Ammonite Studios, the West End’s leading creative and technical agency who have collaborated to make momentous events and experiences from Back to the Future and Frozen to the new National Theatre production of Warhorse, have today announced the line-up for their Ammonite Sessions series of vocational talks for working professionals and those emerging into the industry.
One of the key topics of the day will examine if the establishment of associate designer roles are truly pivotal to a future career for young designers or simply an accepted area of (bad) practice that needs urgent reform.
Rob Casey, himself a former associate to a host of top-flight creative talent and now both a studio head and lighting designer for the new NT production of Warhorse says, “Associate work was a hugely rewarding and valuable part of my early on-the-job training but it’s an area of work that is rarely ever discussed in a forum such as this, the skills and know-how needed to succeed can’t really be taught in a drama school setting so how do we address this lack of training for what can be a massive opportunity to progress an early years career?“
Ammonite producer Matt Veitch notes, “We know how crucial these roles can be in driving diversity and retaining the next generation of creative talent but that shouldn’t stop us asking the questions as to how we can make these opportunities more transparent and shared by a greater number of young designers, crucially within a framework of professional standards.”
Across a day of debates, talks and presentation Ammonite Studios will seek answers to questions such as:
- Does gender identity pairing in designer/associate working relationships offer unique support and nurturing towards greater opportunity for women and other underrepresented groups in technical design?
- How does a young designer gain the all-important ‘step-up’ to an Associate role on a major commercial show ?
- How do we break the ‘Club’ of West End theatre to make it a truly transparent and welcoming world of potential for all ?
- How can we build ideas of safeguarding and pastoral responsibility into contracts for young practitioners who are exposed to long working hours, tight production deadlines, and subsequent stress and exhaustion
- Is the recruitment of this tier of creative talent too opaque and exposed to unchecked and inappropriate practice?
Among a secondary panel of working West-End and Broadway associate designers, Rob Casey will prompt answers and ideas from some of the industry’s most influential talent and attempt to create a road-map for change and best practice that will resonate across those in study, those emerging into practice and those able to employ junior staff across a variety of creative roles.