Generator Professional Development Workshop Series
We are thrilled to announce the 24/25 Generator Workshop Series. This series was curated by the 2024 Artist Producer Lab cohort to both support their personal research goals and to share in knowledge with the larger Independent Theatre scene in Toronto. We hope that you can join us for one (or all!) of our offerings.
More details and descriptions will be added to each of the workshops as they are available.
Session One: Trauma Informed Budgeting (In partnership with the TAPA Trade Series)
November 20th, 2024 at TAPA B Street Studio
1100 Bathurst Street
4pm - 6pm
Registration Deadline: November 18th
FREE
Are you looking to better engage with your finances in a way that honors both your personal history, values, and emotional well-being? Join us for a 2-hour workshop on Trauma-Informed Budgeting, where we’ll explore how past experiences and emotional responses impact our financial decision-making.
Session Two: Grant Writing Mock Jury with Wayne Burns (Double Bill with the TAPA Trade Series)
December 11th, 2024 at TAPA B Street Studio
1100 Bathurst Street
2pm - 4pm
Registration Deadline: December 5
This session will equip participants with the tools to write successful grant proposals, focusing on how to communicate a project’s vision, impact, and alignment with funders’ priorities. We are hoping participants will gain insight into what grant reviewers look for by participating in a mock-jury exercise. This interactive element will help participants understand the evaluation criteria and common pitfalls, ensuring they leave with practical strategies for writing compelling proposals. Ideal for artist-producers looking to enhance their grant-writing skills and increase their chances of securing funding for their projects.
Important Note: By signing up for this workshop, you will receive a Google Form with the grant applications to review one week prior to the workshop. Please read through the grants and score them based on the criteria in the form before the workshop. This should take about 1 to 1.5 hours. Completing this in advance will give you a sense of what it's like to be on the jury, and during the in-person session, we'll dive deeper into the review process together.
More about Wayne Burns:
Wayne Burns is an actor, producer and host of the conversation series, Direct Address. He is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, the recipient of two Theatre Nova Scotia Awards, an ACTRA award nominee, and was chosen as a Breakthrough Theatre Artist by NOW magazine. As a grant writer he has helped artists cumulatively be awarded over $250,000.00 for their work, with his own projects receiving funding from the Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council and the National Film Board of Canada.
Session Three: Values-Based Contracting (In partnership with the TAPA Trade Series)
February 26, 2025
Description:
Contracts are more than just legal documents—they’re opportunities to build trust, foster collaboration, and uphold values. In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore how to approach contracting with transparency, ethics, and flexibility, ensuring agreements are meaningful and tailored to specific contexts.
Through a blend of practical tips and big-picture ideas, we’ll cover topics such as:
Addressing intellectual property within contracts.
Creating thoughtful commissioning agreements.
Aligning contract terms with values and company culture
Balancing practical “how-tos” with meaningful conversations about ethics and transparency.
The session will include guided discussions, hands-on activities, and opportunities for participants to engage and ask questions.
PLEASE NOTE: To prepare for the session, participants are asked to review the Voluntary Addendum. Available here.
Format Options:
This hybrid workshop will accommodate both in-person and online participants. A dedicated moderator will ensure online attendees can participate fully, with regular opportunities for questions and input.
Spot are limited so please sign up if you are interested!
More About Donna-Michelle St. Bernard:
Donna-Michelle St. Bernard aka Belladonna the Blest is an emcee, playwright and agitator. She has advanced her leadership as a general manager, freelance producer, administrative/governance consultant, facilitator, adjudicator and advocate. DM’s main body of work is the 54ology: The First Stone, Give It Up, The Smell of Horses, Diggers, Cake, Sound of the Beast, A Man A Fish, Dark Love, Roominhouse, Salome’s Clothes and Gas Girls. She has collaborated on the creation of The Only Good Indian and They Say He Fell (Pandemic Theatre), Forbidden and Oubliette (Tapestry Opera), The House You Build (Gordon Tootoosis Nekaniwin Theatre) and 501: Toronto in Transit (Theatre Passe Muraille). For Playwrights Canada Press, she is co-editor with Yvette Nolan of Refractions: Solo and Refractions: Scenes as well as editor of Indian Act: Residential School Plays. DM also contributes to the creative ecology as a director, dramaturge and administrator
Session Four: VALUES-BASED ARTS LEADERSHIP PANEL
Date: April 9, 2025
Time: 4 PM - 530 PM EST
Location: Virtual
About the Session
How can aligning your leadership approach with your core values drive meaningful change in the arts?
Join Marjorie Chan , Jivesh Parasram, and Emily Jung for a conversation, moderated by Nikki Shaffeeullah, on leading with purpose in the arts. As leaders in the community committed to inclusivity, collaboration, and sustainability, they’ll share insights from their leadership journeys and discuss how centring core values can shape meaningful change in the industry.
💡 Topics include:
Defining values-based leadership
Navigating artistic and ethical tensions
Decolonization and anti-oppressive practices in the arts
Balancing artistic risk & safety
Strategies for fostering inclusive and sustainable leadership
This session is ideal for artist-producers and arts workers looking to develop leadership skills that centre their core values, equity, and community care.
There will also be an engaging Q&A section where everyone can participate in the conversation.
If you require ASL interpretation, please let us know by Sunday April 6, 2025.
About the Panelists
🌟 Marjorie Chan - Current Artistic Director of Theatre Passe Muraille
Born in Tkaronto (Toronto) to settlers from Hong Kong, Marjorie Chan is the Artistic Director of Theatre Passe Muraille. As an award-winning interdisciplinary artist, she primarily identifies as a writer with specific interest in contemporary opera and collective forms, while also maintaining an active practice as a dramaturge and director. Marjorie also has a long history of working at the intersection of accessibility and dramaturgy, creating spaces and processes for more radical inclusivity in theatre creation.
🌟 Jivesh Parasram - Current Artistic Director of Rumble Theatre
Jivesh is an award-winning multi-disciplinary artist, and facilitator of Indo-Caribbean descent. His work has toured Nationally and Internationally. Jiv is the founding Artistic Producer of Pandemic Theatre, and became the Artistic Director of Rumble Theatre following three years as the Associate Artistic Producer at Theatre Passe Muraille. He was a member of the Cultural Leader Lab with the Banff Centre and Toronto Arts Council. His public service work has included collaborations with the Ad Hoc Assembly, The Canadian Commission for UNESCO, and as an advisor to the National Arts Centre. His current cultural practice centres decolonization through aesthetics.
🌟Emily Jung - Director of Communications at The Theatre Center
Emily Jung is a Korean-Canadian artist and arts worker working with themes around labour (and rest), multilingual arts, social media, hauntology, and eco-dramaturgy. She is the co-founder of the conceptual artsworker collective ‘Labour in the Arts’. She works at The Theatre Centre as Director of Communications. Her essay, <Korean Seniors Don’t Care for Bingo>, is available online on Choa Magazine.
🌟 Moderated by Nikki Shaffeeullah – Currently Director of Programming at Generator and Artistic Director of Undercurrent Creations.
I am a theatre & film artist, facilitator, producer, writer, equity worker, and community organizer. I produce artistic work and sector change research and training projects through my company Undercurrent Creations, and have worked with many theatre and community arts companies across the land. As a producer I value taking an emergent approach to each process, knowing that each constellation of people, ideas, goals, needs, and opportunities requires its own unique plan. I believe that safety, accessibility, and anti-oppression can all work to serve (and are not in competition with) artistic risk-taking and creative success.
If you have any questions or accessibility requests, please reach out to Taranjot@generatorto.com.
Session Five: Small Organizations & Sustainability
April 2025
More information coming soon!
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