Name Ian Liston
Title Producer/Director/Actor
Organisation The Hiss & Boo Company Ltd
How long in present post? Over 25 years
t: 01444 881707 e: ian@hissboo.co.uk
What does your organisation do? Commercial production company specialising in pantomime, revue, variety and music hall shows, as well as touring plays in the UK and overseas.
What does your job involve?
- Overseeing the entire production process from conception to completion.
- Day to day liaison with our host theatres.
- Developing product that matches the changing requirements of public taste.
- Putting a sense of adventure back into Christmas entertainment ? hopefully, creating a sense of fun with a very hard-working and loyal team behind me.
Who did you previously work for?
- I?ve been a self-employed actor/director/ producer for almost 40 years.
- In my early days I worked on various aspects of film production for The Beatles? Apple Films, ITN and Elstree Film Studios.
- My first professional paid job was as an Assistant Stage Manager at Liverpool?s Everyman Theatre in its first-ever season in 1964.
What do you enjoy most about your present post?
Every day is different. Contact with fellow performers and creative professionals is stimulating and enjoyable, and being able to perform in live theatre is also very important to me.
What do you find most difficult in your present post?
Increasing levels of petty bureaucracy and namby pamby political correctness.
What is your career ambition?
To maintain The Hiss & Boo Company?s reputation as a top quality independent production company.
Who has influenced your career to date the most?
My parents, who encouraged me to broaden my horizons, and Roy Hudd who has given Hiss & Boo so much enthusiastic support over the years.
If you could have done any job, what would it be?
A world-class opera singer (winter) and first-class cricketer (summer).
If you had three wishes for the future of the arts, what would they be?
- Funding bodies to learn a lot more about the day to day practicalities of running a company.
- Less political correctness and more basic common sense.
- A greater respect for the paying customer? and the outlawing of booking fees!