ALERT 2026 Resident Company Application Form

ALERT 2026 Application Form

Resident Company Program
The ALERT Resident Company program is a paid, custom 7-month training opportunity for emerging companies/collectives with one or more works-in-development, with the intention of moving from one phase of development to another. Companies/collectives must have presented at least one public work. The Resident Company will be supported by two Junior Producers who have undergone a basic fundamentals course in the fall. The program culminates in a public presentation during the 2026 Hamilton Fringe Festival (July 15-26, 2026).

Program Dates:

ALERT Resident Company - January 1st to April 30th 2026, Integration Phase; May 1st to July 31st 2026, Production Phase.

ALERT Junior Producers - November-December 2025, Foundations; January-April 2026, Integration; May-July 2026, Production.

Read the full program details at HFTco.ca/alert or in an accessible PDF.

Please contact Managing Director Franny McCabe-Bennett (franny@HFTco.ca, 289-698-2234) with questions about the program or the application process.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: December 8, 2025 @ 11:59PM ET

There is an option to record audio for long-answer questions.

Applications can also be completed over the phone, please call 289-698-2234 to make arrangements.

Note: you do not need to complete this form in one sitting, scroll down and click "Save and Continue Later" to save your progress.
Working with the Junior Producers

This year, the Junior Producers will be selected and begin basic producer training before the Resident Company is selected. This will make the most of HFTco's training resources and ensure that Junior Producers have some exposure to producing basics before the specialized training of the Integration phase with the Resident Company and using their new skills under the guidance of the Resident Company in the Production phase.

Junior Producers will be invited to consider non-creative roles/departments for the Production phase such as Publicity & Social Media, Fundraising, Marketing, Outreach, Finance Officer (Grants & Budgets), Audience Experience (Box Office, Front of House, Volunteers), or a general Associate Producer role in a jack-of-all-trades/fill in where needed tasks.

During the Integration phase, the Junior Producers, Resident Company, and ALERT Admin Team will meet to decide collaboratively what role(s) the Junior Producers will fill during the Production phase. There will be regular meetings with the Admin Team to ensure the Resident Company and both Junior Producers are receiving the support they need, realistic goal-setting, navigating conversations around deadlines and quality of work, and people-management skills to the Resident Company supervising/working with the Junior Producers.
Contact Information

How can we get in touch with you?
Company/Collective Name*
Primary Contact's Name

First NameLast Name
Company/Collective or Primary Contact's Email Address*
We will use this email address for all ALERT-related communications.
Company/Collective or Primary Contact's Phone Number*
Please use the format (123) 456-7890.
Company/Collective or Main Contact's Current Address*

Street Address

Street Address Line 2

CityState / Province

Postal / Zip CodeCountry
Secondary/Alternative Contact's Name

First NameLast Name
Secondary/Alternative Contact's Email Address*
example@example.com
Secondary/Alternative Contact's Phone Number*
Please use the format (123) 456-7890.

Company/Collective Information

Who are you?
Please share a short bio/description of your company or collective.

0/500
Voice Recorder: Please share a short bio/description of your company or collective.
Please share an artist bio for each of the members of your company/collective (max 100 words for each bio). Please clearly state the member's name, title, and 100 word bio, followed by the next member's name, title, 100 word bio, etc.
Voice Recorder: Please share an artist bio for each of the members of your company/collective (max 1 minute for each bio). Please clearly state the member's name, title, and 1 minute bio, followed by the next member's name, title, 1 minute bio, etc.
Please share your company/collective's production history.

0/500
Voice Recorder: Please share your company/collective's production history.
What are you company/collective's values?

0/500
Voice Recorder: What are you company/collective's values?

The Program

Why are you applying as the ALERT Resident Company, and why now?
How would the ALERT Resident Company program benefit your company/collective?

0/500
Voice Recorder: How would the ALERT Resident Company program benefit your company/collective?
What excites you about working in the arts in Hamilton?

0/500
Voice Recorder: What excites you about working in the arts in Hamilton?
Describe the project you'd like to work on.
Voice Recorder: Describe the project you'd like to work on.
This program is focused on the development of new work. What is the CURRENT form of your project, and what form will your PUBLIC PRESENTATION take at the Hamilton Fringe? (Examples: "We have a project outline, mostly dreams and scribbles, and we want to build up to a series of staged readings at the Fringe." "We've got a show that we've already workshopped, it needs some more work, but we're dying to do a full 7-performance run at the Fringe." "We are a spoken word collective with lots of existing text, we met some amazing dance artists recently and we want to present a single interactive, immersive experience at the Fringe.")

0/500
Voice Recorder: This program is focused on the development of new work. What is the CURRENT form of your project, and what form will your PUBLIC PRESENTATION take at the Hamilton Fringe? (Examples: "We have a project outline, mostly dreams and scribbles, and we want to build up to a series of staged readings at the Fringe." "We've got a show that we've already workshopped, it needs some more work, but we're dying to do a full 7-performance run at the Fringe." "We are a spoken word collective with lots of existing text, we met some amazing dance artists recently and we want to present a single interactive, immersive experience at the Fringe.")
What does your company/collective hope to gain from the program?

0/500
Voice Recorder: What does your company/collective hope to gain from the program?

What kinds of support offered by the program would most benefit your group?

0/500
Voice Recorder: What kinds of support offered by the program would most benefit your group?
Will you require rehearsal space?*

YesNoDon't know yet
What kind of expenses do you anticipate?

0/500
Voice Recorder: What kind of expenses do you anticipate?
Outside of the ALERT Resident Company bursary, how do you plan to cover expenses?

0/500
Voice Recorder: Outside of the ALERT Resident Company bursary, how do you plan to cover expenses?
Do you currently receive operating funding at the municipal, provincial, or federal level?*

YesNo
This year, the Junior Producers will be selected and begin basic producer training before the Resident Company is selected. This will make the most of HFTco's training resources and ensure that Junior Producers have some exposure to producing basics before the specialized training of the Integration phase with the Resident Company and using their new skills under the guidance of the Resident Company in the Production phase.

Junior Producers will be invited to consider non-creative roles/departments for the Production phase such as Publicity & Social Media, Fundraising, Marketing, Outreach, Finance Officer (Grants & Budgets), Audience Experience (Box Office, Front of House, Volunteers), or a general Associate Producer role in a jack-of-all-trades/fill in where needed tasks.

During the Integration phase, the Junior Producers, Resident Company, and ALERT Admin Team will meet to decide collaboratively what role(s) the Junior Producers will fill during the Production phase. There will be regular meetings with the Admin Team to ensure the Resident Company and both Junior Producers are receiving the support they need, realistic goal-setting, navigating conversations around deadlines and quality of work, and people-management skills to the Resident Company supervising/working with the Junior Producers.
What are your initial thoughts about how your group may benefit from the two Junior Producers?

0/500
Voice Recorder: What are your initial thoughts about how your group may benefit from the two Junior Producers?
Pick 3 adjectives to describe what you're looking for in a Junior Producer:
Voice Recorder: Pick 3 adjectives to describe what you're looking for in a Junior Producer.
OPTIONAL: We'd love to see up to 10 photos and/or up to 5 minutes of video of your previous work, if available.

You can upload files or share a YouTube or Vimeo URL (NOT password protected). Max: 10 photos, 5 minutes of video
File upload:

Cancelof
YouTube or Vimeo URL:
Ensure your link is NOT password protected.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?

0/500

ALERT 2026 Application Form

Contact Information

Company/Collective Information

The Program

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