EJN Staff Exchange Programme

Sending EJN member: Improvised Music Company (Ireland)
Hosting EJN member: Le Périscope (France)
Dates of the exchange: 31 March – 6 April 2025

My staff exchange experience was wonderful. On Monday morning, I visited Le Périscope, where I met Mathilde, whom I had already been in contact with. She gave me a tour of the building, including the performance spaces, offices, and canteen, and provided an overview of the organisation’s history.

I then met the communications team — Armelle, Cassandre, and Sophie — and we held a meeting to discuss the week ahead and make a plan. Two events were taking place at Le Périscope during my stay: the International Jazz Platform and Festival Récif. It was decided that I would focus on filming and photographing the International Jazz Platform for the first few days, followed by Festival Récif.

After the meeting, I spent time familiarising myself with both events, particularly the people involved, their names, instruments, backgrounds, and social media channels. I then conducted a short interview with Karolina about introducing the International Jazz Platform and hosting it in Lyon for the first time. I edited the footage, ensuring that the correct assets were used in line with the Better Live branding, and created several short edits to be shared as social media reels.

Later that evening, I returned to the venue to attend and document live performances as part of Festival Récif, filming and photographing the concerts. From Tuesday to Thursday, I carried out similar activities, including filming behind-the-scenes content, concert performances, and interviews with participants and tutors, including Pierre, as well as photographing all aspects of the events.

From Friday to Monday, I continued filming and photographing Festival Récif, while also organising the content I had created and carrying out editing and post-production work. I wanted to ensure that all materials handed over to Le Périscope and Karolina were ready before I left on Monday evening.

Overall, it was a great opportunity to learn more about the history of this impressive organisation and to experience the work of a company operating in the same field as Improvised Music Company.