Release: Community Rallies Around Festival

Press Contact:
Stacy Jones
The Hollywood Fringe Festival
[email protected]
603.540.4035
www.HollywoodFringe.org

January 25, 2010
For Immediate Release

COMMUNITY RALLIES AROUND FESTIVAL 
town hall announced for february 8

I’m excited that Hollywood has been selected as the site of Southern California’s Fringe Festival, which will bring artists from around the world to share their works in this creative environment." 
~ L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti 

Hollywood Fringe (www.hollywoodfringe.org) is holding a Town Hall on Monday, February 8th at 6:00pm at Theatre of NOTE in Hollywood to discuss the first annual Hollywood Fringe Festival (coming June 17-27, 2010) with Fringe friends and potential participants. Afterwards, attendees are encouraged to join the Fringe Staff for a Fringe Mixer (location TBD). The Town Hall and Mixer are part of a grassroots campaign designed by the Fringe Staff to integrate the local community into the creation and developmental stages of the international arts event.

"It’s been my experience that every successful Fringe Festival in the United States can point to its grassroots community outreach as the one most important element responsible for their success," says Ezra Buzzington, a member of the Board of Advisors and Venue Manager for Theatre of NOTE, "Every festival must represent and reflect its local community first, or it’s dead in the water."

For the past two years, Hollywood Fringe has brought together local artists and producers, small independent businesses and some of the most prestigious acting schools in the country, all with a common goal to uplift both the Hollywood neighborhood and the global artistic community. As of now, the Fringe Festival boasts 12 official venues with over 25 performance spaces; more venues are expected join before the festival in June (see all the venues). The Hollywood Fringe credits some of its success in the artistic community to a series of promotional videos featuring local artists (see all the videos). Since registration opened in mid-November, artistic companies have developed over 100 projects on the festival’s website. All of these projects are eligible to become official Fringe shows; the project’s creator must simply book a venue (more about this process).

Due in part to local networking, there has been a good deal of outreach to national and international arts communities. Hollywood Fringe is a member of the United States Association of Fringe Festivals, and has developed relationships with producers of festivals all over the world. Roughly 30% of the project pages on the website have been created by individuals outside L.A. or out of the country. Holly Payton, a member of the Board of Advisors and founder of the World Festival Network, emphasizes the benefits of rallying communities together: "Fringe festivals, wherever they are in the world, are important to local, national, and international communities for different reasons. Venue staff will meet producers, producers will search for artists, artists will attract audiences, and audiences will get to know their neighborhood better, which in turn will benefit local businesses. If there is a Fringe Festival in your community, everyone is a winner!" So come and check out what the buzz is all about!

WHO: Hollywood Fringe Festival
WHAT: Town Hall & Fringe Mixer
WHEN: Monday, February 8th, 2010 @ 6:00pm
WHERE: Theatre of NOTE (1517 North Cahuenga Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA), location of Mixer TBA on Fringe Website

Hollywood Fringe is a 501c3 non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible.

For more information, check out www.hollywoodfringe.org or email [email protected]