Young theatre people are making breakthroughs | What kind of creative support can young theatre people get?
2024-08-15
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In recent years, relevant national government departments have introduced many policies to support and encourage cultural creation, which has also provided a good creative environment and development opportunities for young drama creators, and promoted the diversified and innovative development of drama art. As the national cultural center, Beijing not only provides support for young creators in terms of material resources, but also inspires them in terms of spiritual level and cultural atmosphere, becoming a place where young creators yearn for and gather. In order to help young drama people better understand and use support policies and resources and promote future career development, this article summarizes the incubation platforms and support projects that have been relatively successful in recent years, in order to find favorable paths for young drama people to start creative projects in Beijing at low cost.
At present, Beijing's main ways of supporting creation are: setting up special funds to support cultural and creative industries, including drama creation; providing low-cost rehearsal and performance venues for drama teams to use; establishing institutions such as the Beijing Performing Arts Service Platform and formulating project funding management methods; setting up multiple awards to reward young drama creators and encourage them to innovate and experiment; providing a series of drama education and training programs to improve the professional skills of young dramatists; providing a series of policy benefits, such as tax reductions and exemptions, and entrepreneurship guidance, to provide a better entrepreneurial environment for young dramatists; organizing drama festivals, art festivals and other activities to provide a platform for young dramatists to communicate with the international drama community. On the basis of this series of support plans, young creators are also actively responding to the government's call to inject new vitality into the drama market and make drama more people-friendly and market-oriented.
Art Fund Launch
——Beijing Culture and Art Fund, various district art funds
The Beijing Culture and Art Fund is a public welfare fund initiated and established by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism under the guidance of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, the Municipal Government and the Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department. The main purpose of the fund is to prosper literary and artistic creation, promote cultural exchanges, and cultivate artistic talents to promote the construction of a national cultural center. This year, the Beijing Culture and Art Fund continues to focus on "supporting excellence, strength, and originality", and strives to strengthen "precision rate, conversion rate, and satisfaction rate" to carry out project funding in the three major areas of stage art creation, communication and promotion, and artistic talent training. The funding scope includes large-scale stage art works (such as opera, drama, opera, etc.) and small-scale stage art works (such as small drama, music, dance, etc.). The funding amount varies according to the type and scale of the work. For example, the funding amount for opera, dance drama, and musical is no more than 4 million yuan, and the funding amount for small drama (festival) repertoire processing projects is no more than 200,000 yuan. The Beijing Culture and Art Fund provides young drama creators with creative start-up funding, which can help creators take the first step in pursuing their dreams.
In recent years, Dongcheng District has focused on the construction and development of the "City of Drama" and formed a drama center with international influence and radiation. According to the relevant documents such as the "Regulations on the Use and Management of Dongcheng Cultural and Art Fund", the Dongcheng District Culture and Tourism Bureau also publicly solicited projects supported by the Dongcheng Cultural and Art Fund in 2024 in June this year, with a focus on supporting drama and stage art works this year. In terms of supporting "art talent training", the fund specifically pointed out that it will support leading literary and artistic talents and young artistic talents, and provide financial support after review and acceptance, with the amount of support not exceeding 50,000 yuan.
In addition, in order to promote the vigorous development of literary and artistic creation in the district and standardize the management of special funds for supporting cultural and artistic creation in the district, the Xicheng District Culture and Tourism Bureau has provided a variety of support methods for young drama creators in accordance with the "Management Measures for Special Funds for Supporting Cultural and Artistic Creation in Xicheng District, Beijing (Trial)". Special fund support methods include project subsidies and rewards. In terms of support standards, special funds will subsidize literary and artistic creation projects that meet the subsidy conditions according to different standards, such as the creation of original scripts such as movies, single-episode documentaries, stage art, and large-scale situational acrobatic works, with a maximum subsidy of 500,000 yuan; special subsidy funds will give priority to encouraging and supporting the creation of opera, folk art, and young talents under the age of 45.
Incubation platform full chain empowerment
——Peiyuan·Young Drama Talent Incubation, Watch the Big Drama Beijing Literary Creation Incubation
As the "Peiyuan Youth Drama Talent Training and Repertoire Incubation Platform" initiated by the Beijing Culture and Art Fund and hosted by Kuanyou (Beijing) Cultural Exchange Co., Ltd., it is a project to cultivate young drama talents and incubate high-quality repertoires. Since the first round of script collection was officially launched in December 2019, a total of 367 scripts from 342 screenwriters in 95 cities across the country have been received. Among them, original scripts accounted for as high as 92.64%. In the second phase of Peiyuan, a total of 355 complete scripts were collected, with a total of 379 screenwriters registered, covering 142 cities, and young screenwriters under the age of 40 accounted for 70%. A large number of original repertoires and outstanding drama talents entered the performance market through the Peiyuan channel, enriching the original power of the drama market.
Starting from 2022, based on the script library that has been formed in Peiyuan, the script collection will have more thematic characteristics, which will also derive the "New Era Capital Original Script Creation and Topic Incubation Project", which is committed to creating the cultural name card of "Watching Beijing for Big Dramas", further strengthening the construction of the national cultural center, incubating high-quality dramas for the capital's literary and artistic stage, and creating a full-chain script incubation system to fully stimulate the creativity of young drama talents. Gao Jiancheng, general manager of Kuanyou Culture and initiator of the "Peiyuan Plan", introduced that this year's "New Era Capital Original Script Incubation Project" has entered its second phase, with a total of 408 works (302 scripts and 106 outlines) collected, of which 57 works entered the reserve incubation library and 12 works were incubated. These works have been incubated and displayed in theatrical versions, and 14 scripts have received production intentions. Compared with the independent creations and achievements of art troupes, these works may not be conspicuous, but their influence on discovering talents, activating originality and enriching the creative ecology cannot be underestimated. Gao Jiancheng said that in the past, some phenomena often occurred: some plays were "put into storage" after being awarded or performed a few times; some plays were not adequately demonstrated in the early stage, resulting in "poor modification", "impossible modification" or even "restarting" in the later stage; some plays could be better, but had to make do with what they were. What is the creative mode that is more in line with the laws of art? Everyone is exploring.
In the four years since the birth of the "Peiyuan Youth Drama Talent Training and Repertoire Incubation Platform", we have been cultivating screenwriters, directors, producers and other talents based on the source of the drama industry, and continuously promoting the incubation of original repertoires and the docking with the market. In September this year, the "Peiyuan Art Festival" will be held in Beijing, with a total of 54 events in three days, three venues and six spaces. Among the 435 works initially collected, 20 original works by 23 screenwriters who were incubated after preliminary and re-evaluation will be unveiled at the art festival. Gao Jiancheng introduced that the works that are finally shortlisted for incubation will be explored for stage creation under the overall coordination of the platform, and the outstanding works will be publicly displayed on the stage during the art festival. At the same time, certain financial support will be provided for the shortlisted incubation works for the necessary expenses in the incubation process, such as venue rental, labor services of creative staff, labor services of performers and staff, and production of stage props. The creative and performance teams will be formed under the overall coordination of the organizers.
In addition, under the overall deployment and guidance of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department, the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles launched the construction of the "Watch Beijing's Dramas" literary and artistic creation incubation platform in 2023. The main purpose of this platform is to cultivate a high-quality literary and artistic creation ecology in the capital, promote the creation of fine literary and artistic works, and focus on the cultivation of outstanding young literary and artistic creation talents. Its goal is to incubate 3 fine works, 10 excellent works and 30 outstanding talents within three years.
In 2024, the "Watch Beijing's Drama" literary creation incubation platform will once again start the collection of high-quality creation projects, with special emphasis on the character, quality and taste of the works. The project collection is carried out in the form of organizational recommendation, expert recommendation and individual (or personal) self-recommendation. The applicants include group member units of the Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles or members of the affiliated literary and art associations, literary and art workers who work and live in Beijing for a long time, literary and art workers from other provinces and cities or foreigners who are directed to create for Beijing, and institutions or units engaged in literary and art creation and performance. In June, the 2024 "Watch Beijing's Drama" literary and art creation incubation platform youth talent training camp not only invited many heavyweight artists to conduct famous teacher classes covering drama, dance, music, film and other categories, but also arranged conversations with special tutors. In July, this year's youth talent project selected 16 young talents (14 projects) covering multiple art categories such as drama, film and television, music, dance, and folk art as "incubation objects" to form a study group, and went to the Aranya Drama Festival to carry out study and observation activities. In the next step, the youth talent project will complete a one-to-one matching with a professional mentor, and enter a full-chain incubation stage with in-depth guidance from the mentor and relevant resource support from the Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
In addition to the above two incubation programs related to literary creation, the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles launched a youth literary creation support program in May this year, aiming to cultivate and train a large number of high-quality young literary and artistic talents and launch more excellent works that enhance the spiritual strength of the people. The program is mainly aimed at young literary and artistic workers under the age of 45 (inclusive), encourages original realistic projects, and provides dynamic services and precise support in terms of capital investment, expert guidance, and publicity and promotion.
The Beijing Dramatists Association also launched the 2024 professional title application work in Beijing in July. The Beijing Dramatists Association is responsible for recommending professional title applications for freelancers engaged in professional drama art in Beijing. The scope of recommendation is limited to freelancers who have worked in the professional art field (drama) in Beijing in the past year.
Site support to reduce costs
——Beijing Repertory Center, Nanyang Shared
For drama creators, the rehearsal space is not only a place for actors and creative teams to rehearse and create, but also an important place for them to polish their works, improve their performance level, and explore stage performances. Especially for young creators, cost is an important consideration. A reasonably priced rehearsal space can help them save budget and invest more resources in the creation and presentation of their works.
Located at No. 77, Back Street, Art Museum, Dongcheng District, Beijing Repertory Center is the first public welfare repertoire rehearsal service platform in my country established by government purchasing services. It focuses on the front end of stage art creation, innovates government service methods, and entrusts theater operation organizations with professional qualifications to carry out professional operations, supports the creation of excellent repertoires, and stimulates the enthusiasm of literary and artistic creation and production in the whole society. In recent years, the preliminary rehearsals of countless excellent stage works have been carried out here. It is reported that the operation of the rehearsal center is based on the principle of non-profit, and the rent is low, which is only 25% to 60% of the market price. This operating model has brought together directors, screenwriters, and actors from many excellent art troupes, making it the "base camp of young artists in Beijing." The center not only enables excellent creators to gather here, but also realizes the exchange of talents, providing young actors with opportunities to learn and grow.
Almost all the works created and re-staged by director Li Jianjun in recent years were performed at the Beijing Repertory Rehearsal Center, which provided him with very important creative support. In Li Jianjun's view, as a platform that provides services for drama creation and rehearsal, the Beijing Repertory Rehearsal Center does provide necessary support for young creators. It not only solves the problems of shortage of rehearsal venues and high rehearsal costs, but also provides professional rehearsal space and facilities for young drama creators to help them create and rehearse better. "It is very important to continue the Beijing Repertory Rehearsal Center. This will not only help maintain Beijing's important position as a national cultural center, but also provide opportunities for more young drama creators, stimulate their creative potential, and promote the further development of drama art. I hope that the Beijing Repertory Rehearsal Center can continue to maintain its influence, bring more vitality and positive influence to Beijing's drama creation atmosphere, attract more young drama talents to join, and jointly promote the prosperity and development of drama art."
Nanyang Shared Space is located near the Beijing Repertory Center. It is a place that provides free office and workshop space for drama teams. This space was originally a place for China's foreign performance company to review dramas. It has facilities such as stage, dressing room, office and canteen. After the transformation, it has become a "drama sharing life community" that integrates creation incubation, rehearsal performance, and leisure accommodation. The overall area of Nanyang Shared Space is 3,494 square meters, of which the theater part covers an area of 1,064 square meters. The space is designed around drama creation, drama incubation, and drama industrialization, including offices, workshops and commercial areas. The second floor is a drama office and workshop, and the third floor introduces media, publicity and design teams to provide support for later content output, publicity channels and stage design. In addition, the drama-themed apartment on the fourth floor provides a space for drama people to work and live in one, and also provides an immersive living experience for drama lovers.
At the same time, Nanyang·Shared Space provides several theater teams with zero-rent office space, but in exchange, these teams need to sign a contract with Nanyang·Shared Space and guarantee to perform at least a certain number of plays in the theater every month and at a certain frequency. This arrangement not only ensures the continuous updating and diversity of the theater content, but also provides a low-cost office and rehearsal environment for those small and micro theater teams that are just starting out and have limited funds, helping them grow.
