Creative Producer Development Course (CPD)
Following the success of our first Creative Producer Development course in 2024–25, we’re excited to be bringing the programme back for 2026.
Developed by Lowry, HOME and Z-arts, the course is designed to give early-career producers in Greater Manchester the structured training, networks and practical tools they need to thrive. For 2026, Company Chameleon joins the programme as a new partner, and Stage One return for a second year.
Our pilot made clear just how essential this kind of development is — especially at a time when the sector faces a shortage of producers and few accessible pathways exist for new and diverse talent to enter the field.
Independent producers are central to shaping bold, ambitious new work across the region. We want Greater Manchester to remain a place where producers can build sustainable, exciting and long-term careers.
If you’re an early-career producer with a passion for making live performance happen, this course is for you.
About CPD
This course supports early-career independent producers across Greater Manchester to build sustainable, confident and well-connected producing careers. Participants will explore the practical skills, creative thinking and sector knowledge needed to produce high-quality live performance - from theatre and dance to festivals, gigs, tours and interdisciplinary work.
Across 15 in-person sessions, led by experienced industry professionals, the course offers structured learning, hands-on workshops, critical discussion and ongoing mentoring.
Find Out More: Online Q&A Webinar
Wednesday 10 December 2025, 1:00pm–2:00pm (online)
Join Antonia Beck (Lowry), Davinia Jokhi (HOME), Isah-Levi Roach (Z-arts) and Sam Broadbent (Company Chameleon) for an overview of the course, who it’s for, and how to apply.
Course Schedule (March - September 2026)
Participants must be available for the full course schedule:
Session 1 & 2: Saturday 7 March 2026 — 10:00am–4:00pm
Session 3: Wednesday 25 March 2026 — 6:00pm–9:00pm
Session 4 & 5: Saturday 18 April 2026 — 10:00am–4:00pm
Session 6: Wednesday 29 April 2026 — 6:00pm–9:00pm
Session 7 & 8: Saturday 16 May 2026 — 10:00am–4:00pm
Session 9: Wednesday 27 May 2026 — 6:00pm–9:00pm
Session 10 & 11: Monday 15 June 2026 — 10:00am–4:00pm
Session 12: Wednesday 24 June 2026 — 6:00pm–9:00pm
Session 13 & 14: Saturday 11 July 2026 — 10:00am–4:00pm
Session 15: Wednesday 22 July 2026 — 6:00pm–9:00pm
Evaluation Session: Saturday 12 September 2026 — 1:00pm–4:00pm
Producer Social: Saturday 12 September 2026 — 6:00pm–10:00pm
Each workshop will take place at a partner venue.
We ask for full commitment to this schedule. If you already know that you’ll be unavailable for multiple dates, we recommend waiting for a future round so you can get the most out of the course. We understand that life happens, and missing one session is manageable but we expect the cohort to engage fully.
Who Is It For?
This course is designed for:
Early-career independent/freelance producers with a passion for producing live performance or events
Producers with at least two completed projects
People living in Greater Manchester
Applicants aged 18+
We are committed to encouraging diversity and intersectionality in the arts. We strongly welcome applications from people from underrepresented communities including, but not limited to, applicants of all ages, disabled people, people with caring responsibilities, global majority artists, LGBTQIA+ producers, and those from lower socioeconomic or non-traditional educational backgrounds.
If you need access support to complete your application, please contact us.
What the Course Includes
15 training sessions delivered by industry professionals
A bursary contribution to help with expenses
Tickets to see work across Greater Manchester
Ongoing mentoring and support
If you have questions, please contact: Isah-Levi Roach, Artist Development Producer at Z-arts Email: isah@z-arts.org
Meet the Creative Producer Development 2026 cohort
Jen Amelia Veitch (She/Her)
Jen is a freelance creative producer and photographer working across live performance, music and queer
nightlife culture. She curated a multidisciplinary exhibition and showcase at Factory International, bringing together cross-disciplinary artists in an immersive, audience-focused context. Alongside producing, her photography focuses on intimacy, movement and community - particularly within queer spaces - and she is currently expanding her practice into backstage and documentary music photography following a recent nomination for the Abbey Road Music Photography Awards. She’s interested in immersive, cross-disciplinary work that blends visual storytelling with live performance.
Giulia Fincato (She/Her)
Giulia is a writer, producer and theatre maker from Italy based in Manchester. She has experience in producing across theatre and live events both in Manchester and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and is most interested in stories centred around female and queer narratives, language and identity, often explored through a dystopian, supernatural or magical lens.
Katherine Hollinson (She/Her)
Is a Manchester-based performer, maker, producer and teacher working across live performance, dance, film, and participatory projects. She trained at Central School of Ballet, graduating in 2006, and has performed nationally and internationally with choreographers including Dan Watson, Marta Bevilacqua, and Lucy Hind.
Recent projects include A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That (Lowry), co-created with her child, and Would You Care To… (HOME Manchester), an interactive film exploring care and sisterhood. As one half of Them Two Dance, she created accessible outdoor performances including Random Acts of Kindness, which toured festivals across Europe.
Across all of her work, Katherine draws on her experiences as a facilitator, collaborator, and parent to create art that is generous, joyful and built with care.
Linxi Shi (She/Her)
Linxi Shi is a project manager and producer currently working with Without Walls, supporting outdoor arts touring and partnership development. She studied film production in China before moving to the UK to continue her studies in theatre and film design, later exploring curating as a way of thinking about how stories exist in different spaces. She previously worked with The Lowry, assisting with programming and producing across a range of productions, and with Quays Culture on outdoor festivals and events. Linxi is interested in storytelling across live performance, film and public space, and enjoys bringing together people, ideas and
practical thinking to make projects happen.
Melissa Boyle (She / Her)
Melissa works across film, TV and theatre, driven by a passion for projects that challenge norms, reimagine traditions, and tell bold, emotionally grounded stories.
Her practice is rooted in collaboration and care, whether producing on set, coordinating behind the scenes, or creating spaces for artists to connect and thrive. Drawn to grounded storytelling narratives that explore the truths of lived experience with empathy, complexity, and emotional intensity she champions female, queer and working-class-led narratives. Melissa co-foundesd Alora’s Productions, an independent film company dedicated to ambitious storytelling and opportunities for emerging and diverse creatives, and HellCat Creative Collective, a platform fostering safer, joyful spaces for women, trans, and non-binary artists to collaborate and showcase their work. She is currently developing new projects on screen, on stage, and within the wider creative community. Her practice isguided by a few key questions: Who gets to tell stories? How do we hold space for each other? And how can we build more inclusive, imaginative creative environments?
Courtney Hayles (He/Him)
Courtney ‘CourtsWrites’ Hayles is a Manchester-based writer, director, spoken-word artist and facilitation practitioner exploring masculinity, music and community through immersive, narrative-driven storytelling. Working across theatre, film, audio art and installation, he creates projects that invite audiences into dialogue around identity, vulnerability and belonging.
Since establishing his independent practice in 2014, Hayles has developed a multidisciplinary body of projects that merge poetic language with visual storytelling. His short film Rage With Words (2020), a poetic response to the murder of George Floyd, was shortlisted at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival and demonstrates his ability to distil complex social themes into emotionally resonant narratives.
Alongside his independent practice, Hayles served as Associate Artistic Director at Young Identity, where he led the development of new theatre productions and helped shape international creative exchange programmes. His practice frequently bridges the cultural and commercial sectors, collaborating with organisations and brands to craft human-centred stories across multiple platforms.
His projects include Imprint (PUSH Festival), Blink for Manchester Collective, SICK! Cars! for SICK! Festival, an installation exploring masculinity and mental health created with illustrator Woodrow Phoenix, and Voice. Sealed. Shut. (2024). He has also directed narrative campaigns such as the Sound Mind, Sound Body series for ASICS.
Through this multidisciplinary practice, Hayles contributes to wider cultural conversations around masculinity, vulnerability and the evolving language men use to understand themselves and each other.
Hayles’ practice interrogates themes of Black identity, love, trauma and the complexities of modern masculinity, often blending spoken word, music and physical theatre to create layered sensory experiences. Alongside his creative practice, he delivers facilitation, mentorship and creative consultancy for arts organisations, communities and brands, using storytelling as a catalyst for dialogue, reflection and cultural change.
Previous projects include: Asics: SMSB (2019), Rage With Words (2020), Blink commissioned by Northern Voices as part of Manchester Collective (2021), Imprint as part of PUSH ARTS Festival (2019–21), Jannis GRM Daily (2021), Sick!Cars for SICK! Festival (2022), Voice. Sealed. Shut. (2024), and REFRAME: Inspire Schools Factory International x Southbank Centre (2025).
Farah Khaili (She/Her)
Farah Khali is a Mexican filmmaker whose love for storytelling drives her work across fiction, documentary, and commercial content. She started her career in post-production and is now evolving a keen interest in producing. She got the opportunity to study at Vancouver Film School, which led her to finish a master’s at Manchester Metropolitan University, where she currently teaches filmmaking to Bachelor’s students. Her experience ranges from contributing to projects for companies like Factory International, Imperial War Museum, and VKA Studios to currently participating in multiple film festivals [Whistler Film Festival 2025]. Having worked across the film industry in three different countries, her motivation is to constantly seek new ways of making cinema.
Hester Cox (She/Her)
Hester is a creative producer and voiceover artist, who began producing over four years ago at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before moving to work in the producing team at Factory International. From there, she moved to the Royal Exchange Theatre to work as the Den Festival Producer and recently made the leap into freelance producing.
Goz Ugochukwu (She/Her)
Her producing experience includes small creative projects, festival work and supporting roles in live environments. At DaDaFest, she supported events and artist activity, helping to coordinate programme elements, manage access and keep communication flowing. She has also produced and directed short pieces for the BBC. She has spent time in theatre settings through assistant directing placements at Storyhouse, the Royal Exchange, and the Octagon.
Qinwei Lu (She/Her)
Quinvean (Qinwei) is a multidisciplinary artist with over a decade of experience in dance, choreography, education, and stage production across China and the UK. Her work has been presented at major festivals, including Edinburgh Fringe, Colchester Fringe, and the UK Asian Dance Festival. Executive Director of “Chinese Culture Week 2025” and Co-Producer of the IC Award at the Edinburgh Fringe, she leads international projects with massive exposure and enhances the global visibility of artists worldwide. She has directed international tours at venues like Sadler’s Wells and Aviva Studios. Her cross-cultural productions, supported by Arts Council England, the Hong Kong Arts Development Fund, and China National Art Foundation, highlight her ability to bridge artistic platforms. Recent achievements include winning the New Youth Award for a dance film, marking her expansion into digital media. Placements with UK organizations have inspired her to use her knowledge to make a difference in the art industry.
Sam Dixon (She/Her)
Sam is a Manchester-based Creative Producer, Facilitator, and Theatre-maker dedicated to the power of participatory arts for social and civic change. Specialising in Legislative Theatre, she uses play and performance as practical tools for co-creating policy, collective wellbeing, and community building. Her practice is rooted in her identity as a neurodiverse, working-class creative, prioritising accessible, trauma-informed, and playful processes that transform lived experience into democratic expertise.
Sam’s portfolio spans youth leadership, regional policy, and immersive performance. She has designed and led Legislative Theatre projects with the Department for Education to develop national wellbeing frameworks for schools and collaborated with the West Midlands Combined Authority, Trafford Council, and Birmingham City Council to shape policy on youth employment and the safety of women and girls. Internationally, she has worked alongside Catalan Youth Services to evolve youth mental health strategies. Whether working with local councils, national government, prisons, or community groups, Sam is committed to creating radically inclusive spaces that challenge systemic boundaries and foster meaningful engagement.
Sydney Gilbride (They/Them)
Sydney Gilbride is a creative producer and artist working between Manchester and Leeds. Their interdisciplinary artistic practice reaches across painting, moving image, and performance. Informed by an interest in graphic design, traditional typography, and urban graffiti, their visual work brings together the aesthetics of street lettering with the craft and precision of traditional signwriting.
Alongside their visual practice, Gilbride works as a creative producer and is a founding member of LAX (Leeds Artist Exchange). Drawing on their experience as an artist, they develop and present live works that respond to the LAX exhibition programme, bringing together performance and collaborative practice. Across these projects, they collaborate with filmmakers, painters, and performance artists to interpret themes of the work through a lens of identity, embodiment, and collective experience.
Matthew Rawcliffe (He/Him)
Matthew Rawcliffe is a dance artist specialising in inclusive practice, currently producing his own works in the UK and Denmark. His main area of focus is sensory performance for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD). Matthew is currently working on re-staging two of his sensory works: Hades & Persephone for The Classical Association’s Annual Conference and Narkissos for the Foundation for Integrated Dance in Denmark’s PÅ TVÆRS festival. Matthew also works as an access consultant, most recently for Curious Seed.
Aisling Kiely (She/Her)
Aisling is a multidisciplinary creative producer who delivers projects across music, digital, performance, and community spaces. Her work focuses on bringing people together through participatory, place-based creative experiences. She has produced projects in both traditional and non-traditional settings, from outdoor site-specific performances centred on participatory performance and public storytelling to multi-partner creative programmes in public, virtual, and educational spaces.
Adeola Adelakun (She/Her)
Adeola Adelakun is a creative producer and co-founder of Black Creative Trailblazers, with over four years of experience designing and delivering community-focused projects that celebrate and platform Black creatives. She has hosted a wide range of events including showcases, open mic nights, and creative activations at institutions across Manchester such as Factory International and Manchester Museum. Adeola has successfully engaged more than 3,000 attendees and collaborated with over 120 Black artists.
Martha Ford Tomlinson (They/She)
Martha Ford Tomlinson is a theatre and arts producer based in Manchester. Projects include 90+5, LALA Arts; THREE POINT STAR, by James Varney dir Clodagh Chapman; SHORTS, Not Long; IN LIMBO, by Judi Amato. They previously worked for the Royal Exchange Theatre for over three years.