Watch the National Theater Project Info Session

In this session, NEFA's National Theater Project team went over the application process for the final round of the Creation and Touring Grant. Staff break down the application process, timeline, and close the info session with a Q&A. 

Transcript (below) provided by Ashly | video courtesy of our partners at HowlRound

Read the Transcript

LEILANI: All right, friends. We are going to get started. Hello. Aloha, good afternoon. My name is Leilani. And we're going to give a few minutes for people to start coming in. I'm actually going to push us back one slide, because I jumped too far ahead. And we are ‑‑ I'm going to drop into the chat, we do have CART services today. So, in addition to the captioning you'll see on your Zoom screen, if you would like to follow along in a separate window, that link will bring you there. Okay, and Quita, I see that you are back online. So, if you would like to kick us off, I believe we are ready to begin. And I did add to our notes introducing everybody who is on the call, including our accessibility staff, so you don't have to wrap that into your intro, and we're good when you are.

QUITA: Thank you, Leilani. Aquy. Welcome to everyone. Thank you for joining us and making the time to learn about the National Theater Project Creation + Touring Grant process. We are really happy to be able to provide this info session. Nupish Towiyut asuh Quita nutusuwis. Sullivan nucahshayuwôk. Matcik tá Potáp nucahshayuwônkansh. Montukut tá Shinnecock wôk numowisut nucapayuwôkansh. Shamut nutap, Masachusetuk, Wampanaakuk, tá Nipmuckuk tasotamuwôkanukash. 
Senior Program Director, Theater ni átaruhkôsuy. My name is Quita Sullivan, my clans are Turtle and Whale of the Montaukett and Shinnecock nations. I'm also Black. And I'm privileged to reside on the lands of nations related and connected to mine, the Massachusett, Wampanoag and Nipmuc peoples. I'm the senior program director for theater at NEFA. For visually impaired, I'm a middle‑aged native and Black woman with shoulder length gray hair in a navy shirt with long beaded earrings. I am in front of a video background that shows my homelands, Montauk Point, New York. It's earth, it's sky, and it's water. I use nakum/they/she pronouns, my language is gender indifferent. We use nakum the same way you would use they. Leilani?

LEILANI: Hello. Hello. My name is Leilani. I use she‑series pronouns. My work title is program manager at NEFA. I'm a lifelong resident of the Wabanaki Confederacy, whose name is translatable in English to Dawnland Confederacy. Whose council fire was relit in 1993 and burns steadily today. I live in the southeast most tip of the furthest south watershed of the Cowasuck Band of Pennacook‑Abenaki lands. My watershed is the Missituck, often named the Mystic. I am a white woman, who is looking particularly pink today. The bounce back from the light and the lip gloss is making me mostly a pink woman with long wavy brown hair. I am in a white popped collar button‑down shirt, because it's always Polly Pocket time over here. As you look at our agenda, we are going to be covering ‑‑ oh, the agenda jumped away. Apologies. The next thing on our agenda is the recognition of people, land, and water. I will adjust my screen to have a better view in a moment here.

QUITA: Leilani, before you continue, I do want to acknowledge Abby and Elizabeth, who are handling our tech. Shari and ‑‑ 

LEILANI: Ashly is doing captioning.

QUITA: Ashly is doing captioning right now, okay.

LEILANI: Both Hollys are interpreters.

QUITA: Yes. Holly and Holly as interpreters. We need them to make this work happen in the way that we believe it needs to happen.

LEILANI: Yes, my apologies, I clicked the wrong button and booted us all out of the slide show. I am going back to the slide show now and will re‑share my screen for our next step. As folks are continuing to join us, we always start with a recognition of people, land, and water. The official land acknowledgment of NEFA reads as follows, "at the New England Foundation for the Arts, we believe that one of the roles of the arts is to make the invisible visible. We also believe that it is not the responsibility of those who have been made invisible to remind us that they are still here. Therefore, as a committed ally, NEFA acknowledges that the ground on which we work is the traditional land of the Massachusett and Wampanoag people. We honor their ancestors past, present, and future, and recognize their continued existence and contributions to our society. NEFA also acknowledges that all the places that are distributed staff, live, and work and where we provide support and hold events are all Indigenous lands. We offer respects to the elders. Past, present, and future. As we continue to gather in virtual space and before we move forward with content, the team would also like to have our offering include the Ohlone people, because we are gathering in virtual space, it is vital we acknowledge we are not only tied through the lands we are on, but on the resources we are consuming via cables, electricity, use of natural gas and heating oils, water, and occupation of space. And, specifically, while we are gathered virtually and using Zoom, we are tied to the history of the exploitation of Silicon Valley, which is the traditional and ongoing lands of the Muwekma Ohlone people, who have recently been stripped of their federal recognition. Throughout this meeting, when we shift to Q&A, I will drop links into the chat. That will include links to specific calls to action from our kin, the Muwekma Ohlone, seeking support from general U.S. citizens in having their federal status reinstated. It is important that we tie our acknowledgments to actions. So, next up is who is New England Foundation for the Arts. Quita, it's all you. You're muted, friend.

QUITA: Got it. Before we go into the info on the NTP grant, we just want to give you a little bit of context about New England Foundation for the Arts. NEFA is a service organization that acts as a funder investing in artists and creative communities. We say that NEFA invests in artists and communities and fosters equitable access to the arts, enriching the cultural landscape in New England and the nation. NEFA accomplishes this by granting funds to artists and cultural organizations, connecting them to each other and their audiences, and analyzing their economic contributions. NEFA serves as a regional partner for the National Endowment for the Arts, New England state art agencies, and private foundations. And even though the National Theater Project is part of the New England Foundation and run by those of us who are NEFA employees, we are a national program. So, folks are invited to apply from anywhere in the United States.

LEILANI: EDIA is also you, boss. You're muted again. We are nailing the tech as a team.

QUITA: I know. My copy is totally out of order, so I have been muting so you don't hear the papers rustling as I'm searching. In the next portion of this webinar, we are going to discuss the grant criteria, but before we do that, we want to read NEFA's current Equity, Diversity, Intersectionality, and Accessibility values statement. Our grant criteria was built around this statement, and it serves as a lens that all other criteria are examined through. As we are engaging in our next strategic planning work, NEFA will be revisiting, strengthening, and reaffirming this value. During the grant discussions, we start by reading this statement and advisors return to it constantly in the panel discussions. As part of an inclusive world, NEFA recognizes and values intersectionality in all things. NEFA's EDIA values statement is, "NEFA values an equitable, diverse, and inclusive world, which we interpret as all people having fair access to the tools and resources they need to realize creative and community endeavors. We acknowledge structural inequities that have excluded individuals and communities from opportunities based on race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, class, age, geography, culture, nation of origin, and language. And we strive to counter those inequities in our work."

LEILANI: So, we are here specifically within the umbrella of NEFA and its EDIA structure to talk about the National Theater Project. The National Theater Project promotes the development of artist‑led, ensemble, and devised theater work and extends the reach and life of these projects through the touring of the work. Our lead funding comes from the Mellon Foundation with additional support from the Doris Duke Foundation, and our flagship program is the Creation + Touring Grant, which is what our session focuses on today specifically. The NTP Creation + Touring Grant is project‑based funding for the development and sharing of new works of devised ensemble theater based in the U.S. While we will be going through key definitions, which will explain lots of what's in this sort of concise sentence, including how NEFA defines U.S.‑based and what we mean by devised, what I'd really like to draw your attention to here is the word "project," as in project‑based funding. Understanding the Creation + Touring Grant as project based rather than as artist or organization based is key to determining your project's eligibility. For example, two of the grantees in the NTP family are Kinetic Light and Honolulu Theater for Youth. Their projects, respectively, Wired and The Pa'akai We Bring. While Kinetic Light is traditionally billed as a dance ensemble, which we do not support, and Honolulu Theater for Youth is traditionally a youth ensemble dedicated to family and children's theater, which we also do not support, in determining their eligibility, we looked at the specific projects submitted. The history of the ensembles mattered in that they were able to demonstrate they were ensembles with a body of work, but at this time the specific project they were submitting met the rest of our eligibility and criteria. This project funding is also important, as it indicates what the funding is for, development and sharing of a project, rather than general operating costs or long‑term organizational building. Lastly, and the thing none of us want to think about, project funding helps answer the hard questions. If an ensemble splits up or an artist leaves or some other issue arises, you know where the funding goes, with the project. Not the artists, not the ensemble, however that is divided, but with the project at all times. We hope nobody on this call ever experiences that. Now, what is the NTP Creation + Touring Grant? All right, on to you, Quita.

QUITA: The NTP Creation + Touring Grant provides project‑based funding, as Leilani just spoke about. Those projects vary greatly, but all are new works of devised ensemble theater with plans to tour the U.S. Again, we'll get into definitions. All projects must have one committed development partner relationship, and all projects must be by a U.S.‑based ensemble and/or lead artist.

LEILANI: I keep doing that with the clicking. Goodness gracious me.Oh, it's because it wants to bring me to the video link. Apologies. The package of support that is in two parts, part one is funding, that is the grant itself. There are ten grantees at $110,000 per award. Payments will be made directly to the artists in three installations. When you sign the grant agreement, at the interim report, and when the grant is completed, which does have a hard deadline this year. In addition, each project receives $10,000 in tour administration/general operating award money to support organizational and tour needs. So, it's $110,000 directly to the project and $10,000 to support the org supporting the project. The package of support also includes gathering, which we sort of categorize as separate from funding. This is because a key part of the support that we offer is our cohort mechanism. You will be part of a cohort of fellow awardees, and you will gather in‑person and online. We have ‑‑ one of the things that our grantees consistently report as differentiating the NTP experience is the support throughout the grant cycle, from the one‑on‑one relationships with advisors during the final application process, to our practice of cohort meetings. In addition to immediate direct conversations with Quita, should you be awarded, you will have opportunities to engage with your fellow cohort members and with advisors throughout your process. We will have two cohort meetings, and this is so that we can maintain a hybrid model for the greatest possible accessibility and the most benefit to artists. The first cohort meeting for the FY25 cohort, which you are considering applying for, will be in‑person October 14th through 17th, next October. That is going to be a super unique gathering in that our final two cohorts, the FY24 and upcoming FY25 will gather together. The cohort meeting does change location every year as we recognize our status as a national project and ensure opportunities to engage with the theater scene across the country, including through the cohort meeting. Separately from that, you will have a virtual meeting early March 2026. That meeting will be closed to just your cohort, as you look at wrapping up your tour support and your creation dollars that you will have received through this grant. The meetings are focused on sharing resources, relationship building, networking, naming challenges, and analyzing the field. They are gatherings of artists, the grantees themselves, your ensemble members, our advisors, and our staff. Now, the next thing we've got to talk about before we dive into definitions, eligibility criteria, is the type of projects that are not considered. Again, I do ask that folks keep in mind it is project based, not ensemble or artist based. So, the scope, style, sensibility, and substance of projects eligible for this grant vary widely. This is the handful of project types we simply cannot support. Projects focused solely on children and family theater, projects by solo artists, projects developed by lead artists who are not U.S. based. And any projects that do not meet NTP's definitions of devised, ensemble, and tour or touring. Again, because this is a project rather than organization‑based grant, you may find that you do fit into our considerations with this specific project, even if you wouldn't at a different time. The bulk of the body of work your ensemble has produced may not be eligible, but this specific project may be. It is also worth naming before we get into the Q&A session that most of these points of ineligibility are actually tied to our status as an organization. For example, we cannot legally distribute funds internationally. So, we simply must distribute funds to U.S.‑based programs. Another example is as an RAO and intermediary, we actually have fund recipients ourselves, the Mellon and Doris Duke Foundations who we created this with, don't want to fund children, youth, and family theater through this project. There isn't anything we can do around those, so these are sort of the sticky point, nonnegotiables. And, again, if you are seeing things listed as NTP or NEFA definition, it will be covered in our definitions section of this info session, and has its own hyperlink on our website with all of the definitions written out for you. Speaking of which, on to definitions.

QUITA: So, the first key definition is U.S. and U.S. based. Now, all of these definitions listed verbatim are on our website under "key definitions." It's very ‑‑ we try to make it very clear what those definitions are, so that you will have that information at your fingertips while you are completing this. So, NEFA defines the U.S. as all 50 of the United States, as well as Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the District of Columbia. And, Leilani, we are not seeing it at all now. Got it. Devised is a process of co‑creation and joint discovery that prioritizes generative artists, which may include but does not prioritize playwrights or directors, is iterative and results in original work. Another key definition is ensemble. A group of two or more people committed to working together over time to develop a distinct practice and body of work. We'll discuss more about that later.

LEILANI: I'm letting that one pause, because that's where the first questions have come up. It's on the screen, it's on the website. Two or more.

QUITA: Yes. Two or more, who have committed to working together over time. Tour and touring. Touring or touring, or NTP, is the sharing of work in multiple communities, locations, or formats. Including in‑person performance, virtual performance, or hybrid modalities. The sharing of the work means that it must be tour ready. And a tour‑ready work is defined as one ready to be shared outside of the community the work has been generated in or by.

LEILANI: The next key definition is on me. This is the key definition of development partner. Development partners provide a variety of resources during the development of a work, including but not limited to, residency space, virtual platforms, audience for a work‑in‑progress showings, administrative guidance or support, marketplace advocacy, tour planning, cultural support, tour planning assistance, community connections, cultural grounding, and building connections between artists and the communities the work is with and for. Examples of development partners include, but are not limited to, universities, community organizations, cultural centers, advocacy groups, museums, and presenting theaters. We want to emphasize that development partners can be as varied as the projects themselves. While traditional development partners, such as universities, artist in residency programs, et cetera, are welcome, so are partnerships outside the western proscenium model, including community organizations. This is important, and we ended with that definition, because it is tied to eligibility. For eligibility ‑‑ excuse me. The National Theater Project will consider projects submitted by U.S.‑based theater ensembles. Only one application per ensemble or lead artist will be accepted per year. The ensemble must have nonprofit status or a contract with a nonprofit fiscal agent by the final application deadline. This means organizations must be a 501(c)(3) organization, fall under a tribal government, or have a contracted fiscal sponsor that meets these definitions by the final NTP application deadline. NTP cannot legally distribute funds out to for‑profit organizations, LLCs, or individual artists. Please note that the deadline for compliance with this eligibility criteria has been moved from the preliminary application to the final application to give as many artists as possible the chance to come into compliance. The final application deadline is in February of 2024. I also want to respond in realtime. So, when we say the artist must have, the artist needs to have a fiscal sponsor for this project. If someone in your ensemble individually has a relationship with a fiscal sponsor, and the fiscal sponsor is going to cover this project, that counts. We simply must legally have a 501(c)(3) entity that we are giving funds to, who then either receive the funds or receive and distribute the funds. Again, this is not something that the NTP team can actually do anything about. Next eligibility point, and those are different, is that this grant supports the creation of new work. To ensure that the project is still in development at the time the grant is awarded, projects must be in development through at least September 1, 2025. This grant supports the sharing of new work across multiple communities, groups, and audiences within the U.S. To ensure this grant supports the sharing of new work, projects must be ready to tour by May 31, 2026. All projects must have one committed U.S. development partner relationship. Returning artists, all NTP‑supported presentations are completed and it has been one year since the last NTP‑supported presentation. That is based on the application deadline. That means in order to be eligible to apply for this grant, you need to have finished spending any NTP‑related dollars by last October. Because October is the current deadline. Now we're switching gears into criteria, and for folks like wait, criteria, eligibility, what are you talking about? I promise I'll break down the difference a little bit further. Handing over the mic to Quita.

QUITA: So, NTP criteria. NTP supports work that contributes to the cultural and aesthetic, and form‑diversities of today's theater. Why this project, why this ensemble, and why now? They demonstrate meaningful partnerships with organizations that are involved in the development, performance, promotion, engagement, and/or touring of the new work. Wrong page. They also center engagement with and for communities and audiences via the work's process and performance. They also demonstrate a commitment to sharing the work with communities in the U.S. via ‑‑ again, we mean the U.S. and its territories, as defined by NEFA.

LEILANI: So, now that we've discussed who we are as an organization, what we are as a program, and what we do and do not fund, we also reviewed our most important definitions and gone over eligibility and criteria. We're going to jump right into FAQs. The first one right off the bat, what's the difference between eligibility and criteria? The easiest definition is the one already on the screen. Eligibility is what staff read for.Criteria is what advisors read for. Eligibility is the absolute baseline to be considered and is tied to things like legality. Again, NTP cannot distribute funds internationally or to private entities. Our own funders' priorities and the goals of the organization that is NEFA, when creating this project. Staff do a preliminary scan of all applications for eligibility before passing anything to advisors. This is the only time in the process that staff are in any way active decision makers. We simply scan for legal eligibility. On the other hand, criteria is what our advisors are reading for. Any applications they are given are already guaranteed to be eligible for funding. Projects must meet all criteria in order to advance through the application process, which happens in three rounds. The first round is written, where advisors read, score, and provide written feedback. Based on the scoring, we move to the semifinalist round. 60 projects are advanced to the preliminary panel meeting, where there is live discussion. At the preliminary panel meeting, advisors select 24 finalists to invite to submit a final application with direct support from an assigned advisor. The more ‑‑ you can think of criteria as another word for competitiveness. In order to be competitive for funding, you must meet all criteria at every stage and your narrative answers must support that. Okay, next FAQ, narrative questions. Again, I'm going to kick this back to Quita.

QUITA: All of our narrative questions are available for preview on our website and will be by the end of this week. And, of course, we're always ‑‑ they are always available within the application itself. We're trying not to surprise anyone. There are two narrative questions we'd like to highlight today, starting with question three. Please describe what excellence means for this project, including intended impact as defined by your artistic practice. You'll notice that in our set of definitions, we did not include a definition of theater itself. We recognize that the borders between theater and other disciplines, such as dance, are fluid, varied, and often specific given a cultural context or practice. While we do exclusively fund works of devised ensemble theater, that has included opera, has included dance theater, puppetry, works of culturally specific community, ensemble devising that result in a single performer on stage, and many other things. And I invite you to look at our web page to see what has been funded. In addition to this, while we strive for a diverse, balanced, and well‑informed advising panel, we cannot guarantee universal expertise in every discipline or artist practice. We are only human, and while we may each have four different opinions on any one subject, we don't know it all. So, this question is an opportunity for you to tell us what it makes ‑‑ what makes your project exceptional, based on how you and the discipline and culture you work with in define it.

LEILANI: I'm tagging in, before I hit next on the slide, just to say this is an equity consideration. We added this question, because we found that folks were often having to use that standard question one, describe your project, and feeling like they also had to describe instead of just their project, what their art was, what made them good at it, where it came from, and were in a state of constant translation. Especially if they worked outside the proscenium or western molds. So, this is an opportunity to make sure you only have to answer the question asked. Describe the project in describing what, where, how, and what makes it excellent, that's its own question, so that we're not asking folks to have to answer two things off of one question.

QUITA: I liked the way you defined it earlier, Leilani. This is the pressure valve question.

LEILANI: Yes.

QUITA: Right, it's taking the pressure off of you to explain your cultural tradition. The question four, how does this project contribute to the cultural, aesthetic, and form diversities of today's theater? In other words, why this project, why this ensemble, and why now? Of course, we also ask you to look to NEFA's value statement around Equity, Diversity, Intersectionality, and Accessibility. One of the reasons this question is worded the way it is has to do with the answers that we have gotten over the last... this is coming up on 15 years of doing this work. A list of the diversities of your ensemble is not what we're looking for. We're really looking for why you. Why now. Our advisors are from all over the field of theater, and they are looking to support the field as a whole, which means that there will be probably 200‑plus applications this year. So, it's important for us to know how do you contribute to the cultural diversity of this field, regardless of what your ensemble looks like. Why this ensemble, and why now? What is so important about what you are doing that you are competitive and deserve the NTP funding.

LEILANI: Okay. The next frequently asked questions are on me. And this is the big one. This is the one ‑‑ work samples. Work samples. At least one video work sample is required. You must provide one. You can submit either one three‑minute video, or two shorter videos. So, you will have two total slots. You only need to fill in one of them. And between the two slots, it cannot exceed three minutes. Now, we recognize that most artists do not have perfectly curated three‑minute samples. So, if what you need to do is provide us a longer video with cue times, that is acceptable. What it will not be acceptable is longer than three‑minute videos submitted with no cue times. In that case, advisors will start at the zero mark and end at the 3:00 minute mark. If that's three minutes of, like, black before the curtain goes up, y'all, you got to give me cue times. Three total minutes, either in one sample or two pieces. The work samples should be of recent work. Ideally, within the last four years. We recognize that the beginning of the COVID pandemic impacted that for a lot of people. What I want to direct your attention to is that in addition to the actual question that is put your link here, the URL, you will also have a put your cue times here section, a put your password here, put the password here. If it's password protected, we can't watch it and you didn't submit a work sample. Put the password in. Okay. I know it's crazy that I'm pausing that hard, but you'd be surprised how many folks don't give me a password and I can't watch your sample. Password in. You will also see a narrative question. That is your opportunity to explain, contextualize, and expand on what is in the sample. So, if you are showing something that is from more than four years ago, tell us why. Why this is relevant, why did you choose this, what's happening on screen that is important, urgent, and ties back to our narrative questions. Panelists will be watching these samples to get a better idea of what to expect from your project, so we encourage you to include a clip that connects to the proposed project. Connects to. Yes, in an ideal world, we would all have 90 seconds of rehearsal footage, perfectly edited, and 90 seconds of a showing of the project, perfectly edited. We recognize very few of us live in a perfect world. So, as long as you can compellingly connect, that will be good for your application. Show us an example of a work you have done like this before and how audiences reacted. Show us this work that is not yet on stage being developed in rehearsal. Work sample facts continued. Promotional videos and/or photo montages are not accepted. Pitch‑style videos are strongly discouraged. I'm going to be really direct with you all. No one who has ever submitted a promotional video, photo montage, or pitch‑style video, even when they were not disqualifying, has ever actually advanced past the written feedback round. Never in 15 years. So, these rules are here not to stifle you, but because we have found a 0% success rate when people have submitted those videos. As Quita mentioned before, we try not to surprise you and are really intentional about words. So, do note this is not the video section, not the footage section. This is a work sample section. We are looking for samples of this project or of your ensemble at work. A wide range of materials are acceptable. Show us excerpts from past performances. If this is the first time your ensemble has come together in this specific way, show us the artists in practice. Show us how you devise, especially if you are coming from, let's say, opera, where there is a ‑‑ you're concerned we don't understand the devising tradition. Show us you in rehearsal devising this operatic piece. Right, it is a sample, not a meal. And it is of the work and of you at work. These criteria truly are not here because we don't want you to submit your best, but because we have never had anyone advance with a pitch video, a photo montage, or a promotional video. And we want you to advance. There's dollars on the line. The next thing I want to bring our attention to is content notes. This year we are asking you to consider staff and advisors as your audience. Any content note you would include in a live program, we are asking that you include in your work samples. This is not a punitive measure, and this is not in any way used to score. This is simply an accessibility ask. We do have an obligation to our staff and to our advisors to know things like if flashing lights may cause a seizure or trigger migraines. We do have an accessibility, you know, standard that we uphold, we want our advisors to be prepared for dealing with specific content. Or to make sure we're not sending one staff member repeated depictions of the same violent graphic act in the work samples they are reviewing all in a row. That is distressing for the actual folks viewing, but also doesn't give you, again, your best shot. An accessible process is the most productive process, because your advisors will be in the right head space, with the most possible information, fully prepared to engage your material. And not caught up in the emotional reaction of a jump scare or disabled from participating based on what's happened on film. So, please do include those. If you wouldn't include the content note in your program, you wouldn't include the content note here. This is not prescriptive. It is asking you to join us as partners in making this process accessible for advisors, staff, and applicants as we move forward together. So, what the hell do I submit, Leilani? That was a lot of no’s. Again, rehearsal footage. Work in process. Clips from readings. Show us your devising process. Show us your ensemble in action. Show us the work itself. You all recording a song that might be part of something and how it relates to what the performance will be. There are so many ways that we invite you to use this creatively and reinforce your narrative answers. We just want you to know what will and will not, A, literally play if we don't have a password, we can't see it. B, give you your best shot with advisors, which is what they have and haven't advanced. And, C, what has historically given folks the most opportunity to engage with the process. So, that's what we're looking for. Speaking of advisors making it accessible and what they do and don't like, who are these people, Quita?

QUITA: So, who are these people? The NTP advisor panel or ensemble is composed of 14 individuals representing presenters, producing theaters, festivals, service organizations. They are theater artists, scholars, community leaders, and former grantees, and including some folks who have applied and never received a grant. The selection of advisors takes into account geography, gender, cultural and racial equity, and includes new and established leaders in the field. They guide project selection and serve as consultants and ambassadors for the program in its entirety. During the final application process, advisors provide critical guidance to the applicants in proposal preparation and tour development. NTP's advisor panel aligns with NEFA's EDIA commitments by shifting core decision making from the purview of staff to an intersectional group of field leaders. And a list of our current advisers can be viewed on our website.

LEILANI: So, before we head into the final portion of today, just putting a response in there. Before we head into the final portion of today, which is the Q&A session, I want to uplift some key dates from this application.

The preliminary deadline is October 10, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

The final application is February 24, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Projects must be in development through at least September 1, 2025, and ready to tour no later than May 31, 2026. Again, when we say "in development," you must still be actively creating the piece through September 1st or later. When we say "tour ready," we mean that show is ready to get on the metaphorical or literal road. If you have applied for this grant before, and I recognize some folks' names from registration, you have probably noticed that this is a more prescriptive timeline than we have held in the past. As well as some other changes, including the mechanism by which we distribute funds, it will now be three direct payments. While we have always had specific mechanisms for fund distribution, and we have always had guidance on how long things must be in development and when they are ready to tour, this tightening of eligibility is in response to the recent news that you would have seen in a letter from our director regarding the funding status and future of the National Theatre and National Dance Projects. These changes do represent the first step in sunsetting the Touring and Creation event as it exists. For those this is news to, that you're hearing on the call, I will, again, once I'm not sharing slides, be dropping links into the chat and that will include the direct letter to the field from our executive director Harold Steward.

QUITA: What you should note is that NEFA is holding this change in our funding status into our own ongoing strategic plan. Which we anticipate being completed by the end of this fiscal year, May 31, 2025. Our partnership with Doris Duke Foundation continues, while our partnership with Mellon evolves. And NEFA's commitment to directly supporting artists remains foundational. That said, we recognize that this is hard news, that the field is reeling from this blow. It is happening across the field and not just to NEFA. We encourage you to use feedback@NEFA to share those feelings. It is not a dead email address. I was checking it earlier today. I know that our communications director and our senior director for dance also, we check it on a regular basis. It is where we are using to gather information, to respond to constituents, and, hopefully, to relieve some of the burden of our front line staff. And shout‑out to Leilani and to Kristin and Cheri from NDP, because they are the folks getting most of the emails at this time. So, thank you to all of them and to you, Leilani, but we encourage you to use the feedback@NEFA.org so we can get your thoughts and respond in a reasonable manner.

LEILANI: On that note, contact us. This is the info. Quita's contact info, my contact info. Hey, when you cropped the picture, you must have also updated my title, because I didn't. Thanks, Quita. And, of course, feedback@NEFA.org. The last slide I will bring us to is a thank you to our funders, the Mellon Foundation and the Doris Duke Foundation. It does take partnership to do this work. We talk a lot about being an ensemble funder, funding ensembles. And that is our relationship with our funders. It is our relationship with our advisors, and through our cohort process, we strive to make it our process with you. I'm going to stop sharing my screen on purpose this time to go into the Q&A portion. Thank you to Abby, who has been monitoring things. Thank you again to Ashly, who has been providing our CART services. And to both Holly J. on our screen now, and Holly N., not on our screen now, who have been providing ASL interpretation. I'm going to look right at the Q&A that we have already seen there, now that I have eyes on chat, you can also put things there or raise your hand. Jumping to Sage, I'm going to assume that your question is answered, you're an ensemble of two people. As long as the fiscal sponsor is willing to sponsor this project. As long as the fiscal sponsor is willing to sponsor this project, however you bring that in, through an ensemble member, through the organization, that is up to you. Anonymous attendee, we defined ensemble, it's on the website, two or more people, committed to a developing a body of work over an extensive period of time. Karen, in touring the work, does the work need to be the same in each location or can it adapt how it is presented for the communities where it tours? Both are acceptable. One of our beloved NTP projects was... oh, my goodness... Quita, Nola... you know what I'm talking about.

QUITA: Mondo Bizaro.

LEILANI: Mondo Bizaro ‑‑ we had a tour that toured dike bars in the United States and each one they did a new history of the dike bar in that community.

QUITA: Last call.

LEILANI: Last call, which is tied to bars. Last Call. So, it was functionally a new show each time, did not get the same show in Massachusetts that you did in New Orleans, Louisiana. On the other hand, we have funded traditional style projects where they have a set, an ensemble, tour locations, run address, and produce what they rehearsed. Both are not only welcome, but celebrated. Do artists development past finalists count as returning artists? In this context, no, and that is because you are not given any instructions on how to use your artist development funds. So we consider those artist development funds used as soon as they are paid. That means you are automatically eligible, has a beginning and end self‑contained. Again, if you have applied for NTP's Creation + Touring before, ended up in the finals and ended up an artist development grantee, you are eligible to apply again. If you have received the Creation + Touring Grant, you need to have spent all of those dollars and finished your performances a year ago. Let's see... 

QUITA: I'll take the next few, if you'd like, Leilani.

LEILANI: Yeah, just been jumping ‑‑ 

QUITA: Can a project already have a committed premiere or presentation partner in addition to development partner, if so, what if the premiere is already scheduled for later in 2026 and not as early as May? Does this qualify as being tour ready by May 2026? That's a question that I would actually encourage you to talk to us about. Again, Leilani, at the end of that slide, you have our contact information. Because it's unclear to me from your question whether your premiere is at that time, but there will be no development done post May 2026. So, I think that's one of those things you might go to our office hours and have a conversation about. If the project is in ‑‑ and this is another anonymous attendee. If the project is in preview performances, where development is still taking place, albeit in front of a ticketed audience on September 1st, is the project eligible? Yes. Simple. That one is ‑‑ 

LEILANI: I see one, Quita, that I want to jump to, because it tends to come up a lot and I should have just put it as an FAQ. Does a new bilingual translation or adaptation of a Shakespeare play qualify as a new work? So, our general rule of thumb is this must be something that hasn't been made before. That said, we recognize that there are only so many human stories that humanity tells, right. We have 1,000 stories and about 1,000 stories, and we tell them in about 1,000 ways. Generally speaking, if something could be labeled an adaptation, we do not consider it a new work. That said, if you feel strongly that you are not just presenting a Shakespearean work in translation, you are not just adapting, but are taking source material, be it pop song or an ancient myth and are telling something new or creating a completely new work, then it would be eligible. That is a difficult line. I will say something like a Shakespeare play that you're adapting a play to a play, that's generally not going to land as a new work. It's going to land as an adaptation, right. And that is a fine line. I am a big believer in transparency. You could try... taking a swing. You're going to have a really hard time with the lift. And I would encourage you to really focus your narrative explanation on how exactly this is different from just being a work of translation. I also wanted to jump down to Abby's question, Clemson. So, I would say that what you're describing is potentially either a fiscal sponsor or development sponsor relationship with Clemson. I would encourage you to either have the playwright professor as your lead artist or to have the theater ensemble as your lead artist and the university listed as either your fiscal sponsor or as one of your development partners. You can have multiple. I don't think we've ever awarded the grant to an artist that was a university. The thing to keep in mind in the framing is that we are looking for who the artist is, who the lead artist is. It sounds to me like the playwright is the lead artist in that case, or the theater ensemble is the lead artist in that case, and the university is the development partner providing funds, support, space, administration. Does the ensemble have to demonstrate an existing body of work? The ensemble has to demonstrate a body of work in one of two directions. You either need to establish that you are an existing ensemble, who has a body of work together, or that you are an ensemble newly created and this is your first project, but you are committed to continue working together in the future. So, time as we currently measure it, our collective decision is it's linear. You got to demonstrate that you have a body of work over time in one of the two directions. It can be either. It can be both. I will kick it to you then, Quita, you can pick two.

QUITA: This is an easy one. Can the fiscal sponsor be a presenting partner as well? Yes. We see them as two very separate things. It's very fine that they are both, as long as you are clear on that relationship and clearly explain it to us, it will not present a problem for us. I will say that you need to be very clear about when they are acting as your presenting partner and when they are acting as your fiscal sponsor. They are two different things, and that is ‑‑ we need to know when we are paying versus when we are helping support the creation of the work or the presentation of the work. Let's see... 

LEILANI: I see one from an anonymous attendee, as you're scanning, Quita. These jump in real time as we're seeing them, folks. We're not trying to ignore you. Lots of things are happening. So, the question about the competitiveness of the project, how much can we rely on the projects recently funded. So, we do encourage folks to look at our directory of currently funded projects, because it is your very best measure of what our advisors have chosen to fund in recent years. We cannot predict the future, but what we can tell you is these are the criteria and these are the eligibility and the core of them have been the same for 15 years. Here are the projects selected, including finalists, and that is sort of your balance in between. That said, highly innovative, nonconventional forms of theater, I think that's open to interpretation, right. Some of the forms of theater that we have supported are incredibly ancient and old and just not incredibly western. Some of them are incredibly innovative and incredibly new, and we spent lots of time at the table debating is this theater, is this not theater. Other projects are wonderful. I'm thinking of Yankee Bayesian by Paris Daily Arts, which is a traditional play with a three‑act story structure that was devised ‑‑ is an act of devised ensemble theater that is a conventional narrative linear play with a beginning, middle, end, an ensemble cast, a stage manager giving traditional lighting cues, and a set that they pack up and drive around in a truck, and they perform primarily in theater spaces. Other plays are very much not that, and are people doing performance and ritual in lakes. It does vary. But I do think that the directory is a useful mechanism.

QUITA: I'm going to jump to does ‑‑ does the tour need to cross state lines, or can a tour be contained within a single state be eligible? Oh, good question. In the past, we have said three performances, two states. However, there are reasons why that may not be possible. For instance, if you are in the Hawaiian islands, just touring the Hawaiian islands is a tour in and of itself. The difficulty of traveling from island to island, from kin to kin, is very ‑‑ it's underestimated entirely by those of us who live here on the main. The same might be true of Alaska. And the same can be true of California. So, it is possible that it could be within one, quote, state. Whatever that means. You know, I encourage you, again, if this is a question that you have based on a particular project, I would encourage you to visit us during office hours to talk about it, to figure out is your tour going to meet that.

LEILANI: Jumping in on that one to other considerations. We do accept virtual tours and hybrid tours. So, that could mean that you are going place to place within state lines, but you have virtual performances or hybrid performances that are extensive and beyond that. When we get into what makes something virtual and theater and not a video recording, it's the live element, right. There must be something about the performance that is live, in realtime, and unique and responsive to the audience. Right. So, that can look like a variety of things. If you have specific questions there, we're always happy to hear them, but that can be a mechanism where you may not leave your state as the lead artist, but your project may. So, that's the component. The other thing that I would direct you to is we really do try to be intentional in our definitions, and we talk about multiple communities and not just state lines. So, if you are able to demonstrate, for example, that you are touring to specific communities within X space, or to multiple communities within X space, that would help strengthen the idea of a single state or even single region as being a viable tour. The core thing is that this work is developed with and for an audience, and it meets that audience where they are at. We get that one a lot.

QUITA: Related to that, there's a question about does the touring partner need to be confirmed as the time of the application. No. We recognize that touring is a relational exercise, and that you are constantly building those relationships. So, you may have someone who is committed, may have someone who is interested, may have someone who verbally said we're interested, we're going to sign, but you haven't received that contract yet. All of those things are acceptable. Of course, I will add that our advisors do look at those projected touring partners, and if they see a large number of committed folks, that will weigh heavily in your favor. Because that is part of this grant, is the idea of sharing the work. And, so, the fact that you have already made some efforts toward that counts a lot. It is not required that they be committed, but it is important to note that this relationship is ongoing.

LEILANI: I see, as we're getting close to time, I see a couple of questions sort of on the same theme. So, I'm going to answer them as one, which is around what if a version of this has been done before. What if I did a short version of it, what if it technically had a premiere, what if... right? And similar to the question about source material. The question is, is this thing that you are applying for functionally the same thing you already did. And the analogy I use for that is tomato sauce. You may have a tomato, garlic, butter, chicken stock, and basil assembled. You may have assembled them on Monday night. You didn't make sauce until you put it in the pot, applied heat, and gave it a few good stirs with a wooden spoon, right. So, if you can say that what you had done before was functionally something else, even if the root of it, like a jar of tomatoes, or a clove of garlic, is there and very much present and, in fact, integral to the dish you're serving me now, then that counts. Right. If you tell me that you took jarred tomato sauce and heated it up, we all know that isn't the alchemy that makes a new dish. That is the same dish in a new form. If you take tomato sauce and garlic and olive oil and heat it up and do all those steps, right. And, so, that is part of what you are conveying in your narrative and can be an example of where your work sample is helpful, right. We can spin that and have it be advantageous. Here's the shorter version, the root thing, the garlic, here's how I'm going to turn it into sauce. Yeah, I know, the Mediterranean in me pops out, sometimes the country does, too. I can only be who I am, folks.

QUITA: Quick answer to one, from the HowlRound chat:  can the U.S.‑based project include artists from other countries than the U.S.? Yes, absolutely, however, the ensemble must be U.S.‑based. The project must be U.S.‑based. If you have a member of your ensemble who is not based in the U.S., that is not a problem, as long as the ensemble is U.S.‑based. I will point to our recent grantee Four Larks, who have members all over the world, and some based in California. Their primary place is California, and they have other artists, who are part of this ensemble and contributing all over the world.

LEILANI: We're laughing, because time zones are a thing, y'all. Another example to sort of build on that answer will be about tour stops. Whenever folks start asking us about ensemble members and partners, we then get asked about tour stops. The project can tour outside the U.S. Again, pointing to our project Yankee Bayesian, it is performing also in the Bahamas. It is about the Bahamian diaspora experience. We cannot fund the performance in the Bahamas. We can help support and fund the portion in the United States and the ensemble leading it is based in the United States. Ensemble members are from the Bahamas and performances are happening in the Bahamas. That is what we mean by based here in. Paris Bailey Arts is based here in the United States, partnering with artists from outside of and bringing shows outside of, but based here and touring here, as well.

QUITA: And I think we probably have time for one.

LEILANI: It looks like there's some questions... if you want to maybe break down, Quita, the relationship between developing organization, lead artist, presenting. There's some confusion about how much those wires can cross. And before I hand it over, I just want to say it looks like, Mark, if you're still on the call, you put some questions in, in realtime, and I don't know what they are about now. If they were not answered and you're on the call, please feel free to use the chat while Quita answers about the relationship between development partners, tour partners, and lead artists verbally. I'm happy to answer you in the chat, if you can just give me a little context.

QUITA: So, artists who are part of presenting organizations or other theater companies, other theater establishments, it becomes really, really tricky sometimes to mark that difference. So, you need to, in your application, if someone is a development partner, explain what that relationship is and how it is something outside of the strengths and resources of the ensemble that is being provided. So, if, for example, your artist ‑‑ your lead artist maybe, is working for an organization that is going to provide you with marketing expertise, say, that person is within your ensemble, but that organization is providing those materials. And you need to be clear about how that is separate. You can't mush them together, because the advisors will be confused about who's providing what resources. A development partner, over the time that I have been leading the National Theater Project, the development partner has been one of the most crucial parts of the success of pretty much every application and every grantee. The development partner provides those resources outside of what the artist themselves can provide. So, if you have a question about it, again, I would encourage you to talk to me or to Leilani, sign up for office hours.

LEILANI: And that brings us to time, folks. I hope that we got through most of your questions, at least the burning ones. I recognize that folks are ‑‑ we have applications open. So, some folks are in there typing already, and some folks were just getting a sense for even if they wanted to look, and more questions will come up. Just a couple of notes. You can contact us, LRicardo@NEFA.org, QSullivan@NEFA.org. First name, last name, if you got here, you know how to find us online. Additionally, starting next week, we will have registration open for office hours. Because of the volume of office hour requests we have this year, and the fact that there are two of us and more than two of you, our office hours will be weekly open sessions, so they will be group sessions, not one‑on‑one. I know that for folks who have applied before that may feel like a bit of a bummer, but if we limited it to one‑on‑one, I did the math, and there literally were not enough work hours for us to have met with everyone one‑on‑one at the projected rates. So, this is our way of being as accessible to you as possible. You can best prepare for those sessions by having specific questions tied to either a narrative question or a criteria or eligibility point. And we will be there, ready to go, logged on, prepped to help you every week. In addition, this video has been recorded and will be available with transcripts on both our website and our partners at HowlRound as soon as we're able to get the accessibility, so it's accessible for everyone. Again, email, phone call, we view what we have been granted in the last few years. This will be an available resource. If you have feelings or feedback that you would like to convey to NEFA leadership about the fact that this is, in fact, the last round of Creation + Touring Grantmaking in this way at this time, the email address is feedback@NEFA.org. We continue to prioritize artist voices. I promise that's not just shouting into the void. We look forward to reviewing your projects. The best part of the job is the heart of the job, which is the art making. And many deep thanks to Ashly, Holly N., Holly J., Thea, Abby, and our funders at the Mellon and Doris Duke Foundations. Bye, y'all.

QUITA: Taputni, thank you all, and we will hear from you soon, I hope.