Artistic, Entertainment & Events Direction
Freelance - Events, Entertainment and Theatre Producer/Manager
ALL EVENTS/ENTERTAINMENT
I have over a decade’s experience in creative direction, event and entertainment management across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. I specialise in high profile, international and VIP events, with vast experience of working with royal families, ministries, high profile brands and corporations. This includes a wide range of events and productions from gala dinners, music festivals, private parties, trade events, and mass sporting events, to brand activations, flash mobs, corporate events, educational events, community and family events, to stores launches, restaurant openings, commercials, campaigns, short films, conferences, networking events and much more. Some of these have been one off events, others short one-month contracts and others longer term contracts. For example, I organised a Cryptocurrency, Metaverse and Web3 corporate networking event in Dubai ( sourced and organised 40 different talents, 9 shows, 7 speakers with 300 attendees), I curated and organised a Desert Evening of Entertainment for the Museum of the Future.
THEATRE PRODUCER
I have produced 10 theatre plays across the UK as a freelance theatre producer, from productions for example at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, to off west end musicals and a UK and USA tour of Shakespeare’s ‘The Comedy of Errors’. I successfully, obtained funding, grants, and sponsorship to finance the productions. I managed all aspects of the productions/tours from logistics, transports, budgeting, accommodation, scheduling, venue coordination, artist/crew support, promotion, marketing, risk management, and more.
CEO OF STRICTLY DANCE EVENTS, UK/INTERNATIONAL
I founded Strictly Dance Events Company in the UK. I provided dance related activities for weddings - from the choreographing the couples first dance, to a surprise flash mob or all bridesmaids or groomsman dance offs, to hen and stage do dance parties and much more. I also organised bespoke “Strictly Dance” events for numerous companies, non-governmental organisations, and government organisations. The general format of these events were “Strictly Come Dancing” styles competitions/gala dinners. The purpose and details of the events varied depending on the client. For non-governmental organisations I often worked on the events as fundraisers, for governmental clients these were often networking events that connected government officials with various communities, and for corporations they were often events that formed part of gala dinners, annual conferences, team building or networking events. My clients included: National Health Service, Cancer Research, Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, The British Army, Department for Work and Pensions, Andrex and Meta amongst others.
My skills include:
Creative direction for live events/shows, and shoots/videos/films
Event and entertainment planning and organisation
Event management
Talent/entertainment supply and management
Casting services
Creative concepts devision and pitching
Social media management
Script writing
Advertising campaigns
Video production
Artistic Director:
Of The Assembly Rooms Theatre, North East of England
I managed and programmed the 220-seat proscenium arch theatre, producing over 100 productions a year (at the theatre & off site), and generating nearly £100, 000 in revenue per annum. I hired, managed and consulted (on legal financial and creative issues) theatre companies who would perform at the theatre. I programme managed the theatre’s community outreach projects, working with schools, community centres, and local festivals. I facilitated and led theatre workshops, and produced theatre plays. I wrote a five-year strategy for the Assembly Rooms Theatre, which was subsequently implemented, even after I had moved on from the role.
Digital Social Media Manager:
for the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Government
I ran FCDO social media accounts, designing, shooting and analysing content/campaigns for FCDO pages, Ministers and British Ambassadors. I increased engagement rates on FCDO accounts by 89% over Instagram/Facebook/Twitter. I also provided written and oral daily press summaries, organised press conferences and private briefings on breaking news, engaging with journalists, print and broadcast media. I atttended Government Digital and Communications services courses: international communications, digital creative content development, strategic communications and crisis response and media relations.
Events and Entertainment Director:
at Hip Hop Cardio
Auditioned, coached and developed an array of different artists, from dancers, to acrobats, to LED acts and much more, helping them grow as individual artists and create spell-binding shows. Provided an array of talent and entertainment for various events, campaigns (commercials, TV, film) and projects across the UAE. Including artistic liaison and event management at each event or project. For example, provided entertainment and artists for UFC, BRED Abu Dhabi Festival, Ladies Winter Festival Abu Dhabi, Shake Shack activation, Market Outside the Box, Data Robot, All Africa Festival, as well as for Dubai Fitness Challenge, Fitness First, Mucho Bueno Festival, Fujairah Lain Festival, World Sport Istanbul, and numerous private birthday parties, corporate team building sessions, away days and other private events such as weddings and festive parties etc. Also provided artists for several campaigns and commercials, for example, for DU, Etisalat, Emirates NBD, The Giving Movement, Nike, Puma, and Centre Point.
Diplomatic and VVIP Events:
I have project and event managed numerous diplomatic evens, visits, and conferences in London, and overseas, in Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea and Mali. For example, the I managed the UK’s participation in G20’s, G7’s and various UN conferences and peacekeeping missions. I managed multiple royal visits by the British Royal Family to Hong Kong, Beijing and Mali. I have organised events for Queen’s Birthday Party, International Women’s Day, Trooping of the Colour, International Youth Day events, Commonwealth Day Events, and a multitude of other diplomatic and VVIP events. I helped organised the funeral of Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II (one of the largest events in the world, watched by four billion people).
Durham University & University College Entertainment Manager:
I led University College (Durham University) events team to host a range of events, including biweekly formal dinners for over 500 students, weekly seminars and speaker series, and quarterly high-profile balls with a budget of nearly £100K each, over 67 performers to manage, and more than 1500 guests. I also led 20 one off events, from fundraisers, and networking evenings, in addition to regular weekly events.
Festival Management & Theatre Tour Production:
2018 - Managed Durham Drama Festival, an annual theatre festival held in Durham, in the North East of England.
2017 - Managed Castle Theatre Company’s ‘The Comedy of Errors’ (Shakespeare) Theatre Tour around the UK and USA (east coast)
2015 & 2016 - Managed Barefeet Youth Arts Festival in Zambia
Barefeet Youth Arts Festival - Zambia, which I worked on as a festival and artistic manager.
Head of Business Development (and Events):
At social enterprise Year Here
I planned and executed countless events for Year Here, a postgraduate course in social innovation and enterprise. Managed and oversaw launch events for 25+ new social enterprises/start-ups which spanned a broad range of subjects from catering businesses to refugee-powered language schools, phone repair companies and much more. Designed and executed prestigious award ceremonies, business incubation events, fellowship launch events, networking events, workshop and facilitation events. Asissted the delivery of “Wildcamp” a personal development retreat for current and past fellows, allowing them to reflect on their business strategies, personal development and growth.
I project managed multiple 3-month long recruitment and selection campaigns of Year Here fellows and the associated events. Including managing all onboarding and graduating events and processes for all Fellows. My negotiation skills, ability to deliver value for money and use data driven decision making and analytics allowed me to run the most successful recruitment campaign in the company’s history, with a 100% increase on the number of applications, a 35% reduction in dropout rates, and increases in diversity and quality of candidates.
I led sales, business development and Year Here’s commercial strategy. I generated thousands in revenue, identifying, pitching, negotiating and securing frontline placement and consulting project sales. Line managed, coached and facilitated learning sessions for 15 Fellows. This ranged from facilitating group learning sessions to one-on-one line management and coaching through the Fellows consultancy projects. Played a leadership role in the organisation.
Beyond the Creative Industries
Academia
Masters - Sustainability, Culture and Development (MSc), Durham University (UK)
Undergraduate degree - Geography (BA), Durham University (UK)
A-levels/GCSE - straight A’s and A*’s
Sales, marketing and start ups - UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Diplomacy - Previously a British Diplomat for the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office - worked across Asia (China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea) and West Africa (Mali),
Script writing - I have been a script writer and drafted presentations for various government ministries, corporations, start-ups, and non-governmental organisations
Countries worked in include - UK, France, Germany, Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Mali, Zambia, USA, Argentina, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and more.