I started my Producing career in Gloucester in 2014, following a paid internship at JOLT International Festival, meeting Sarah Blowers and then being invited to be Assistant Producer at Strike A Light. I had no idea what a producer did, but I knew that I loved live events and had a knack for organising projects. With the guidance from co-Artistic Directors Sarah & Emma-Jane, so began my Producing journey delivering 2 festivals a year, the three of us sat in, what was essentially, a large cupboard. My role included producing projects but, as many Producers may sympathise, leading on marketing for the organisation as a small arts charity in its infancy.
I was living and working in a new city that offered fertile ground for cultural change which made this role so satisfying. I have some of my fondest working memories at Strike A Light shows… like hoping the balcony in the Olympus theatre would hold up after a raucous standing ovation for Avant Garde Dance accompanied by a troupe of young Gloucester dancers, or watching 100 people make bread together, before all sitting down to eat together on a huge table at one of our Festival Launch nights.
My involvement in the organisation grew, I was promoted to ‘Producer’, and I got to work on some diverse and poignant projects. We produced the cultural programme for Gloucester’s Rugby World Cup celebrations (smash-cut to 10+ Georgian singers accidentally being locked in the Gloucester Cathedral cloisters), Gloucester Rooftop Festival on the top of a multi-storey car park rooftop (cue the entire SAL team sweeping rainwater from under Multi-Story Orchestra musicians’ feet 30mins before doors-up), we went into Matson and started co-producing work with Sarah & Naomi – now the inimitable GL4 Festival. The work was varied, exciting, and challenged the norms for what Gloucester was known for and I loved being a part of it.
Outside of Strike A Light I was freelancing for Green Man Festival, Cheltenham Literature & Science Festival, the National Trust, duty managing Gloucester Blackfriars & the Guildhall, working with former Exec-Director of SAL, Christina Poulton, on her CIC ‘Art Playground’, as well as Producing work with opera, dance and theatre companies to make and tour work nationally, and more. It was a varied portfolio.
Strike A Light taught me resilience, how to graft, the importance of place-based-programming.
It also taught me the importance of pastoral care and work-life balance. Emma-Jane was a champion juggler, balancing running and arts organisation and raising 4 children, reminding us the importance of switching off from work. Eating outdoors together was something Sarah & Emma-Jane made sure we did as often as possible, and come festival time there was a green room with fresh soup for artists & creatives to all come together. It may sound small to some but these things have had a profound impact on the emphasis that I have put on wellbeing and on the value of people in my career to date.
I moved away from Strike A Light and Gloucester in 2019 to work for Festival.org and Produce Greenwich+Docklands International Festival in London. The SAL Team joked they’d fire me if I didn’t take the role, despite my concerns that I’d be walking away from a job that I loved and from genuine friendships. It was a brilliant opportunity to expand my network and deliver large scale, spectacle projects and events in an established outdoor arts organisation and still get my festival fix. I couldn’t quite shake Strike A Light, though, and within the year, Strike A Light became a ‘Global Streets’ partner – a consortium of partners managed by Festival.org to tour subsidised, international work to 12 places in the UK.
In my 5 years with Festival.org, I’ve become Executive Producer, I’m the sustainability lead for the organisation, I manage an expanding team of core and festival staff, I’ve made strong connections with authorities, partners, funders, and artists. GDIF was the first festival to receive Platinum status for its access provision for Deaf and disabled audiences and we’re now a Disability Confident Lead. I’ve worked nationally, internationally and been at the heart of some of the most exciting outdoor arts projects around.
Strike A Light equipped me for working in weird and wonderful sites and venues, and I’ve continued this with Festival.org’s projects, most notably in 2023 a critically acclaimed theatre production on a bus, and an aerial dance piece on the front of St Paul’s cathedral.
In 2023, I became a trustee for Strike A Light. This is an important next step in my Producing career, challenging me in new ways, allowing me to sit on the other side of Governance, and contributing my learning and knowledge back to an organisation that I deeply care about, that continues to do good things, and that has had such a profound impact on me as a Producer.
– Ellie Harris
Strike A Light 