What are the benefits from fostering a truly collaborative relationship between Programme and Marketing departments?

Session One of Spotlight, a new learning and development series of online talks with professionals within the network, we’ll be asking this question to the teams at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and the Corn Exchange.

Join Gemma Twiselton (Head of Programme & Audiences at Corn Exchange), Owen Calvert-Lyons (Artists Director of Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds) and Julie Cole (Head of Marketing & Sales at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds) as they share their advice and experience on building collective working practises and collaborative culture in their venues and its impact on audiences.

Panellists

Gemma Twiselton
Head of Progamme & Audiences at Corn Exchange Newbury

Gemma is Head of Programme and Audiences at the Corn Exchange Newbury & 101 Outdoor Arts and is responsible for the indoor programme of work, both on stage and in the cinema, and oversees marketing and audience development for the organisation. She started at the Corn Exchange in 2018 as Marketing Manager, having previously worked in the Communications team at Salisbury Playhouse.

Prior to this she worked as a freelance stage manager for theatres including Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Manchester Royal Exchange, Salisbury Playhouse and Hull Truck.

Owen Calvert-Lyons
Artistic Director at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds

Prior to becoming artistic director and CEO of Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, Owen was head of theatre at Ovalhouse, a radical and experimental theatre in South East London. Previously, he was Artistic director of The Point and The Berry theatres in Hampshire, and director of Eastleigh Unwrapped arts festival.

Theatre credits: Murder in Play (ACT); Random Selfies (Ovalhouse); Beauty and the Beast (Derby Arena); Little Red Riding Hood (Chelsea Theatre); Across the Dark Water, Jack and Pinocchio (The Berry Theatre); Boy with a Suitcase and Walking the Tightrope (Arcola Theatre); I Am a Camera (Cornelius Cook – Nominated for Best Director, Off West End Awards). For Theatre Royal: A Christmas Carol, Around the World in Eighty Days, Cinderella, Home, I’m Darling, The Secret Garden, The Legend of Robin Hood, The Children, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Snow White, Dorothy Back in Oz, Aladdin and A Tryal of Witches.

Julie Cole
Head of Marketing & Sales at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds

Julie joined Theatre Royal in July 2019 climbing the career ladder in commercial marketing. Beginning her post-graduate career at British Airways Air Miles as Collector Communications Manager, Julie discovered her passion for consumer marketing and understanding the power effective marketing can have on influencing consumer behaviour.

From there she joined Sales Promotion Agency IMP (now Arc Worldwide) as Group Account Director, managing marketing & promotion campaigns for clients such as Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, WHSmith and Pedigree. It is here she developed her skills in marketing strategy, consumer insight and creative development before specialising in buyer behaviour as Consumer Insight Manager for Unilever where she worked on Colman’s Mustard, Peperami and Pot Noodle.

At Theatre Royal Julie puts audiences at the heart of the organisation spanning all departments – programming, front-of-house and of course marketing and sales.