Guest Blog: Jamie Chapman Dixon and John-Webb Carter On The Theatre Producer Portal

As we're writing this blog post - sat, centre stage, at the London Coliseum to film a week's worth of concerts inside this beautiful but empty venue - it's more apparent than ever how important it is to work together in this industry. Without platforms for collaboration, none of the 30-strong workforce would be on stage today filming.

Originally set up in 2014 and reinvented within the last year, the Theatre Producer Portal came about to encourage the sharing of resources and contacts within the industry. We wanted an organic growth for the company and have been evolving it constantly over the past six years in order to build strong relationships and, most importantly, listen to what people wanted.

The Tonight at the Coliseum concert series is just one example of the Portal doing what it does best, and is just one of dozens of shows that have been funded through the site. One of the biggest questions we used to find ourselves asking was, "How do you find investment for your production?", and our goal is to be that answer. We listened to feedback and decided to also create a section that focuses on grants, donations and our very own grant system. This industry we all love can be challenging at the best of times, and if our site makes it a little bit easier for people, then we have done our jobs.

We first met on a production that was advertised through the investment portal when Jamie [Chapman Dixon]'s production of Dark Sublime was looking for collaborators. We instantly gelled, and the ideas kept rolling and have now clicked into place. The production ended up being fully funded by the Portal and created friendships that will last a lifetime. That meeting was in mid 2018 and now, two years on, we are just getting started.

It's those partnerships made, and the many we hope to continue forming, that drives us to make sure the portal has as much of an open door as possible. In an industry that has for so many years been described as elitist, with conversations only happening with those that are already in the know, we've seen the power of what can be achieved when you're on a level playing field.

In fact, we'd go as far to say that if there's one positive that's come out of the crisis of that pandemic that shall remain nameless, it's that the playing field HAS been levelled. In a world where top producers can be found stacking shelves by day and producing Zoom readings by night, we've found that people who might never have answered before are now talking, and it's our hope that we're giving those people a platform to do so with ease.

As much as we have discussed funding for productions above, the Portal is not solely focused on this. The idea is to help people build their careers via resources, mixer events, funding, discounts, advice and a whole lot more. The portal is a one-stop shop for all your needs to get going as a producer, writer or investor within this industry.

The Theatre Producer Portal is run by Jamie Chapman Dixon and John-Webb Carter on behalf of Carter Dixon Productions, who are currently producing the concert series Tonight at the London Coliseum with Take Two Theatricals. Find out more here

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