Adrian Evans

Lucy Neal and Rose Fenton
The day after finishing my finals, I hitchhiked to London to join the team launching the first ever London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT). Led by Lucy, Rose and my older brother Simon, LIFT was manned entirely by volunteers. I ended up running the box office and toured one of the companies to the Edinburgh Fringe. Like everyone else, I learned on the job, and Rose and Lucy were inspirational operators. They encouraged resourcefulness, and led me to value artist-led projects and never to underestimate the energy of optimism and enthusiasm. 
David Gale and Hilary Westlake
After LIFT, the one job I wanted most in the world was to run the cutting edge performance group Lumiere and Son Theatre Company led by Dave (writer) and Hilary (director). Dave and Hilary are highly individualistic, deeply talented, charismatic and compassionate, and belly-achingly funny. In the running of Lumiere and Son, both also exercised meticulous attention to detail. I loved being in their company and enjoyed the rigour of establishing administrative, financial, touring and production systems. Their work stretched creative boundaries and was frequently performed in unconventional outdoor spaces. Since all the nitty-gritty was left to me, over the next six years I was able to experience and gather all the skills of an independent producer.

Pierrot Bidon
In 1988, my first year as a freelance producer, I established, raised the funds for and then programmed the 17-day London Festival of New Circus. It was a critical and commercial success largely because Pierrot Bidon, the creative force behind a French circus group called Archaos, persuaded me that the mild and mediocre show that I’d just seen in the South of France was going to transform in the month or so before my festival into a thrilling, rock’n’roll, chainsaw-wielding spectacle. Archaos became the sensation of the festival, and I subsequently teamed up with Pierrot to manage the tours of his shows in the UK and then ultimately in all territories worldwide (except France). In terms of producing at scale both within the UK and internationally, this was a very steep learning curve and there is no doubt that, while risks were certainly taken within the Big Top, the business was also run at incredible risk. Big Top shows need big characters and, both living and working on the road, the core team developed an intense management style rooted in trust and commitment. 
Iain Tuckett
Iain is Group Director of Coin Street Community Builders (CSCB), responsible for the development of 13-acre plot of land on London’s South Bank. I had been creating festivals on CSCB land by the Oxo Tower for three years when, in 1995, Iain gave me the encouragement I needed to develop the Thames Festival. His influence was crucial in developing strategies to engage businesses and senior people within the area, and to strengthen local community ties. Iain was also familiar with urban regeneration funding streams and tutored me in their output-driven language and, as the new Greater London Authority was established in 1999, Iain’s lobbying skills with the new Mayor of London were, once again, invaluable.