PAMPA (Producers, Agents, Managers Performing Arts) is a community, a caring and brave space for both new and experienced international producers, agents, managers, and similar professions, based in Europe.
Forged from the collective labour of a working group, PAMPA aims to build cooperation between us, to demystify, improve and empower the people in these roles who are highly skilled, deeply connected, and which support production and distribution equally.
PAMPA is built on international exchange in order to help its members have a stronger voice and take action nationally by getting the knowledge of, and by being inspired by, international conditions, contexts, and best practices.
Visibility and Clarity.
We want to create a new and accurate picture of our professions, that reflects how different practices operate in different countries.
Cooperation.
We want to develop opportunities and collaborative initiatives which enable us to exchange skills, grow our practices and create alternate ways of working.
Working Conditions and New Narratives.
We want to promote new narratives that support a clear and fair recognition of our professions, and to ensure ethical, sustainable and inclusive work practices and working conditions.
Exchange.
Develop a program (live and online meetings, forum, workshops…) which creates spaces to meet, support, connect, share experiences and knowledge.
Research.
Collect, organise and disseminate information. Create a common, foundational knowledge of our professions (through an archive of resources) to enrich our thinking and promote the skills and value of our professions.
Advocacy.
Create a dialogue with international professionals (institutions, funders, and the actors of our sector) to formulate advocacy actions and content adapted to different international contexts and needs. Propagate and communicate this new narrative/story-telling towards the different actors of the sector.
Report on the first PAMPA Producers Residency
The first PAMPA Producers Residency took place in Torgny/Belgium from 11-19 June 2025. The residency was made possible by the Kreativ-Transfer programme of the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland, as well as funding from Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI) and Wallonie-Bruxelles Théâtre Danse (WBTD) through AdLib.
18 producers, agents and managers of the independent performing arts from 11 regions and countries, including our chef Philippe, came together to exchange ideas, share expertise, learn from each other and reflect on their own practice.
Each participant prepared at least one session and shared a tool that could be helpful, prepared a topic and introduced it to the others, or presented a concept and tested it with the group.
We talked about international distribution; reflected on personal leadership; introduced a Producers Tarot and other helpful games; philosophised about building bridges between art forms; read texts on the aesthetics of production; developed survival strategies for introverted producers and much more.
There were also informal opportunities to lead and participate in a movement session every morning, cool off in the nearby river and sing karaoke or play games in the evening.
Catering was provided by our amazing chef Philippe, who cooked a fantastic meal for everyone every evening. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were always prepared or supported by two participants.
The PAMPA Producers Residencies organising team is still full of the caring interaction between the participants, impressed by the generosity with which the participants shared their knowledge and experiences and touched by the trust the participants placed in the organising team.
As part of our work, we’re attempting to gather and share links to existing online resources around the roles, reflections and realities of working practices as a producer, agent and manager in Europe. With help from you, we want to create a comprehensive, ever-growing, crowd-sourced international pool of knowledge. If you know of any existing resources that are not listed below - please fill in this form.
At the bottom of this section, there are a number of links to other organisations and individuals who host multiple resources.
PAMPA commissioned On The Move to analyse the results of our Europe wide survey which gathered 380 responses from people in 25 countries. This analysis creates a greater understanding of the realities, working practices and care responsibilities of producers / agents / managers in Europe. We’ll be releasing more details in our next newsletter, but some headlines from the survey identifies the archetypal future potential PAMPA member:
A 39 year-old woman with no dependents living in Berlin.
Working full-time as a freelancer producer for five dance and theatre companies.
She's been doing the job for 11 years.
After paying social contributions and taxes, she lives on an income of €1,875 per month.
She feels like she works too much and is regularly stressed about her personal finances.
Further analysis reveals that:
Our final headline analysis of worker profiles, skills and the roles that the majority of respondents undertake reveals:
Nearly 70% of all respondents use producer as a job title (or one of their job titles) and these are the kind of tasks they perform on a regular basis:
84% of all respondents build relationships with current and potential partners
83% of all respondents negotiate and/or write contracts and other legal documents
80% of all respondents raise funds (secure co-producers, apply for grants)
79% of all respondents manage budgets and financial administration
74% of all respondents coordinate with service providers, including freelancers
One point of interest reveals that higher levels of international connectedness seemed to correlate with higher income. Respondents who answered ‘I feel highly connected’ had an average yearly net income of €35,145 and those who answered ‘most of the time I feel more connected than isolated’ had an average yearly net income of about €26,280.
Those who had a membership of a professional network or association also seemed to correlate with higher income. Those who said yes when asked “are you currently a member of one or more existing professional associations or networks?” had an average yearly net income of about €24,495. Whilst those who said no had an average yearly net income of about €20,480.
As we build PAMPA, we invited colleagues from across the European continent to tell us about their professional situations, current needs, and recommendations for our initiative. Thus we designed a survey in collaboration with On the Move which was intended to create a mapping of the PAMPA profession in Europe* and will help us to further strengthen the basis of our network as we work towards our future priorities.
*Regarding "Europe" we refer to this -> Wikipedia list.
In December 2020, Dachverband Tanz Deutschland and LAPAS launched the initiative of brainstorming-inventing-creating a network for international producers, agents, managers etc. based in Europe.
Dachverband Tanz Deutschland (DE)
Dachverband Tanz Deutschland (DTD), the German Dance Association, operates as a network of outstanding dance associations and institutions since 2006 – regardless of any aesthetic differences, varying production methods and specific careers in dance. It develops policy papers and concepts for the promotion of dance in Germany and implements them in its projects. DTD is lead partner in the nationwide funding programmes and the representative of the German Dance Award. Since 2012, DTD hosts the informal network of independent performing arts producers, called InfoPlus – it is a platform for exchange of know-how and experiences for producers based in Germany. Since 2016, the DTD has been offering international InfoPlus meetings as well.
DTD is supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
LAPAS (FR)
L'Association des Professionnels de l'Administration du Spectacle is a French umbrella organization bringing together professionals from the fields of administration, production, distribution and communication that work with companies, production offices and artists in the independent performing arts sector in order to think through and address the issues at the heart of these professions.
Current Members: Ian Abbott, Ann-Jette Caron, Marion Gauvent, Anna Giolo, Jana Grünewald, Sarah Holzmann, Aurélie Martin, Magnus Nordberg, Timo Steffens and Laura Trocan.
Former Members: Silvia Albanese, Maxine Devaud, Klara Kühn, Sofie Luckhardt, Rachel Feuchtwang, Stéphane Hivert, Vicenç Mayans, Anikó Rácz and Katja Sonnemann
PAMPA is supported by the -> German Dance Association`s programme -> Kreativ-Transfer, with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
An archive of significant moments in the history of PAMPA, 2020 - present
PAMPA Community Meeting #3 - Torgny, Belgium
17th and 18th June 2025 - A reflection of activities and achievements over the past year and new goal setting for the future.
PAMPA Residency #1 - Torgny, Belgium
12th-16th June 2025 - A chance to be in community with peers, share our specialist knowledge, learn from others, rest and reflect on our practices.
Producers as Central Figures in the Theatre and Performing Arts Ecosystem - Report
21st May 2025 - The first reference of PAMPA in an international report on producers and the performing arts.
PAMPA Live Meeting at Assitej - Marseille, France
27th March 2025 - A presentation about PAMPA alongside the PADA and LAPAS networks to find out about the networks and meet some of their members.
International Producer's Networks in Asia and Beyond at BIPAM - Bangkok, Thailand
13th March 2025 - The first Asian presentation of PAMPA in an introduction to three producer's networks - ProducersSG (Singapore); PAMPA (Europe) and the Asian Producers Platform (Asia).
Tanzmesse 2024 - Düsseldorf, Germany
30th August 2024 - Presentation of PAMPA during the International Producers Meeting (organised by InfoPlus/Dachverband Tanz Deutschland, Berlin Performing Arts Program and produktionsbande)
PAMPA Open Session Online #1
6th June 2024 - Artists and Producers: together, side by side, in or out of tune, for each other?
PAMPA Live Meeting at KUNSTENFESTIVALDESARTS - Brussels, Belgium
16th May 2024 - Discussion on the role of a cultural producer, and hear from KFDA Co-Artistic Director Daniel Blanga Gubbay.
PAMPA Newsletter #1
April 25th 2024 - Introduction of Resources, Survey Highlights and Spotlight on PAMPA Members
PAMPA Community Meeting #2 - Bucharest, Romania
1st and 2nd March 2024 - Meeting and discussion with PAMPA members and producers from across Bucharest.
PAMPA Community Meeting #1 - Berlin, Germany
24th and 25th February 2023 - Meeting and discussion with PAMPA members.
CINARS 2022 - Montreal, Canada
November 2022 - The first North American presentation of PAMPA during the International Producers Meeting.
Tanzmesse 2022 - Düsseldorf, Germany
1st September 2022 - The first European presentation of PAMPA during the International Producers Meeting.
Working Group - Online
September 2022 - The fourth Working Group (Live Meeting) began to meet to discuss and prepare what would become our first Community Meeting.
Website, Email, Mailing List and Survey Launch - Online
28th August 2022 - Launch of website, email, mailing list and survey.
Working Groups - Online
April 2022 - The second and third Working Groups (External Communication and Internal Communication) began to meet to discuss website, branding, logo and Slack channels.
PAMPA - Online
February 2022 - Our name PAMPA (Producers Agents Managers Performing Arts) was adopted, replacing International Network of Independent Performing Arts Producers.
Working Group - Online
October 2021 - The first Working Group (Survey) began to meet to discuss what would eventually result in our survey, which was analysed and reported on by On The Move.
Steering Group Meetings - Online
September 2021 - Monthly meetings until March 2022. Bimonthly from then onwards.
Attendees of the first steering group meeting: Katja Sonnemann (DE), Laura Trocan (RO), Vicenç Mayans (CAT), Maxine Devaud (CH), Marion Gauvent (FR), Stéphane Hivert (CZ), Anna Giolo and Charlotte Wacker (BE), Silvia Albanese (IT), Ian Abbott (UK), Rachel Feuchtwang (NL), Ann-Jette Caron (DK), Magnus Nordberg (SE) and Jana Grünewald (DE)
Brainstorming Sessions - Online
April, May and June 2021 - Three sessions which attracted 25 producers, agents and managers from across Europe to begin to define the broad outlines of what the network could look like.
Meetings - Online
December 2020, January and February 2021 - Marion Gauvent and Jana Grünewald continued to meet and invited others including Katja Sonnemann, Sophia Herzog, Sergio Chianca, Nicolas Bertrand and Marie Le Sourd (On The Move) to discuss how to create/develop a network.
Meetings - Online
December 2020 - Marion Gauvent and Jana Grünewald met, created the working title of International Network of Independent Performing Arts Producers and put early ideas on paper about the need to map the profession across Europe, come together for two day meetings and exchange practice.
International InfoPlus Session - Online
November 2020 - Organised by Dachverband Tanz Deutschland and hosted by Jana Grünewald a discussion about international producing was attended by producers from across Europe including Ian Abbott and Marion Gauvent.
"Looking back at PAMPA’s journey since the initiative started at the end of 2020, I’m amazed at how much we’ve achieved since then. From our many inspiring and enthusiastic meetings to the resources we've gathered and the activities we've realised — it’s truly remarkable, especially considering the challenges of building and maintaining a network without a stable financial foundation. Above all, I am deeply grateful for the great commitment of all the wonderful people who have been, and continue to be, actively involved in PAMPA. Without their dedication, this network wouldn’t even exist. I really hope we find a way to keep PAMPA going – especially now, when international networks, collaboration and solidarity are more important than ever."
Jana Grünewald, Dachverband Tanz Deutschland (July 2025)
