1. Introduction and Proposed Project
Introduction
I aim to show and determine how feasible my collaborative project is through this project viability study, assessing its chances of success and outlining the challenges I may encounter.
Already I have had to adapt and use my contingency, as my first collaborator’s response times meant I couldn’t continue with my planning.
Proposed Project
This project involves a collaboration between myself and Stage Right, a dance and performing arts school, working with their BTEC students and teacher.
I aim to create a high-quality professional dance video that showcases both Stage Right’s work and mine, building portfolios for me and the students. The three main aspects of this are:
- Producing two 5-minute tracks for BTEC dance students around the theme of Gen Z
- Filming the dances to support the music and theme in an appropriate style
- Collaborate heavily with students to build their collaborative skills
Personnel – Direct and Indirect
Sam Lynn
- Producer, project manager and videographer
- Composed, produce and mixed a variety of genres
- 3rd year Music Production student
Fran Gowar (Stage Right, n.d.b)
- Dance and Musical Theatre performer and teacher, who has worked internationally
- Performed at Britain’s Got Talent and the Opening Ceremony of the Millennium Dome
- Teacher on the Stage Right BTEC course
Stage Right BTEC Students
- Ages 16-18
- Working towards their RSL Level 3 Creative and Performing Arts (equivalent to 3 A Levels)
Goals
Project Goals
- Create a high-quality, professional video that both Stage Right and I can use to showcase our work, helping to build both mine and the students’ portfolio for future work
- Provide a unique collaboration to the students to build their experience
- Compose music that fulfil both the teachers and students’ concept and inspire the dances
Technical Goals
- Produce high-quality, well mixed tracks
- Ensure well composed and shot footage, using appropriate colour grading and editing
Personal Goals
- Produce music that aligns with people’s creative vision
- Expand my professional experience with a dance company, building both my contacts and portfolio by the end
2. Methodology & Rationale
Rationale
Theme
In my first year of university, I created a 5-minute track for a dancer and thoroughly enjoyed the collaborative process, inspiring me to pursue a similar project for this assignment. I initially contacted a family friend who runs a dance studio in Brighton, but slow response times meant I couldn’t progress, so I reached out to another family friend who works in a dance studio in my hometown Royston (Appendix 1).
This led me to the BTEC course leader, Fran, who explained that the students were working with themes related to Gen Z (Appendix 2).
I also aim for the project to be strongly student-focused, with the dancers involved not only in the choreography but also in the musical decisions.
Relevance
Gen Z is an appropriate theme as it reflects issues understood by younger people such as social media, fast fashion, mental health, gender equality and body positivity. A student focused approach will likely help the students’ progress, using the final video to build their portfolio for university or job applications.
Methodology
Initial Ideas
After deciding to switch projects, I began by creating a mind map around the theme of Gen Z.
By visualising the theme, this helped me think about what direction I could take each song in.
Progress
Since I had to restart, I have replanned the style of music I am producing, creating a structured plan to help (Appendix 3 &4).
So far, I have produced a minute and a half of the first track, using ideas from the plan to help give me direction.
First Draft:
Filming equipment and location
Stage Right owns four studios suitable for recording, each equipped with mirrored walls for visual clarity and air conditioning to help prevent dancers from tiring too quickly (Stage Right, n.d.a).
Considering the final videos are going to be used in the students’ portfolios, they need to be of high and suitable quality. Ma (2024), highlights some cameras that are suitable for dance videos:
- Canon EOS Rebel Series
- DJI Osmo
- Go Pro
- Sony A7S series
As I aim to film the dances myself, I found renting Canon and Sony a7iii cameras for around £14-23/day in Hertfordshire (Hygglo, 2025) (Appendix 5) but would seek a videographer in a future funded project.
Timeline
I initially created a written timeline for the project I had planned with the first collaborator (Appendix 6).
However, on November 10th, I decided to switch projects after texting Kerry from Stage Right, and they could fit my project in with the students’ module in January (Appendix 1).
My first timeline lacked detail, so I created a Gantt chart to help (Ramos, 2021):
- Give a good idea of the overall timeline of the project
- Set realistic schedules
- Find solutions to potential problems before starting
Project Management
I will also be the main project manager, ensuring members are content and the project meets the deadlines. To help me progress, I created a personal SWOT analysis to (Expert Panel, 2022):
- Identify my weaknesses
- Minimise threats
- Utilise my strengths
Also, by heavily involving the students, I aim to achieve a greater collaboration to improve the project’s productivity and efficiency (Cflow, 2025).
Communication
Emails have been the main way of contacting Fran, with an initial call to provide my project plan. Liang (2025) mentioned how he only uses emails and calls when collaborating to ensure it stays professional.
3. Inspiration & Influences
Since I haven’t yet received any reference tracks, I created my own Spotify playlist with songs that fit the theme, vibe or had production styles that I could use.
My main sources of inspiration from this playlist are Deja Vu, Marea (we’ve lost dancing) and Rush.
Below is the inspiration for approaching the filming aspect of the project.
4. Market Analysis and Target Audience
Target Audience
The target audience for each person involved in this project differs:
- My target audience is BTEC dance students looking to build their portfolio and experience
- Stage Right’s target audience could be potential future clients by showcasing what the BTEC students do on their website
- The students‘ work is aimed at future employers or to be used for university applications
- The video could also be posted online for dance enthusiasts to watch
Market Analysis
For myself, I wanted to find out if I could continue doing projects like this and make money from them in the future. ClickNClear (2018) highlights how this is possible as it showcases many different companies which produce, mix and master music for choreographed sports.
If Stage Right did decide to post this online, there are many dance films online which showcase their popularity:
- CDK – Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye (Reis, 2024)
– Over 28 million views
– Almost 24,000 comments
- CRY ME A RIVER – Justin Timberlake – Dance Video (Andrew Winghart, 2017)
– Over 7.4 million views
– Almost 2500 comments
- SAM SMITH – HIM | Kyle Hanagami Choreography (KYLE HANAGAMI, 2018)
– Over 2.3 million views
– Just over 2500 comments
5. Costs & Budgeting
To help me understand the cost of running this as a paid project, I created a hypothetical budget and researched potential ways of funding if I was to do a similar project in the future.
Hypothetical Budget
Potential Funding
Arts Council England (Arts Council England, 2025)
- National Lottery Project Grants (NLPG)
- Public Benefit must be shown for this funding
- Applications from £1000 – £30,000
Youth Music (Youth Music, 2024)
- Trailblazer Fund
- Must support grassroots organisation or trial new ways of working
- Grants of £2,000 to £30,000
National Lottery Community Fund (National Lottery Community Fund, 2019)
- National Lottery Awards for All England Fund
- Project must bring people and communities together
- Grants of £300 to £20,000
6. Contingency/ Risk Assessment
Risk Assessment
I thoroughly went over possible risks for the health and safety of people involved as well as the possible project setbacks I may face.
The safeguarding issues require the most attention so I have emailed Fran to get a better idea of how we can deal with this (Appendix 7). Furthermore, for my community music placement I completed my safeguarding training (Appendix 8).
Contingency Plan
Having a contingency plan is extremely important since this project itself is one. When I initially was working with JP, I found there were two main issues that led me to switch projects:
- He had very slow response times
- He lives in Brighton, making travelling long and expensive
When looking for a new project I wanted to continue doing a dance project since I had already planned the process of doing one.
Although I have switched projects, the response times are still slow, and the project has not been completely confirmed yet. Therefore, I have messaged my friend who is a dancer if she is willing to collaborate with me in case Fran can’t collaborate (Appendix 9).
7. Potential for Development
Possibilities include:
- Submitting the video to local media or the council to showcase the work to the community
- Continuing work between me and the Stage Right students to build on our collaborative relationship
- Approaching other dance schools to offer this as a paid service in future, creating custom tracks with strong student input to support their BTEC portfolios and experience.
8. Evaluation Viability
Feedback
After my presentation (Appendix 10), I received constructive feedback from both my tutor (Figure 1) and peers (Figure 2).
I used this feedback to adjust my final assignment and hopefully address the areas which needed improvement.
Evaluation Viability
Overall, I think my project is viable due to my organisation of tasks and time management, to understand how long and what is required to reach the desired outcome. Furthermore, I have mitigated the potential risks as best I can and prepared contingencies in case problems arise.
9. Bibliography
Andrew Winghart (2017) CRY ME A RIVER – Justin Timberlake – Dance Video. YouTube. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I-SE6Q9Le0&list=PL4aisMWCOx3Wf0ueJhwnSi3EgeWfry8gM&index=3 [Accessed 2 Dec. 2025].
APM (2023) Project management salary survey. www.apm.org.uk. Available online: https://www.apm.org.uk/project-management-salary-survey/.
Arts Council England (2025) Update: research and development funding for individuals. Arts Council England. Available online: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/dycp/update-research-and-development-funding-individuals [Accessed 18 Nov. 2025].
Bonnie Su (2018) Youth – Daughter || Bonnie Su Dance Choreography. YouTube. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09yJUYDrBzg&list=PL4aisMWCOx3Wf0ueJhwnSi3EgeWfry8gM.
Cflow (2025) Project Collaboration: Enhancing Teamwork for Efficient Project Management. Cflow. Available online: https://www.cflowapps.com/project-collaboration/ [Accessed 18 Nov. 2025].
ClickNClear (2018) ClicknClear | Music Producer Directory. ClicknClear. Available online: https://www.clicknclear.com/music-producers.
Dykes, T. (2024) How Much Do Studio Musicians ACTUALLY Get Paid? YouTube. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0cxU1vduRw.
Expert Panel (2022) How To Flip The Script For More Effective One-On-Ones. Forbes. [online] 1 Dec. Available online: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescoachescouncil/2025/12/01/how-to-flip-the-script-for-more-effective-one-on-ones/.
George Liang (2025), Guest Lecture Introduction – George Liang, Final Project: Production (Interdisciplinary/Collaborative Project) SHR6E032F [Lecture]. Leeds Conservatoire, unpublished.
Hygglo (2025) Hire cameras in Hertfordshire through Hygglo (previously Fat Llama). Hygglo.com. Available online: https://hygglo.com/uk/category/9452-cameras/hertfordshire [Accessed 1 Dec. 2025].
Jeremy-Lepine Yetsirah (2015) Shallows – Yetsirah Company – Jeremy Lepine. YouTube. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DtN4185LYo&list=PL4aisMWCOx3Wf0ueJhwnSi3EgeWfry8gM&index=2 [Accessed 2 Dec. 2025].
KYLE HANAGAMI (2018) SAM SMITH – HIM | Kyle Hanagami Choreography. YouTube. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0CjUYCc7OQ&list=PL4aisMWCOx3Wf0ueJhwnSi3EgeWfry8gM&index=5 [Accessed 2 Dec. 2025].
Ma, J. (2024) The 5 Best Cameras For Recording Amazing Dance Videos | STEEZY Blog. Steezy.co. Available online: https://www.steezy.co/posts/5-best-cameras-recording-amazing-dance-videos-youll-love-every-budget [Accessed 1 Dec. 2025].
Musicians’ Union (2022) Composing & Songwriting | Fees and Rates of Pay for Media Commissions | The MU. musiciansunion.org.uk. Available online: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/working-performing/composing-and-songwriting/commissioned-work/media-commissions.
Musicians’ Union (2025) BBC TV and Radio Pay for Session Musicians. musiciansunion.org.uk. Available online: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/working-performing/recording-broadcasting/recording-session-musicians/tv-film-agreements/bbc-mu-agreement.
Musicians’ Union (n.d.) The MU Membership Levels and Prices to Suit Every Musician. musiciansunion.org.uk. Available online: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/join.
National Careers Service (2024) Business project manager | Explore careers. nationalcareers.service.gov.uk. Available online: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/business-project-manager.
National Lottery Community Fund (2019) National Lottery Awards for All England. Tnlcommunityfund.org.uk. Available online: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/funding-programmes/national-lottery-awards-for-all-england.
Payscale (n.d.) Project Management Hourly Rate in United Kingdom | PayScale. www.payscale.com. Available online: https://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Skill=Project_Management/Hourly_Rate.
Ramos, D. (2021) The Pros and Cons of Gantt Charts. SmartSheet. Available online: https://www.smartsheet.com/content/gantt-chart-pros-cons.
Reis, S. (2024) CDK – Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye. www.youtube.com. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REPPgPcw4hk.
Stage Right (n.d.a) Facilities | Stage Right Studios, Dance School Royston, Herts. Stagerightstudio.com. Available online: https://stagerightstudio.com/about/venue/ [Accessed 1 Dec. 2025].
Stage Right (n.d.b) Fran Gowar | Stage Right Studios, Dance School Royston, Herts. Stagerightstudio.com. Available online: https://stagerightstudio.com/tutors/fran-gowar/ [Accessed 11 Dec. 2025].
The Camera Guys (2020) How much does a videographer cost? The Camera Guys. Available online: https://thecameraguys.co.uk/10-video-marketing-tips-for-small-businesses-2/.
Youth Music (2024) Trailblazer Fund | Youth Music. Youthmusic.org.uk. Available online: https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/funding/i-need-funding/trailblazer-fund.
YunoJuno (2025) Project Management Freelance Rates: Costs for Daily & Hourly Consulting Prices. Yunojuno.com. Available online: https://www.yunojuno.com/freelancer-rates-report/project-management.
10. Appendix
Appendix 10
