For the last couple of years, we’ve opted to buy two-page spreads in LA Weekly and then sell blocks of our space to participating shows at a discounted rate. We feel this group ad buy helps to generate excitement by highlighting the diversity of the festival. For $175, you can now purchase a 2” (width) x 3” (height) full-color ad to be included in the spread (on pages 4 & 5 on June 6th or pages 2 & 3 on June 13th). You can purchase one of these ads by going to www.hollywoodfringe.org/ads and clicking “Print Ads”. There are a limited amount of spaces available— so make sure to reserve your ad as soon as possible.

You can also purchase ads in the Fringe Guide (print) and on the Hollywood Fringe site with special participant rates by visiting the link above. All guide ads must be reserved by April 15th, but there are no deadlines for online ads.

Fringe Workshop Panelists (L-R) Monica Miklas, Chad Kukahiko, Rachel Stoll Armstrong, Aaron Kozak and Gowrie Hayden.

Thanks to everyone who attended the first Fringe Workshop over the weekend! We were happy to have a packed house consisting of many new faces eager to learn and prepare for June’s big event. The panelists deserve endless gratitude for sharing their time, experience and knowledge. And also a big thanks to Elephant Stages for hosting the event.

During the Workshop, we discussed a wide range of topics surrounding money and marketing.

For those of you who missed it, we recorded the proceedings.

Enjoy!

Still have questions? Email us at [email protected] or join us for the next workshop on Saturday, April 13th from 2 to 4 PM PST where we’ll focus primarily on what to expect during the festival (and how to best prepare!).

Curious about what being an intern for the Hollywood fringe is like? Check out this blog post by 2012 intern Samantha Evans!

Interning as the Outreach Intern for Meghan McCauley at the Hollywood Fringe 2012 was an incredible experience. It truly opened my eyes and introduced me to the not- so-underground theatre scene in Hollywood, as well as taught me a lot about the inner workings of the industry.

My usual day started at 2pm, except when I was volunteering to walk as a Fringe Freak in the West Hollywood Gay Pride Parade, but that wasn’t a usual day! I was quite keen, and also nervous about the summer school traffic, so I’d leave at 1 o’clock, and get there 20 minutes early, after parking in the staff lot, or finding some ‘gold’ street parking. I definitely shaped up on my parallel parking skills at the Fringe.

I’d walk to Fringe Central, where I’d ask if anyone needed help. One time I had to fold shirts, another time I had to clean the bathroom (that’s when I really felt like an intern), and another time I had to make a collage with all the theatre postcards in the bathroom (that’s when I felt like a hipster intern). Sometimes it was brooming the cigarette butts and picking up plastic cups, sometimes it was just having a chat with the Fringe Family. Once it was actually 2pm (told you I was a bit keen) Meghan and I would prepare for the Student Fringe, assembling press kits and programs and discussing how to plan and orchestrate an event of this kind. I saw first hand how much effort and time went into organizing and leading a Student Fringe Performance.

Student Fringe was an incredible experience. It was amazing getting to help the performers get ready, and then watch them on stage, thinking, I shook their hand, I helped them get into costume, and now they are on the stage in front of all the kids. The kidns loved the shows, and as the ‘Bathroom Buddy’, I was constantly on duty. It was funny talking to the kids after the show and seeing how they enjoyed themselves, as well as promoting some social media for the Fringe. I learned so much, and got to be a part of the final showing of so much effort.

When I wasn’t with Meghan, I was helping and learning about the Front of House and Box Office, answering questions, selling tickets, and introducing performances. I was pretty proud of House Speeches. It was such an amazing experience getting to meet all of the productions in the Fringe as well as before in preparation and then seeing them on stage. I felt so cool. Once a week, the other interns and I would meet with another person of the staff, getting to ask questions and learn about their role in the Fringe.

If I wasn’t volunteering with Liz in Box Office or Interning with Meghan, I just got to hang out in this radical environment, see some amazing and crazy weird dynamic performances for discount or for free, listening to live bands, hanging with the other interns (they were soo cool), singing live karaoke, talking with writers, directors, producers, actors, students, technicians (…basically the most interesting people ever), watching stand up comedy, and I even got to perform at the open mic hosted by Lonesome No More.

It was truly an incredible experience, like a dream, and gave me solid proof that all my goals and visions of the future could become my reality, and not just my life-changing summer intern experience.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for February’s Twitter Chat. This month the chat will be held on Tuesday, March 26th from 8-9 PM PST.

We’ll be focusing on last-minute registration concerns, marketing and festival prep. All you have to do to join the discussion is use the hashtag #HFF13. The chat will be moderated by Rachel Stoll Armstrong, our Social Media Manager, from the @HollywoodFringe account.

Did you watch last year’s FringeTV and think “I want to do that!”? Then you might be a perfect candidate for our first ever Fringe TV Short Film Contest.

This contest is open to all #HFF13 participants who are willing to get in front of a camera and make magic happen. To take part in the contest, we’d like you to make a short film (5 minutes or less) in the FringeTV style, centered around one of the following themes: “What is Fringe?” or “Tales from the Fringe”.

Please submit your film by uploading it to your YouTube channel anytime between now and May 1st. Then tag the video “Hollywood Fringe 2013” and tweet the link to @hollywoodfringe with the hashtag #HFF13. You must complete all the steps to qualify.

Then promote your film— the 5 films with the most “likes” will move to the final round. The winner of the contest will be awarded a recurring 30-second segment to be included in multiple episodes of FringeTV. Good luck!