This year’s Festival is going to be fringier than ever! Join us for some community building, learning and develop those Fringeships! See this comprehensive list of the 2021 Hollywood Fringe digital events.

EDUCATIONAL 

• HFF21 Workshop: Ask A Venue
  Recording Above!
• Town Hall #1 – All About Registration
  Saturday, May 1st 12:00pm – 2:00pm | Zoom & Livestreamed to Youtube
• HFF21 Workshop: Marketing
  Wednesday, June 16th 7:00pm – 9:00pm | Zoom & Facebook Live
• HFF21 Workshop: Festival Expectations
  Saturday, June 26 12:00 – 2:00pm | Zoom & Facebook Live
• HFF21 Workshop: How to Tech Your Fringe Show
  Saturday, July 10th 12:00pm – 2:00pm | Zoom & Facebook Live
• HFF21 Workshop: Accessibility at the Fringe
  Tuesday, July 13th 12:00pm – 2:00pm | Zoom & Facebook Live
• Town Hall #2: Welcome to Fringe
  Saturday, July 17th 12:00pm – 2:00pm | Zoom & Livestreamed to Youtube
• Consent and Conduct in the Fringe: Community Roundtable
  Saturday, July 24th 12pm – 2pm | Zoom

DIGITAL COMMUNITY NETWORKING 

• HFF21 Meet the Staff Networking Event
  Wednesday, May 5th 7:00pm – 9:00pm | Zoom
• Digital Casting Event #1
  Wednesday, May 12th 7:00pm – 9:00pm
• HFF21 Speed Networking Event
  Wednesday, May 19th 7:00pm – 9:00pm
• Office Hours
  Wednesday, June 2nd 7:00pm – 9:00pm
• Digital Casting Event #2
  Saturday, June 12th 12:00pm – 2:00pm
• Office Hours #2 
  Wednesday, June 23rd 7:00pm – 9:00pm 
• Office Hours #3
  Wednesday, July 7th 7:00pm – 9:00pm
• Office Hours #4
  Wednesday, July 14th 7:00pm – 9:00pm
• Office Hours #5
  Wednesday, July 21st 7:00pm – 9:00pm
• Office Hours #6
  Wednesday, July 28th 7:00 – 9:00pm 

PROMOTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

• Twitter Chat – Friday, June 4th 12:00pm – 1:00pm
• Twitter Chat – Friday, June 18th 7:00pm – 8:00pm
• Twitter Chat – Friday, July 2nd 12:00pm – 1:00pm
• Fringe Cabaret (pre-fest) – Tuesday, July 27th 8:00pm – 9:00pm
• Fringe Cabaret (preview week) – Dates TBD
• Fringe Cabaret (festival run) – Dates TBD

FESTIVAL EVENTS & PARTIES

• #HFF21 Office Hours at the Broadwater PlungeAugust 5th & 8th 7:00pm – 10:00pm |The Broadwater Plunge,

• Digital Fringe Runway
  Begins Wednesday, August 11th 12:00pm, Ends Thursday, August 12th 12:00pm

• Digital Opening Night Party
  Wednesday August 11th 6:00pm – 8:00pm | Gather

• Digital Awards & Closing Ceremony
  Saturday, August 29th 5:00pm – 9:00pm 

Hey Fringers,

We are proud to announce the return and expansion of the Fringe Scholarships program!

Created in 2016, the Fringe Scholarships Program exists to expand and diversify the pool of artists producing work at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. The inaugural program offered free registrations to five Hollywood Fringe productions, and has since expanded to include free registration and a $550 stipend towards production costs.

Fringe Scholarships will be awarded to first-time Hollywood Fringe producers who contribute to the ethnic, cultural, racial, intellectually or physically disabled, or LGBTQ+ diversity of the Fringe community.

This year we will award FIFTEEN awards— more than ever before! Our 2020 winners will also roll over their award to this year, making space for a very full and supportive HFF scholarship cohort.

To accommodate the changes our Festival is facing due to COVID-19, a few additional requirements have been added to our program this year. 

1. Applicants (and their production crew/actors) must reside in Los Angeles county.

2. All scholarship recipients must produce a minimum of one livestream event filmed at a Hollywood Fringe venue (see our registration announcement for more details on what this year’s Fest will look like, and which venues are available for participation).

Applications are open now, apply here or check hollywoodfringe.org/scholarships for more information.

FRINGE SCHOLARSHIPS INFORMATIONAL PANEL

Wednesday, April 14, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm on Zoom

Interested in applying for a Fringe scholarship? During this panel, past scholarship winners, our committee members and Fringe staff will dive into the scholarship application process, what the winners are required to do, and answer all your questions, live! If you cannot attend, a recording of this session will be available on Facebook through the application process! 

Want to learn more, sooner? Look at the 2019 informational panel, here.

Our scholarship winners have gone on to win awards such as: Best Solo Performance 2019: Mr. Yunioshi, Short & Sweet Award 2017: Chatter, O-Face Award for Orgasmic Achievement (Most Orgasmic Performance): Yozmit Walker – Do You: Migration of the Monarchs. They’ve gone on to extended runs at various Fringe venues, a run Off-Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse, Second City, and the steps of the California State Capitol Building. 

“The program helped my artistic vision blossom. I have grown as an artist and a leader.” – Jennifer Linares, from El Hood de MacPuerco, 2019 Scholarship Winner

“This scholarship allowed us to produce the show for a Los Angeles audience, where we were scouted for the Fringe Encore series at the SoHo Playhouse in NYC. Without this scholarship, we would not be going Off-Broadway!" – Callie Prendiville, from Blamed: An Established Fiction, 2017 Scholarship Winner

An external committee (no Fringe staff opinions) will review applications and make selections considering the following criteria:

• Does the applicant meet the scholarship guidelines?
• How will the scholarship award benefit this producer/production?
• Does this producer/production bring unique artistic experience and/or underrepresented thematic or visual content to the Hollywood Fringe Festival?

This year’s committee is made up of former scholarship winners, BIPOC and artists with disabilities who have participated in past Fringes, and representatives from outside arts organizations whose missions align with the program’s goal of expanding and diversifying the body of work being presented at Fringe.

Visit the Fringe Scholarships page to apply. The deadline is May 3, 2021 at 11:59pm PST.  Please share with anyone who you feel may benefit from the program!

Questions? Send them to us at [email protected].

Fringe On!

The Hollywood Fringe Festival Team

We are excited to announce NEW dates for The 2021 Hollywood Fringe Festival!

Official Previews:
August 5th-10th, 2021  

Opening Night Digital Event:
August 11th, 2021

Festival Run:
August 12th-29th, 2021

Awards/Closing Night Digital Event:
August 29th, 2021 

Registration will open May 1st, 2021, with lowered registration rates across the board. With ever-changing case numbers and our community’s health and safety as our priority, we will adjust this model if deemed necessary due to updates in city/county/state guidelines. 

These are the three registration types for HFF21: 

1. Livestream from an official HFF venue (in the Fringe Zone)- $175 
2. Livestream from any other location (i.e., from home, a venue outside of the zone, etc.) – $225
3. COVID-safe, socially distant outdoor theatre- $275
   From window display theatre to outdoor COVID-safe immersive work, this category is for those looking to have an audience present in an outdoor setting. This registration type must take place in the Fringe zone and requires proper permitting and an approved safety plan (following city/county guidelines for COVID safety).

Take a look at our 2021 registration types so you can begin planning your creative journey with us. Without the ability to predict the future, HFF is adjusting this year’s Festival model to create a safe and more fringe-y festival season than ever before.

To address the freak in the room, we know that things are rapidly changing, and we are following the progress daily. When registration opens on May 1, the Fringe will also be sending out a COVID-safety packet with more information on each registration type.

We understand that many members of our community are hopeful that we can host live audiences inside our theaters in August. Still, we cannot count on that at this time, nor should that hope be a deciding factor in your decision to participate. That said, if guidelines allow audiences to safely return to theatres, we will begin conversations with our partners on how to best support our transitions to in-person theatre experiences.

We take our community’s safety seriously, which is why we are focusing our efforts this year on creating a digital platform that mirrors your in-person Festival experience. We are all learning to adapt, and we look forward to exploring, creating, and pushing the boundaries of creative expression alongside you. 

We will still have all of your favorite Fringe events (with the bonus of not worrying about parking)! Town halls, Office Hours, workshops, parties, awards, a digital Fringe Central, and even a few new programs, all available to you from the comfort of your home. 

There are many exciting aspects of the digital theater experience: the amount of creativity that comes from the challenge, the broadened accessibility for audiences and performers alike, and the fact that your work can be shared with the world (and still never run out of seats). This year’s Fringe will be our chance to come together as a community and reinvent the wheel.

There is no doubt that some of these adjustments will expand the scope of what Fringe will look like for years to come—won’t you join us on this voyage into the unknown?

Have questions? Check out our FAQ or email [email protected]. 

Fringe on!

The Hollywood Fringe Staff

What happens if I paid a registration fee in 2020?

There are several options for your 2020 festival registration fee.

1. Rollover your registration to 2021 (or 2022, 2023, etc. — your registration fee does not expire). Please let us know by emailing [email protected] and let us know that you would like to produce your show this year (or any other), and we will credit your registration.

2. Donate your registration fee to the Hollywood Fringe, a 501©3 organization. We can provide proof of your donation for tax purposes.

3. Request a refund! Please have the Primary Contact for the registered show (the person who paid the registration fee) login to the Fringe website and visit https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/refund. Click “Request Check” to request your check. On the next screen, please verify your payee and address are correct,, and we will issue your check. Please allow 7-10 business days for your check to arrive via the U.S. Postal Service.

What is an official HFF venue? 

This year only: a venue refers to already established venues/theaters located in the Fringe zone. A list of eligible venues will be available in the May registration announcement, but all of our previous participating venues are eligible. Feel free to reach out to those venues here. 

Booking a venue would be the only way to register for the first registration type. A venue must be booked before registering under that registration type. 

Each venue will come with its own set of capabilities: from an empty stage that you can imagine and run your own livestream experience from, to fully livestream-equipped theatres where you might not touch a button, you’ll find a space that fits your creative and technical needs. Information on what each venue will offer this year will be provided on hollywoodfringe.org starting May 1.

This discounted registration seeks to make this year’s Fringe more financially viable for participants to return to the stages they know and love after a year of closed theaters. This will only be a part of the HFF model this year, and registration fees will return to normal for our in-person Festival in 2022. 

Can I livestream my show from a venue that is not an official HFF venue/ out of the zone? 

Yes! You can livestream your show from a theater outside of the Fringe zone, or any other location under our registration type “2. Livestream from any other location.” 

Please keep in mind public spaces or privately owned locations would need permission and or permitting depending on what city/state/country you are filming from. 

If I book an official HFF venue, can I have an audience during the festival if guidelines change? 

At this time, no. You should not register today if you only want to participate in hopes of live audiences. The decision to pivot to a hybrid model will be made if guidelines change, AND HFF staff and partners decide it is safe for our community. 

Why are all the registration types different costs? 

We discounted registration fees across the board because we know this has been a difficult year financially for everyone, and we want to do all we can to allow theatre artists to get back to their first love: the stage! 

Each registration type will take a different level of Fringe participation/interaction, and those levels have been priced accordingly. We have additionally lowered the venue registration costs to support our local venue economy, and ensure that artists have the opportunity to film there at a lower cost.

Is it safe to participate?

The Hollywood Fringe is working with local authorities, businesses and venues to ensure the safest procedures possible for a digital streaming fest.

That being said, if you’re worried about COVID-19 spread, or don’t feel safe enough yet to participate, we recommend that you submit your work from home or another environment that you feel safe in under our registration type “2. Livestream from any other location.”

How many livestream shows can I do from an HFF venue?

There is no limit to the number of shows you can submit. However, your venue will work with you on how many bookings are available in their space. Your venue is responsible for setting the time slots for your show, similarly to how venue spaces operate during an in-person Festival season. 

How many livestream shows can I do If I am not working with a venue?

There is no limit to the number of shows you can submit. However, we recommend that you honor your capacity for safety and marketing purposes and check in with your team about what’s best for your production.

Will there be a printed guide this year?

No. All shows will be listed on the website as in years past, and we will be (re)introducing the Hollywood Fringe app. While we will not have guide ads available this year for marketing, you can still purchase our online ads at a discounted rate. 

What if I have no idea how to livestream but want to participate?

We will have multiple pre-festival events designed to help you navigate this new platform. There will also be informational guides in this year’s participant packet. 

At the beginning of this process, our Fringe staff was in your shoes— we know how daunting this task can seem, but are uplifting our community’s amassed knowledge to walk you through this. The Fringe is a special place: you don’t have to pretend to be an expert. Our Festival supports artists from all walks of life and knowledge bases— come try something new with us!

Additionally, if you’re worried about technical aspects, there are people to hire! Please consider booking a venue where those aspects are taken into consideration or that is fully-equipped to tech your creative vision.

Can I submit a film? 

No. 

Although, just like a live production, you can incorporate filmed segments into your live show. We recommend that you consider those moments an addition to your show, and not the focus.

What’s next?

There will be more additions to this FAQ for the May 1 registration opening. Please email [email protected] if you have any further questions at this time.

Dearest Fringe Family, 

As we embrace 2021 with cautious optimism, we couldn’t be more thrilled to begin sharing our plans for the 11th annual Hollywood Fringe Festival. 

Over the last year we have watched creativity blossom throughout our community in ways we didn’t know were possible. From Zoom theatre to socially-distant immersive experiences, you have shown that artists will find a way to create theatre even in a pandemic, and it is this creativity that will make the 2021 Fringe season possible. Throughout its past, the Fringe community has proven, time and time again, the impact that an annual, grassroots gathering of artists provides its community. The camaraderie, creativity, and connections we witness in the lead-up to the festival mirrors the resilience this moment requires.

In concert with our venue partners, we have rescheduled the festival to August 12-22, 2021. By pushing back our timeline this year, it gives us the greatest assurance that we can gather for a digitally-driven, community-focused Hollywood Fringe Festival. 

We are actively working in conjunction with local, city and state health officials in planning a safe and successful festival. While digital shows will certainly make up the bulk of Fringe this year, the postponement allows for the increased possibility of safely presenting in-person shows according to public health guidelines. We’re hopeful that the delay will allow more time for the public to be vaccinated and restrictions to be loosened.

To ensure that we have the most up-to-date safety and health regulations in mind when we start our Fringe season, we are also delaying the opening of registration to May 1, 2021.

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 

The Hollywood Fringe exists to serve our community, please help us provide the best support possible by filling out this survey. We are listening.  
 

FRINGE FROM HOME

Though we may not be able to meet in person right now, we will be continuing our digital community space, Fringe From Home, beginning in March.
 

WE WANT TO HELP 

We know that the pandemic’s economic impact has affected our community deeply. Our artists have lost work over the past year and our artistic homes are hurting: from the theaters we perform in, to the watering holes we grab a drink in post-show. 

To help offset the cost of participating in the 2021 Fringe, we are proud to announce that we are creating an artist fund with the proceeds from our upcoming annual fundraiser. More information on how to participate and donate coming soon.
 

With love and support,

The Hollywood Fringe Festival