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The next offering from our 2025 Artist-Producer Lab cohort sector research projects is by Ludmylla Reis. This sharing takes the shape of a creative short story titled "From Camarez to Fraier" it was written, edited, and performed by Ludmylla Reis. Enjoy!
In Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral acceptance speech last year, he spoke of the cynicism that has come to define the experience of working New Yorkers who once loved the city they live in, but no longer feel that city “loves them back.” This notion of how an institution like a city can practice “love” resonated with me. A city that loves us back might look like strong, well-resourced, responsive social infrastructure: accessible transit, affordable housing, a manageable cost of living, accountable leadership.
The next offering from our 2025 Artist-Producer Lab cohort sector research projects is by Ludmylla Reis. This sharing takes the shape of a creative short story titled "From Camarez to Fraier" it was written, edited, and performed by Ludmylla Reis. Enjoy!
We’re delighted to release the next micro-research project from our 2025 Artist-Producer Lab cohort. This piece is a podcast episode in which Taranjot Bamrah sits down with Kaylce Carter to talk about their research into the current state of accessibility and future-oriented accessibility practices (Dreaming Forward). Listen in! See a transcript of the episode here.
What does it mean to produce a festival and ensure one’s physical and mental health is cared for, avoiding burnout and establishing sustainability and care for both the festival producer and the festival?
In simplest terms…I’ve made a lot of mistakes. Today, I’ve decided to make a little float, and parade all those mistakes in front of you. Why? Because accountability is a learned skill, and the best way to learn is to fall flat on your face. I offer my bruises up because I see a lot of my peers and our arts leaders fumbling as well. As anti-violence advocate and founding member of Accountable Communities Consortium, Shannon Perez-Darby puts it “accountability is not a personality trait or identity. It’s a skill necessary for each of us to build and cultivate in order to have loving equitable relationships, communities and movements”.
This past season, James Jumaway joined Generator as our Generator Intern for Communications. In this blog post, James shares his reflections, learnings, and behind-the-scenes moments from his time with us. At Generator, we deeply value the fresh perspectives and creative energy our interns bring, and this internship program which was developed by the brilliant Seika Boye, continues to be one of our highlights from the season. Read on to hear more from James about his experience!
Hello again!
At What The Festival our goal is to create as much JOY as possible! For EVERYONE!
Being a theatre festival that provides a home for what we call ‘Strange-Makers’ - Drag, Clown, Puppetry, etc - we are all about celebrating differences and being inclusive of types of performances and people who are often excluded.
As someone who learns best by doing, being invited to participate in Paprika’s Strategic Planning was a treat. It had been 5 years and a whole new staff since the 2018 Manifesto and it was time to do some reflecting on where the company was at currently while honouring the hard work of our predecessors.
What The Festival, co-founded by Byron Laviolette and Alicia DiStefano, is a four-day event dedicated to the promotion, presentation and popularization of Clown, Puppetry and Drag performance. The festival is the flagship operation of the Strange Maker Collective, which also hosts the annual SPRING THING variety cabaret series.
What follows is the first in an quarterly series of thoughts, reflections and observations on WTF’s journey throughout 2025.
I've often understood capital T "Transformation" in arts organizations to mean the infrequent but seismic tumult of tectonic plates— unearthing long patterns and installing new structures for the foreseeable future. However, the leaders of Paprika showed me their own version of change that looks more like an ocean tide going in and out, shorter cycles that ebb and flow with regularity.
In this blog post, Azeem Nathoo reflects on his journey as part of the inaugural cohort of the Artist-Producer Lab (formerly Artist Producer Training). His experience this summer highlights the our commitment to adaptability, community-driven support, and the ongoing reimagining of processes that better serve independent producers.
We are thrilled to introduce the mentors for the Artist-Producer Lab's 2024 season. These knowledgeable individuals are pillars of the Toronto arts ecology, bringing invaluable expertise to our cohort.
Generator is seeking a New Position to join the team as we continue to experiment with leadership models and program development. We are looking for a collaborative, curious, and passionate individual to join us. You can find the full Job Call here. We have written this blog post to contextualize the current state of Generator and where we imagine this New Position could fit. In the name of transparency, we are sharing this outside of the job call for any and all who are interested in how we structure ourselves.
We have come a long way but not far enough. Inequity, exclusion, and racial disparities at the intersections of the white gaze and white imagination remain systemic as we continue to free ourselves. Theatre and performance art are not exempt from anti-Black racism.
As part of the APT Peer Conversation Project, Maddie Bautista meets with Rebecca Vandevelde (Production Manager at Buddies in Bad Times and founding member of Means of Production) to discuss alternatives to the standard production tech week schedule/timeline.
As part of the APT Peer Conversation Project, Michelle Langille meets with Kat McCormack (Artistic Director, Eastern Front Theatre) in studio, to capture a podcast recording of their conversation about accessibility in theatrical contexts.
As part of the APT Peer Conversation Project, Sehar Bhojani meets with interdisciplinary artist Saba Akhtar, for a conversation and a rumination on race within theatre and storytelling.
As part of the APT Peer Conversation Project, Rinchen Dolma, a past alumni of our APT program speaks with Lucy Coren (theatre producer, creator and dramaturg) about her producing practice and how she came to producing community-based creation. While they converse, the two brainstorm about community engagement on a jam board and even have a budget building jam session.
I’ve never seen anyone’s eyes bulge out of their head harder than when people find out a queer Chinese-Canadian interdisciplinary performance artist just completed a Metcalf internship… In 🥳Executive Direction🎉.
Sorry to the national theatre ecology, but I’m just not built for that life. And I have nothing but respect to those with the patience and stamina who do. Still, despite my emotionless break-up with arts administration, I watched the recorded session of the Paprika Festival’s third Hot Topics series What can the future of Toronto Theatre Look Like? as if I was consistently checking on an ex to see how they were doing.
As part of the APT Peer Conversation Project, Tsholo Khalema meets with Jan Alicia Jennings (Singer, Playwright, Poet, Songwriter, Visual Artist, Art's Facilitator, Dramaterg and Comedian) to discuss creation, art, digital spaces + more in a series of three conversations.
As part of the APT Peer Conversation Project, Maricris Rivera speaks with Kodie Rollan (Artistic Director, Chromatic Theatre) to unpack ways to minimize harm in the creative process and value humans first, before the art.
This is the fourth post in a series of artist responses to the Get on Board: Workshop and Speaker Series by the Creative Champions Network, an initiative of the Toronto Arts Foundation. As a co-creator of the series in 2022/23, Generator has engaged Artist Responders to attend each session, to summarize, reflect and respond to the emerging conversations and activities.
This is the third post in a series of artist responses to the Get on Board: Workshop and Speaker Series by the Creative Champions Network, an initiative of the Toronto Arts Foundation. As a co-creator of the series in 2022/23, Generator has engaged Artist Responders to attend each session, to summarize, reflect and respond to the emerging conversations and activities.
This blog post is all about how art and AI can work together to aid creative processes. We'll talk about ChatGPT - what it is and how it can be used for artistic purposes. We'll also discuss some of the benefits of collaborating with ChatGPT, like getting inspiration and exploring new artistic styles. Of course, we'll also touch on the ethical considerations that come with using AI in art. Plus, some examples of how the author uses AI to support their own artistic work. And at the end, there are some resources to check out if you want to learn more.
JT: “You have to ask for what you want. You can’t just
sit around and expect that everyone’s gonna be like
‘Oh, Julie Tomaino you should do this’. It doesn’t work
that way. There’s too many people in this industry,
especially if you’re an emerging artist, not to be clear on
your goals”
In Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral acceptance speech last year, he spoke of the cynicism that has come to define the experience of working New Yorkers who once loved the city they live in, but no longer feel that city “loves them back.” This notion of how an institution like a city can practice “love” resonated with me. A city that loves us back might look like strong, well-resourced, responsive social infrastructure: accessible transit, affordable housing, a manageable cost of living, accountable leadership.