Omidaze Productions are seeking to engage:

A Freelance Production Manager/Lighting Designer

&

A Part-time Freelance Project Manager

to work on two current projects funded by the Arts Council of Wales.

We will consider applicants applying for both positions.

All applications which meet the criteria set out below will be considered equally.

About the Company:

Omidaze Productions (Oh My Days!) A colloquial expression of amazement and disbelief originating in schools in inner London at the turn of the century) www.omidaze.co.uk was founded in 2008 by Yvonne Murphy and Richard Johns with the express purpose of using theatre to empower, inform, entertain new audiences, shake stuff up & inspire change.

Omidaze Productions has two main areas of activity - Education (educational theatre work) and Artistic (artistic theatrical projects). The objective of the partnership is to create and provide top quality professional work with drama as a process at the centre of all of our work.

Our artistic work seeks to find new audiences for theatre and therefore strives to make work which is relevant to a non-traditional theatre going audience. We pride ourselves on making art in its many forms accessible for the many and not for the few.

Our Education Work - We believe every young person should have access to the Arts and the opportunities, rewards and enrichment it brings. We are experienced in partnering with organisations for one-off sessions and long term projects and have experience in providing services within and beyond the Welsh and English education systems in many forms: One-off drama sessions across the curriculum; RAISE Literacy Projects; Teacher Packs, Schemes of work and Consultation; Youth Theatre; Shakespeare Summer Schools; INSETs, Writer’s Squad and Bespoke workshops and projects.

 The aims of Omidaze Artistic specifically are to create, develop and produce innovative, experimental and commercially viable theatrical events which appeal to an audience which does not have a history of theatre attendance.
Omidaze Artistic objectives are to
- challenge popularly held beliefs
- stimulate discussion and debate
- promote and explore topical issues
- combine the work of practitioners from different artistic disciplines
- explore the relationship between theatre, visual art, movement, new writing, comedy and venue
- take work beyond conventional theatrical settings
- make work which is commercially viable and attracts a wide cross section of the local communities where it's performed
- appeal to a non-traditional theatre going audience.
- to empower, inform and challenge the status quo

Omidaze Artistic premiere project was 'Things Beginning With M'. Research for the project began in the summer of 2009 and with the support of ACW a pilot was produced, a development stage and finally a small scale tour which sold out shows at Chapter Arts Centre and The Queen’s Hall in Narbeth. It received four reviews all of which were excellent and very positive audience feedback.

Omidaze has also produced rehearsed readings of two new plays at the Gate Theatre in Cardiff in 2012. To date we have collaborated with ShermanCymru; The Gate Theatre, Cardiff; Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff; Swansea Grand Theatre; The Queen's Hall, Narbeth; Aberystwyth Arts Centre, The Windsor Pub, Penarth; Albert Road Methodist Church, Penarth, The Welsh Fargo Company and The Arcola Theatre, London.

Omidaze is based in Penarth in South Wales and the majority of its work is located in South Wales. Omidaze Education runs an annual Shakespeare Summer School in Penarth and drama workshops in both primary and secondary schools throughout the year. We specialise in Shakespeare and giving access to his work especially in schools located in deprived areas. We are passionate about providing access to Shakespeare and over the past twenty years Yvonne Murphy and Richard Johns have worked regularly with companies such as the RSC, the Royal National Theatre, the English Shakespeare Company and The Shakespeare Schools Festival.

Omidaze is currently in receipt of two grants from the Arts Council of Wales which will fund these part-time freelance project based positions

Project Descriptions:

1. Project Manager

Funded by a Business Enterprise & Development Grant - Omidaze Productions is in receipt of a Business Enterprise and Organisational Development Grant to assist the company in their long-term aim of becoming a Wales based and UK wide recognised provider of Educational Theatre/Drama work and experts in their field providing a level of excellence with a particular focus on Shakespeare.

We aim to develop Omidaze Production's Educational work by providing exemplary participatory arts activities to young people in South Wales. The project will end with an 'Awareness Raising Event'.
Aims
• improve the business and resilience
• organisational effectiveness
• develop & diversify earning power
• empower & equip to develop fundraising capability

Omidaze will allot a concentrated and fixed period of time to becoming more sustainable and enterprising by contracting a part-time member of staff on a part-time project basis to work with Yvonne Murphy over a period of three months with a view to a possible on-going partnership/collaboration.


2. Production Manager

Funded by a Large Production Grant – Richard III in association with The Wales Millennium Centre.
Following a successful large scale Production Development of the All-Female Shakespeare Project at the end of 2013, Omidaze Productions have been awarded a large scale production grant to produce an all-female production of Richard III. This production is in association with the Wales Millennium Centre and will be the first ever full-scale public performance to be staged in their roof void space.

Vacancy Descriptions

1. 1.       Project Manager - Business Enterprise & Development

Dates: Twenty days before the end of 2014 to be scheduled at mutually agreeable times between Omidaze and the successful candidate.

Fee: £2,000 all-inclusive and non-negotiable

Responsibilities include:

• Short-term Project and Long-term Business Planning including reviewing Business plan.
• Liaising with ACW regarding the Young Creators Strategy/ Arts in education strategy
• identify/target new client bases i.e. Independent Schools Association/education authorities/education budget stakeholders
• maximise existing client base of School based workshops.
• extend existing links with RCT and Vale of Glamorgan Education Authorities
• forge new links with Bridgend, Newport and Caerphilly Education Authorities
• create stronger profile within Wales and beyond as an Educational Theatre Provider of quality and distinction.
• improve our online presence.
• produce generic Omidaze publicity digital/ hard print & specific project publicity
• develop Omidaze’ s fundraising capability. Maximising on awareness of current work - The Shakespeare Summer School/ workshops. Use to showcase and attract future funding.
• investigate the funding potential of the four main areas of our Educational and Artistic work
• develop/ implement strategies to measure /evaluate the performance and impact of all our projects from economic, business and growth perspectives
• maximise these measurement /evaluation tools in terms of marketing, development, fundraising and strategic planning
• Co-organise the Awareness Raising Event
  
  
  The project will end with an 'Awareness Raising Event' to which we will invite current and potential clients, future stakeholders, collaborators and creative partners (Education Authority representatives, Head Teachers, Department Heads, Welsh Assembly Education representatives, Theatre Education/Outreach/Community Departments, ArtWorks, and Arts Council representatives.) where we introduce & showcase the company
  
  

Candidate Criteria:

Essential requirements include knowledge, experience and skills in the following areas

• Project management within the cultural sector
• Strategic Planning and Business Planning
• Fundraising & Budgets
• Stakeholder relationship management
• The Education sector and Government and Arts Council related arts/education strategies
• Identifying, targeting and managing new clients and stakeholders bases in i.e. Independent Schools Association/education authorities/education budget stakeholders

Plus:

• Excellent communication skills
• Energy, drive and commitment
• Ability and desire to be self-motivated and work independently
• A willingness to collaborate and an ability to think outside the box
• A generosity of spirit
• A sense of humour

Desirable:

• A desire to engage everyone in valuing and celebrating arts and culture and in shaping a future where these are fundamental to our society.

2. Production Manager/Lighting Designer – Richard III in association with The Wales Millennium Centre

Dates: Pre-production meetings Nov/Dec 2014 and during w/c 5/1/14 tbc

Rehearsals 12^th January – 7^th February 2015

Production: 9^th – 22^nd  February 2015 (minimum 14 performances)

Fee: £3,010.00

Responsibilities include:

• Lighting Design for Richard III Production staged in the Roof Void Space of The Wales Millennium Centre
• All technical aspects of pre-production, production and post-production.
• Liaising with and collaborating with WMC technical staff, the director, the designer, the ensemble and all members of the creative team.
• Line manage the stage manager
• Manage all areas of production, including work with schools.

Essential Candidate Criteria

• Proven track record as lighting designer and production management on small – medium and/or large scale productions
• Collaborator and excellent communicator
• Can be classed as Cardiff based
• A Clean driving Licence
• Female. This production has come out of the All-Female Shakespeare Project and Omidaze seeks to readdress the inequality within the theatre industry by taking affirmative action by contracting an entirely female ensemble, creative and production team for this production.

Plus:

• Excellent communication skills
• Energy, drive and commitment
• Ability and desire to be self-motivated and work independently
• A willingness to collaborate and an ability to think outside the box
• A generosity of spirit
• A sense of humour

Desirable:

• A desire to engage everyone in valuing and celebrating arts and culture and in shaping a future where these are fundamental to our society.

How to Apply

Please send your CV and covering letter expressing your interest in the company, the projects and the role to  y.murphy1@ntlworld.com

In your covering letter please outline how your skills and experience and supply two referees who you have worked with in the last 12 months.

Deadline: 10^th October 2014