Sunday, January 14th, from 12:00 pm – 4:30 pm
In Person at Thymele Arts | Livestream
To watch digitally, visit the Hollywood Fringe YouTube channel during or after the event.
To request live ASL interpretation, please email [email protected] at least 72 hours in advance, and we will provide one.
This dynamic series is designed to be a day of learning and collaboration that will assist Fringe participants in creative development, the writing process, and mentorship in the arts. Each workshop focuses on a different aspect of writing and is tailored to help in various stages of the writing process.
Sessions during this year’s Creative Conversations Event will include:
12:00-1:30 pm Artistic Risk Taking in Fringe Theatre
1:45- 3:15 pm Writing for Fringe 101
3:30-4:30 pm Speed Networking Session
Come for one or all of these breakout sessions led by Hollywood Fringe award winners and veterans. More detailed descriptions can be found below.
Please be sure to reserve your spot at each individual workshop ahead of time, as spaces will fill up!
Artistic Risk-Taking in Fringe Theatre
Panelists: Chris Grace, Griffin Kelly, Kelsey Harper
One of the best things about Fringe is the safe space it provides to take artistic risks. This conversation will include topics like social activism in theatre, out-of-the-box thinking, funding for projects that venture outside of the “norm,” and how to make those big ideas work at Fringe.
Writing for Fringe 101
Panelists: Samantha Bowling, Rody Villegas
New to playwriting? Have you been around Fringe for a bit but have yet to be in the creative process? This panel will deep dive with past Fringe award winners on how they approach writing for a Fringe audience. The voices of artists are the blood that pumps the heart of humanity- make your voice heard in a space where everyone is celebrated! We’ll show you how.
Speed Networking Session
(In-person only)
Fringe veterans are standing by to chat one-on-one about your ideas for HFF24. Rotate “musical chairs style” through quick conversations where you can meet members of the Fringe community, ask questions about their experience, and start pitching your own ideas! Fringe is all about community, so this event is a great way to start building yours!
These workshops are “pay what you can” with a suggested ticket price of $5.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Chris Grace (He/Him)
Chris Grace is best known for playing Jerry on NBC’s Superstore and can also be seen in PEN15, Broad City, Atypical, and more. He performs stand-up all over the world, and recently won 1st Place at the Riot Festival National Comedy Contest in Houston. He recently was awarded Best of Fest at Big Pine Comedy Festival, Burbank Comedy Festival, Comedy Chateau Comedy Festival, and Laugh After Dark. Last fall he debuted his solo comedy show “Chris Grace: As Scarlett Johansson” at the Edinburgh Fringe after developing it at Hollywood Fringe Festival. He loves tacos and dumplings in equal measure. IG/TikTok: @chrisgracecomedy
Griffin Kelly (She/Her)
Griffin Kelly (she/her) is a queer actress, writer, and comedian from Ashland, Oregon. She’s known for her role as Lynn Conway in the Emmy-winning HBO series, Book of Queer (2022) and her one woman show, Two Cats on a Date, which premiered internationally at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival to sold out houses and 5 star reviews. She performs sketch and stand up, and clown around Los Angeles, often with her sketch team, Swamp Baby—whose newest show, Ladies Ladies Lotion Time, just debuted at The Elysian Theatre.
Kelsey Harper (She/Her)
Kelsey Harper is a Texas/Brooklyn transplant living in Los Angeles. She graduated from NYU Tisch’s Department of Dramatic Writing MFA program in 2019 with an emphasis on television and playwriting. She wrote, directed and co-produced What Can I Get Started For You with Lucky Dolly Productions, which ran in 19 festivals and won six. In 2023, Kelsey took her one woman musical puppet show, Something Like… Musical to the Hollywood Fringe where it won the Jaxx Theatricals Cultural Envoy Awards as well as the Producer’s Encore Award. It now has a quarterly residency at the Jaxx Theater. In addition to Something Like… Musical, Kelsey also co- hosts a monthly comedy show, Phones Down at Lyric Hyperion and a variety show, Pigeon Presents, at Caveat in NYC. Her satirical work can be found online at Belladonna Comedy, Points in Case, 251, and Little Old Lady Comedy.
Samantha Bowling (She/Her)
Samantha Bowling is an indigenous (Cherokee) writer/comedian and actress based in LA but originally from Cincinnati OH. She has a thicc ass, a big heart, and a very good doggie, Bowie.
Rody Villegas (He/Him)
A writer, scenic designer, director, and producer, Rody Villegas strives to create unique worlds that pull in an audience taking them away from reality while tackling difficult subject matters all in hopes of providing an audience a sense of catharsis. Rody is constantly in motion and thrives on producing work, attempting to generate authentic ideas, and presenting the unexpected.
Learn More at hollywoodfringe.org
