By Lindsay Lucas-Bartlett
I have been asked multiple times about my experience at Hollywood Fringe, how to do it, what you need to do, and what it takes. So I figured I have done the podcast multiple times asking other people what they did and how they navigated fringe so now I am doing a step by step guide and what my thoughts are on fringe. So here you go, you’re welcome.
Want to do the Hollywood Fringe Festival and don’t know where to start? Feel overwhelmed just thinking about it all? Do you have a new play, established play or workshop that you want to get on its feet? Well let me guide you through the process with hopes that the process will be less daunting.
Venue Venue Venue
Hollywood Fringe is in the whole month of June starting with previews the first few days of June. My first piece of advice is to book your venue, then you can start thinking about the rest. If you know the theatre space that you have and its specifications, you can start your rehearsal process knowing how much or little space you have.
So first things first, what is your show? Is it a solo show? Big group production? Lots of props or just you in a theatre with only a chair? What do you need from your venue? Do you need projector, big lighting design, multiple levels, how many audience seats do you want, think of all the things you need and want. Then start your hunt.
The Hollywood Fringe website has everything you need to know about the venues it works with each year and how to contact them. If you go to the participant area on the site it will go over the venues and there specifics with you. Once you see some venues you like, start booking tours. The sooner the better. I usually go on January to look at venues and you’d be surprised that I am not the only one. The sooner you find the venue you want and book, the more likely you are to get the dates and times YOU WANT. That’s a big deal. There is nothing worse, in my opinion, then doing a show at midnight. That’s not for me. If you’re all for midnight shows, knock yourself out.
When you go to look at venues take a check list of the things you want and need and once you find the venue that ticks all your boxes be communicative with the theatre and get your contract in place.
You do not need to have registered your show yet with the Hollywood Fringe, you can wait to register your show until the very last day, May 1st usually.
Now that you have found your venue, if you are starting your show from scratch, get to work. If not, get rehearsing. If you’ve booked your venue in January that gives you ample amount of time to get your show audience ready.
You can approach your venue or other venues that are in LA, they don’t have to be participating in Fringe, to see what their rehearsal rates are if you need rehearsal space. But whatever you do, don’t leave rehearsing to the last minute either. Be on top of your game.
If you are doing a published piece of work, make sure you have the rights to the show. Getting rights is easy, just contact the playwright and / or publisher. Usually you will have a minimum then a maximum of time you can perform under that contract, so know exactly how many shows you will be doing before you get in contact with them. Once you have the rights you’re sailing.
Registration
Like I previously mentioned you don’t have to register your show until the deadline so sort your venue out first.
Create your show on the Fringe website. You’ll then do the application to the venue. Then you will register your show.
There are three tiers with registration so figure that out before you register. Usually you will do the first tier, the most expensive if you are doing multiple shows plus selling tickets. Look at all the tiers before you pay.
If you are coming from another country look at the International page and make sure you have the correct visas in place and that you are paying the correct tier. When it comes to International shows you cannot get ticket sales if you don’t have a visa however from what I have come to understand you can claim expenses from the theatre venue so in theory you could make your money back but not officially get “paid”. Double check this information with he venue and with Fringe before committing as information changes.
Budget
What is your budget? There are so many things that you can and will need to pay for during fringe and it does become a bit of a money pit so budget the fuck out of it and then have a “reserve” budget amount included in your budget. Likelihood is, you will go over.
Things to budget for:
- Registration
- Theatre
- Theatre Insurance
- Tech running your show
- Posters / postcards / advertising materials / buttons - make sure you have the Fringe logo on there and the show dates, times and theatre address. If your show is in a theatre that has multiple theatre, make sure it is clear which theatre you are in. Get your own show program made. CopyHub in Studio City is a GREAT place to get stuff printed quickly and without breaking the bank.
- Online adverts
- Program adverts
- Will you be streaming or recording your show? Add about $500 in for that if you are.
- Rehearsal space rental
- Any outside musical sources, i.e do you need a pianist on stage with you?
Reviews and advertising on outside websites. There are websites such as NoHo Arts that will run your advert on their website plus write you a review, which also will be on their website.
Goals
Set yourself goals for fringe. What do you want from this experience? To network? Make money or break even? Win an award? Workshop your show? Get reviews from audience members or publications? Whatever your goal/s are set them and if you achieve them, wonderful and if you don’t…please don’t beat yourself up. This entire process is brutal, it can be a massive rollercoaster of emotions, good and bad and it is exhausting, if you have had a great fringe or not it is still exhausting.
Tickets
Now when it comes to tickets I saw a bunch of fun ideas this Fringe, postcards and social media blasts with discount codes. Everyone loves a discount code so get one going.
What else do we love with discount codes? Free shows! If you are doing a preview show, comp it. If you can fill the theatre, word of mouth will be a great marketing resource for you, plus it’s free.
You can do a show of pay what you can or a night where you donate the profits or 10% profits of your show to a charity fundraiser.
Whatever ways you can get bums on seats, do it. Fringe is hard and it’s a continuous hussle so figure out fun ways in order to get an audience.
Add all of this into you budget. If you know you’re going to do a comp night, add it in.
Go to Fringe events and Fringe Central and meet other Fringers, do comp swaps and big each other up. At the end of the day you are all in it together and this is meant to be a a fun and safe environment to put on your work so make the most of it if you can.
Do promoted or sponsored ads on social media platforms. If no ticket sales come from it you can still see how many people have seen your posters and show details. Exposure is key. You can do promoted posts with the theatre’s address and have a five or six mile radius for the promotion.
Awards
Before Fringe starts you’ll get an email about the awards. Go through them all and READ the application process in its entirety! Some will ask you to do google forms. And start the award process AS SOON AS YOU CAN! Do not wait. The award panelists get so many applications and there are close to what, 300 shows being performed?
Imagine getting over 300 applications. I have heard that some of the award judges will only go to shows of the first xx amount of applicants. So do not wait a week to apply, apply as soon as the list comes out. Be on top of it.
Community awards are awards you do not have to apply for but make sure you are in the right categories. If your show is a solo show but a musical, put it in the musical section. The way you do that is in your page set up, do it before the program has been printed.
Show time
Once it is showtime…have fun! That’s what it’s all about right? If you are workshopping your show that is a great way to get feedback and notes. Last year we workshopped Trust Me, I’m from Essex at Fringe and we did three shows and I didn’t advertise the show as much as I could have because it was a workshop. The feedback I got a lot of was, more songs please. A year later I did the show again with five shows and four new songs, so time for a re-brand and it became a solo musical.
If your audience can write reviews for you on the fringe website a great way of using those reviews is by either putting them on the poster or any pictures you have had taken during the production and blasting the fuck out of them on social media platforms.
Lastly
Do not be hard on yourself. Fringe is really overwhelming for everybody and like I said before, if you had a great run and sold out shows, the whole process can be draining. Go with it, take breaks, take the time out for yourself to refresh. If you didn’t achieve your goals don’t stress it, it is what it is. Producing and performing in your own show is giving you skills that you will use in the future and they are valuable skills indeed. So if you didn’t achieve your goals I guarantee you achieved something way more valuable and that is being the creator of your own destiny. So be proud of yourself, be very mother trucking proud.
