Jo
Palmer
TECHNICAL SUPPORT services
Are you a Producer who needs advice on budget lines for funding apps or tour planning?
Are you a developing Production Manager who needs guidance and support on managing get-ins or planning for tours?
Are you a Venue with quick turn around times between shows that needs to present your space to Production teams easily, clearly and in the most accessible formats?
Are you a Designer that needs to check a sightline or tidy up your paperwork but don't have the time or tools?
Choose one of the options below to see more on how these services could support your project or get in touch directly to discuss your needs in more detail.
Fees will be based against your company's means but the values listed are for guidance.
Need answers on anything technical to do with your project?
A range of consultancy options, big or small, can provide them.
Want to be sure your project will fit? Can't do a site visit?
Making up a set of accurate plans can be an excellent way of distributing information to venues as well as identifying issues well ahead of time.
Wondering what your show could look like but no time in a space to see it? Want to try out ideas before you spend any budget?
A pre-visualisation of your project could be the answer.
consultancy
Need advice and support on preparing a suitable production budget for funders? On sourcing technical staff for projects and thinking about what to pay them?
Consultancy provides the time and space to ask the questions that might lie outside of your skill set, as well as pinpoint potential issues and identify solutions.
Consultancy Sessions (Over zoom or in person) guide fees:
Half Day consultancy - £150
Full Day consultancy - £300
These sessions would cover any technical aspect of your project you may think
needs support.
1 hour zoom session for funding app/pre-tour booking consultancy - £60
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Full talk through of the project to flag technical considerations (with a consciousness for inclusion and access).
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Advice on:
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Budget lines for staffing & equipment.
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Time frames for scheduling including get-ins and builds.
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Organisations and businesses to seek quotations and further specific information from.
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Streamlining workflow for efficiency, specifically with technical elements in mind.
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Potential practitioners to approach and with what rates of pay.
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Option: £100 total if you require prep for this session which may include: Watching show footage, reading technical specification sheets or prepping kit options to present during zoom.
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1 hour follow up research and information - £60
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Research into equipment (including software) to aid more accurate budgets.
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Review of technical specifications for touring productions to gauge suitability and flag any potential issues ahead of time.
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Researching anything that arises during 1 hour zoom session.
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All notes written up and emailed in pre-agreed time frame.
PLANS & DOCUMENTATION
As many technical practitioners are no longer able to afford the high subscription fees for 3D design software this service plugs the gap in the process to enable planning to still be done effectively.
CAD (Computer Aided Design) files and pdf ground and section plans - £250 - £500 (1-2 days, scale dependent)
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Consultation meeting (via zoom) to assess what specifically needs to be included in the plan to make it most useful to the specified project.
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The preparation of a single or set of plans for a generic touring documents or specific venues (floor and elevation plans where necessary).
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A vwx., dwg. and pdf version of the plans for distribution to technical personnel.
Examples available on request.
ETC lighting control desks are the go-to brand for most theatres across the UK. Taking a file that already contains as much information about your show as possible, ready for day 1 of a get-in, is therefore a valuable asset for saving time.
ETC Eos lighting desk file prep/tidy - £100
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Briefing meeting with Lighting Designer/Artist(s) via zoom.
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Pre-tour prep of existing ETC Eos file to create a generic touring base file.
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Additional options (fees to be negotiated):
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Venue specific information also programmed (i.e. generic rig information requiring direct contact with a venue’s technical team).
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Translation of cue sheets, or similar, to be reflected in Eos file ready for get in.
Examples and further information available on request.
VISUALISATION
With theatres on a constant rotation of shows and get-in times seeming shorter every day there typically isn’t much time for creative teams, artists, or performers to acclimatise to the space in which they are going to present.
A full digital imaging of a venue and/or set can help spot some of the potential pitfalls as well as benefits of a space well before the get-in begins.
Pre-visualisation can be useful for designers or production teams to make sure their ideas are realistic or to see how a set can be positioned within a space. A producer can check sight lines before confirming the number of seats to go on sale or a Lighting Designer can try ideas out without the pressure on time.
Pre-visualisation file - Venue or Show - £250 - £500
(1-2 days, scale/complexity dependent)
Options available:
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Full venue Capture file and rendered images for distribution.
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Placement of set on to venue plan and full rendering of materials.
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Placement of lighting equipment
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Can be made numerically synced to a Lighting Designers plan.
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Lighting equipment can be focused to Lighting Designer’s focus notes and made visualisation-ready for pre-programming.
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Full rendered images of each lighting state can be prodcued to aid relighting for tour.
ABOUT ME (& US)
I have 15 years experience in Technical Theatre Production, including 10 as a Lighting Designer with multiple award nominations. I’ve toured nationally and internationally from small scale rural venues to stages as big as the Royal Festival Hall. Along the way I have learnt a lot about what works, what doesn’t, how to plan to make the journey easier and how long to leave to get there.
I hold a variety of industry approved qualifications in electrics, health and safety and technical practise and I have a particular awareness for accessibility in the performance industry.
During my career I have also been lucky enough to meet and work with some wonderful technical practitioners so if there's an area my expertise can't serve, then I'm keen to suggest others who can step in. If you'd like to discuss how technical support services might help your project, then please just get in touch.