Recruitment Package

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Call for Co-Director(s)

Jan 2023

Cover image design by Lucinda Wallace.

Deadline

extended to

February 25

Drop Deadly Gorgeous event at Queer Pride 2022. Photo by Connie Tsang.

ABOUT BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE

Established in 1979, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is the largest and longest-running queer theatre company in the world. Buddies is housed in a City-owned building, situated on the traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabe, and the Wendat, and the treaty territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, nestled between gritty and gentrified, queer and mainstream neighbouring cultures. Buddies is a world leader in developing queer voices and stories for the stage. Buddies offers a year-round program that includes a full season of queer theatre, new works festivals, artist residencies, and intergenerational training and educational initiatives. Buddies is an organization (organism) of 30+ staff, as well as many volunteers and guest artists.

Over the past two years, we have upheld our mission to support queer voices by simultaneously changing the company’s practices and policies that are complicit in systemic racism, anti-Blackness, ableism, and other barriers to participation, and producing 15+ shows/projects, supporting 500+ artists, developing 20+ tours and new works, and welcoming over 14 000 patrons online and in-person.

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We are currently led by Daniel Carter as Managing Director, with the support of employees and contract staff, and a new Board of six community members representing a mix of theatre workers and professionals with subject matter expertise in areas such as equity, inclusion, governance and finances. This recruitment package was prepared by Daniel Carter, the Managing Director, and external consultant Helen Yung of the Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence, in conversation with the Board, the Third-Party Review Committee and staff.

At this time, we are recruiting one or more Co-Directors to join Daniel in leading Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and facilitating the important transformations ahead.

Deadline EXTENDED: Feb 25, 2023 at 11:59 pm ET

Questions about hiring may be directed to: hiring@buddiesinbadtimes.com

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Info session avail online: Feb 6 at 12pm ET

For join link and post-meeting notes, please RSVP

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A FEW ARTISTIC HIGHLIGHTS

Throughout the pandemic, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre has continued to support queer communities to create exciting and exceptional work. In the past two seasons:

• 71% of lead artists were people of colour
• 61% of lead artists were women
• 77% of lead artists were trans or non-binary people
• 400+ hours of space were given to residency artists
• $700,000+ cash was disbursed to artists
• 14,000+ audiences attended performances in-person and online

The Festival as Book, a bold reimagining of the annual Rhubarb Festival by Festival Director Clayton Lee, sold out all 888 limited edition copies, and received numerous awards and accolades.

Distant Early Warning (Pearle Harbour) was nominated for a Toronto Dora Theatre Award for Outstanding Costume Design.

Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools toured to Belfast, Munich and Santiago, following previous touring presentations in Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, Iqaluit, Guanajuato and Edinburgh.

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Residency artist and artistic producer intern Julie Phan 潘家雯. Photo by Dylan Mitro, styling by Cat Calica, hair and makeup by Robert Weir.

“When I saw the amount of people who marched and gathered for the live show, the feeling of “Pride” that I had authored and guided with some willing neighbours was humbling.”

- Rhoma Spencer, performer & producer, Comedy Corner at Queer Pride 2021

Comedy Corner, as part of Buddies' Queer Pride Festival. Photo by Greg Wong.

“I think our freedom and femininity really inspires people. I just feel like trans people don't give a fuck sometimes; we just do what we want. And that's exactly what we did onstage and in this audioplay.”

- Mars Alexander, performer, Trans Gemmes (Oral Edition): Daddy Let the Girls Out

Trans Gemmes promo shot by Andrew Nguyen/GEI films. Makeup by Ms Myles MUA.

“The intergenerational and intersectional connections that exist through Buddies’ support are manifestations of community that I could never have discovered in such a meaningful and productive way on my own.”

- Martin Julien, playwright & performer, The Man That Got Away (A Special Appearance)

Martin Julien, Ben Page, and Tat Austrie in The Man That Got Away. Photo by Henry Chan, set and costume design by Sean Mulcahy, lighting design by Bonnie Beecher.

WE’RE HIRING AND WE WANT RECRUITMENT TO REFLECT LARGER PARADIGM SHIFTS

We all want things to be different, and if we keep doing things the way they have always been done, how different will they really be?

There is ample evidence that traditional hiring processes reproduce systemic inequities and favour the status quo. We’ve thought about what we want to see happen differently. We’ve done research on alternative leadership and governance models, and mechanisms for building in ways for community concerns to be brought forward inside of institutions to ensure greater trust that someone is listening and that there will be action taken.

We are working with the Board and community members to do this sensemaking and changemaking together. We’ve also enlisted the support of the Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence, which specializes in reimagining how things are done in the world.

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As a queer company:

• We aspire to a hiring process that is generative�and transformational.
• We want to ensure there is intergenerational dialogue.
• We want to be able to work with serious candidates to find everyone a place for their contributions.
• We would love to see candidates feel renewed and benefit from the experience, because why not?�We all benefit from leaders feeling invested, encouraged and energized, wherever they may be working within the arts ecosystem.

We’re approaching this moment with an abundant sense of possibility.

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RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Shortlisted candidates (i.e. starting from step #3) will be offered $250 per step for their time.

1. Read through this recruitment package. Do you see yourself being part of the leadership team and organizational change at Buddies? It will be complex, challenging, enriching and satisfying work. You can expect a collaborative leadership dynamic with Daniel Carter, and you can also apply as a team of up to 2 people.
2. Complete the application form and upload your cv/resume(s). There is a question in the form that asks for what you think the cv/resume does not tell us about you.

Deadline to submit the application form:

Feb 25, 2023 at 11:59pm ET

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Info session avail online: Feb 6 at 12pm ET

For join link and post-meeting notes, please RSVP

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• In March, a shortlist of up to 10 candidates and candidate teams will be invited to Intergenerational Dialogues where you will talk with queers across multiple generations about the future for queer culture and the role(s) that Buddies might play in this. Candidates that cannot travel to Buddies in person will be offered a separate online version of the event.
• After the Intergenerational Dialogues, candidates interested in proceeding to the next round will be invited to reflect on some leadership prompts in written or video format.
• Final candidates may be called back for a conversation with staff and the Board before decisions are made.

We anticipate that an offer will be made in April with onboarding starting in May. Start date negotiable.

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January 20 Posting Date

RECRUITMENT TIMELINE

February 6 Information Session (online)

February 25 Closing Date

mid-March Intergenerational Dialogues� (tbc)

May / June Anticipated Start Date� (negotiable)

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Kama La Mackerel in ZOM-FAM. Photo by Jeremy Mimnagh, lighting design by Jon Cleveland, set design by Nalo Soyini Bruce.

BEFORE WE GO ON FURTHER

If you don’t know yet, in May 2020, an important call-in was led by community members Shaista Latif, Sedina Fiati and Claire Burns encouraging the community to ask Buddies in Bad Times to acknowledge, document, reflect, and reconcile past harms and inequities at the company.

We have been doing this. We made time to step back, listen, reflect, pivot and focus on institutional learning and implementing change. Staff organized a regular self-education reading club for six months, and planned and participated in regular workshops facilitated by subject matter experts. Staff led and participated in brainstorms generating action plans which have been steadily implemented across departments and functions.

Accepting the responsibility to do better and to lead by example, staff continue to devote significant time to do the work of learning and unlearning as a team. We acknowledge that systems change is not done overnight; to be innovative and progressive requires ongoing practice and imagining.

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A year ago, some senior staff and the previous Board left the Company owing to differences in strategy for moving forward. For more regarding these shifts in governance and human resources, please see the Community Q&A. While unanticipated, sometimes ruptures are necessary, and ultimately, healthy for continued growth. We thank the previous staff and Board members for their contributions and for helping to make Buddies what it is and will be.

You can read some highlights of the actions undertaken to date on the next pages. The list includes the formation of a Third-Party Review committee that is helping to develop actions and keep us accountable.

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ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Throughout the past two years, many new initiatives, and organizational and structural changes have been and continue to be implemented. Some highlights include:

1. A Third-Party Review Committee was formed out of the call-in that took place in May 2020 asking for action around past harms and inequities at the company. Shaista Latif, Sedina Fiati and Claire Burns who had led the call-in are core members of the Third-Party Review Committee, alongside Buddies staff and Board members. They are currently conceiving key elements in helping the community and the company to make changes that will better protect marginalized and precarious workers in the arts industry. They are being paid for this work.
2. Initiated by the Third-Party Review Committee, plans are underway for community gatherings and community consultations for Spring 2023 and January 2024. Claire, Sedina, and Shaista will be co-producing these events with Buddies and alongside additional support from the arts network/incubator Generator. The purpose of these community events is to help open pathways for collaboration and build solidarity amongst creatives who operate in and outside of institutions. The Third-Party Review Committee looks forward to providing context for this process and is eager to work with others to imagine and implement labour protections for all.
3. Quarterly company training sessions have been implemented, focusing on anti-racism and anti-oppression (AR/AO) and skills-building to reflect community needs (e.g. basic ASL training for bar and front-of-house / box office staff).

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4. Production schedules have been restructured to improve work-life balance for all. We are avoiding the long hours of ‘10 out of 12s’ [ten working hours in a twelve hour shift] by extending the number of total production days. So far, the net effect reported by artists and staff include reduced stress, giving people time back for self-care, enabling production staff to be more accommodating to incoming artists / groups, and generally imbuing creation and production processes with better energy.
5. Salaries and fees have been reviewed and adjusted to make compensation congruent to time and scope of work, implementing annual cost-of-living adjustments for permanent contracts and living wages for independent contracts. Contracts have been revamped for employees and contractors to clearly communicate roles, responsibilities, and company policies.
6. The Antechamber space has been renovated with a focus on accessibility, digital creation, and relaxed performances. The space is currently used as a mask-on zone, includes a custom-designed wheelchair-accessible bar, and is used as a chill space for relaxed performances. Production work areas have increased physical access for crew and technicians. The Cabaret booth is now wheelchair accessible. The Chamber tech booth is not yet fully accessible as it requires more resources and planning.
7. New funding has been secured to reimagine governance, leadership structures and organizational processes to be more pro-active about change and adaptive to community needs. The Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence is helping to deliver some of this work. In-depth policy audits are still ongoing, informed by the Third-Party Review Committee’s continued work. Hiring practices are being reviewed for bias and barriers.

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“It’s important for me as a playwright, as a creator and a writer that I maintain sovereignty over my stories, who’s telling them, how are they contained, how is the room being run.”

- Yolanda Bonnell, playwright and performer, White Girls in Moccasins

Promotional photo for White Girls in Moccasins. Photo by Dylan Mitro, styling by Vanessa Magic, hair and makeup by Robert Weir.

“The idea is to see hearing and Deaf artists working together, without an ASL interpreter, being able to communicate by some means of physical expression. We've been really excited to make that change to the theatre world.”

- Gaitrie Persaud-Dhunmoon, artist with Phoenix The Fire, Buddies’ inaugural Emerging Company-in-Residence

Splitting the Lens at Queer Pride 2021. Photo by Greg Wong.

“There was a hunger and need expressed by the participants for a continuation of these conversations. We can continue learning, growing, sharing and supporting each other. Just by being kind, caring, compassionate and respectful.”

- leZlie lee kam, Youth/Elders program facilitator and podcast co-host

Youth/Elders Podcast participants at the Oakwood Village Library. Photo by Will Pemulis.

CANDIDATE OVERVIEW

We are looking for leader(s) with energy, organization, creative vision, community-mindedness, and incredible producing and sensemaking abilities because we live in turbulent times as a society and have responsibilities to uphold as a queer cultural and community-oriented institution. We want leadership that has/have done their own work. We believe that leadership is not infallible. We are looking for leadership with whom we are willing to take risks and make (fewer and fewer) mistakes together in the right direction.

We are looking for artists that are connectors and do-ers. We imagine that you are insightful, empathetic, inclusive, respectful, comfortable with conflict and difficult conversations. You possess great interpersonal skills and great project/production and financial management skills. You are passionate about supporting queer communities through queer arts and culture. You lead in ways that can connect complex viewpoints important to myriad creative queer communities. You bring courage, vision, humility and humanity.

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Financially, Buddies’ annual operating budget is about $1.5M. If you are familiar with the output of Buddies’ programs, and if you have the financial experience for leadership, you will know this budget is limiting. Right now, approximately one third of this goes to facilities, one third to human resources, and one third to productions and presentations. To remain sustainable and be able to meet our equity and access goals, it is anticipated that the leadership team will need to aim to increase the operating budget by 3-5% annually.

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre values the diversity of the people it hires and serves. Diversity at Buddies means fostering a workplace in which individual differences are recognized, appreciated, respected and responded to in ways that fully develop and utilize each person’s talents and strengths. Buddies encourages applications from queer, transgender, Indigenous, Black, POC, d/Deaf and persons with disabilities. We are committed to barrier-free recruitment and selection processes and work environments. For accommodations, please email daniel@buddiesinbadtimes.com or call 416 975 9130.

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“There is sometimes a feeling that all queer resistance emanates out of a metropolitan center, like Toronto and Vancouver, and goes into the different regions - but what this conference embraced was the opportunity to learn and grow from the margins. There is much community and artistic organizing that can be learned from the leadership of 2 Spirit performance artists living in reservations or the queer and trans newcomers living in the prairies.”

-Makram Ayache, producer & curator of the 2021 Q2Q conference: REFUSING THE QUEER MONOLITH

Photo of Makram Ayache by Brandynn-Leigh Photography.

ROLE DESCRIPTION

This is an exciting opportunity to design your own job description. We are looking for one or more leaders interested in joining Daniel Carter at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre as Co-Directors.

The following pages contain a long list of responsibilities for the leadership team. Bear in mind that this is a list of all the leadership responsibilities that will be shared between the Co-Directors, including Daniel, and/or be delegated to staff as appropriate. This is not a job description for one person.

On paper, Daniel Carter is currently Managing Director but new titles can be made when the right roles are co-developed by the new Co-Directors, and approved by the Board.

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COMPENSATION

Our current budget allows us to confirm the budget for one new Co-Director starting at $70,000 per year.

For candidates interested in applying as a team, we expect that incoming Co-Directors would work part-time to share the load together. For teams, we would commit to increasing the salary budget to start at $80,000 to be split between the new Co-Directors based on the division of responsibilities.

We are open to negotiating compensation and arranging for financial bonuses based on new revenue growth.

We offer a benefits package and 4 weeks annual vacation. Our office policies include allowing for remote work for up to 20% of your time, with some flexibility for additional paid time off and lieu time. There is also an option to carve out some space in the programming and activities at Buddies for your own artistic projects that fit within the company’s mandate.

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LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES

Remember, these responsibilities will be divided up between all the Co-Directors, including Daniel.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

• Review and remodel the organizational structure to best support the shifting needs of operations, facility, programming and community
• Support and collaborate with the Third-Party Review Committee to address past harms and continue to implement anti-racist and anti-oppression principles and practices going forward

GOVERNANCE & ADMINISTRATION

• Manage Board relations
• Develop governance policies
• Develop new governance structures to support the organization’s new direction(s) as needed
• Participate in Committee work (and lead where needed) at governance and operational levels

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DEVELOPMENT

• Cultivate community relations and partnerships for productions and projects
• Look for opportunities to develop new funds, audiences, donors and community relationships
• Grow donor base including monthly donors
• Setting and meeting increased annual targets in bar sales and rentals
• Secure new sponsorships and foundation support
• Maintain funding from arts councils
• Advocating for the organization locally, nationally and internationally

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PRODUCTION

• Accountable for the Company working under the stipulations of ACTRA, Equity, etc.
• Accountable for the Company’s contracting and negotiations with agents
• Accountable for work overseen by Production Manager and Touring Manager

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PROGRAMMING

• Accountable for the planning of the annual season
• Oversee staff in charge of Rhubarb Fest, Emerging Creators Unit, Emerging Company in Residence etc.
• Support artists in research, creation and production
• Support the development of queer voices locally, nationally and internationally
• Develop and manage Cabaret & late night rentals and community programming (Tues to Sundays, year-round)

HUMAN RESOURCES

• Support, inspire and manage employees, contract staff and volunteers
• Oversee HR training and professional development
• Negotiate and ensure compliance with HR contracts
• Ensure compliance with labour laws (i.e. Employment Standards Act)
• Review and develop human resource policies as needed

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FACILITY

• Accountable for ongoing maintenance of a�150-year old downtown building
• Ensure compliance with relevant bylaws and regulations, e.g. Health & Safety
• Maintaining rental relationship with the City of Toronto (the landlord)
• Caring for situations involving individuals experiencing homelessness and other intersecting situations. Buddies is an urban public space adjacent to a parkette and other amenities that attract diverse people.

FINANCE & IT

• Develop multi-year, annual and project budgets
• Financial forecasting and strategic planning
• Review and develop financial policies as needed (e.g. spending limits, financial tracking)
• Review, develop and implement IT and cybersecurity policies

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PREVIEW OF APPLICATION QUESTIONS

Fill out the application form here: https://forms.gle/NNQZyjfELrz5Q2hk9

1. Are you applying as an individual or a team? Why are you interested in joining the leadership team at Buddies?
2. What do you think is the future of queerness / queer culture in Canada, and how do you think artistic voices from diverse queer communities need to be supported?
3. How are you a community builder? What are the artistic and queer communities to which you have ties, and/or how will you build on the networks and relations to which you are already connected?
4. Are you resourceful and/or entrepreneurial and/or have a solid track record with grantwriting? Please describe your appetite and experience with finding money, developing donors, and cultivating partnerships.
5. Optional: In what way(s), if at all, would you like to have personal artistic space in the programming and activities at Buddies? E.g. producing your script, directing your own show, etc. (It’s OK if you don’t know for certain at this time.)
6. Please upload a cv/resume that summarizes relevant skills and experience for this position. What does your cv/resume not tell us about you that you would like us to know?

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Louise Liliefeldt in Land of the Living, Rhubarb Festival 2022. Photo by Henry Chan, installation design by Andrea Shin Ling, lighting design by Echo Zhou.

Image by Lucinda Wallace