Artists
Thanks for your interest in working as an artist at PushPush Theater and New Street Arts. PushPush is Atlanta's only professional theater dedicated to the professional development of working artists. At PushPush, artists find common ground and work together to create projects of their choosing. We expect everyone working on a project to participate equally in moving the work forward. In this way, an actor can find a director or a designer can find a playwright just as easily as the other way around. We are constantly building and planning for new projects and often related workshops are posted only a short time before they are set to happen.
Every month of the year, someone at PushPush is looking for additional artists (emerging and professional) to complete a project. If you are committed to developing your skills, and will keep at it, we have opportunities for you.
Here are some specific steps you can take to get involved.
- Check out our calendar for upcoming workshops, open rehearsals, shows, readings, gatherings, and classes. Show up. Introduce yourself.
- Join the conversation. Speak up about your developmental and project interests, but also equally listen and observe. Read the website, come to our monthly planning meetings & workshops, email us, sign up for the artists’ list, and take part in and start discussions about the work going on or yet to come.
- Start a plan. Write it down and include timelines. Commit to starting it. Say what you’re going to do, how and when. Do it. Then build on this to get a better gig. Share it with us, make your plans transparent, and we'll help and support you with our resources. Please don't try to do it all - this is the biggest misstep. Get specific.
- Commit to a project. Get to know some of the work that is going on here, such as the Masterpiece Series. Try to challenge yourself. You can commit to one day a month, or every day, depending on what you want to accomplish. You decide what time you have available and find a job on that project that you can be accountable for – and push yourself a little harder in one specific area. Following through on your commitment will make it possible to take on a better job next time. Get involved at your own pace (see example below).
- Complete the project, no matter what. This takes practice, it really does. Follow through, nothing else really matters.
- Follow up. Not following up on a project is like building a set of steps but not one on top of the other. We want to encourage folks to step UP and stop stepping here and there year after year. Build upon what you've already done. Build on successes and failures, but build UP. The key to any plan is the ability to prove you fulfill promise. This is your track record and your measurements for success. You will need this later when trying to explain to your stakeholders (audience, family, funders, partners) why they should care, much less invest time or money.
Example Generic plan (we have more specific examples - just ask):
- Commit to assisting the director on a play or film and focus on learning how to block actors.
- Next time, commit to being an assistant director and this time focus on using story structure to create a more exciting play or film.
- The next time, be the 2nd Unit Director and apply what you’ve learned to organize all the technical elements: lighting, sound, set and costumes.
- Having finished this and built proven relationships with actors, designers and others, commit to directing your own production.
- Apply for funding to support the endeavor.
About our approach:
We tend to try to push artists to challenge and to be challenged. We try not to let vanity and ego make our decisions. There will be a wide variety of directors, actors and projects, some you may like, some not. Being a seasoned artist means having a wide foundation in both material and people experience. If you stick to a project and finish a series of working steps, we believe you will see real growth and stand a chance at making a career; a chance at building trust in you and the work you do, and building relationships with people who desire to work with you (this is a big one). These relationships will help drive your career. Now is the perfect time for change.
Recruiting Artists for Projects:
PushPush has many new opportunities for theater and film artists in our community. We are looking for referrals of artists that you believe would be a good fit for our mission. As you may know, we do not hold typical auditions and rely heavily on references from our friends and peers in the theater and film community.
As always, we are interested in your recommendations for diverse, experienced and emerging artists. People you work with a lot, or perhaps those that you've considered working with, but have not had the right opportunity. Our preference is toward individuals with risk-taking attributes, who consistently seek development of their craft and have openness toward new ideas and challenges.
Please refer names and contact info for actors, directors or filmmakers you think would benefit from opportunities at PushPush to pushpushtheater@gmail.com. And thanks for helping us to spread the word about our mission.
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