大象传媒

Arts Troubleshooter is a two-part series following the work of world renowned arts expert Michael Lynch at two unique arts organisations whose futures are under threat.

This is the first programme in the series and follows Michael's work with Northern Ballet: the first major English ballet company to be based outside London. The company has just moved into a new state-of-the-art home, but when they receive an unprecedented cut to their government grant in March 2011, they can no longer afford to keep all of their dancers. Michael's determined to help Northern Ballet save the jobs of the dancers who've devoted their careers to the company.

There are few who understand the business of the arts better than Michael Lynch: he was chief executive of London's Southbank Centre from 2002 to 2009, during which time he doubled visitor numbers, raised the cash to refurbish Royal Festival Hall and transformed Southbank Centre into probably the most dynamic arts centre in the world. Prior to that he ran the Sydney Opera House in his native Australia. He is currently chief executive of the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong: a HK$21.6billion project to transform the city's artistic landscape.