Overview
Set in the heart of the Oxfordshire countryside, Wilderness presented by Audi is a four-day boutique festival of pioneering live performances, engaging talks and debates, theatrical spectaculars and culinary delights. A multi-art, multi-generational weekend of escapism, it’s as much a place to find firm festival favourites as stumbled upon moments of unexpected discovery. Now in its fifteenth year, Wilderness is continually looking to grow and evolve with the ever-changing festival landscape and most crucially, in line with our audience feedback.
As the Creative Producer, you will be responsible for conceptualizing, designing and producing a selection of the festival’s core venues and areas. Working closely with event management, programming and production to ensure the physical spaces reflect the distinct programmatic identity of each space. Infusing the show with creative diversity, discovery and intrigue while honouring the overall holistic vision of the show and the natural beauty of Cornbury Park.
“A place where art, intellectualism and fantastic gastronomy share equal billing with music” -The Guardian
“A festival just outside London that feels like a million miles away” -Time Out
Potential Areas / Venues within remit
New Indoor Indie Music Venue – name TBC
Content:Live music – mainly indie and alt-leaning
Direction:Answering our audience’s request for more live music, this space will become the dedicated space for those who love live music in an intimate setting. Showcasing the very best in up-and-coming artists from across the spectrum of music genres.
The House of Sublime
Content:Music, Theatre, Cabaret
Direction:A part of the Wilderness fabric since it was first introduced as a micro-venue in 2019, the House of Sublime has grown in popularity every year since. With a distinct identity as the home of LGBTQIA+ performers and voices, a safe space for our queer audience and where almost anything goes, this venue has one of the most eclectic and tongue-in-cheek programmes of the show. We have some pre-existing décor items in storage that can be utilised/repurposed such as the large Christ backdrop and internal House of Sublime stage fascia, shown in the visual deck and we’re looking to breathe some new life into this space and ensure its creative identity matches its programmatic prowess.
The Jumpyard / Night Realm
Content:Big Bands, Big Beats, Brass and Bass
Direction:Hosted and programmed by Continental Drifts this stage plays host to the likes of Dutty Moonshine Big Band, Mista Trick, Thrill Collins, Cut Capers and DNB Bhangra all stars. En route to The Valley, this venue is in an area of the site that has typically been difficult to draw a crowd to during the daytime. As such, it would be open to discussion whether this whole space from The Jumpyard to The Valley becomes a nighttime-only area or if the content and creative production can be such that it becomes a space that can transition from day to night. Over the years, this venue has had many identity iterations, from; The Carousel to The Love Hotel, The Juke Joint to The Hereafter and now The Jumpyard.
The Valley
Content:Late-night forest dance floor with DJs from 22:00 – 03:00
Direction:Set in an actual valley, audience members can flow in and out of the space via a one-way system of 2 large staircases that take them from the ‘high ground’ area above, complete with bar and toilets, to the Valley dance floor below. For the last few years, this space has focused on one large mirrored triangular stage at the lake end of the Valley with 10 speaker stack/disco light towers flanking the sides of the forest dancefloor to the bar at the back. Before this, it’s had aerial décor from high wire performances to illuminated floating spheres and we’re looking to inject more of these creatively surprising elements back into future designs.
Interactive Art Installations
As part of a dedicated effort to bring more elements of surprise, intrigue and creativity back into the show, we’d like to carve out a portion of the budget to install several interactive art pieces throughout the festival. While we’ve always programmed various walkabout performances throughout the weekend, we find the static pieces, particularly those the audience can help build and be a part of, are incredibly well received and of course, give increased opportunity for audience interaction. We can run applications on our website for proposals for review, as we have done previously, and would welcome direct proposals/suggestions of partners we could work with to bring elements like this into the show.
A visual deck of previous iterations of venues/areas mentioned above can be supplied upon request
Please note, other venues on site are either produced by third-party programming and production partners or internally produced by our central production team.
Key tasks & responsibilities
Advance
- Creative concepting, including venue names where applicable, design and on-site production of all agreed venues/areas.
- Producing designs/renders and venue layouts of all applicable venues/areas for review and sign-off by event management.
- Working closely with event management to ensure all concepts are deliverable within budget.
- Sourcing and booking suppliers for all appropriate creative elements required to produce agreed venues, including but not limited to; structures, fabricators, decor, furniture, props and dressing.
- Ensuring all creative installs support the technical and programming requirements of the space.
- Collation of all relevant supplier documentation including risk assessments, RAMS, insurances, fire certificates, wind calculations and any other documentation as deemed necessary, by the deadlines as shared.
- Maintaining up-to-date production schedule of all relevant information to be live shared with the production team and any other relevant POCs to ensure a cohesive cross-departmental on-site timeline and streamlined plant usage, working at height etc. Including but not limited to; tent builds, furniture hires, deliveries, décor installs, art and carpentry team schedules etc.
On Site
- Ensuring all concepts are delivered and installed to the standard of the Company and adhere to the required health and safety and site safety regulations and structural sign-off.
- Management of on-site creative production team and creative suppliers as applicable, ensuring adherence to site rules and health and safety regulations.
- Where necessary, helping to problem solve and support, to ensure builds are delivered to concept.
Other
- Participating in wider strategy and team meetings.
- Participating in detailed post-show debrief with Event Management.
- Where applicable, contributing to art installation, and/or Spectacle briefs and mood boards for external distribution. As well as reviewing submitted proposals for selection. Overseeing the advance and on-site management of any confirmed partners as applicable.
