Surfing the Industry – or: How to Keep Your Head Above Water Using Applied Knowledge About the Field!

July 3 to 5, 2023, all-day

How can I successfully structure my artistic work and successively expand upon my ideas? How do I find an effective form of personal and goal-oriented acquisition of gigs and present my work so that I remain sustainably in the memory of the people I talk with?
Over the course of the three-day summer school Surfing the Industry, Anica Happich and Johannes Lange share their practical know-how designed to help you make your way through the performing arts and find your footing in the industry. The participants will receive an overview and applicable knowledge for central topics and potential problems that they will encounter over the course of a broadly based artistic career that must continually be adjusted and adapted, led by a variety of different interests. The question regarding the possibilities of a democratic right to speak and participate as well as important cultural policy questions will be taken into consideration in all components of the workshop.
The workshop is intended both for newcomers as well as experienced colleagues who would like to develop their own strategies, think about them and adapt them in an appreciative and confidential environment.

In German spoken language, Q&A in English spoken language is possible.

Costs:
Accommodation: 34 € per night (à 2 nights) in single rooms
Board: 43 € per day (full board)
The participation in the workshop itself is free of charge.

Overview of the Schedule of Programming

Day 1:
Arrival, checking into the rooms and meet & greet
Thematic Block 1: Paths to Independence
Working in the performing arts also always includes working independently – regardless of whether this is as the fundamental professional model or in the time between permanent engagements. We will take a close look at the challenges of working independently on a variety of levels, discuss the opportunities and risks and describe the most important competencies (organizational skills, the balancing act between your job and your private life and much, much more). We will also provide a realistic overview of the financial options and hardships of a freelance career in the performance arts and ask the question together: what does my passion actually cost me?
Followed by: a shared dinner with mutual discussion

Day 2:
Thematic Blocks 2 and 3: Self-Marketing + Pitch Your Performance
The “red-headed” step child of the applied knowledge about the field is the dealing with marketing strategies and a successful self-promotion with an eye toward the in-house logistics of the artistic operation. Alongside working to reduce prejudices and clichés, we will discuss ways in which an individual way to deal with this topic can be found that is suitable for one’s own artistic work. We will compare and contrast the “Jacob’s ladder” and “vicious circle” of self-marketing and talk about their relevance for the performing arts. The content we have learned will then be applied in the pitch training with a great deal of joy in the realization. The goal here is to find the right mixture of sharing knowledge and empowerment through independent action.
Followed by: a lunch break with a shared meal and/or a dinner with mutal discussion

Day 3:
Thematic Block 4: Networking, Resilience, Options for the Future
We will provide practical tips and share our in-depth knowledge and experience about networking, self-management, home office as well as strategies for booking gigs. Under the motto “live in a happy mixed calculation”, we will take a look at additional professional fields together that also provide a big promise for potential self-realization. Only those who know all of the other things that are out there lose the fear of having “failed” in the time between gigs and can work with a clear mind in times of crisis. Together, we will create a mind map of the (nearly) unlimited possibilities and take a closer look at some o the fields as means of examples. 
Checking out of the rooms and departures

The Workshop Facilitators

Anica Happich
is a native of Magdeburg and works as an actor, curator and cultural policy advocate, at publicly funded theaters, within the independent performing arts community and as a film actor. As a cultural policy advocate, she works at the intersection of artistic practice and educational policy work for the significance and needs of the performing arts in, amongst others, ensemble-netzwerk e.V., the initiative FAIRSTAGE as well as the research project Systemcheck. She was a full-time member of the acting ensemble of Theater Basel until the year 2020. She has worked as a film actor since the year 2020 and stood before the camera as the protagonist of the Mainz Tatort episode Blind Date for the broadcaster ARD, amongst other projects. In addition, she began her work as a university instructor in 2021 with a focus on the provision of applied knowledge about the industry for the performing arts. Together with Jakob Arnold, she initiated and has directed the theater festival PHOENIX in the former Schauspielhaus Erfurt since 2021.

Johannes Lange
studied acting at what is now the Thomas-Bernhard-Institut of the Mozarteum in Salzburg and completed his studies in 2014. His first job as the member of an ensemble the same year took him to the Oldenburg Staatstheater, which he left in 2019 in order to work independently. He is a founding member of the ensemble-netzwerk and was a member of the board of the association for five years. During this time, he organized numerous cultural policy events with, for example, the nationwide ensemble meetings. He founded the theater collective Rumpel Pumpel Theater with colleagues. He has worked as the managing director of the ensemble-netzwerk since 2022.