The Practitioner and The Producer
A model for understanding freedom, security and opportunity in entertainment.
How do you get the freedom you want and the security you need?
Most people in entertainment are trying to answer that question in one way or another.
This model grew out of noticing how different people approach it.
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Read the Written Version
Years ago, I was teaching drums in a school in Darlington.
I used to teach in this long room. The drums were at the bottom and the door was way at the top.
At break time, these absolute lads started throwing open the door, throwing in open cans of coke, and running away laughing hysterically.
It went everywhere.
This happened a few weeks in a row and I never saw who did it.
Until one week, I happened to be standing opposite the door as this kid threw it open and lobbed in this open can of coke.
Which I caught.
And I just looked at the kid and said:
Cool. What now?
And he legged it.
You can imagine his mates, the ones who’d done it the weeks before, saying:
You just open the door and throw it in.
Just.
And hidden inside that word is the whole plan:
hope you’re lucky and it works out.
Sometimes I think our plan for our entertainment careers can look a bit like that too.
Waiting to get picked.
Hoping the big opportunity arrives.
Hoping the next gig, show, tour, agent, producer, casting director, client, venue or contact changes everything.
And sometimes, of course, luck is involved.
But if waiting to get picked and hoping to be lucky isn’t quite doing it for us, now what?
Freedom and Security
In arts and entertainment, the big question is:
How do you get the security you need and the freedom you want?
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld has a great line. He says:
The whole reason I became a comedian was so that between 10am and 6pm I could have uninterrupted mall schmooze time.
I’m similar.
I want to be able to pop into town and sit in a park with my friend for a coffee at 11am.
The freedom is I can do it at 11am on a Monday.
The security is I can afford the coffee and the time.
And I think for a lot of us, that’s part of what attracted us to entertainment in the first place.
We loved the thing.
We loved singing.
Or dancing.
Or playing drums.
Or being backstage and making the whole thing happen.
And somewhere in there was probably also the idea of freedom.
A different kind of life.
Then at some point, usually quite early on, we suddenly become very aware of security.
Rent.
Bills.
Work drying up.
Wanting things to feel more stable.
And when we start thinking about getting the security bit, we tend to inherit all these stories about how a career in entertainment is supposed to work.
If you’re a dancer or musical theatre performer, you hear:
You’ve just got to keep auditioning.
Musicians say:
You’ve just got to network.
And the important word there is “just”.
Because when someone says “just”, often what they really mean is:
I don’t really know how this works either.
So you inherit these stories about how the big opportunity arrives.
Another Way of Looking at It
Sometimes when things are hard to see, what we need is a different way of looking at them.
My favourite example of this is from primary school.
Our headmaster, Mr Elphick, proudly wheeled in the school’s first computer to show us the paint programme.
My dad worked in IT, so we’d actually had one at home for years.
Anyway, Mr Elphick explains:
All you have to do is hold down the left mouse button and draw.
Except every time he tried it, nothing happened.
After a few attempts he started explaining that the computer was probably broken.
But from the back of the room I could see the problem immediately.
He had the mouse upside down.
So when he thought he was pressing the left button, he was actually pressing the right one.
I put my hand up and said:
Sir, the mouse is upside down. The cable has to be at the top.
And he said:
No. A mouse’s tail is at the bottom.
In his model of the world, that was just a fact.
Eventually he got me up to the front, I turned the mouse round, and suddenly everything worked.
Same intention.
Same computer.
Same effort.
Different perspective.
And that’s really all a model is.
A model is just a way of looking at something.
And sometimes if you want different results, it helps to try a different model.
Before we get into the practitioner and producer sides of the model, it helps to start a little higher up.
What are you trying to get more of? What do you think that will give you? And what needs to matter
while you go and get it?
What You Want
At the top of this model is the thing you want.
I’ve written that down as:
Freedom and security.
That won’t be everyone’s exact wording, but it seems to be a useful starting point for a lot of people in entertainment.
A note on goals
I’ve used freedom and security because it gives us a meaningful direction.
But to make that function as a useful goal, you need to get more specific about what your version of freedom and security would actually look like.
How would you know you had more freedom?
What would you be able to choose, refuse, make, change, or take time for?
And how would you know you had more security?
What would need to be steadier, clearer, paid for, booked in, saved, or more under your control?
So it’s worth asking:
What do I really want?
Then, once you have an answer to that, there’s another useful question:
What is the goal of that goal?
Because sometimes we think we want a particular gig, show, tour, client or project.
But what we actually want is the thing we think that gig, show, tour, client or project will give us.
That’s where freedom and security come back in.
And there’s another useful question alongside that:
What will be important on the journey?
Those are values.
The Practitioner
There are two kinds of roles that show up again and again in live entertainment.
The first is what I call the practitioner.
That's performers of any kind.
Singers, dancers, musicians, actors.
But also sound engineers, lighting engineers, stage managers, creatives and writers.
We tend to think of ourselves as all being very different from each other.
But actually, the fundamental structure of how all those careers work is remarkably similar.
Practitioners basically get paid by producers.
Below are the five ways practitioners move towards freedom and security.
For each one, there’s a useful question you can ask yourself, so that you’re not just recognising the category, you’re using it to think about what you could actually do.
There are also two kinds of resources you might need or want to build to make it work: external resources and internal resources.
An external resource is something that exists out there in the world. It could be a script, some marketing materials, a database of potential customers or audience members, or a relationship with a person or organisation.
You don’t always have to create or own the external resource yourself. Sometimes you can gain access to it by paying, or through a relationship. A theatre’s mailing list is a good example. You don’t own that mailing list, but the theatre you’re working with might market your show to that audience through its own channels.
Generally speaking, the closer and more reliable your relationship is with an external resource, the easier it is to use it to get the result you want.
Internal resources are the things you need within yourself to build or gain access to those external resources.
Some internal resources are states, which you might think of as useful feelings or ways of being and thinking: confidence, resilience, focus, creativity or motivation.
I often describe this as your ability to push your own buttons, and it really is central to a lot of success.
And some internal resources are skills.
You already know what a skill is.
You’ll notice some of the internal and external resources make multiple appearances, and that the useful question has the same shape.
Whatever box you’re looking at, you’re asking: what could I do, what external resources might help, and what internal resources might I need to make that possible?
5 ways practitioners move towards freedom and security
More Work
When you first finish training or start in the industry, you just want some gigs.
Then you want some more gigs
A useful question here is:
What could I do to get more work?
Possible external resources might include promotional materials, headshots, voice reels, press kits, EPKs, your network, your relationships, or simply a website or somewhere useful to send people so they can see what you do.
Possible internal resources might include organisation, connection to why you do what you do, resilience, motivation and drive.
A Related Side Hustle
Teaching.
Front of house in a theatre.
Social media for production companies.
Something connected to the industry
A useful question here is:
What could I do as a related side hustle?
Possible external resources might include your network, useful connections, a CV, and time to find and apply for the right opportunities.
Possible internal resources might include organisation, connection to why you do what you do, and resilience.
An Unrelated Side Hustle
Working in a café.
Working in a shop.
Whatever pays the bills and gives you some security while you pursue the thing you actually want.
A useful question here is:
What could I do as an unrelated side hustle?
You might also ask:
What could I enjoy as an unrelated side hustle?
Possible external resources might include your network, useful connections, a CV, and time to find and apply for the right opportunities.
Possible internal resources might include organisation, connection to why you do what you do, and resilience.
Better Work
Not just more gigs.
Better gigs.
Better clients.
Better contracts.
Better fees.
Better environments
A useful question here is:
What could I do to get better work?
Possible external resources might include a high-quality showreel tailored to the specific job and the producer’s values, a great introduction from someone connected to the opportunity, a specific pitch that explains what you do to that producer, and your network.
Possible internal resources might include creative states that help you notice opportunities, resilience, connection to why you do what you do, and the confidence to go for it.
Become a Producer
Start creating opportunities instead of only waiting for them.
That brings us to the producer side of the model, where we’ll look at what creating your own opportunities actually involves.
If we’re talking specifically about building more freedom and security, as a practitioner, most career activity needs to be contributing to one of these paths.
An activity might be helping you get more work, build a related side hustle, support an unrelated side hustle, get better work, or move towards creating opportunities of your own.
And if an activity isn’t contributing to one of those paths, that doesn’t mean it’s bad.
It might still be enjoyable.
It might still matter to you.
It might still be helping you grow as a person.
But it might not actually be contributing to more freedom and security.
That’s where things start getting really interesting.
Because a lot of people are working incredibly hard.
But they’re not always clear on which game they’re actually playing.
The Producer
Producer means something very specific in this model.
A producer is just someone who creates an opportunity where one or more practitioners can get paid.
That could be:
- a theatre show
- a pub gig
- a dance class
- a workshop
- a tour
- a choir
- a recording project
And importantly, you can be both a Practitioner and a Producer.
If you're a Rod Stewart tribute act and you hire a village hall, sell tickets, and perform the show yourself, you are both the producer and the practitioner.
You created the opportunity.
And then you worked inside it.
To create opportunities, a producer needs to build, own, or gain access to certain things.
And just like on the practitioner side, each part of the producer side gives us a useful question to ask, possible external resources to build or access, and possible internal resources that might help make that happen.
This distinction I'm making between practitioners and producers matters because practitioners and producers have different ways of getting more of what they want.
And remember, what most of us want, broadly speaking, is still some combination of freedom and security.
5 resources producers need
Concept / content / creative / IP
This is the creative thing itself.
The concept.
The content.
The IP.
The songs.
The choreography.
The arrangements.
The script.
The experience the audience is actually having.
A useful question here is:
What is it?
You might also ask:
What is it the audience will experience?
Possible external resources might include existing IP you can license, original IP you create, arrangements, choreography, a script, or marketing materials.
Possible internal resources might include creative states, confidence in negotiating, focus and organisation.
Platform
Platform is where and how the audience experiences the thing.
A theatre.
A pub.
A cruise ship.
Online.
A village hall.
A rehearsal room.
A useful question here is:
Where and how does the audience experience the thing?
You might also ask:
Why have I chosen this platform?
Possible external resources might include a venue, relationships with venues, ownership of a venue, an online space, ownership of an online space, regular venue slots, or the ability to secure a date on good terms.
Possible internal resources might include confidence, for example getting on the phone, rapport building, and resilience.
Payment
There has to be a mechanism where everybody gets paid.
Ticket sales.
A client.
A contract.
Something.
A useful question here is:
How do we get paid?
You might also ask:
How much does the project need to get paid?
And:
How do I work that out?
Possible external resources might include contracts, agreements, budgets, written terms, a clear mechanism for getting paid.
Possible internal resources might include focus, particularly attention to detail, and organisation.
Practitioners
Somebody has to actually deliver the thing you’ve created.
That practitioner might be you.
It might be one performer and one technician.
It might be a whole team of people.
A useful question here is:
Who delivers the work?
You might also ask:
Who is involved?
And:
Who do I need and want on my team?
Possible external resources might include relationships with practitioners, access to the people required to deliver the work, casting relationships, employees, or trusted practitioners who genuinely want to work with you.
Possible internal resources might include communication skills, listening, positive leadership, care, and connection to values.
Audience
People to experience the work.
Or in some cases, a client.
A useful question here is:
Who is it for?
You might also ask:
How will you access those people?
And:
What will your connection be to them so you can sell it to them?
Possible external resources might include an email list - an active database of engaged people who directly spend money on tickets, marketing materials, partnerships.
Possible internal resources might include creative states, confidence, resilience, and the ability to keep doing things and generate momentum even when the signals are weak.
People coming from a practitioner background will often instinctively focus on the concept / content / creative / IP box.
Which makes sense. That’s often where our training and identity live.
But commercially, the audience question is often where a lot of the value is.
If you can’t answer who it’s for, and how you’re going to reach those people, I can usually make a reasonable guess about where the project is likely to struggle.
Success as a producer is largely about getting closer to these resources.
Building them.
Owning them, where that makes sense.
Strengthening your access to them.
Strengthening your relationship with the people or organisations who already have them.
The better your relationship is with the resources your project depends on, the more reliable the project becomes.
The order of the questions matters
One of the most important things here is the order in which you ask yourself some of these questions.
Goals and values come before the specific “what”.
Before the specific content.
Before the specific platform.
Before the specific opportunity.
So if I say:
“I want to produce a theatre show.”
There is still a useful question before that:
What is the goal of producing a theatre show?
And:
How do I know a theatre show is the right platform for my real goal?
Or if I say:
“I want to create a tribute show to a particular artist.”
Again, what do I think that will give me?
And if that is the real goal, is this particular tribute show actually the best way to do it?
This is where the model becomes really useful.
It helps you notice whether you’re making a first-principles decision, or whether you’ve jumped straight into a familiar version of what people are supposed to do in entertainment.
Taking Responsibility
A lot of people struggle when they first become producers because most producers originally trained as practitioners.
Which means all their training was largely about:
pick me
pick me
pick me
Audition.
Go to class.
Work on your skills.
Be a good person.
Maybe network a bit.
Hope you get picked.
As a practitioner, somebody else largely decides what to do.
And if you do that thing successfully, you get paid.
Whether or not the whole project works.
But as a producer, you have to decide what to do.
And then you have to get yourself to actually do it.
And becoming a producer is really just taking the highest level of responsibility.
Which is also why it has the highest potential payoff.
Many entertainment professionals spend years developing practitioner capability while wanting outcomes that often come from producer capability.
And really, moving forwards in either category comes down to taking responsibility.
And taking responsibility comes down to pushing your own buttons.
As you think about those two categories, practitioner or producer, you probably already have a pretty good idea which one you're in.
And you might even have a different idea about which one you want to be in in the future.
As you look at the different options within whichever category you're in, you probably already know some things you could do to move yourself forwards.
I think that's why a lot of people already know more than they think they do.
You already know at least one thing you could do to move yourself forwards.
You already know someone you could contact.
You already know a conversation you could have.
You already know a thing you've been avoiding.
A friend of mine and I have a running gag whenever one of us is talking about a really good idea neither of us are currently actually doing.
We say to each other:
Of course. It's nothing we don't already know.
And I think that's often the frustrating bit.
It's not usually that people don't know enough.
It's that they haven't learnt how to push their own buttons consistently enough to actually do the things they already know would probably help.
If this has brought something to mind
So, what outcomes are you currently leaving to luck that you could take more ownership of?
If this has brought a situation to mind, we can use the Practitioner and Producer map to look at where you are, what you are trying to achieve, and whether your current activities are taking you towards those goals.
You can read more about how I work, what a coaching session includes, and how to arrange an initial conversation.