Call Out for Theatre Makers / Writers / Storytellers

Ad Infinitum is inviting applications from theatre makers, writers and storytellers, to collaborate on our latest project, working with older adults experiencing loneliness. 

We will collaborate with three artists to develop a structure for a creative story exchange. Each artist will be working one-to-one with four older adults living at home on their own, embarking on a creative journey exploring the joys of storytelling. Through weekly phone conversations spread across five weeks they will write a story together, led by the older adult’s ideas, interests and needs.

At the end of the project we will share the stories on our online platforms and in print.

The engagement would be for 9 working days across March, April and May. We will pay a daily rate of £175 (total fee £1,575). 

Please see our vacancies page here for full details of the project, the scope of the work and how to apply.

WHERE YOU ARE - launching our first ever festival

What do we do? What can we do in this era of Covid-19 restrictions and constant change, in the ebb and flow of emergency and unpredictability and stagnant moments of aimlessness and unknown that now seem a bizarre way of life for us all - not just here in the UK, but everywhere? How do we respond to this? And if a theatre company’s entire purpose is to make and tour theatre productions around the world - what do we do now...?

We need to find a way to continue. 

Of course that reaction is not unique to us - we’re all trying to continue as best we can - though it means something different to each one of us. It’s a reaction fraught with detail and complexity bubbling just underneath. And, to be honest, it skips quite happily over the period of chaos, anxiety and WTF-ness we have all experienced over the last six months (a bit more on that below)... Once the initial feeling of powerlessness, of not knowing - of structures holding everything together suddenly falling apart - gradually calmed into a new ‘normal’, things began to shift, possible ways forward opened up. We still can’t truly plan beyond the next few months in the way we used to, but to quote Of/By/For All: ‘Even in a pandemic, we have choices’.

We decided to create a new festival. Something we’ve never done before. A festival that could happen no matter what; a digital festival that has content you can enjoy for free, wherever you are; a festival that embraces the precarious situation we all find ourselves in for the foreseeable future.

We’re calling it WHERE YOU ARE. 

Dr Paddy Ladd lecture and Q&A

Brand new short film by Matthew Gurney

Brand new short film by David Ellington

Not just because it will be happening online and you can access it in many ways wherever you happen to be - but also because what we’re presenting is, approximately, where we are right now, as a company, as artists and freelancers, producers, general managers, interpreters… this is where we are at. And what started as the seed of an idea has now grown into a festival that we’re excited about sharing with you. 

In March, our schedules looked completely different: this was not part of THE PLAN. We were booked to tour our latest piece, Extraordinary Wall of Silence, to the Edinburgh Festival, to London, and we were booking a Spring 2021 tour; we were half way through the Spring tour of our family show, Chloe and the Colour Catcher and booked to remount it for Christmas 2020; Translunar Paradise was supposed to tour in South Korea after 2 years of planning; and we were about to start making a new production...all of these plans had to be cancelled. It was heartbreaking - but of course we were by no means unique in this, everyone in the arts knows the pain of seeing the future we thought we knew disappear. And while we don’t know what the future holds, we feel privileged to still be working in the arts at this time. 

But March was also the month that HOME got in touch and commissioned us to respond to the lockdown. They offered us some money, and gave us free rein to create whatever we wanted for their HOMEmakers programme. It was a strange and difficult time to be making something - but it was also really energising to be creating and helped keep us just a little more sane… the result was new artistic territory for us, a triptych of short films called A Small Gathering. So we wanted to offer the same opportunity to other artists and creatives, and in collaboration with HOME, we took that idea, and we ran with it. 

WHERE YOU ARE is a festival of commissioned work, lectures, Q&As, short films, a podcast and more. We invited an incredible array of artists and academics to present their work and we're delighted to host the outcome of this period of creativity and experimentation under lockdown. Some of it is still being made as we type. It will be a festival we can all participate in, a space bringing us together during this unique moment in time. It’s how we’ve adapted; it’s how we have chosen to respond - thanks to some Emergency Funding from Arts Council England and a whole lot of generosity and heart from everyone involved. And while this space we’re building can be quite discombobulating for all it’s newness, it’s also strangely invigorating, inspiring, and it gives us hope - about what we can all do when this pandemic is over (or at least more under control), about the potential in each one of us, and about how we can collaboratively rebuild - but rebuild something better. 

The events we have planned for you will be happening live 29 Oct - 1st Nov 2020, and then will be available to watch, experience and encounter online whenever and wherever you like throughout the festival. We can’t wait to welcome you. 

So...Don’t. Miss. It. 

Until then...be well, take care, and stay hopeful. 

George & Nir
Co-Artistic Directors, Ad Infinitum

Call Out for Artists

Ad Infinitum is inviting applications from artists to collaborate on our latest project exploring the elderly care system in the UK.

We’re looking for an artist who has experience in podcast making; and a visual artist / designer / photographer. 

As part of Ad Infinitum’s lockdown activities, we’ve been gathering personal stories from people across the country of their experiences of the elderly care system in the UK. We have spent hours chatting with people whose relatives have received care at home or lived in a care home, hearing from those that struggled with the system or found it helpful, and people who work in the system. With permission we have recorded these conversations and we are looking for an experienced podcast maker to edit the material into a coherent podcast/s; and also a visual artist to create a response to this material.

Both the podcast series and visual response will be shared as part of WHERE YOU ARE - Ad Infinitum’s online mini-festival taking place from 29 October to 1 November 2020  and might be used to inform the ongoing development of this project. We’d like the work to be completed by Monday 12th October.

ARTIST with podcast making experience

We’re looking for an artist or maker experienced in creating podcasts to edit and shape a series of podcasts. We have recordings of our conversations with members of the public who have agreed to share their stories. There will also need to be some additional recording of actors reading the text of some conversations to protect anonymity (we will provide the actors for this).

Experience in creating podcasts including editing, finding narrative and uploading the creation onto the different online platforms is required. We are looking for someone who has the equipment they will need to create and upload the podcasts. 

Because the final format of the podcast is going to be shaped by you and we don’t yet know whether it would be a few episodes, or one long one etc, we aren’t able to give a specific fee for the job. However, we will pay a daily rate of £175 and estimate that the work would be completed within 7 days, allowing for time to listen to the material, create and edit the podcast/s. We can have some flexibility depending on what you decide to make. 

VISUAL ARTIST / DESIGNER / PHOTOGRAPHER

We’re looking for a talented visual artist, designer or photographer to create a visual response to the sound recordings generated so far which can complement the podcast/s and reflect on the personal stories that have been shared with us. We’re open to any media or form that gives a further richness to the podcast/s and sound recordings, and enables people to empathetically engage with the stories through a visual experience. We have no preconceived idea of what may be delivered and would love to hear exciting, accessible and compassionate ideas that can bring deeply personal experiences of ageing and elderly care to the widest possible audience. For this role no particular experience is required and we’d love to hear from collaborative creatives who are inspired by the power of personal testimony. We have allowed 5 days for this work, at a daily rate of £175.

FEE STRUCTURE 

We will pay a daily rate of £175 for both roles (see above for number of days per role). The fee is inclusive of all expenses unless otherwise agreed. Both roles will be contracted and paid as freelancers and therefore responsible for all associated taxes due to HMRC.

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR

People of all ages, backgrounds and disciplines are welcome to apply and we’d love to work with Bristol-based creatives. We are particularly interested in applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, and disabled candidates. We are committed to creating a more diverse workforce and will work with our chosen collaborators to provide any access support or working arrangements that are required for them to deliver their best work. 

TO APPLY

To apply, please send a short cover letter, no longer than one side of A4, telling us why you’d like to work with us on this project, your experience in general and specific experience in either visual art or podcast making. Please also include a couple of links to your previous work. We will also require two references. Deadline for applications is Friday 11th September at 5pm.

If you’d prefer to apply in another format, such as sending us a short video or audio file, then that’s absolutely fine. Please provide the relevant information and try to keep it under 5 minutes.

If you have any questions, or to send an application, please email emma@ad-infinitum.org with ‘Podcast making’ or ‘Visual artist’ as the subject line depending on the role you’re enquiring about.

Photo credit: Samuel Ash from the film ‘Liberty’ by David Ellington