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The application process is formally explained on
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/eh/programmes/postgraduate/ma_creative_producing
Always consult this formal explanation before making an application
What follows is intended to help you acquire a general understanding of the programme. Birkbeck reserves the right to vary without notice the contents of courses or parts of courses and to modify facilities and arrangements for students. Applicants and students should confirm the up-to-date position when they need to know it.
What do you look for in potential students?
We acknowledge the value of professional and life experience as well as formal academic qualifications.
We expect you to have had enough previous experience of theatre or live performance in its widest sense (e.g., events, music, outdoor performance, street arts, festivals, etc, etc, etc.) to allow you to appreciate the realities of life in the industry.
We also expect you to have adequate basic computer / IT skills, in particular a basic working knowledge of Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
Your previous experience may or may not include producing. The Programme does not require a minimum level of producing experience before admission.
The MA in Creative Producing for Theatre and Live Performance is a focussed programme specifically intended for those who want to become professional creative producers. It is not an arts management or arts administration course. If you are looking for such a course at Birkbeck please go to http://www.bbk.ac.uk/study/all_courses/artsmanagement.html
How do I apply?
Fill in a Birkbeck postgraduate application form online. There are separate forms for full-time and part-time attendance. These are general application forms for all postgraduate courses at Birkbeck College and should be completed as fully as possible. With regard to the section on Professional Experience, remember that your CV/resumé will supplement the brief summary details you can give here.
What kind of referees do you need?
At least one of your referees MUST be able to supply adequate information about your experience of theatre and/or live performance.
The status or job-title of this Referee is much less important than her/his ability to testify to this experience, or other relevant experience you may have had.
Remember to supply telephone numbers and email addresses for both your referees.
What else do you need?
In addition to the completed application form you must provide us with your up-to-date CV/resumé and a ‘supporting statement’.
Why do you need my CV/resumé?
We need to know details of all your creative experience, including any experience you have had of theatre and/or live performance, not just any producing experience you might have had.
What is the ‘supporting statement’?
In addition to completing the standard Birkbeck application form you must also respond in writing to specific questions about your experience of and commitment to theatre or live performance, and your ambitions.
The ‘supporting statement’ consists of your responses to these three questions.
How do I complete the ‘supporting statement’?
You respond to each of the following three questions.
They are designed to provide additional information about your level of experience of theatre and/or performance and about your aims, interests and concerns as a future professional creative producer.
Your responses are significant and will be fully taken into account by Selection Panels.
Each question should be answered in not more than 500 words, but your answers can be shorter than this if you wish!
1. Describe a theatre or live performance project, large or small, that you want to produce.
2. What do you believe is the role of a creative producer when working with actors, performers, or other artistic collaborators?
3. If you graduate from this Programme in 2011, what do you see yourself doing in five years time?
Please note that, contrary to what is said on the application forms, you are not expected to confine this ‘supporting statement’ to one sheet.
There are no ‘correct’ answers to any of these questions.
We expect applicants to reveal a wide range of experience, opinions, interests and ambitions.
Be candid. We want to read your honest opinions and beliefs.
I would like to know more about the role of the creative producer. Is there any introductory reading I can do?
You might download or read online (from Arts Council England’s website) Kate Tyndall’s book The Producers: Alchemists of the Impossible (2007).
An older but equally interesting book is James Inverne’s The Impresarios (London: Oberon, 2000). It is often available in libraries.
The Programme Handbook includes a detailed booklist. http://www.bbk.ac.uk/eh/programmes/postgraduate/ma_creative_producing
English is not my first language. Is this a problem?
No, provided that you have certified evidence of your proficiency in spoken and written English at a minimum level of 7.5 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or its equivalent.
Please note that you must achieve this level before you can be admitted to the Programme.
What if I have other questions about the application process that are not covered in these FAQs?
Contact the Programme Administrator - see the 'Welcome!' panel at the start of the blog.
What happens once I have sent in my completed application?
Each application is considered carefully.
Applicants who are considered to be suitably qualified will be invited to participate in the Programme’s selection process.
During that process each candidate’s potential to become a professional creative producer will be scrutinised and assessed.
For more information about the Selection Process please see ‘FAQs – The Selection Process’
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