team Carnifolk took to Boomtown Festival 2024 as an immersive performer, and produced Carnifolk’s debut performance at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival at Bedlam Late.

Comfortable behind a desk, she is also freelancing as a lighting designer and technician, after a lighting and sound technician internship during her degree at the Manchester School of Theatre ignited a passion for design.

Now that she has had the opportunity to discover her non-negotiables as a producer, Jess is enthusiastic to produce other aspects within theatre and performance, with a particular interest in community engagement and theatre for children and families, and is eager to work with more queer Welsh theatre makers.

  
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