Please see the producer mentors listed in the TNA Independent Producers Database. If you are a practising independent producer, you are also welcomed to add yourself to the database.
If you have any questions about how to go about approaching a potential mentor, please contact the VIPI Program Producer at rani@tna.org.au
No, you do not need to choose from the pool of mentors that TNA are in touch with.
However, both the producer mentor and mentee will need to be based in Victoria. You will need to put in a joint application as mentor/mentee. You can see the EOI process, here.
Additional specialist mentoring support may be sourced from outside of Victoria.
Please see the mentors listed in the TNA Independent Producers Database.
We do not penalize people for having life happen in between independent producing commitments. Describe as best as you can the amount of independent producing experience that you have done, both through your resume as well as through your application.
For the Producers Mentorship Program, the three years of experience is NOT a pre-requisite.
For the Unlocking Capacity grant, please contact the VIPI Program Producer to discuss.
When we say that the producer mentee receives a part-time wage at a rate of $45,000 per full-time year (pro rata), we mean that depending on the number of days the mentee works, they receive a salary in proportion to what a full-time worker would receive. So, for the number of days worked below, the producer mentee would receive the following:
| Pro rata | Gross salary | oncosts @ 13% | professional dev fund @ 15% of gross salary | Total salary package |
| 3 days | $27,000 | $3,510 | $4,050 | $34,560 |
| 2.5 days | $22,500 | $2,925 | $3,375 | $28,800 |
| 2 days | $18,000 | $2,340 | $2,700 | $23,040 |
Yes. You need to be committed to your independent producing practice for the number of hours/ days that you have stated in your application. However, what you do with the rest of your time is none of our business!
Yes, you can apply for a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 24 months of mentorship.
The mentor needs to be a Victorian-based practising independent producer. They could be working part-time for an organisation, but they need to be spending a minimum of 19 working hours per week on their independent producing practice.
We understand that sometimes things don’t go according to plan. TNA will schedule regular check-ins with both producer mentors and mentees to ensure that everyone involved is having a professionally productive, culturally safe and otherwise satisfying experience.
However, should a conflict arise between a mentor and mentee, TNA will attempt to resolve this internally first through mediation, conducted in good faith. If the conflict remains unresolved, then TNA will consider other solutions, such as organising alternative mentor/mentee relationships and/or remodelling the mentorship completely.
Our priority will be to find a solution that will continue to support the development of the mentee, both financially and professionally.
We understand that you might be in a position to mentor emerging/ early-career producers, and at the same time would benefit from mentorship. However, given how competitive each round of applications is likely to be (with approximately three mentorships available per round), it is unlikely that you would be funded to be both a mentor and a mentee at the same time, so we recommend choosing one or the other.
The strongest applicants will demonstrate how the producing work that they do supports a suite of independent artists, independent collectives and unfunded companies. Meaning, you will need to demonstrate how the benefits of your work as a producer goes beyond your own unfunded company. Otherwise, you would not be the priority to receive support from the Producers Mentorship Program nor the Unlocking Capacity grant.
Yes, absolutely. Given the limited number of places available for both the Mentorship and Unlocking Capacity grant, another way to be involved with VIPI is through the Salon Series.
Please register your interest with the VIPI Program Producer.
