Hope everyone is having fun!

I managed to leave Fringe Central rather early tonight – we had a couple packed houses at Fringe Central and everyone seemed to be having a great time at the Fringe Central bar. Minus the gritty charm of our normal British Invasion hosts, the talented Mr. Abie Philbin Bowman stepped up to the microphone to MC the jam (this is the first one I have missed personally). At the suggestion of the Fringe staff, I opted to go home a get some rest rather early this evening. Of course, here I am at 2:30am still working, so there you have it.

Enough about me…let’s talk about Fringe.

A very important article was published today in LA Weekly: A full throated endorsement of the Fringe from LA Weekly theatre critic Steven Leigh Morris. This much welcomed validation of all the work we have all invested into this event is very welcome. Reading through his diary of a day in Fringe is a primer for those of us who have realized how to do it. You don’t just see one show – you bounce from show to show enjoying the adventure of hidden treasures around city corners.

One line in this wonderful article especially struck me: “The shows I saw started within two minutes of their announced curtain time, which, on Saturday alone, allowed me to see eight performances in 14 hours. Staff was courteous and efficient — for lack of a better word, professional.”

I believe he is not solely referring to the Fringe staffers here (though we certainly appreciate the compliment), he is referring to the professionalism of the Fringe community at large. Too often, Fringe acts are synonymous with amateurism – in our case, I think due party to the nature of our model and partly to your dedication and focus, we have achieved a level of professionalism that will one day be the envy of arts communities everywhere. The concept of anything starting on time in LA is mind blowing. Well done, everyone…each of you makes us all look good.

Read the full article here

We have several days left and one very important closing weekend. I am sure all of your are equal parts tired and exhilarated – this is not the time to go soft. Remember: Flyering is Fringing. Keep the houses full by hitting the streets and spreading the word. See each others shows and network, network, network. Many participants are finding success in flyering patrons as they come out of shows. Important word of warning: Ask permission from the venues before doing this, each has different policies. NEVER flyer patrons inside the house of a fellow participating show, this is obviously rude.

Several of you have grabbed me today to discuss awards. This is what I will say: Moving forward, there is a 95% chance the Fringe will never directly sponsor another award. It is our goal for next year to produce the awards event, provide the statuettes, and set the names/natures of the awards – but to allow other organizations to jury them. This may include the use of the electronic balloting system we are developing now which should be ready by week’s end. Take these awards with a grain of salt – it will be a good time, some deserving projects will walk away with statuettes, we are all winners. Give us a break this year and we will endeavor to improve the entire process in years to come.

Keep track of the adventures of Stacy and James in their daily correspondence interviews It’s good stuff and an interesting onramp into the world of Fringe.

Many of you have been asking how to add a review to your project. Minus new features in the website which we may not have time to implement properly, we suggest simply editing your project’s description to include relevant quotes from your reviews. It’s quick and easy and marginally less effective that a formal web framework (which will undoubtedly be present next year).

Speaking of next year, let me just tell you now: There will be a Hollywood Fringe 2011 (and 2012, 2013, 2014). Truth is, there was always a Fringe, it just so happens 2010 is our first festival.

I am sure there is more to discuss, but this post is already getting rather long. Get some rest and return to the Fringe tomorrow savoring every remaining moment.

Ben

I sit here amidst the random remains of flyers littered across the halls of Fringe Central as I write this. The jam has just ended with the sad but inevitable farewell performance of Mr James Sherwood on the piano who leaves us tomorrow. A fitting end to his tenure on piano, (and continuing the Queen through line), we sang Bohemian Rhapsody slightly off key….ok, very off key. Also big thanks to magician Jon Armstrong of “I Do Card Tricks And I’m Funny” for wowing the Jam crowd.

If my spies are at all accurate (for those of you who see me, you know my first questions: “How was your house today?”), houses are seeing an uptick in size. Well done, folks. Yes, promotion works…as more and more of us build a critical mass of guerrilla marketing, the sheer magnetic force of the festival overcomes the will of the unwilling.

Not too much to reports this evening as the festival starts to guide its own path, just a few tips and reminders to keep us on track….

Ben

VIZ STAGE TOMORROW: The LA Times should be there!
The LA Times (largest circulation in Los Angeles) walked into Fringe Central this morning asking for a time to take pictures of the goings on in the Festival. Here’s what we need: Everyone who can, please join us at the Egyptian Theater directly West of Las Palmas on Hollywood Blvd tomorrow at 2pm. An LA Time Staff reporter will be there between 2pm at 3:30 PM, and we need people/projects to provide pretty pictures (alliteration in the extreme, eh?). In all seriousness, a picture of your project in the LA Times is excellent marketing for now and for future projects, so please make it if you can. Preferably, come in costume or with any eye catching show paraphernalia that might help market your event.

AWARDS
As mentioned yesterday, we are making a mid-course correction on how Fringe awards are granted. As one of your put it so eloquently, these are shark infested waters. Rather than going into the details in this posting, allow me to redirect you to this fun little article on the current thinking: http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/learn/article/345

ps….the June 21 correspondence videos is slightly delayed due to technical problems entirely due to me, the sketchy upload process of YouTube, and the sometimes irregular upload speeds of Fringe Central wireless access. I think we can all agree that the crack team of Stacy/James are doing an amazing job turning these things around. :)

I mentioned in my last update that we are executing a mid-course correction in how we handle awards. If you are a participant and have stopped by the ye olde Fringe Central, I am sure you have heard me talk your ear off about this. Thanks to Mr. Gedaly Guberek for helping me do the original brainstorm on how to make these more fair and balanced.

Here’s how we used to do it…

We were using the reviews system to determine awards in all categories – so panelists interested in reviewing shows for the Fringe would rate a show over 4 dimensions: overall, quality, effectiveness, and relevance. I still think this system is good for community reviews and we are keeping it pretty much untouched. Of course you will have the occasional company member, mother, slighted ex-boyfriend, and props master skewing the reviews to further some agenda that doesn’t serve the primary function of community reviews: Serving the patrons and helping them make informed choices.

I’d just like to say to all of you who are doing this deliberately: I am very cross with you. Let’s not make the Fringe site YouTube (those of you who read YouTube comments know that of which I speak).

Here’s the problem…

While acceptable in the context of online star ratings (there isn’t a perfect way to build a cheat-proof system), it is unacceptable in the context of awards. Even the act of rating and jurying the panelists requires the Fringe organizers to make subjective decisions on who does and does not deserve to become a panelist. Subjective decisions are something I would like the Fringe team to avoid. A single theatre company can simply tell all its social circle to vote 5 stars across the board for their production, rendering the awards ceremony, for lack of a better term, a joke.

Our idea, our mistake, here’s a new plan that’s evolving…

The simplest way to handle the awards is to leverage a controlled environment with a panel that is fixed and does not require any subjective judgements from the Fringe team. As it so happens, we already have one: Our 180+ participant productions. Each production receives a single ballot (you won’t be able to vote for yourself). Add to that a fixed ballot with each including the opportunity to select your favorite show from each category. The total points will inform the recipients of the awards in each category and include an overall winner, a favorite in international shows, and a favorite in world premieres. It also allows the possibility for “nominees” – which can also be taken away from the Fringe as a win for future marketing.

The award ceremony is to be held in Fringe Central on June 27 at 6:30pm and is to be hosted by Mr. Jim Smallman.

Indulge me for a moment to thank our panelists thus far who have done an amazing job at providing coverage of the festival from a community level – assisting patrons in making tough decisions on how to schedule their days. Just because the panelist plan doesn’t inform the awards, it in NO WAY diminishes their importance in making this Fringe a success. Indeed, their input has served volumes in doing so…and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for taking their continuing role so seriously. Read panelist reviews here

As this is the first year, there will be further revolutions/evolutions in the progress of awards (and just about everything else) as the theoretical meets the real…which is just one of the things that makes all this so very exciting.

Thanks for reading and please stop by Fringe Central (because our support inbox is already full enough) to discuss your thoughts on this matter. As always, we are always open to your observations.

Ben

We are so very honored to inspire the first collaboration between LA Weekly and Back Stage for coverage of the inaugural Hollywood Fringe Festival. Both publications are featuring over 40 reviews from shows premiering during our first weekend online with a selection of reviews in each printed publication.

Special thanks to Steven Leigh Morris and Dany Margolies for their support and wisdom. I am sure our audiences appreciate their guidance in navigating this massive celebration of emerging art.

Without further introduction, I present to you…

The LA Weekly Reviews
The Back Stage Reviews

Ben

Greetings, all-

Another Fringe day…and here I am writing you past 2:30am, sitting on a Fringe Central couch amidst the bitter remains of kicked kegs and wildly unsorted flyers (seriously, I spend half my life sorting your flyers).

A few themes of the day:

• The hand gesture of a plane taking off – seemingly to represent the the uptick in house sizes
• Various jokes involving flyers and flyering (there is no proper way to spell that word)
• Everyone seems to be talking about crack/meth heads – not sure why
• Ever more exotic pronunciations of the word “Edinburgh”

This was the biggest, most badass Monday in LA theatre history – and you are all the players. And yes, I will plug it again: End your night at Fringe Central where the beer flows and the gods swoon.

Don’t worry, not gonna tell you how much I love you tonight.

Ben

(serious news time)

FREE/PWYC SHOWS
Thanks for all your submissions. We have posted a free/pwyc link of free shows. It’s been a harried day, so if I missed anyone’s show or misrepresented your PWYC details, please let me know: http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/learn/content/342 Got some free/pwyc shows to announce? Send an email to support – god knows we don’t get enough emails.

AWARDS
So a quick course corrections in awards … thanks to those of you who didn’t say outright the original plan was a bad idea. Turns out it was very bad – don’t say we don’t listen to those of you who don’t mind calling us out on bad ideas. I am going to make a proper post about this tomorrow (too tired now), the gist of the matter is this: We are moving to a peer-reviewed system where every registered participant project will receive a ballot. As I said, more info in the harsh light of day.

FRINGE JAM
Tonight was the largest jam yet and MC’d by the inimitable Kent Valentine of the British Invasion featuring the piano stylings of James Sherwood. Thanks to a rocking set by kings of comedy Booth & Pat, the stand up of Abie Philbin Bowman (sans the Jesus jumpsuit), the comedy assault of Jim Smallman (apparently I look like Hugh Grant on steroids…not gonna live that one down anytime soon), and more laughs and larks from BI and beyond (can I interest anyone in yet another interpretive dance?). The end was a perfect love song to Fringe (and the potential finale of our imminent documentary), 30 jammers on stage, singing “We are the Champions” to an audience of no one. That was the single Fringiest moment thus far…thank god we have it on tape.

REVIEWS
The reviews are in – check out the online versions of LA Weekly and Backstage for reviews for over 40 shows in the Fringe. Take what you can to market your shows for the rest of the Fringe. Suggestion: Print many copies of key parts of your reviews (preferably the favorable parts), and staple them to your pre-existing flyers. This is what people do…in Fringes. We have also seen scores of reviews from LAist, LATheatreReview.com, and the constant and wondrous coverage from Bitter-Lemons.com. And, of course…the ever developing Fringe Reviews from members of your community: http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/reviews

Yes, these emails are getting more and more bizarre…but there is a crackhead in the lobby.