SELF STARTER
Self-Producing for Artists with Julia Nish-Lapidus
Application deadline: November 6. Class starts Wednesday, November 18. Sign up now, before it's too late.
This course is underway. Sign-ups have closed for this round.
How do you get a passion project from a dream to a reality? This hands-on course will develop your self-producing skills, step by step, on any budget.
- Dates
- November 18 – December 16, 2026Wednesdays November 18 - December 16, 2026 (5 sessions)
- Time
- 7:30–10:00 PM ETWednesdays · 5 live sessions
- Where
- Live online, on ZoomJoin from anywhere
- Group
- Small and focusedMax 12 artists
Subsidized spots are available. Email breanne@expect.org to inquire.
01 About the course
How do you get a passion project from a dream to a reality? This hands-on course will develop your self-producing skills, step by step, on any budget.
Explore self-producing from start to finish, including how to budget, raise money, market and promote, and manage the variable elements of making a play happen, all while maintaining your artistic work on the project you’re so passionate about!
Sessions will include both talks and practical exercises, sharpening your expertise in this invisible, but necessary part of theatre making.
02 Meet Julia
Julia Nish-Lapidus is a producer, director, and Dora-nominated actor, as well as a Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Toronto’s Shakespeare BASH'd (two-time Best Site Specific Theatre Company, NOW Magazine). She has produced with budgets ranging from $100 to $300,000, all while continuing to work as an artist, often on the projects she’s producing. She has produced all of Shakespeare BASH’d’s over 20 sold-out runs, worked as the Managing Director of Common Boots Theatre, and served as a producing mentor for the Toronto Fringe Festival. She is also the Co-Artistic Director of the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival in Prescott, ON.
03 How it works
We keep every course small so everyone gets real attention. That means we can't always fit everyone who's keen, and Julia helps us shape a group of artists who'll get the most out of these weeks together. Here's the whole process.
- 1
Sign up
Name, email, phone. That's it. No essays, no fee, no commitment.
- 2
We say hello
Within a couple of minutes we'll email you and ask for a short writing sample and a little about your writing and experience.
- 3
Confirm and go
If it's a fit, we confirm your spot and follow up with more details and payment information. If we can't fit you this round, you'll hear first about the next one. And of course, there's no fee to pay unless you're offered a spot.
Sign up
Sign up for Julia Nish-Lapidus's course
This course is underway
Thirty seconds, four fields. No fee and no commitment right now. We just need to know you're interested.
Sign-ups for this round have closed. We'd love to keep you in the loop about the next one, and about everything else coming up at PlayPEN.
Or email breanne@expect.org and we'll tell you first when Julia Nish-Lapidus teaches again.
You're on the list.
Thanks, friend. We've saved your name for SELF STARTER: Self-Producing for Artists with Julia Nish-Lapidus, Wednesdays November 18 - December 16, 2026 (5 sessions), 7:30–10:00 PM ET.
Here's what happens next: within a couple of minutes you'll get a quick, friendly email from us. We'll ask for a short writing sample and a little about your writing and your experience. Nothing formal, we just want to get to know you as an artist. If it's a fit, we'll confirm your spot and follow up with more details and payment information ($325). There's no fee to pay unless you're offered a spot.
Keep an eye on your inbox (and the promotions folder) for a note from Breanne at Expect Theatre.