excel is not a landscape

On the one hand, Excel is a simple spreadsheet program, but on the other hand it can be quite intimidating for beginners. For everyday production, however, a look at the budget is unavoidable and usually also directly connected with opening Excel.

In the workshop Excel is not a landscape, Martin, a producer from Frankfurt am Main, gives an overview of selected basic functions and shows, for example, how a simple document allocation can be turned into an accounting system and thus also into budget monitoring in the context of working as a production manager or producer in the independent performing arts. The subject of the work with Excel in this workshop is the structuring of a budget plan and a docked invoice record as well as the functions: SUM IF/S, IF/S, VLOOKUP and, depending on interest, their connection.

In the four-hour, practice-oriented workshop, Martin invites all participants to work together on the following question: How can my administration system (e. g. document record, budget monitoring, accounting) respond to as many needs and mapping requirements as possible? Together we will work in and with a template, which will be made available to all participants, and further develop it according to individual needs.

The workshop is aimed at freelance production managers and producers who consider themselves Excel beginners or those who to have a refresh. There will be work in break-out rooms and breaks. The workshop will be moderated by theresa heußen.

Martin Bien (he/him; www.martinbien.de) is a freelance producer of contemporary performances and copywriter for artists and agencies in Frankfurt am Main. He completed an apprenticeship as an office administrator and studied Applied Theater Studies in Giessen with an interest in body-aesthetic and body-political theory. As a cultural producer for contemporary theater performances, he works with artists and collectives on project concepts and their translation into administrative, financial and strategic forms of organization. As a copywriter he develops concepts, texts and content strategies for agencies and brands. For art collectives he develops project-related campaigns as well as press and reference texts. He has been active at produktionsbande since 2021, from January to July 2022 he was part of the interim team and since August 2022 he is one of three part-time coordinators.