Hatchery Arts, parent organization of the Hollywood Fringe Festival, will identify a minimum of two staff, eight current or past festival participants, and one board member who will serve as the organization’s Access Committee. This committee will meet on a regular basis to conduct assessments of Hatchery Arts’ organizational practices and processes, document successful approaches to equity, and identify areas of inequity that need addressing by Hatchery Arts leadership and staff. 

This committee will also be responsible for making recommendations and setting equity goals for subsequent phases of Hatchery Arts’ CEI planning. This initial phase of work will commence in January of 2020 and conclude September 30, 2021; results of the audits and the recommended next steps will be shared publicly on the Hollywood Fringe Festival website and other publications as appropriate, as well as at regular meetings of the Hatchery Arts Board of Directors.

Hatchery Arts intends to preserve the dignity and professionalism of the workplace as well as protect the right of employees to be free from discrimination, unlawful harassment, retaliation and inappropriate conduct toward others. Hatchery Arts leadership and staff acknowledge that it is critical to include practices throughout the fabric of the organization to advance equity within its community and sphere of influence. This commitment is infused in all areas of the organization’s work as described below. Hatchery Arts will implement its commitment to cultural equity and inclusion through the following methods/methodologies:

Attendees and participants for the festival and year-round programming:

• Continue to develop and expand programs that provide financial and production assistance to producers and artists who might otherwise be excluded from participating in the festival due to economic challenges.
• Establish and promote new protocols that facilitate diverse participation in the festival in terms of race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability status, religion, class, and indigenous heritage.
• Expand our marketing efforts to reach Spanish-speaking audiences
• Further our outreach to festival stakeholders to encourage and broaden accessibility for our patrons across the event.
• Regularly review our code of conduct and other policies that define the bounds of acceptable behavior in our community. 

Staffing:

• Develop job description language and hiring practices to remove barriers that discourage application submissions from a diverse applicant pool in terms of race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability status, religion, class, and indigenous heritage.
• Regularly review employee practices through an employee handbook
• Establish frameworks for constructive discourse about identity, equity, diversity, inclusion, and access.

Board and Governance:

• Develop protocols that consider race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability status, religion, class, and indigenous heritage to inform board member recruitment.

Who will be represented on our committee:

• Two Hatchery Arts (Hollywood Fringe) staffers that will act as non-partisan liaisons between this committee and the Hatchery Arts organization.
• One board member that will act as a non-partisan liaison between this committee and the Hatchery Arts Board.
• Eight current or past Hollywood Fringe participants that contribute to the race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability status, religion, class, and indigenous heritage diversity  of the Fringe community.

Meeting dates of the ACCESS committee in 2020 (must be available for 3/4, all meetings will take place via zoom until further notice):

• May 19, 2020, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• July 21, 2020,  7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• Sept 15, 2020, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• November 17, 2020, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

To apply to be on our committee, please fill out this form. Applications close May 13, 2020 at 10:00 pm PST.

With our current situation we are all safer at home, but the need to connect is stronger than ever! We hope you will join our community for these awesome online social events!

You know ’em, you love ’em! Office Hours are back… ONLINE! Join Hollywood Fringe staff and participants for weekly casual video chats from the comfort of your own home. Follow our social media for platform announcements the day before each event! Mark your calendars to join us from 7-9pm on the following dates in April:

• Wednesday, April 1
• Wednesday, April 22

Our bi-monthly chats will be continuing with the originally scheduled dates and times! All you have to do to join the discussion is use and follow the #HFF20 hashtag. These chats are moderated by the @HollywoodFringe account. Join us from 12-1pm on the following dates:

• Sunday, March 29th 
• Monday, April 13th 
• Sunday, April 26th
• Monday, May 11th
• Sunday, May 24th

Fringe From Home: Creative Prompts! 

We may not be able to gather but we can still inspire! Let’s feed our creative souls with some artistic challenges. Each week we will share a new writing or performance prompt with the fringe community. Take the challenge by sharing your work on socials using #FringeFromHome and #HFF20!

Virtual Fringe Cabaret is coming in May!

On May 1st, we will be launching our first ever online cabaret series hosted by your Fringe Cabaret Director, Bella Luna. Keep an eye on our socials for more information on how to participate!

With the directive to cancel or postpone in-person events and meetings, we are working to provide even more safe solutions to keep our community active and engaged. We know how necessary the arts and #Fringeships are in times like these.

We will continue to search for ways to provide creative scratching posts as we approach our August 1, 2020 confirmation date. To do so, we need your input! Let us know how the Hollywood Fringe Festival can marshal its resources to help right now.

Please fill out this survey to help us serve you.

We look forward to getting through this together, no matter how far apart we are! Remember to stay safe, stay inside, and FRINGE ON!

Dear 2020 Hollywood Fringe Participants,

We are sure many of you have lots of questions surrounding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Fringe.

Per our recent announcement, the 2020 Hollywood Fringe Festival is tentatively rescheduled to October 1 through October 25, 2020. We recognize that this is still a rapidly changing situation with frequent updates. To give our participants a clear decision-making deadline, these dates will be confirmed or cancelled by August 1, 2020 based on guidance from federal, state and local health authorities.

Though we will do everything in our power to ensure a fun, safe and meaningful festival this fall, please bear in mind that this is still a situation which is evolving daily with frequent updates. We are in the same position as you: trying to make the best timely decisions we can with the information available at any given moment.

We have actively considered our response over the past few weeks with the interests of the community at the forefront of every possible action plan. Though it was the toughest decision we ever hope to make, it is clear to us that this path is best for all involved: our organization, our community stakeholders and our participants.

As registered participants of the 2020 festival, you have the following options available to you:
 

• Roll over your Hollywood Fringe registration to the October Dates. If you have already booked venue slots for June 2020, please contact your venue as soon as possible to reschedule to the October dates.
  
  
• Receive a full Hollywood Fringe registration refund. If you need a refund we will provide it immediately, no questions asked. We understand these events are creating dire financial circumstances for many in our community.
  
  
• Donate your registration fee to the Hollywood Fringe Festival. For those participants that can afford such a generous gesture, your actions will help us maintain operations in this extremely vulnerable period. Note that any gifts to the Fringe are tax-deductible.

All Fringe registrations will be refundable up until September 1, 2020.

It is our sincerest hope that you continue with us for the 2020 festival currently scheduled for October. This option helps to maintain our community’s collective strength; we also understand if reimbursement is the right choice for you at this time. If you are unable to perform in October but plan to reschedule your shows outside the festival dates, we are developing a program to support your shows with the Fringe marketing/technology infrastructure. Please contact us if you would like to participate in this developing effort.

For those that have already booked a venue, the nature of your venue relationship is based on your contractual agreement with them. Please work with your venues for a best possible outcome considering the circumstances.

We are also actively seeking feedback on how the Fringe community can remain engaged during this time. Please complete our survey with your ideas on how we can help. This is critical for our planning, so please take a few minutes to share your thoughts.

If you’d like to read more about what led us to this decision and the efforts we are making to continue programming, please read our blog post. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact us at [email protected].

We feel a great social and economic responsibility to our community that makes Fringe possible every year. Please know that we are here for you during this time of crisis.

With love and support,

The Hollywood Fringe Festival

Dearest Fringe Family,

Due to events now gripping our planet, we are tentatively rescheduling the 2020 Hollywood Fringe Festival. Our top concern is the safety and well-being of our community as well as our mutual responsibility to halt the spread of the virus through social distancing.

In concert with our venue partners, we have tentatively rescheduled the festival to October 1 through October 25, 2020.

We recognize that this is still a rapidly changing situation with frequent updates. To give our participants a clear decision-making deadline, these dates will be confirmed or cancelled by August 1, 2020 based on guidance from federal, state and local health authorities. We will be publishing criteria for this decision in the coming days so that you are informed of our decision-making process.

To our HFF20 participants, it is our sincerest hope that you continue with us for the 2020 festival currently scheduled for October; we also understand if reimbursement is the right choice for you at this time. To help you make an informed decision about your current registration, please read our blog post on HFF20 participation. Right now, we encourage you to contact your venues to reschedule for the October dates.

We remain committed to providing excellent resources to our stakeholders, and encourage our community to reach out with thoughts, questions, and concerns to [email protected].

PLEASE COMPLETE OUR SURVEY

With the directive to cancel or postpone in-person events and meetings, we are working to provide safe solutions to keep our community active and engaged. We know how necessary the arts are in times like these.

We are developing plans to provide:

Virtual “Office Hours” Networking

• Virtual Cabaret
• Frequent Twitter chats
• Online Workshops
• Creative prompts for artistic challenges

To provide artistic scratching posts as we approach our August 1, 2020 confirmation date, we need your input. Let us know how the Hollywood Fringe Festival can marshal its resources to help right now.

Please fill out this survey to help us serve you.

WE WANT TO HELP

We are offering complimentary registration on our website to any free online meet-up, workshop or project that relates to our mission of celebrating freedom of expression and collaboration in the performing arts community. Look out for more information in an upcoming newsletter on this.

The history of the Hollywood Fringe community can be both inspirational and instructive in times such as these. Throughout its past, the Fringe has revealed the tremendous implications that an impromptu, grassroots force of artists can enact in its surrounding society. The groundswell of camaraderie, good will, and empathetic connections we witness in the lead-up to the annual festival mirrors the resilience this moment requires of the world’s citizenry.

In light of this announcement, we sincerely hope that all in our community will renew their commitments to one another, and project the spirit of our festival into these unprecedented  times. Stay healthy, friends.

With love and support,

The Hollywood Fringe Festival

Hello Friends,

In times of uncertainty and fear, the world needs art to raise tired spirits.

On Wednesday, we sent a message regarding our planning around the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it will have on Fringe. To allow time to methodically digest the challenges that now face us and to implement changes to keep us all healthy, we are updating our Fringe format in the following ways.

The REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS EXTENDED to May 1st, 2020. Hollywood Fringe Registration refunds will be honored until this date. For those who need more time to decide if participation is right for them this year, we are moving back our registration deadline one month. We know these decisions are not made lightly. Please use this time to learn how this pandemic will impact your family, friends and health.

Out of due caution and the need to create equal opportunities for all participants, we are canceling our in-person events in March and replacing them with Virtual Fringe experiences.

• Hiking About Fringe scheduled for Saturday March 14th has been cancelled, April & May hiking events are currently still on the schedule.
  
  
• Fringe Speed Dating will be revamped into an online chat led by Fringe veterans via Twitter. This will function similar to our Twitter chats, which will remain unchanged.
  
  
• Workshop 3: Marketing & Publicity will be moved to a live-streamed, online event. More details to come.
  
  
• Our first Office Hours scheduled for March 25 will also be revamped into an online event. In-person Office Hours is planned to resume on April 1.

By moving these events to online platforms, our intent is to foster our community in safer spaces while this public health event impacts our lives. As we all spend a little more time at home let’s continue to be present and consider:

• What can we do to ease the anxiety sweeping our community?
  
  
• What art can we safely put out into the world to lift the human spirit?
  
  
• What words can we put on paper to bring empathy or laughter to those who need it?

As we take this small break from human contact, we hope to use these guiding questions to support each other and keep the Fringe community thriving.

We will continue to monitor the situation, and follow the advice of state and local officials,  but hope to resume public events with our first official Office Hours of the season on April 1st at BLACK, Hollywood.

We look forward to an amazing 2020 festival and will continue to make changes needed to keep our community safe so that the show can go on!