Greetings, Fringers!

Registration is cruising right along as we near our first deadline of April 1. For those of you who want to be included in the printed guide as participants (hint: you do), make sure to finalize your bookings and pay your Fringe registration fee by then.

We are lining up some exciting visibility events, promotions, and programs to make the Fringe even more spectacular than last year.

As always, if you need assistance, help is just an email away. Our support staff are standing by to shepherd you through your Fringe adventure.

Enjoy your update and Fringe On!

Ben Hill, Festival Director
Hollywood Fringe Festival 2011

Registration Deadline

Deadline Alert: To be included in the printed guide (check out last year’s), we need your registration complete by April 1. To register you need an online project and a booked venue. Check out this article for a rundown of the entire process.

For those of you who already have a booked venue, please contact your venue and ask them to “make an offer on your online project”; they will know what you mean. You will receive an email from the Fringe website that an offer has been made with information on how to register.

Once you have paid the $250 fee ($175 for free admission or one-off projects) you are officially a participant of Fringe 2011 and eligible for all the Fringe benefits.

Town Hall

Thanks to everyone who attended the Town Hall at Theatre Asylum on March 2. We had a wonderful discussion on topics including registration, finding a venue, ticketing, managing costs, hosting a venue, and more.

We know many of you could not make it to this event – fear not, there will be more of its kind before the Festival launches on June 16. In the meantime you can listen to the town hall to hear what you missed.

Fringe [Film]

We are excited to announce the launch of our Fringe [Film] program; an opportunity for established and emerging filmmakers to make a splash on the Fringe circuit. Applications are now open, so if you have a film of any kind make sure to apply today.

Submissions are handled a little differently for film than other fringe programming. We ask for a small application fee to be considered in the program. If accepted, we feature your film at our Fringe Central venue.

Read all about it to learn more about how the program works.

Housing Artists

We need generous volunteers to house national and international artists during the Fringe. Got a couch, a spare bedroom, a friend with a ten room manor in the hills? Send us an email and we will add you to the lists of hosts for the 2011 Fringe.

Meet the Staff

As a part of our ongoing series of Fringe staff introductions, we’d like to introduce Food and Beverage Director Abbie Wagoner, Special Programs Director Jon Armstrong, and Support Director Alexa Hanrahan.

Got questions or need support? Contact us at [email protected].

We are busting with excitement to announce the launch of a brand new program for Fringe 2011: Fringe [Film].  This is a chance for both established and emerging filmmakers to exhibit their work in the supportive and dynamic environment of an international fringe festival
 
We’ve always wanted to bring more film programming to the Hollywood Fringe which is why we were so enthusiastic when Mr. Ezra Buzzington presented the idea at a meeting earlier this year.  Since that first sit-down we have been hashing out the program and are thrilled to formally announce it today.
 
Each day of the festival, the Fringe will feature a suite of films at our Fringe Central facility at ArtWorks Theatre & Studios.  
 
Read all about it and consider bringing your film to the Fringe. It’s fun, easy, and just may be the first step towards a star on the walk of fame.

Big important note: Application ($15-$30) does not guarantee admittance into the [Film] program. Make sure to read the language in the above article carefully as the film program works a little differently than other Fringe submissions.

Hollywood and film. Who would have thought they’d go together?

Ben

And now a word from our amazing Support Director. Take it away Lex!

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Hi Freaks!

Your loyal Support Director, Alexa here. If you stopped by Fringe Central last year and saw a batty looking girl with two computers open in front of her in the lobby, that was me. Smiling blankly, but happy as kitten in a field of cat nip.

I hopped on the Fringe wagon about two years ago when I was still living in Chicago. I thought it’d be cool to help out with booking acts, learning about the festival and.. you know, volunteering. Not really having any idea what the festival would be like, it’s goals, or the dreams it had been developing for three years, I started emailing and futzing around with ideas, and by the time I moved to LA, I was knee deep in support and sucked into the beautiful vortex that is Hollywood Fringe.

So – Support. Support!

You know when you have a question and you email [email protected]? Those come to my ever growing inbox! I review each and every one of your questions, concerns, or problems, and either help you out myself, or enlist whichever of the HFF’s many talented staff members can best be of service.

If you have a question or problem that the site itself can’t answer (note: Ben’s blogs and the Learn section are REALLY great resources!), send it my way. Every single member of the staff wants your Fringe experience to be as fun and hassle-free as possible, and it’s my job to ensure that you walk away with the confidence of questions answered.

I am delighted to be a part of Hollywood Fringe again this year, and I can’t wait to see what 2011 brings.

And please, if you see me behind a desk at Fringe Central this year, come up, break my tunnel vision, and say hello!

Keep on keepin’ on,

Alexa

And now an important message from our volunteer coordinator, Liz Steele…

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Hey Fringers!

As many of you know, we had our first town hall of the year last week marking the beginning of the Fringe season. The energy was contagious at Theatre Asylum and carried over to the Three Clubs. Even with three months left to go before previews start, we’ve had such a great response regarding volunteers. Today, I’d like to inform you of a rather specific volunteer opportunity.

Last year, approximately half of our shows were from outside the Los Angeles area and 20% were international artists. For the practical minded of you out there, I’m sure you’re thinking something along these lines, “Artists, huh? Flying across the globe, even driving from the middle of the country, that doesn’t sound cheap.” And you’re right. But for a lot of artists, this festival provides very unique opportunities they can’t take advantage of elsewhere. So they plan and save and work their butts off to get to Los Angeles every June.

One of the kindest things a person can do is to open their home to a stranger. As you can imagine, when an artist is able to eliminate housing expenses from their visit to Los Angeles, this greatly lessens the stress that money can bring. This is an amazing opportunity for our volunteers though. It’s not just international artists that are looking for lodging, but also Americans from all over the country. We do a need for immediate housing for some international artists.

Just like with all of our volunteer opportunities, there are many factors that are very flexible. The lengths of stay vary and we’re dealing with artists so a few of them aren’t opposed to crashing on couches. So if you’re interested, please respond with the availability of your space followed by a brief description of the lodgings, is it a guest room, an air mattress, a couch, etc. Feel free to contact me with the information at [email protected].

This is one of the coolest opportunities we provide. It’s a wonderfully hands-on way to enjoy and experience the Fringe. Also, for those of you with 9-5 jobs whose hours of free time come rarely, this is a great way to volunteer for the festival and still have time to see shows.

So we look forward to hearing from you and fringe on!

Best, Elizabeth Steele
Elizabeth Steele
Volunteer Coordinator
[email protected].

Thanks again to everyone who attended the Town Hall this week.

For those of you who couldn’t make it, we have included the following audio track for your listening pleasure.

It begins with a rousing introduction by Matthew Quinn of Theatre Asylum (our host venue for the evening), followed by about 35 mins of announcements, and 90 mins of Questions & Answers.

Give it a listen!