Fostering Opportunity for Communities
Underserved on the Stage (FOCUS)
ABOUT
The FOCUS Program aims to provide exposure, training, mentorship, networking, and direct paid professional opportunities for early-career theatre designers, technicians, and stage managers from underserved and underrepresented communities including BIPOC, LGBTQ+, Disabled, Deaf, and Neurodivergent theatre practitioners. Apprentices are paired with a mentor in their design department of interest, given opportunities for design on a variety of productions, and are connected with other theatres in the region to expand their network and potential future employment prospects. During each year-long session, each designer or theatre technician receives compensation for all onsite training and production work. Every apprenticeship is curated for the individual artist or technician. FOCUS apprenticeships can last multiple years, and apprentices can explore more than one aspect of technical theatre by working with more than one department.
For more information, email Artistic Director Nathan Motta at nmotta@dobama.org
24/25 SEason APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 15, 2024*
2023/24 FOCUS APPRENTICES
Jasmine A. Golphin (Projection Design)
Jasmine A. Golphin is a filmmaker, artist, and producer who is just really, really into making art. Professionally, she’s spent over 12 years managing film education and community outreach programs for nonprofit organizations such as MyCom, Neighborhood Leadership Institute, Cleveland International Film Festival, SPACES and Maelstrom Collaborative Arts. In 2020 she launched the community organization Black Spring CLE to create and support existing alternatives to the policing and justicial system. Today she is the Associate Artistic Director at Maelstrom Collaborative Arts, an interdisciplinary arts organization dedicated to improving the creative lifespan of Cleveland area artists.
Creatively, her work has been featured in the MCA exhibits Bricolage (2019), Saturnalia (2019 & 2020), Shortform (2020), The Wandering (2020), and Four Futures (2021), the last of which she also conceptualized and produced. Her first solo art exhibition FACEBOOKLAND, a surrealist VR gallery experience opened January 2022 and was funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting Program. Jasmine has also directed and produced the web shows To New Beginnings (2016), The Adventures of Fab Jenkins (2016), Playing with a Purpose (2020) and Nerdy Jobs (est fall 2022) along with numerous artsy selfies that all exist somewhere on the internet.
Cam Henderson
23/24 FOCUS Apprentice: STAGE MANAGEMENT
Camille is “Just Another Kid” from Akron, OH making headway into the Northeast Ohio theater scene. Her most recent work was as the Stage Manager of the Akron Civic Theater’s production of the “Pride and Prejudice”, though her talents do not stop there. A former host of the 88.1 WRFL Lexington’s radio show “King’s Corner”, she also has directed a number of marketing campaigns for various organizations and companies throughout Northeast Ohio and Northern Kentucky. The University of Kentucky alumni has also worked on other mediums such as music videos and short films. An example of her work can be found on YouTube for the “Nelciaa- Options” music video and many more.
Instagram: @cashamillie
E.J. Buckner, Jr.
23/24 FOCUS Apprentice: SOUND Design
Eric Buckner Jr. Is an emerging self taught sound designer based in Cleveland, Ohio. Eric’s passion for sound design has developed through experiencing the broadway atmosphere, which inspired him to become more involved with sound in a theatric setting. Eric’s aim is to bring about a dynamic blend of his personal experiences with the material world of sound and his world within. He is currently a student at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio where he plans on obtaining a bachelors degree.