We’re excited to announce that Kanchan Mattoo will succeed Festival Director Ben Hill as Chairman of the Board. Kan and Ben are both co-founders of the festival and Kan has served for many years on the board. He served as the Fringe Development Director for many years before retiring from staff. 

From Ben: “Kan has been with the organization since its inception and has always been a driver for positive change. I am thrilled to work with him in his new capacity as he continues to develop a board worthy of our mission.” 

In his new position, Kan plans to focus on marketing, fundraising and other opportunities contributing to long-term stability. “Now that Hollywood Fringe has become a staple in the cultural arts of Los Angles,” he said, “my long-term vision is to develop a strong basis of funding to sustain the festival for years to come.”  

The slate of board members for 2017-2018 is listed below.

Kanchan Mattoo, Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board
Ben Hill, Co-Founder, Festival Director
Jon Armstrong
Monica Martin
Stacy McKee
Steven Leigh Morris
Dave McKeever, Co-Founder, Producing Director
Matt Wells

“All the world’s indeed a stage and we are merely players.”

-Rush (kind-of), Limelight and/or Shakespeare, As You Like It

Hello, fellow Fringers!

I am so FREAKin’ excited to begin as your new Publicity Manager! (See what I did there?)

Although I am new to the Los Angeles Theater scene, my love of theatre has stemmed from 14 years old when I played a robotic security guard, WD-40 (yes, like the lubricant), in a small-town Mississippi theatre production of Prospero.

Last year was my first Fringe Festival attendance. I was blown away by the overall atmosphere and the level in which it was curated. Seeing the community come together to celebrate creativity, exploration and expression was incredibly inspiring. I knew I needed to be a part of it. 

My job will be to work with the media and public to ultimately share all the things we love about Fringe and the importance of what we do here. I will be helping to write press releases as well as creating and maintaining partnerships with the press and organizations that keep the exposure of Fringe strong.

If anyone has any ideas/thoughts on strengthening the publicity for Fringe, let me know and we’ll rock it together! I am so excited to part of this community and can’t wait to meet y’all soon.

Hi I’m Melissa!

I’m so overwhelmingly excited to join the Hollywood Fringe Festival, specifically the Outreach team. 

I remember seeing the posting for the Community Engagement Coordinator on Facebook and I immediately thought the job was specifically tailored to me. Theatre has been a huge part of my life all throughout my teen years and into adulthood. I’ve worked in the non-profit theatre world, theme parks, and postproduction. 

My first introduction to a Fringe Festival was in San Diego. I was a student at San Diego State University, studying theatre, when I came across an opportunity to be in a show that would be presented in the Fringe there. I loved that experience. Since then, the Fringe has been very close to my heart. 

Currently, I’m working on my Arts Leadership and Cultural Management Master’s Degree. I chose this area of study because it focuses on the benefit art has on diverse communities. Theatre has benefited me, in the most positive way possible, and I hope to help other people have the opportunity to engage in theatre and all it has to offer.

Thanks for welcoming me to the team! 

The second-to-last installment in our intern series comes from Effy Yizhou Yang, HFF17 Set Design Intern. 

I consider myself really lucky to be able to participate in the Fringe internship program. There are not many programs out there that has specific intern categories, such as Fringe TV, Volunteering Organization, Set Design, etc. Those specific categories allow the interns to focus on tasks that they are actually interested in and develop skills accordingly.

For example, not only was I helping in the execution and installment of the design, I was also encouraged to participate in the design process from the very beginning. The openness to ideas and collaborative working environment surprised me. However after meeting all the staff member in our intern luncheon, I realized this harmonious working relationship exists everywhere within the fringe team. Everyone works together towards one goal, which is to present a memorable and special theatre festival for participants.

My advice for next year’s interns is to think like you are the director of the fringe team, no matter what position you are on; to think about how you can make this year’s fringe better. You might just have the next great idea to help fringe to be better.