The Estuary Producers Network (EPN) connects artists and producers working across the creative industries in Essex and Kent. EPN offers an inclusive platform for producers to share practice and skills, opportunities and challenges, and develop links with potential collaborators and new partners. It offers a space for dialogue and exchange, celebrates practice by regional artists for regional communities, and champions an ethos of collegiality and co-operation. Estuary producers are innovators and instigators, and a key aim of the network is to increase visibility for producers and producing activities within the region.

As well as professional development opportunities and mentoring, EPN’s Emerging Producer Placement Scheme provides transformational opportunities for new and emerging producers in theatre, live performance, film, and digital media. Working with local arts and cultural organisations, the scheme facilitates paid placements and commissioning opportunities designed to benefit both producers and host organisations alike.

The Emerging Producer Placement Scheme explores employment models for producers in the region, examines current best practice, and investigates possible future models for how arts and cultural organisations, as well as individual artists, can adapt their practices and benefit from working with Estuary producers. For organisations and individuals who have not worked with producers before, the scheme provides an accessible means to introduce the role into a project and explore how working with a producer could support future practice.

The network aims to bring together and develop the incredible talent of creatives along the Estuary, growing opportunities for all involved. It advocates for producing activities across the region and will undertake scoping research about what producers and organisations want and need to support sustained productivity and future growth.

To be the first to hear about our latest events and opportunities, email epn@essex.ac.uk to join our mailing list, and follow us on Twitter @EstuaryProducer