The Winner
The India winner of the Young Performing Arts Entrepreneur 2009 Award is Sunil Vishnu K.

Sunil Vishnu K adjudged the India finalist for Young Performing Arts Entrepreneur 2009. He is the CEO of Evam, a house of theatre and story telling in Chennai. Started in 2003, the organisation uses various theatre techniques to help people introspect and evolve as individuals.

The award was judged by theatre and film director Suman Mukhopadhyay, Manipuri dancer Priti Patel, Professor Anjan Raichaudhuri from IIM Joka and Adam Pushkin, Head Arts and Creative Industries, British Council India and Sri Lanka.

Judges’ citation: “Sunil has great commercial clarity and a clear vision of his goals in putting the creative arts in a viable and lucrative mode. He has infectious leadership qualities and loads of positive attitude that would leave and indelible impact on the performing arts sector.”

“It is a great privilege to win this award. What I value most from this experience is that I got to meet other entrepreneurs in this field. I think there is a great need for us to work together. Thank you British Council for bringing us together,” said Vishnu, on receiving the award.

Finalists

			Sunil Vishnu K: is the CEO of Evam, a house of theatre and story telling in Chennai. Started in 2003, the organisation uses various theatre techniques to help people introspect and evolve as individuals.
			Vikram Iyengar: Runs Ranan Performance Collective, a dance theatre company out of Kolkata. Besides, producing and choreographing, Vikram also provides space to voices from communities to discuss the performing arts
			Paramita Saha: is co-director Sapphire Creations, an experimental dance company, in Kolkata. Sapphire’s work approaches issues through South Asian sensitivity and holds international alternative arts festivals such as INTERFACE.
			Pawan Kumar B.P: He runs the ACTor Productions out of Bangalore. Besides producing and hosting theatre festivals, the group also initiates forums and discussions among theatre communities
			Santosh Kumar: Runs Beatscampus.com from Gurgaon promoting online music and musicians. Besides being a musician, he also helps young artists raise funds.
			Sachin Kamani: Handles projects for The Company Theatre that started in 1993 in Mumbai. He is involved in fund raising, public relations and curating theatre festivals.
			Jehan-Sam D Manekshaw: Founder-director of Theatre Professionals Pvt Ltd in Mumbai. The company currently focuses on capacity building in theatre sector.
			Anand Mazumdar: runs a Latin dance Institute called Quickstep SALSA in Mumbai. He organises dance classes,   workshops, international exchanges, performances and festivals and performances. He also produces a wide range of instructional dance DVDs for all levels of dance.

About the award

The award seeks to champion and celebrate the importance of creative entrepreneurs working in the field of the performing arts.

In 2009 the following 10 countries are participating in the IYDE awards: China, Colombia, Egypt, Georgia,Ghana, India, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

Who can apply:

Entrepreneurs between 25 and 35 years working in any of the following areas of the performing arts with at least 2 years professional experience:

• Producers of theatre, dance, music or live art performances
• Promoters, festival directors and marketing specialists in this area
• Managers of theatre, dance, music or live art companies
• Developers of performing arts publishing, communications or websites
• Consultants providing specialist services in any of the areas outlined

The award is unique in rewarding entrepreneurial ability. We recognise that a participant may be active as an actor or director; however their work as an artist should be secondary to their focus as an entrepreneur in the promotion of performing arts.  Artistic talent will not be factored into the judging procedure – finalists will be judged solely on the merit of their entrepreneurial abilities in the industry.

For any further information, please contact:

Samarjit Guha
British Council
L & T Chambers, 1st Floor
16 Camac Street
Kolkata 700 017
Tel: +91 33 4007 4307

Email at samarjit.guha@in.britishcouncil.org or yce.india@in.britishcouncil.org

Selection Process

Young Performing Arts Entrepreneur - India Finalist

• Six finalists will be shortlisted from the application received and asked to make a presentation to a selection committee.
• The selection committee will nominate an India finalist to travel to the UK to represent India and compete for the international award.
• The India finalist will get an opportunity to travel to the UK (London, Glasgow and Belfast) in September 2009 on a visit programme comprising visits to designers, design-lead retailers and manufacturers, and institutions active in the procurement of design and architecture to give them an overview of the design sector in the UK.

International Young Performing Arts Entrepreneur

• During the UK tour all the national finalists’ will participate in a judging procedure where they will make a presentation to an elite UK industry panel about their work and their understanding of, and vision for the performing arts sector.
• The jury will select the international winner of the award who will receive a bowl designed by acclaimed glass designers Gillies Jones Glass.
• In addition to the award title, the winner receives a financial prize of £5000 to be spent on a collaborative project with the British Council that builds the relationship between the winning country and the UK.
• Attend Edinburgh Festival Fringe (7 - 31 August 2009)

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Established in 1947, it takes place in Edinburgh during three weeks every August alongside several other arts and cultural festivals, collectively known as the Edinburgh Festival. The Fringe mostly attracts events from the Performing Arts, particularly drama and comedy, although dance and music also figure significantly. In 2007, theatre made up 31% of the programme, followed closely by comedy 30.5%. Theatre events can range from the classics of ancient Greece, Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett, through to new exciting works. There is no selection committee to approve the entries, so any type of event is possible: this had made the Fringe a well-known showcase space for experimental work which might not be admitted to more formal festivals. In 2008, hundreds of groups participated in putting on 2,088 different shows with a total of 31,320 performances in 247 venues.