Carolyn Satter Production Management Mentorship Program

Applications for 2026 are now closed.

Be Part of the Big Picture at USITT26

The USITT26 Main Stage is our home base for attendees, where standing-room-only crowds gather to bring entertainment, storytelling, award acceptances, conversations, and new technology launches to life — and we want you to help us manage it.

Our Carolyn Satter Production Management Mentorship Program (Satter PMMP), generously funded by Immediate Past President and Fellow, Carolyn A. Satter, is here to support an individual who has begun their professional career as a production manager in live entertainment by providing the chance to manage events and connect with a production manager mentor at our Annual Conference & Stage Expo.

"The Satter PMMP was an eye-opening look into the world of live events with the support and knowledge from people who have been doing this for years. I was able to take an active part in the scheduling and execution of all the main stage events and meet designers, stage managers, and other production managers from across the country and got to pick their brains about the industry and ways of working. In addition to working the main stage, I am able to chat with a production manager who is working in the field as a mentor throughout this year and the insight about day-to-day operations as an early-career PM. This has been a great addition to my learning experience as I grow as a leader, and I look forward to continuing to grow my connections through this mentorship program and continued journey with USITT," said Paige Washington, the inaugural recipient of the Satter PMMP.

Be part of our exclusive Conference Event Production Team, acting as an integral lead in producing our energizing Main Stage and Expo Stage events throughout Conference. Our selected PM will work directly with the Event Producer, Artistic Director, and Technical Producer. Your connections through the Satter PMMP extend beyond our Event Production Team to our Main Stage talent and presenters on our most highly anticipated events like Opening Night, Awards, and DAAs in Conversation.

Get a behind-the-scenes look at how USITT puts on one of the largest live entertainment gatherings in the country while you:

  • Grow your skill set managing large-scale Conference events.
  • Network with industry movers and shakers.
  • Boost your resume's experience section.
  • Expand your experience in the professional world of production management.
  • Develop a strong relationship with your mentor by your side.

Your mentor will be a well-established production manager, guiding you through each event and becoming a fixture in your career growth, lending their advice, skills, and knowledge to you for a year post-Conference and beyond.

This unique mentorship opportunity is available to professionals pursuing or actively employed in an entertainment production management position. A degree in stage or arts management is not required but preferred.

Guidelines

Funding for this grant is generously provided by Carolyn A. Satter, USITT Immediate Past President and Fellow.

Carolyn Satter on the USITT24 Main Stage in Seattle.
Carolyn A. Satter on the USITT24 Main Stage in Seattle.

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CAROLYN A. SATTER started college as an accounting major, but before she completed that degree, she dropped out and started a family. She discovered the world of theatre through her family when her daughter's elementary school play needed someone who could sew well and Satter became the costumer’s assistant. This experience led her to major in theatre arts at San Diego State University where she studied everything from costumes to set design to stage management.

In 1979 Satter graduated from San Diego State University with a Technical Theatre degree and began her career at the San Diego Civic Theatre. In 2019 she retired as Director of Production after 41 years of service to San Diego Theatres. For 10 years of this time she held an adjunct professor position at San Diego State University in the theatre department.

In 1995, Carolyn was honored by the YWCA of San Diego County with their prestigious TWIN Award for exceptional women leaders, and more recently, by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees with their Diane Lynn Slater Award for Outstanding Community Support. Satter is a licensed pyrotechnician and has been igniting the San Diego sky with the Independence Day fireworks since 1995 and has been the official fireworks operator at the San Diego County Fair since 2011.

Satter attended her first USITT Annual Conference & Stage Expo in Las Vegas in 1995. She was inducted as a USITT Fellow of the Institute in 2020. She has held multiple leadership positions in the Institute since 1996, including Management Commission's Vice-Commissioner for Programming, Commissioner for Management, representative of the Commission Steering Committee, Director at large, Vice President for Commissions, President-Elect, President, and now Immediate Past President.