A Day in the Life of Our Creative Producer – Kate

For the last few months, we’ve been supported by a third year undergraduate Visual Arts and Film student at Durham University, Skyler Niu. As part of her placement with us, she interviewed our Artistic Director Kate Gorman about what it means to be a Creative Producer of one of our projects. Here’s what she had to say:

What does a creative producer really do behind the scenes?

In this interview, I set out to better understand the daily rhythms, values, and challenges of working as a creative producer on socially engaged art projects. I spoke with Kate, who brings a wealth of experience not only from the creative sector but also from a previous career in accounting and project management. Her role is much more than managing timelines—it’s about care, coordination, and holding space for collaboration.

A Gentle Juggler: Holding Space for Everyone

Kate describes herself as someone who didn’t follow a traditional path into creative production. “I ended up here by accident,” she tells me. “There was a project that I really wanted to do, and the way to make it happen was for me to be the creative producer, so I did.” It turned out to be a “vertical learning cliff,” but one that she wholeheartedly embraced.

Despite being relatively new to the title of creative producer, Kate brings a deeply human-centered approach. “I believe strongly in a care-based approach to creative production,” she says. “I try really hard to make sure that I’m considering all the people around me and making sure that their needs are met.”

From managing multiple stakeholders—schools, funders, youth groups, creative practitioners—to ensuring each voice is heard, Kate views her role as a kind of emotional and logistical weaver. “It becomes a little mini ecosystem,” she explains. “I guess it’s kind of something around being able to hold space well… and I think I can juggle lots of ideas and synthesize lots of information.”

Image created by Associate Artist Megan Watson.

Balancing Artistry, Impact, and Inclusion

For Kate, producing socially engaged projects isn’t about art for art’s sake. “I’m really only interested in doing socially engaged practice,” she says. “I’m interested in the platform [art] gives to people to explore their thoughts and their feelings and their beliefs and their ideas.”

Co-production is a fundamental part of her approach. She sees herself not as the one delivering content directly to young people, but as the one facilitating and supporting creative practitioners who do: “They all have skills that I don’t have. You know, I can’t draw. I’m not a writer. I’m not a musician. But I get to help them create and shape what they’re trying to do.”

Reflecting, Adapting, Learning

Each day is filled with decision-making, debriefs, and sometimes necessary shifts. “There are some things which are really difficult to balance,” Kate admits. “And then maybe the thing is, is that you stop doing them or you work out what needs to be changed to get them to balance.”

Kate’s reflections extend beyond project timelines. She views each ending as an emotional experience. “It’s like a grieving process when you come to the end,” she shares. “In my head, I’m still in the project, and it’s only when I reach the end of it that I’m ready to kind of grieve for that end point.”

From Project Management to Creative Impact

With roots in international finance and project delivery, Kate is keenly aware of how her skills translate across industries. “Project management is project management wherever you’re doing it,” she notes, yet she adds that creative producing allows her to infuse personal, emotional, and social dimensions into that framework.

Kate’s day-to-day may look like spreadsheets, phone calls, and debriefs—but at its heart, it’s about making space for transformation: “It’s just wonderful,” she says. “That thing where it’s about making a difference to people—yeah. That’s what I love.”

From this interview, I learnt the importance of the producer ‘holding space’ in the team. At the time of the interview, I was in the process of taking on the role of producer on my own film production team, so this interview gave me inspiration and motivated me. Through my interaction with Kate, I realised that a producer is not only a schedule manager, but also a companion to the team’s growth. Her caring approach has inspired me to be more mindful of my producing duties in my modules and has laid the cornerstone of human care for my future move into the video production industry.

Thanks so much to Skyler (pictured front right in the image above) for this lovely interview.

Thanks also to Lizzie Lovejoy for the gorgeous illustration of Kate featured with this post.