Producing Sta
Clare Gibson
So when somebody says they produce for comedy
you might be wondering what that means exactly.
What do producers actually do? According to
Melbourne based producer, Simone Flanagan it’s
‘everything and anything...’ Why? Because according
to her, a producer is like a ‘creative conduit’. Your job
is to support the artist enough ‘to allow them to focus
on putting on a good show and good writing… to be
creative’.
Simone Flanagan has produced several comedy
acts including Claire Bowman and Rose Sejean in
‘Wrong Town’; Bart Freebairn in ‘Double Happiness’;
‘Heckleback- An Evening of Comedy Against Street
Harassment’; ‘The Other Film Festival’- Australia’s
Showcase- for international Women’s Day in
collaboration with Women with Disabilities Victoria.
Flanagan says a producer “is like the wind beneath
the wings…” Producers can be doing all sorts of
things like “liaising with the venue” to “supporting PR,
depending on the particular arrangement you’ve got
with the artist that you are working with.”
How do you become a producer? Well you have
to be passionate about performance and the Arts.
Producing “can be at times a thankless job.” For
years working for event producing organisations.
She has been in independent production for about
three years. Over this time it has allowed her to
develop skills in different areas of events that have
transferred into producing comedy. There can be a
lot of crossover, where a lot of skills as a production,
events or an operations manager for a big event, can
be similar. Regardless of how you get there, there
are certain skills you need to have, including being
be able to communicate well.
So what are the challenges? You need to “expect the
unexpected”. Again, time management and being
organised can’t be stressed enough. A lot of people
that work as producers, “don’t do it full time. They do
it as a part time job, contract role or a hobby” and you
may have to juggle your priorities. So when you are
producing a show “you have to have your timeline in
place.” Things can happen which mean that you have
prepared because when some of the new demands
come along it can happen all at once, as Flanagan
says, “when it rains it pours”.
Things can go wrong and there can be a lot of variables
that can’t be controlled.For example Flanagan says,
“it may be working in a venue where you can’t control
all the technical requirements, performing within
a bigger festival and having to work within their
limitations or their marketing or timelines”. It might
As Flanagan knows, the Melbourne International
Comedy Festival (MICF) can be a challenge. You
when there are so many shows that are amazing
around you trying to get noticed at the same time”.
For some artists they “are lucky enough to have a
producer and a publicist” but for many emerging
artists, “producers are often doing both.”
Flanagan strongly advocates for any comedians or
artists to put their work on Youtube, because “video
is the most marketable content on the internet”. It’s
“cheap and affordable”, you can “use it to promote
yourself” and it’s the “best way to share”. According
to Flanagan “Australians are the biggest consumers
of web series”. For comedians, “web series is a
really good way to get your work out there to a wider
audience. It’s a good way for people to have a taste
test of what your show is about”. Trends show that
there are many artists that are not just doing straight
stand up, or just straight sketch stuff and they are
incorporating different media, and Flanagan thinks
that this “works well with an audience because in our
daily lives we are engaging more with digital”.
There are a number of challenges when it comes to
venues. Flanagan says “there are not enough rooms
that are festival managed available in Melbourne to
accommodate everybody”. At the same time “it is a