Program Overview

DESU - Entrepreneurship and Festival Management

The DESU in Entrepreneurship and Festival Management is a specialized program designed to strengthen the entrepreneurial and managerial skills of professionals in the festival and event industry. This program aims to address the complexity and challenges faced by festival organizations, promoting a responsible, social, and solidarity-based approach.

Presentation of the Program

The program is developed by the Chaire OTACC and the IMPGT to form professionals who can take on management or directorial roles in festival-organizing structures, regardless of the artistic discipline. The program is supported by the French government as part of the "Competences and Jobs of the Future" initiative within the France 2030 program, operated by the Caisse des Dépôts.

Objectives

• Fill the gap in specialized training for festival entrepreneurship and management.
• Enable participants to take on new directorial roles or enhance their current practices by strengthening their skills in fundamental areas of entrepreneurship and management.
• Develop versatility in project management skills, including billetterie, communication, production, programming, and cultural action, as well as managerial skills such as law, social management, and accounting.
• Reinforce the logic of entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship, focusing on social and solidarity aspects, by training in inclusive governance mechanisms.
• Encourage peer-to-peer transmission and professional solidarity within the industry.
• Promote the inclusion of multiple disciplines and aesthetics in festival projects.

Target Audience

The program is designed for individuals with a Bachelor's degree +4 years or a Master's degree +1 year, or those with equivalent professional experience in the cultural sector.

Skills

Participants will learn to:

• Conceive the strategy for their project
• Legally frame their activity
• Finance their project
• Co-construct their strategy in a festival context
• Develop their action in a festival context
• Conceive and evaluate the strategy for a social and solidarity-based cultural project
• Pilot a cultural project with social and solidarity aspects
• Anchor their project in a mutating cultural environment
• Enhance their employability

Organization of the Program

The DESU is organized around 6 weeks of teachings and evaluations at the IMPGT in Aix-en-Provence, with possible modules held in partner structures' premises.

Content of the Program

The program includes the following modules:

1. Conceiving the Strategy for Your Project: Seminar of integration, strategic diagnosis, piloting, evaluation.
2. Legally Framing: Law of culture and taxation, law of cultural organizations and legal responsibility.
3. Financing Your Project: Financial management, accounting, financing strategies.
4. Co-constructing Your Strategy in a Festival Context: Co-constructing a responsible festival programming, producing a sustainable and responsible festival.
5. Developing Your Action in a Festival Context: Reducing environmental impacts, anticipating and limiting risks, managing temporary teams.
6. Final Evaluations and Jury

Professional Outcomes

The program prepares students for roles such as:

• Festival Direction
• Service Direction

Admission Conditions

The program is accessible to candidates with a Bac+4 degree or equivalent professional experience. Selection is based on a dossier review and interviews with a jury. The program is open to students in initial training (75%) and professionals in the festival and event industry (25%).

Partnerships

The program is supported by several festivals and cultural institutions, including the Festival d'Art Lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence, Marsatac, and the Grand Théâtre de Provence, among others.