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sample budgets for fringers!

12

FEB 2025

Sample Budgets for Fringers!

by rody villegas

Hi Everyone! 

Hope you’ve all been doing well and getting excited for Fringe 2025! As we’ve been gearing up for the festival, artists have asked about getting a look at some sample budgets from previous participants. After asking some previous Fringers, we now have that information to provide! 

Overall though, I’ll mention that there’s really no one way to Fringe, each production is different which means your costs will likely all be a little different— do what’s best for you, your production, and your story. When looking at these budgets from last year’s participants don’t forget to count for inflation ( about 2-3% per year).

Follow this link to see our full budgeting sample folder! 

If you’d like a template to begin to create your own budgets, Ellen created this handy in-depth Budget Spreadsheet you can use. 

Solo Shows
 
This Solo Project with 9 performances in a 30-seat theatre was built to tour so the Hollywood Fringe Festival was one of a handful of festivals the artists went to.
 
This is a much smaller-scale solo show performed in a Black-box style 50-seat theatre for 3 nights.
 
This Solo show was produced by a local theatre company in Los Angeles, they performed for 5 performances in a 80-seat theatre. You’ll see a breakdown of stipends for collaborators and for paying the rights to the piece as this was not an original work premiering at Fringe. It’s always important to have the rights to the work you’ll be bringing to Fringe.
 
This show with 6 performances in a 30-seat theatre also went on to tour at other festivals even after it’s Hollywood Fringe run. You’ll also note the cost of photography and video, which is a useful expense when wanting to take your show on the road for marketing, if applying to other festivals, or simply for your own documentation. You can find photographers and videographers offering discounts to Fringe participants in our packet: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/participants 
 
Ensemble Shows
 
This Ensemble show was produced by a local theatre company in Los Angeles, they performed for 3 performances in a 99-seat theatre. They had a cast of 3 with 2 other performers having actor cameos. You’ll be able to see in their budget breakdown what they projected they’d spend vs. what they actually spent. You’ll also see a breakdown of stipends for collaborators as well as their scenic budget. They had an ambitious set for Hollywood Fringe and when keeping in mind their 15-minute load-in/out they decided to make space in their budget for a U-Haul rental to get their scenic elements to and from the theatre.
 
You’ll note in this ensemble of 4 the producer was one of the actors and thus decided to forgo payment. They had 5 performances in a 99-seat theatre.
 
This 7-person ensemble had 5 performances and did a great job at cataloging their purchases, even jotting down from where they bought items from. 
 
This 4-person ensemble had 5 performances in a 50-seat theatre, it’s important to note that this production among many others took actions to fundraise for their show as well as bringing together some funding prior to their show at the festival.
 
Immersive Shows
 
This Immersive show was produced by a local theatre company in Los Angeles, they performed for 10 performances in a 75-seat space. They had a cast of 10 and budgeted to pay their actors a stipend. This was a larger scale immersive production where the producing artist has a lot of communication ith their venue.
 
This Immersive show with a cast of one was a bit more intimate and thus the space they found reflected that intention. They did however also rent a theatre space for their larger shows for their world-building. You’ll see that because they brought their own Venue (BYOV) they had to secure insurance for their production, in fact, all shows performing at Fringe must have insurance. Often it is included in your Venue contract or as an optional add-on when talking with Venues.
 
 
And those are some Sample budgets Provided by Fringers, hope this helps you along your journey— Happy Fringing! 
 

 

sample budgets for fringers!