Fear and trembling in the cultural sector: the dark side of the 'trickle down'

Pure panic and existential angst: that's the picture you get when you approach creators in the arts personally about the effects of the trickle down (the trickle-down of corona funding from the government to those creators). The Creative Coalition may be making a fist for them, talking about it with the minister, the institutes debating it, but the creators almost without exception remain silent because it could cost them their relationship with powerful patrons and you will come to be known as troublesome in the 'circuit'. Especially at the beginning of your career. The comparison with the #metoo-affairs in the arts goes awry, but the common denominator is dependence, abuse of power, fear, silence. Amplified by corona.

In the bewilderment that befell everyone at the outbreak of corona and the subsequent lockdown, theatre and dance performances, concerts and events were naturally cancelled. We all thought: we have to go through this briefly and then life will start again. But the impact was directly felt by all self-employed people in the cultural sector: especially those who make art.

De Theaterkrant started a series 'Not on' which included actress Astrid van Eck (May 2020). She was to play in the production A Woman at the Window at theatre production house Zeelandia/Zeeland Nazomer Festival. She said of it "[... the whole festival has been cancelled with one general mail. I find that painful to say the least...]" "It's not just your creativity that's stopped then, it's your income, your life. Many companies now put performances online, but actors don't get paid for that. Often permission is not even asked. Even if you name it: "Sorry, we can't pay you for this." So reckless, that hurt me. It was a kind of grieving process.'

Corona stayed longer than hoped and pretty soon coronasteun for the sector followed with the later explicit intention of compensating freelancers and zzp'ers. Many institutions did that well but in recent months we also spoke to creators with whom the coronasteun did not arrive.

No congratulations

Director Bram Jansen, creator of, among others, the successful show Casting "The Pass" about the #metoo-affair in the Dutch theatre world, is one of the few who dares to speak freely about producers not doing trickle down. "It is absurd what is happening. At several producers. Take Zeelandia. I am in the grant application for their Arts Plan to the Performing Arts Fund (FPK). When it was announced that that plan was honoured, and so was my performance, I didn't even get an email or a phone call. No congratulations, no joy, no cup of coffee anywhere, nothing. And to this day, I haven't heard anything from them. Only when you called (IF) and I approached them myself, I am on a roll for an interview. Too crazy for words".

Jansen was on the programme for this year's Zeeland Nazomer Festival with a location project in Yerseke. That Jansen himself did not pursue Zeelandia very actively also has to do with his studies in biotechnology which he has started. And fascinating study he finds "in which I encountered more wonder than in the entire art world". He thinks producers are heavily at fault. "I'm kind of done with it. The money many of them apply for from the government is mainly for themselves and not for the creators they are supposed to support. They mainly sustain themselves with their complaining to the minister. It is a one-two punch between the institutions. They push us as pathetic artists but meanwhile they are bulging with money that they are hoarding to supposedly pay us at a later stage. A lot of institutions have huge reserves".

Agreements are agreements

To stay with Zeelandia for a moment, they received a total of 327,900 euros of coronasteun from the Performing Arts Fund in 2020-2021. Zeelandia also appealed to the NOW scheme for personnel costs for almost 15,000 euros. Of the creators listed with them in the Arts Plan, none received coronasteun or compensation, it has to be said that not everyone wanted to speak to us. Fear reigned.

Some responded with: "I'm sorry but I don't have space to talk about this" or "I think it would be very good if there is a focus on the impact of the Corona policy and its effects on makers, sector-wide. At the moment, I am still in talks with Zeelandia about my commitment there. Therefore, I have nothing to contribute to this article at the moment. Should that change, I will let you know".

Actor Dic van Duin received a phone call last summer from general director Silvie Dees (who took office at Zeelandia since the beginning of this year) that she did not find Van Duin's project artistically interesting and that it was therefore cancelled. "I didn't take that, agreements are agreements. After all, we had received the subsidy so I stood my ground". So the production went ahead after all. That became a different story for theatre maker Carina Molier, who was also cancelled by Silvie Dees last summer for her location project Chekhov Land/Cherry Garden. Molier did not want to comment in recent months "because unfortunately she has not yet come to an agreement with Zeelandia", she emailed.

What we hear behind the scenes from the Zeelandia creators is that Dees puts up with all kinds of reasons: artistically not interesting but also, for example, that, due to a lack of audience revenue by corona, there is no more money. Dic van Duin: "I know stories like that too, and I have to tell you that when we rehearsed De Gemeenschap's show Nederlandse Comedie this year and we were shut down by corona, we kept getting paid. I had to get used to that, you're so used to being on the short end of the stick. But Roy Peters and Rob de Graaf paid up. I almost felt guilty about it. Zeelandia didn't find us interesting and I don't think that had anything to do with corona. But now that you mention it by the way: I don't have a contract from Zeelandia yet. I'll go and find out about that".

Paid-for

Things are going well, of course. We did a short round of phone calls and asked Gemma Jelier of theatre and makers' house Korzo, among others, how they dealt with cancellations or postponements. From moment one, Korzo sat down with all the makers and if performances could not go ahead, compensation was considered or an alternative like making a film. The companies that were programmed, dancers and even freelance technicians whose tours were cancelled were also paid on.

When the first corona scare occurred in 2020, Toneelgroep Oostpool immediately entered into discussions with all stakeholders and fulfilled all agreements as much as possible for current and new projects. One major performance was postponed for a year in 2020, and it still went ahead in 2021. Business director Michiel Nannen: "With hindsight you can think: if only we had paid right then but at that time there was no coronasteun. However, we did pay out the people in this project who ran out of money at short notice. In the initial phase, it was a complex situation with complex regulations to get support for the self-employed in particular. We helped them as best we could. When the coronasteun came through, we launched new projects that allowed us to commission writers, creators, designers, technicians and actors. For weekly live streams, for instance. As a result, we spent as much money on freelancers and freelancers in 2020 as we did before corona. Our policy was and is pay through. It may happen that someone still felt aggrieved because there were so many tours that had to be cancelled after a few performances, but the main thing was and is: pay through. This is also possible thanks to additional support from the government".

Peanut butter sandwich

In the music world, if anything, the situation is even worse with non-working trickle down than on stage. There is the same culture of fear (about which more in a moment) but Dorine Schoon, oboist and founder of the Platform for Freelance Musicians, is angry about the generic coronagraph support that did come about for freelancers and zzp'ers but is not accessible to many musicians and creators. "If I wanted to receive TOZO, I had to answer questions like: do you have steady courtship at home? A lot of coronasteun goes to institutions and the people who have permanent jobs there anyway. They are not asked if they have a partner. The bag of money is given blindly to organisations. So unbelievably many requirements are imposed on us self-employed people that, in fact, you hardly qualify for support, while for cultural institutions and producers during corona, all requirements and obligations are loosened. With this, the government shifts responsibility and musicians have become tipsy game".

Schoon tells the story previously chronicled and advocated by the Creative Coalition; the adjustment of support rules. "It is really drama. During the culture debate on 22 November, the minister said: we can't help everyone, as a maker go and do something on top of it to earn a living. The dedain that goes into it: to finance your own profession you just have to get a side job."

Worst of all, Schoon - who recently made the Netherlands Ballet Orchestra sued and won her case on her sham self-employment gloriously - especially the lack of support from the cultural sector itself. "I myself also join in debates at meetings with fancy sandwiches and glasses of white wine and then I feel so uncomfortable among all those incredibly nice problem-recognising people from organisations because I know that many a musician can barely afford a peanut butter sandwich."

Risk sheared off

With the Platform, Schoon is fighting for a better position and working conditions for musicians. As corona reigns, she sees an additional worrying development: the risks of cancelling concerts and events are contractually shifted onto creators.

"Many an institution/client has been working with a force majeure clause since corona. So what do you do as a creator? File a protest? Not sign? The risk lies with those who are the least well-off financially anyway if you look at the amounts they pay. Who cushions those risks? If, as a musician, you already question the contract, by now threats follow: if you continue like this we won't book you anymore. It is really shocking. So most keep quiet".

The superlative of painful, according to Schoon, is that she does not feel any support from employers and principals. Solidarity is hard to find. Producers cite 'disappointing audience revenues' or even say: the municipality has banned this performance or concert. On enquiry, this then turns out not to be true at all. "But then do you go after it? I can get so worked up about that. Above all, no conversation is possible with them. The whole support package is for the shell around the makers and it should be the other way round. So hurtful all of it".

Congratulations on your new musical

Theatre director Bram Jansen shares a similar outrage at the system, the shell around the artists that takes good care of itself but mainly uses or abuses the creators. He recounts receiving a phone call from a colleague: "Congratulations Bram". Jansen asked with what. "With your new musical". He knew nothing and what transpired was that a musical producer had written his name in a grant application without his knowledge let alone permission. Jansen: "Are they making fun of me, but when I call them they don't answer. They've already got the subsidy, the corona money and I'm being kept on the line". As it turned out, it was not the first time his name was in an application without his knowledge.

In doing so, Jansen sets his sights on the Performing Arts Fund (FPK). He even calls them 'tending towards corruption' because they cooperate in a system in which the bodies mainly take good care of themselves and each other but in which makers are not known. When he informed the FPK about the musical producer's 'unexpected application', Jansen says the complaint was initially hushed up.

Different course

The striking thing is that once a multi-year plan with grant applications for projects is honoured by the Fund, a producer is still free to take a different course; after all, the grant money allocated for the projects is not earmarked, not labelled. In other words, a maker is left empty-handed. There must be very good reasons for institutions to deviate from the application; indeed, organisations do have a duty to report (artistic) course changes. Corona is obviously an unprecedented circumstance to (have to) change things but there has been no official monitoring consultation between Zeelandia and the Fonds Podium Kunsten on this, for instance.

To our question to the Fund whether they held the 'mandatory' talks with Zeelandia and, if so, when, the Fund replied no other than that "a change of directors counts as a major change. By Theaterproductiehuis Zeelandia, both the announcement of departure of the previous director and the appointment of the new director were shared with the Fund".

Coulant

And to our question 'Since the multiannual subsidy for Zeelandia is not earmarked by you per production: in times of corona, how do you stand on the fact that in case of cancellation by corona, the subsidy belongs to the institution and not to the makers? That this effectively outlaws the maker and 'loses' the FPK money?" the Fund says: "We find it inevitable that because of the covid measures and restrictions, plans change and productions are changed, moved or cancelled. As part of the corona crisis, we have therefore announced that we will be accommodating with changes. We assume that producers and festivals, to whom the multi-year grant and incidental support have been awarded, will make provisions to accommodate creators within realistic frameworks. This is also the spirit of the support packages as described in question 1. About how to deal with cancellations and the payment of those involved, especially the self-employed, agreements have been made in the sector".

In doing so, the Fund bears and takes no responsibility for creators and the musical producer and Zeelandia do not seem to keep 'agreements'. Extra sour for the maker because this system has major consequences if you get cancelled:

• *thinking up a show, preparing a concept/application in short the whole preparation
• *the grant money allocated
• * your income
• *a future prospect .... have lost you.

The chances of the creator being able to place the project with another producer are virtually nil: after all, it is 'second-hand' and the creator has to wait on the banks of a crowded reservoir of delayed performances waiting all over the theatre world. This minimises the earning capacity of a cancelled creator for years to come. Four times 'punishment' in a row.

Coronasteun of 327,000 euros

Naturally, we asked Zeelandia's director Silvie Dees the following questions: how did you spend the corona money (€327,00, IF)? Which productions that were or are planned at Zeelandia in 2020, 2021 and 2022 did you either cancel or postpone? Since your arrival as director, have you recruited new makers (who were not in the grant applications to the FPK and Zeelandia) for season 2021 or 2022? If so, have you discussed the artistic changes with the Performing Arts Fund? What (compensation) arrangement have you made with creators of postponed or cancelled performances?

Zeelandia has repeatedly failed to respond to our queries.

Director Bram Jansen doesn't have a good word to say about it. "The Fonds Podium Kunsten is cooperating in a system where the plush keeps the plush. To me, this is indicative of the climate in the cultural sector. They should take more responsibility for creators, they are not helping the arts move forward. The sector coquettes with 'we are so pathetic', but I am done with it. They are there for the incumbent."

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The Kunstenbond has a (anonymous) Hotline where you can report unfair practice issues precisely during corona: As a freelancer, have you faced cancellation free of charge, extremely low fees or been presented with poor working conditions? Did you unsuccessfully try to work under fair conditions and were silenced or created an unsafe climate? If so, you are being treated unfairly.

https://form.typeform.com/to/NwbHdGTr?typeform-source=kunstenbond.nl

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P.S.

After putting all questions to Zeelandia on 29/11 (and again on 2/12) and sending the draft version on 5/12 to all interested parties, this is what happened, among other things: Bram Jansen reported that he had a "good telephone conversation" with Silvie Dees on 6/12 and that they got out.

Zeelandia responded - after our set deadline on 6/12 - in the evening as follows: "We try to do our utmost to provide a stage for the makers, companies and our productions in particular, and if not, to come to an arrangement, as happened with Mr Jansen and Ms Mollier. I would like to emphasise once again that the support has been used directly to pay employees, contractors, suppliers and buy-out fees of companies, both at the festival and for our own productions." What is striking in this is that apart from the sudden deal with Jansen, she also indicates that there is an arrangement with Carina Molier. If so, one cannot help but draw the conclusion that there has been contact in recent days since on 3/12 Molier emailed us that she had not yet come to an agreement with Zeelandia. She did not want to comment on this 'development' on 6/12.

The Performing Arts Fund also responded to the draft and elaborated on our question about whether and when a meeting with Zeelandia had taken place. "We speak to the multiannual supported institutions every autumn, including Theaterproductiehuis Zeelandia. In a monitor conversation, both artistic and business/organisational developments are discussed. In addition, as reported, there has been contact in response to the new management at Zeelandia; in June, a conversation about this took place between Zeelandia and the Fund".

Earlier, they wrote that only a notification had been made. "By Theaterproductiehuis Zeelandia, both the announcement of the departure of the previous director and the appointment of the new director were shared with the Fund".

The annual monitoring interview, however, after further questioning, appears not to have taken place yet. It is now scheduled for just before Christmas.

From one of those involved, we received the response, "If you publish this, you really have a big problem". With which the great existential fear in the cultural sector seems to be realised.