Pippa Frith (She/Her)
Director (Producing)
Pippa is currently Director (Producing) at Fierce, moving from Executive Producer and Festival Producer during her time working at Fierce since 2017. She is an award-winning arts producer, with a history of long-term partnerships with independent artists and partners, delivering a range of one-off projects, strategic work, productions and tours. She’s particularly passionate about presenting marginalised voices, contemporary work, and working outside formal arts contexts. Her practice is care centred, shot through with an unapologetic political edge.
She is currently a member of Area Council (Midlands) and the Disability Advisory Group for Arts Council England and a Trustee at Geese Theatre. She has been based in Birmingham for over 15 years, and first worked for Fierce in 2007 on a fixed term contract under founder Mark Ball.
Catherine Groom (She/Her)
Director (Operations)
Locally grown, Catherine joined the Fierce team in early 2017 as Operations Manager, moving to General Manager and, since spring 2023, Director (Operations). Her varied experience includes producing arts festivals and running projects in communities across the region as well as working for many years at Midlands Arts Centre. Alongside her role at Fierce she delivers bespoke training and works as a strategic development consultant with small charities. At Fierce she does anything and everything that needs doing and aims to do so with care and kindness.
Catherine is currently on the Board of SIFA Fireside, a charity supporting homeless and vulnerably housed people in Birmingham.
Nassy Konan (She/Her)
Producer (Softly/Tenderly)
Nassy is an independent Creative Producer based in Kings Heath, Birmingham, with roots in London. She works across Dance, Theatre, and Live Performance, focusing on delivering impactful and collaborative projects for diverse audiences. Nassy’s expertise includes producing, programming, artist development, and fostering international exchanges. Her recent work spans mid-scale touring productions, festivals, and international platforms, collaborating with organisations like Here & Now (Formerly Horizon Showcase), Pro Helvetia’ Swiss Arts Council (Swiss Selection Edinburgh & Swiss London Showcase), Battersea Arts Centre, Brixton House, Young Vic, and Sadler’s Wells.
She’s an Associate Producer at China Plate Theatre and a Project Producer for Marlborough Productions, leading Producer Gathering, an online resource platform offering a large pool of free resources, learning opportunities for independent producers, space for discussion and writing from some of the best in the performing arts and cultural fields. Currently, Nassy is involved in the 2024 Fierce Festival, producing Sheila Ghelani’s Softly/Tenderly and continuing her passion for bringing artistic visions to life.
Clayton Lee (He/Him)
Director (Artistic)
Clayton Lee is a Canadian curator, producer, and performance artist. He was the Director of the Rhubarb Festival – Canada’s longest-running festival of new and experimental performance – at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre from 2019 to 2023. He worked as Creative Producer on Jess Dobkin’s projects, including You’re Divine as part of Fierce’s Healing Gardens of Bab programme and For What It’s Worth, her large-scale commission at the Wellcome Collection.
Clayton was also the Curatorial Associate at the Luminato Festival and the Managing Producer of CanadaHub at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. His performance projects have been presented in venues across Canada, the United States, the UK, and New Zealand. He was one of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Artists-in-Residence in 2023.
Poonam Maher (She/her)
Volunteer Coordinator
Poonam Maher is a performance artist known for her blend of the weird and silly, which she shared as a featured artist during Fierce Festival’s most recent Artists Behind Bars event. She has performed as part of immersive theatre productions at Glastonbury and Boomtown Festivals, as well as performing alongside Tat Vision around Birmingham. With a diverse background that includes managing a volunteer-run swap shop and several years working in the NHS, Poonam brings a wealth of experience and a unique point of view to her work. Her passion for connecting with others and fostering a sense of community shines through in all that she does.
Rebecca Welsh (She/Her)
Marketing Coordinator
Rebecca is a communications creative with ten years of experience working in the sport, culture and lifestyle sectors. During her 10 years at innovative London design studio four23 she worked with clients ranging from adidas to London Design Festival, Medicine San Frontiers to Somerset House, and Virgin to the Australian High Commission. She is passionate about helping individuals and organisations communicate meaningfully to their communities – both online and offline.
Alongside her work in communications, Rebecca is also a qualified Personal Trainer – with a committed focus on improving physical and mental health support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Becky Woodcock (She/Her)
Festival Events Producer
Becky is a freelance Arts Producer based in Birmingham, working locally and nationally delivering high-quality collaborative and cross artform projects, artist development programmes and festivals. Alongside working on the 2024 Fierce Festival, her current and recent work includes producing the Sounding Change artist residency programme for the University of Birmingham, producing Surge Forward‘s year round programme of activities and producing events for the EFG London Jazz Festival. In her all work, she ultimately loves helping amazing work and projects come to life.
Former Fierce Team Members
Fierce was founded in 1997 and over the years we’ve had some brilliant team members come and go through our doors. Here’s a list of who worked on previous editions of the festival.
Fierce Festival 2022
Mojere Ajayi – Assistant Curator, Will Amott – Artist Liaison, Dan Brown – Access Assistant, Katie Burchett – Production Coordinator, Robb Cartin – Production Manager, Pippa Frith – Executive Producer, Catherine Groom – General Manager, Rebecca Welsh – Marketing & Ticketing Coordinator, Tinisha Williams – Volunteer Coordinator, Aaron Wright – Artistic Director. Documentors: Rachel Bunce & Manuel Vason. Design: Kerry Leslie.
Healing Gardens of Bab 2022
Mojere Ajayi – Assistant Curator, Will Amott – Assistant Producer, Rachel Baker – Access Assistant, Nyasha Daley – Production Coordinator, Joseph French – Production Manager, Pippa Frith – Executive Producer, Catherine Groom – General Manager, Richard Hawley – Senior Producer, Hassan Hussain – Steering Group Member, Sym Mendez – Steering Group Member, Demi Nandhra – Access Assistant, Eric Scutaro – Steering Group Member, Bethany Steventon-Crinks – Steering Group Member, Patrick Vernon – Steering Group Member, Rebecca Welsh – Marketing & Ticketing Coordinator, Tinisha Williams – Assistant Producer, Aaron Wright – Artistic Director. Documentors: Ryan Charles, Shaun Evans, Kate Green, Trevor Price. Design: Kerry Leslie.
Key to the City 2022
Roisin Caffrey – Producer, Catriona Cork – Volunteer Coordinator, Touwa Craig-Dunn – Front of House, Sara Crathorne – Production Coordinator, Jack Davies – Front of House, Pippa Frith – Executive Producer, Catherine Groom – General Manager, Kristina Hall – Assistant Producer, Richard Hawley – Project Manager, Lacey McFadyen – Front of House, Paul RamÍrez Jonas – Lead Artist, Rebecca Welsh – Marketing & Ticketing Coordinator, Tinisha Williams – Assistant Producer, Aaron Wright – Artistic Director. Documentors: Rachel Bunce, Hank and Margot. Design: An Endless Supply.
Fierce Festival 2019
Suriya Aisha – Fierce Lab Facilitator, Robb Cartin – Production Manager, Pippa Frith – Executive Producer, Catherine Groom – General Manager, Colleen Kleshie-Martin – Volunteer Coordinator, Harriet Maguire-Smith – Marketing & Ticketing Officer, Lucy Price – Artist Liaison, Becky Woodcock – Production Coordinator, Aaron Wright – Artistic Director. Documentors: Rachel Bunce & Manuel Vason. Design: An Endless Supply.
Fierce Festival 2017
Katy Baird – Volunteer Coordinator, Robb Cartin – Production Manager, Sara Crathorne – Production Coordinator, Inès Elsa Dalal – Marketing Assistant, Pippa Frith – Producer, Catherine Groom – General Manager, Toni Lewis – Artist Liaison, Shekayla Maragh – Marketing Officer, Aaron Wright – Artistic Director. Documentors: Rachel Bunce & Manuel Vason. Design: An Endless Supply.
Fierce Festival 2015
Bek Berger – Assistant Producer, Ria Jones – Volunteer Coordinator, Julie Kim – Graphic Design and Brand Development, Toni Lewis – Producer & Communications Assistant, Laura McDermott – Joint Artistic Director, Harun Morrison – Joint Artistic Director, Joe Welden – Production Manager. Documentors: Meg Lavender & Kate Rowles.
Fierce Festival 2014
Kate Andrews – Marketing Coordinator, Sarah Hamilton-Baker – Volunteer Coordinator, Liz Howell – Projects Assistant, Julie Kim – Graphic Design and Brand Development, Laura McDermott – Joint Artistic Director, Harun Morrison – Joint Artistic Director, Joe Welden – Production Coordinator. Documentors: James Allen & Kate Rowles.
Fierce Festival 2013
Annabel Clarke – Marketing, Alastair Flindall – Production Assistant, Liz Howell – Production Assistant, Julie Kim – Graphic Design and Brand Development, Sadie Newman – Festival Coordinator, Laura McDermott – Joint Artistic Director, Anna Morris – Production Assistant, Harun Morrison – Joint Artistic Director, Nicole Shuchardt – Associate Festival Producer. Documentors: Kate Rowles & Katja Ogrin.
Fierce Festival 2012
Laura Coult – Festival Coordinator, Matthew Higginbottom – Production Manager, Julie Kim – Graphic Design and Brand Development, Nicola Lowery – Participation Coordinator, Amy Martin – Project Manager (Press Gang), Laura McDermott – Joint Artistic Director, Matthew Moore – Production Assistant, Harun Morrison – Joint Artistic Director, Lisa Newman – Project Manager (Gifts of the Spirit). Documentors: Kate Rowles & Jaskirt Dhaliwal.
Fierce Festival 2011
Angie Bual – Associate Producer, Julie Kim – Graphic Design and Brand Development, Nicola Lowery – Production Assistant, Simon McColl – Production Manager (EXYST), Laura McDermott – Joint Artistic Director, Anna Morris – Communications Assistant, Harun Morrison – Joint Artistic Director, Jigisha Patel – Associate Producer, Gareth Sumnall – Production Manager, Gemma Thomas – Trainee Producer
Fierce Team Members 1997 – 2009
Mark Ball, Helga Henry, Andrew Tims, Sindy Campbell, Anna Cook, Pippa Frith, Kevin Isaacs, Chris Keenan, Simon MacColl, Deborah Kermode, Anne-Maire Pope, Hildergarde Derby, Simon Pickthorne, José Forrest.
Work Placements
Fierce understands the importance of work experience to young people with ambitions to work in the arts and aims to provide placement opportunities that will support and develop the next generation of arts professionals.
In fitting with the ethos and vision of Fierce, we aim for all placements to be non-exploitative and open to young people from a range of backgrounds.
Here are blog posts from previous young people who have been on placement with us: