I was at a meeting tonight of the Toronto Indie Caucus and I have to say that I was impressed by so many people there. Basically what they are working towards is a new agreement with C.A.E.A. that would bridge the gap between the Fringe Agreement and the Indie Agreement.
Forgive me if I get things a little wrong but I have to say that the whole deal for Indie producers is such a freaking mess that it takes a multi-tasking brain full concentration to try and find it's way through that whole Gordian Knot.
In a nutshell they are working to produce an agreement so that artist driven projects can get off the ground in both a fiscal and artistic way. They started working from a Toronto perspective but as things have evolved it looks like a national push will be next.
I don't have a list of all the people involved so I won't name names except to say that Jacoba Knappen and TAPA* have been fully there from the beginning and even though this is not an agreement that Obsidian would ever have an opportunity to work under I was pleased to support their initiative.
Making art can be so hard. And it is way hard when you are scratching pennies together. We have a system right now that encourages prevarication and that is just wrong. Wrong on so many levels but to me most wrong on the level that as artists we deal in truth. Without truth we have nothing more than facsimile. Without truth the work rings hollow and is easily dismissed. So to have to try and create truth from a place of lies is a soul destroying untenable place.
As the outreach to other theatrical communities around the country begins I will keep you up to date on this initiative because I believe it is one of the most vital things going on right now.
* Transparency Note: Edited to add that I am in my final year on the TAPA Board
No comments:
Post a Comment