Sunday 12 October 2014

New students 2014-15 Biographies



CAROLINE DAVID was born and raised in London.  She attended Bristol University, City University and the National Film & TV School.  Caroline has worked for producing theatres and theatre companies in the UK since 2004: as a Literary Associate [the Royal & Derngate from 2007-2009, Soho Theatre 2010 to present, Theatre Writing Partnership 2007-2009, Script 2005-2010], a Script Reader [the National Theatre 2010-2013, Hampstead Theatre 2004-2007, Gate Theatre, Alibi Films, NFTS, the London Screenwriters Workshop], and Development Co-ordinator [Hampstead Theatre 2004-2005].  She currently works as a Theatre Critic [Ham & High, Camden New Journal], and a Visiting Lecturer in screenwriting [University of the Creative Arts].  The Theatre Royal Stratford East commissioned her first stage play No Gypsy Child of Mine and she produced it for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2008.  She is currently producing a play The Day After by Miran Hadzic which has been selected as part of the Old Vic New Voices Lab 2014 and will be on at the Theatre 503 in Spring 2015.

LEYLA McLELLAN grew up in the Scottish Borders, studying Law (BA 2:1) at the University of Cambridge. While studying she produced many productions through the university including a touring adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘The King and Queen of the Universe’ to Edinburgh Fringe in 2013. At Cambridge University she has produced The Bloody Chamber, Indelible Acts, Luck of the Draw, Becky Shaw, Blue/Orange, Last Among The Long Grass, ESCAPES, Frame 312 and The Duchess of Malfi. She has also worked extensively in box office and front of house; she has previously worked for C Venues, TheSpaceUK and was box office manager for The Wynd Theatre, Melrose. She is currently production manager for Dippermouth.

CRYSTAL NOLL was born and raised in Warner Robins, Georgia and is a graduate of Georgia Southern University.  Her start in theatre was as an Assistant Stage Manager in a high school rendition of the musical Grease.  In university she worked behind the scenes on multiple performances, including For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, and was excited to take the lead on three different benefit productions of The Vagina Monologues, where she did everything from producing, to PR, to directing.   In recent years, she has been an active part of the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company as a voice actor, foley artist, assistant producer, and con liaison.  She currently is one of the organizers and Directors of 221B Con, an annual Sherlock Holmes fan convention in Atlanta, Georgia.

Friday 25 July 2014

Belated last day of teaching photo - the MACP 2014 class with Julius Green






L-R ... Rochele Mitchell / Hannah Lambert (half-hidden by ...) / Imogen Robertson / Yvonne Waigo / Julius Green / Senne Vercouteren / Malin Berggren Lundell / Miyuki Kasahara (class representative)

Sunday 1 June 2014

Last Day of formal teaching at Birkbeck

On Thursday 39 May we celebrated the end of formal MACP classes at Birkbeck.  The students now are going off to secondments and / or work in places as diverse as London, New York, Jamaica and Uganda.
We clebrated with some drinks with the seven students plus Julius Green and Andrew McKinnon.
Here is a selfie to mark the occasion .. a more formal photo will follow!!


Thursday 15 May 2014

Birkbeck Creative Producers Get-Together

On 08 May, current MACP students got together with some former students to exchange views and information ... and to laugh quite a lot!!   Here are a few snapshots of a lively evening (names given from left to right)


Ine van Riet (2011), Chrissy Jaye (2011), Malin Berggren Lundell, Miyuki Kasahara, Imogen Robertson

 
 
 
Yvonne Waigo, Hannah Lambert
 
 
 
Ine van Riet, Imogen Robertson, Chrissy Jaye, Malin Berggren Lundell, Miyuki Kasahara, Carolina Artegiani (2011)
 
 
India Pool (2012), Hannah Lambert, Abena Adofo (2009), Senne Vercouteren, Rochele Mitchell, Chris Mellor (2011)
 
 

Sunday 2 March 2014

MACP and MFA students combine for Devised Theatre workshop

On Thursday 27 February students attended an intensive four-hour workshop on Devised Theatre led by Simon Pittman.


Friday 21 February 2014

Students view new Stratford East Building

This week some students visited the new USS Building in Stratford East's Cultural Quarter to see the new studio facilities generously funded by the Wolfson Foundation.



Left to Right - Andrew McKinnon (MACP Director), Miyuki Kasahara (Current Student), Michelle Owoo (MACP 2009),  Emanuela Craveri and Carolina Artegiani (MACP 2011)

Monday 10 February 2014

TWO ASPECTS OF A TYPICAL MACP CLASS ...

Careful concentration ....






The mood changes .....


...... and then the work goes on ......

(L to R in second picture ... Senne, Yvonne, Hannah, Malin, Miyuki, Imogen, Rochele) 

Monday 13 January 2014

CREATIVE PRODUCERS START THE NEW TERM.......

On Wednesday 08 January the Creative Producers started on the new term with a greatly enjoyed visit to Dick Whittington at the Theatre Royal Stratford East - singsongs, cat-masks and all!

The next day it was back to work ... a joint session with the Birkbeck MFA Theatre Directors in Birkbeck's newly refurbished and re-equipped theatre studio.

The session included a speed-dating intro process, a somewhat testing theatre quiz, and then a fascinating design exercise on colour, drawn from Alison Chitty's famous processes.

Professor Rob Swain took this session, which involves lengthy and complicated amounts of colour matching and judging, and the producers and directors combined to unravel the dilemma.

Here are a few glimpses of the process ....

  


.... and a very enlightening - and enjoyable - time was had by all!

Friday 18 October 2013

BIRKBECK MA CREATIVE PRODUCING STUDENTS 2013-14


MIYUKI KASAHARA is a dancer and choreographer.  Born in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) she began performing as part of the Anna Pavlova Ballet Academy and in the annual Christmas Musical at the Jesus Maestro Church since 2009.  She has been part of several other musical and performance productions as a dancer, choreographer and actress; and has also been part of the production teams for shows such as Virtus Belum (2010), Memories (2011), Amazing Classics (2011, 2012), and Styles (2012, 2013).  From 2011 to 2013 she directed and produced the Annual Class Presentation at Loyola School.  In April 2013 Miyuki graduated from the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing.

HANNAH LAMBERT, born and raised in London, graduated from King's College London in 2004 with an English Literature degree, and worked for Moving Venue Events for a year before travelling in America, Asia and Australia.  From 2006 she worked for an international private equity firm in London, managing corporate and social events; and in 2008 she moved to Mumbai, working for ‘Groove Temple’, an Indian event management company, and also freelancing for theatre production companies including Ace and Rage Productions as assistant director, production assistant and stage manager.  Hannah returned to London in 2011 and worked as Festival Organiser for the 2011Seven Bridges Project in South London, and also for the 2011 and 2012 London Indian Film Festivals.  She also co-founded and programmed Up The Junction, a quarterly film and literary salon, and was curator of the Wilderness Festival Fiction Tent in 2013. 

MALIN BERGGREN LUNDELL studied Contemporary Dance & Choreography 2006 – 2008 at Södra Latin's School in her hometown, Stockholm (Sweden).  In 2009 she moved to London and completed a course in Vocals & Performance at Tech Music Schools.  She then became Communications Assistant for Secret Cinema and assisted with developing their project “Battle of Algiers”.  Malin then moved on to event organization, and as a freelance helped to produce many projects including The British Fashion Awards, The Prada LG Phone Launch, Tiffany & Co Winter Opening and The Chocolate Festival.  During 2012 – 2013 she was Head of Events (maternity cover) at the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the UK, where she organised many conferences, seminars and themed events.  In summer 2013 she was an Island Manager for European Travel Ventures Ltd in Croatia.

IMOGEN ROBERTSON is originally from Rochester in Kent.  She became interested in drama as a History student at Royal Holloway, University of London.  As a student she co-founded a mini festival of new writing (2010) and was involved with university drama societies and youth theatre as producer and set designer (Eat My Fish 2010, Ripen Our Darkness 2011, Hamlet 2012).  In addition, she has produced an Edinburgh Fringe show and local fringe theatre for Devine&Riley Theatre, a production company she co-founded as a student with Royal Court Studio Group writer Georgia Coles-Riley (HAVERFORDWEST 2011, Something Good 2012).  Since graduating in 2012, Imogen has worked as a teacher of English as a foreign language, specialising in teaching English through drama; has written drama-based courses; and taught across Europe.  She has been involved in a voluntary capacity with Theatre 503, HighTide Theatre Festival and Battersea Arts Centre.

SENNE VERCOUTEREN was born in Utrecht (Netherlands) and first encountered theatre at the age of eleven, taking drama classes at Utrecht's Centre for the Arts.  From then on, he participated in numerous projects, including a production of Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class, playing the role of Weston.  As a young producer, he staged The Who's Tommy, the Rock Opera as part of the final examinations at his secondary school.  Senne moved to London in 2009 to study History of Art at the Courtauld Institute, developing a special interest in early modern French art.  In 2012, he worked on the set of the sixth season of Spangas, a Dutch TV drama, as production assistant and subsequently as second assistant director.  Having worked for a PR agency during his final year at the Courtauld, he now hopes to build a career in London theatre.

YVONNE WAIGO has always been passionate about her active involvement in the creative arts.  After working for a time in the customer service industry, between 2010 and 2012 she planned a large number of corporate events for the American finance company Speedy Cash Inc.  In addition, during this time she performed at the Cockpit theatre in London as part of the London Actors Workshop Showcase, after completing their intensive training course.  She has now gone on to gain further qualifications in Film Producing and Production Management, with additional involvement in charity events; she has added considerably to her range of experience; and she now aims to take her skills to the next level by focusing on producing live events.  .  

Thursday 12 September 2013

The sixth year of Creative Producers at Birkbeck!

On September 25 we will welcome the sixth cohort of creative producing students at Birkbeck.

They are

MIYUKI KASAHARA

HANNAH LAMBERT

MALIN BERGGREN LUNDELL

IMOGEN ROBERTSON

SENNE VERCOUTEREN

YVONNE WAIGO

In addition ROCHELE MITCHELL will return to the cohort after Christmas

More details about them all nearer the time!

Thursday 15 August 2013

Summertime ...... and the MACP rolls on ...!



Our current students have been working long and hard on their producing projects this summer ....

Sara Colohan has staged a series of glamorous CIRQUE DU CABARET events at the Spiegeltent

Sarah Georgeson has been Assistant Producer at Paines Plough
 
Lorena lo Pena has been working on a major web-based 'motiroti' MULTIWALKS experience and is also involved in producing the horse-drawn tour of Sabotage Theatre's RAVENS

In July Charles Pugh produced his music/dance FESTIVAL ESTIVAL in Valencia with considerable success

Above is a snap of them all in the chilly spring, working on a task at the Theatre Royal in Stratford East!



Saturday 4 May 2013

CAREER NEWS part three

The next ex-student to feature in CAREER NEWS is
THERESA PINE (2010)
Since graduating from the MA, Theresa has embarked on a PhD at the University of East London, researching the production of Mega Events. 
To assist in her research she worked as a volunteer for London 2012 Ceremonies Ltd, the company which staged the opening and closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympics. She spent  last summer working both at their rehearsal site in Dagenham and the stadium in Stratford. Working with the staging team, she took an active part in all four ceremonies. 
She is now concentrating her research on the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014, the ceremonies of the Winter Olympics - Sochi 2014 and concluding with the production of the ceremonies of Rio 2016. Her research is supported by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) she is attending an IOC conference on the culture and educational aspects of the Olympics in Amsterdam this November and has been given access to the IOC archives in Lausanne. She is also producing for the Ibsen Stage Company and works as a supervisor at the Discover Children's Story Centre, also in Stratford.