On The Fringe in Hollywood
Hosted by the directors of the Hollywood Fringe Festival in Hollywood California. Ellen and Lois will be interviewing all types of guests in the Theatre and Arts Community including key players in arts funding, politicians and organizations trying to make a change in funding for the arts in the Los Angeles area. From time to time we will get in depth interviews with creators and artists who have been acknowledged for their works during past Hollywood Fringe Festivals, discussing the history of their life as an artist, their show and pick their brain on their process of creating their work during the Hollywood Fringe Festival run of their production.
On The Fringe in Hollywood
HFF25 TOWN HALL #2 HOW TO MAKE YOUR SHOW ACCESSIBLE
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ORIGINALLY RECORDER ON Sunday, March 9th, from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
ASL interpretation provided by The Sign Language Company https://signlanguageco.com/
Join us as we discuss and celebrate practices to make your Hollywood Fringe Show accessible to all audiences. Our 2025 Accessibility Town Hall is being led by the festival’s Artist Services Manager, Rody, and Marketing and Operations Manager, Jeannette. We will cover everything from venue flags to tech elements, programs, meeting accessibility requests, language interpretation, social media and website content, and a plethora of best practices that make theatre more accessible to everyone.
This Town Hall is followed by a Q&A.RECORDER We dive into the essential aspects of making your Hollywood Fringe shows accessible to all audience members, providing practical guidance on implementing inclusive practices for independent productions.
• Accessibility flags on the website help audiences identify shows that meet their specific needs
• Content warnings are crucial for audience safety and should be specific about potentially triggering material
• Communication with venues is essential as each space has different accessibility features
• ASL interpretation, relaxed performances, and assisted listening devices can make shows more inclusive
• Priority seating access and size-inclusive options should be considered when planning performances
• Personal accessibility requests through the ticketing system allow direct communication with patrons
• Clear pre-show communication about parking, venue layout, and what to expect improves accessibility
• Honesty about what accommodations you can and cannot provide is better than overpromising
• Thinking of accessibility as an ongoing journey rather than a checklist leads to more inclusive productions
• Small changes can significantly impact audience experience without compromising artistic vision
If you have questions about accessibility for your show, email support@hollywoodfringe.org or schedule a one-on-one consultation with the Artist Services Manager through the artist newsletter.
PRE ROLL Artlist Musical Logos - Positive Persistent Pluck Sequence 2
OPENING MUSIC IS BY MILANO - 'On the Move'
WEBSITE: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/hollywoodfringe/
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@HollywoodFringe
Introduction to Accessibility at Hollywood Fringe
Speaker 1Dream . So we're going to start Well . First welcome . We'll get into everything momentarily , but we're probably going to start around 205-ish . I think that's what we're starting at right now . But in the meantime , say hi , Tell us where you're streaming in from , Say a little thing about your show . No time like the present to start saying what your show's about . Yeah , oh , like right here , great it's . One of the biggest learning curves is getting used to the mic . Like right here , but yeah , it'd be great I'm going to jump into it .
Speaker 1I'm going to remember to eat mic and speak clearly and slowly , but welcome everyone . Welcome to Town Hall number two , talking about accessibility , I'm Roddy . I am the audience services manager over here at Hollywood Fringe . I started my Fringe journey in 2023 as a scholarship recipient and then in 2024 , I joined on a staff and have just had a lovely experience supporting the artists . I am always happy to answer your questions and just facilitate your fringe experience in any way that I can . For a visual description and my pronouns are he , him , but visual description I'm a Latin , a male with black curly hair , currently wearing glasses , a black turtleneck , some jeans and , yes , jeanette , do you want to take the reins ?
Speaker 3Yes , of course I do . Hi everyone , my name is Jeanette . This may be your first time meeting me , the Marketing and Operations Manager for Hollywood Fringe . I started with Hollywood Fringe in 2022 as a scholarship recipient , started working for Fringe in HFF24 , and now I'm still working here , so I'm really excited to be here . This is my first like town hall thing , so I'm really excited to share this experience with all of you . Just for a visual description , I am a Latin , south Asian woman with short brown hair . Pronouns are she they . I'm wearing a long sleeve blue top , green pants and black shoes , and I'm wearing glasses as well . I forgot about that .
Speaker 1Incredible . So we're going to do a couple of announcements right before we dive into the town hall , but and we're going to get to those momentarily but first we want to do a land acknowledgement and I'll just read off of what we have written here . It's also located on the Hollywood Fringe dot org forward slash land . So the Hollywood Fringe acknowledges that we are on the unceded lands of the Tongva , quiche , gabrileños and Gabrileños people . Our statement serves as a practice as we commit to furthering our connection to the indigenous communities of past , present and emerging . And later in the festival you'll get like a mp3 or a soundbite that we ask that shows put before their performance begins . And then we also want to say hi to the live stream and give a couple thanks , because the Broadwater is hosting us today at the second stage . They're one of our fringe venues . Check them out . And then we are going to dive into access needs . So , oh , interesting this kind of goes for today's town hall but also future town halls and workshops that if you have an accessibility need that isn't being met , please don't hesitate to let a member of staff know during your Fringe experience , also for our town halls and workshops , if you let us know 72 hours in advance . We can assist with ASL accessibility and interpretation . Simply email support at hollywoodfringeorg and then , yeah , we'll be scheduling an interpreter and making sure that we're able to assist in any way we can . Oh , we're really close , okay .
Speaker 1Upcoming workshops and town hall events . So part of Fringe's pillars , of our ethos , is we want to have town halls and events to facilitate and teach producers oftentimes producing for the first time how to do so . And so if you look up at hollywoodfringeorg forward slash events , you'll be able to find the full lineup , our programming that we have . Again , this is town hall number two . We'll be going all the way till town hall number five . A ton of good stuff . And if you ever can't make those days , don't worry . All of our events town halls and workshops are live streamed and then recorded and found on Hollywood Fringe dot com . No , hollywood Fringe YouTube . Yeah , just type in Hollywood Fringe YouTube , that's where you're going to find it . Do you want to talk about some upcoming dates and workshops ?
Speaker 3I would love to . So here are some upcoming events to look at as we start getting ready for HFF 25 on Tuesday , march 25th , from 7 to 9 . We have our fifth workshop Marketing and Ticketing at the GGC Theater . That will also be digital as well . Again , just make sure you go to our YouTube channel , hollywood Fringe , for all of our pre-recorded past recorded , I should say events , workshops , town halls , all that fun stuff in case you miss it . Our next event after that is Tuesday , april 13th , from 2 to 4 , our third town hall printed guide , ticketing and press , in-person and digital , of course at the LA LGBT Center , monday , april 14th , 7 to 9, . We have our web session number two site navigation and projects pages .
Speaker 3All of these events are very important . I will say specifically , as someone who also participated , this is a very important one . Trying to navigate our site , make sure you have full access , full reign of that for your project . And again , like Roddy mentioned earlier , make sure you go to hollywoodfringeorg slash events for our full list of upcoming workshops , town halls and web sessions . We continuously update that , so just make sure you're checking in with us . And , yes , again , any previous events , don't worry , go to YouTube , hollywood Fringe , subscribe to us so you don't miss anything Brilliant .
Speaker 1And I'm going to highlight about three links right now for at this stage in the process of producing your fringe show . So if you haven't already , definitely check out the participant packet that's at hollywoodfringeorg forward slash participants . It's about like a 65 page document , so it can be a little big . You don't need to read it all right now , but it's broken up into phases and we're currently in phase one and really what's happening in phase one is like looking at prospective budgets which , speaking about that , last year we had a bunch of amazing shows . I reached out to a handful of them and we anonymized their budgets and have now put them on the website to kind of get an idea of the budgets and the costs that go into producing at Hollywood Fringe . So that's that 2024 budget samples . That is on our blog , so you check it out there . And then the final document that I'll shout out is the our blog , so you check it out there .
Speaker 1And then the final document that I'll shout out is the annual report . So we have a annual report that we released in the summer of this year or technically last year , and that's a 12-page document . That kind of details what the festival last year was like , some of our programming , but also some of our statistics . For example , you'll find out there that the average listed ticket price was $15 , whereas the average paid for ticket was $10.71 . You'll also see there that , like shows performed on average five times during the course of the festival , and just like more stats like that that give you an idea of like what is the typical experience that last year had and how does that all happen . I think we're going to jump into some key dates . Jeanette , do you want to take the reins on ?
Speaker 3yeah , I would love to . So these are some important festival dates and deadlines to keep in mind . April 15th registration deadline because your guide listings will be locked in our guide . It's super exciting , it's really helpful . You have a you know a show , an image of your show , you can submit little blurb your dates , all that fun stuff . We want to make sure you don't miss that , because you'll miss a lot of excited audience members if you do so . April 15th is the registration deadline . April 20th guide proof and ads deadline . So just keep that in mind .
Speaker 3May 1st tickets go on sale . That is a big one . So remember that May 1st tickets for our 15-hour anniversary festival will go on sale . Then , of course , from June 5th to June 10th is our previews . June 11th is our opening night party , so make sure you put that in your calendar . We want to party with all of you guys . June 12th to the 29th , we have our Fringe Festival 2025 . And then June 30th is our awards and closing night party . So again , all of these dates are super important , but they're also on hollywoodfringeorg slash events , so don't worry about that , but just make sure you have them in your calendar . As you continue to plan with Fringe , get your venue show locked in all that fun stuff .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 1And then you know we're all really excited to be swept up in the Fringe excitement , the shows that are going to be going on , but something that we're already reminding participants about that is also when you registered your show , you agreed to which is our code of conduct . I'm actually not going to stray too far from the language we've written here because I want to be correct on what I'm saying here . But again , here at Hollywood Fringe we don't have a ton of rules . It really is an exploration and an experimentation area for your creativity . But we do take this code of conduct quite seriously and it really sums up our ethos as a festival . And again , since you've registered your project , it is your responsibility to follow the code of conduct as well as inform your cast and creative team . Typically , we recommend that you know that first day of rehearsal , when you're diving into the material and everything that you sit down , you go to hollywoodfringeorg forward , slash conduct to find the full code of conduct and just go over it with your team . I think taking that time out will really help the overall experience , right , because we don't want to have mishaps or accidents or whatever may come from just not knowing about the code of conduct , and you know that extends to digital spaces like this . So those in the chat go check out our code of conduct , be aware of it . But speaking more to that , so the Hollywood Fringe is committed to creating an inclusive environment in support of our participants .
Festival Dates and Registration Deadlines
Speaker 1That's all of you here today and online .
Speaker 1The festival is built on a freedom of expression and a lack of censorship , which means that we must maintain the utmost respect for one another to create a safe place for people to take risks in their work . The following are not allowed in our community . So that's like microaggressions , verbal and physical intimidation , hate speech , harassment , sexual harassment , assault let's go back on here Whoops Excessive consumption of alcohol and other legal substances , aggressive behavior . And , as you're navigating the festival , something that we want to bring to light is just be mindful of intention versus impact and then also public versus private interactions . Yes , if you do experience any of the above , or you are doing any of the above , a member of Fringe staff will come to you with a complaint and please , please , take it seriously . If our code of conduct is not followed , your time at Fringe can be ended before the festival finishes . And then , if you witness or experience any of the above , please report it to any present Fringe staff members as soon as possible . I think the sooner we get reports , the more speedily available we're able to act on those . And always you feel free to email conduct at hollywoodfringeorg . That email is monitored very regularly for these kinds of events . Yeah , so just like thanks for hearing that spiel , but thanks for , like you know , the a pre-thanks for you looking at your code of conduct , for you talking about it with your team , because it's it's truly going to help so much .
Speaker 1Oh , actually I'm going to take this one because it's about office hours and I love office hours . I missed the last one because I was getting I was resting , basically but so towards the end of March we are going to be moving into on in-season office hours and a little bit about office hours . Some of you I'm seeing familiar faces have been to them . We go every Wednesday night , typically from 7 to 10 pm . We'll be in a bar in Hollywood . Check out Hollywood Fringeorg for events for all the details on where that's happening .
Speaker 1Local business partners that we are , you know , having a great time with Participants will be gathering at office hours . It's a chance to one . Staff is there so you can ask questions directly , but also you get to talk to your fellow peers . Again , 90% of the Hollywood Fringe Festival is hyper local , so 90% of the people that your fellow artists will be here in LA after . So it's just a great time to meet them . I know the year I did Fringe in 2023 , I met a ton of amazing people who I still work with and collaborate and hang out with today , which has been really cute . Gina , you want to take the next ?
Speaker 3part , yeah . And then I just also want to emphasize I've also kept up some friends here . I'm like an out of state person and a lot of friends that I still have here in LA are from Hollywood Fringe office hours . So come join us , it'll be really fun . Okay , One month till April 15th left to register and book your venue .
Speaker 3Okay , I know it's intimidating . This is like everyone's a little anxious , like where am I going to put my show ? My show is so amazing , there's so many different spaces it can be performed in , and that's all true . But we have to make a decision . So , remember , it's so true , so real , but let's make a decision , friends , so we can continue showing everyone and getting butts in seats of how amazing your show is right . So to participate , remember , you must complete three steps Create a project , go to hollywoodfringeorg .
Speaker 3There you go . Second , pay , register with the festival . And then three , book a venue in the Fringe Zone . You can go to our support page on Hollywood Fringe to earn all things registration and list everything I just said in way more detail direct links to all the things you need to know about venues , registration fees , all that fun stuff . And remember , you can register and book your venue in any order , as long as you do both by April 15th . That's just like the hard deadline for that .
Speaker 3And if you have not booked a venue , start your search again at hollywoodfringeorg forward slash venues . Contact your spaces and apply directly on their site . Tour multiple spaces to find the right fit . Each venue does things a little differently , of course , so just make sure you're in communication with them about what they expect as a show , but also just like communicate with them in the end , like if you decide not to go with the venue , that's okay , no hard feelings , but let them know because there's so many other artists who may use that space . So we just want to make sure we're just clear in communication . And if you have already booked your venue , know that your venue will add performances to the website . Be patient with them . There's hundreds of shows and only 21 venues , 30-ish spaces . They're moving as quickly as they can . They're so amazing . They understand how important each and everyone's performances shows are , but just give them a little bit of patience and then don't worry . They've got you taken care of .
Speaker 1Yeah , and then , as we're kind of concluding this segment of announcements , so thank you for listening to this portion , because it is a lot of announcements and it can be a lot , but I've got some things to answer that if it feels overwhelming . So , if you aren't subscribed to the Fringe newsletters , please do so that you can find that on the website . It'll say newsletter . You click on that . However , we do this year have a artist newsletter as well that is going directly out to artists and that is written by Jeanette and I Jeanette and me One of the things but Jeanette and I are writing them and it kind of gives you like , hey , heads up , here's an upcoming deadline , or hey , office hours is this Wednesday at such and such place . It also will give you fringe facts . It'll tell you things to be aware of their upcoming . We'll be shouting out pages from the packet as well . Also , within that newsletter for artists , you'll see a link to schedule a one-on-one with the artist services manager , which is me , and there you can find a space that we'll be zooming for anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes , whatever you really need . We can screen share , we can talk about festival experience , we could talk about literally anything . It's a time where participants will come in , ask questions and gain a little bit more insight into Fringe .
Speaker 1I will say that if you have registered your project already , you are opted in automatically to the artist newsletter and if you would like to bring on your collaborators , please add them to your project page . That will be on . You know , when you pull up that project page and you scroll down , it says like add team members and you'll be throwing on like their name , their email and their title connected to the project . Once you submit their email , they will also begin to get artist newsletters , which we find to be super helpful so that everyone's informed and not missing out on any of the details . Brilliant , I covered all that , oh yes , and social media . So you'll kind of figure this out in marketing and stuff and ticketing , which we will get to in a future town hall and workshop . But you can start using the hashtag HFF25 if you'd like , and that's just a ton of fun . Yeah , it's just a good tool
Code of Conduct and Community Standards
Speaker 1.
Speaker 3It's a great tool , but , especially when the festival starts , that might be a great way for shows that you haven't heard of . In office hours or other events . You can look at that hashtag and see oh , there's a show going on . I want to go see it . Oh , wow , this show is very similar to mine . Maybe I should connect with them and all that fun stuff . So it's a really great way to keep connected with the community stuff . So it's a really great way to keep connected with the community , but just kind of keeping the know , because when Fringe starts , it starts crazily , amazingly , but there's so much going on , so we just want to make sure you guys are with us . Follow us Hollywood Fringe Instagram , all that fun stuff , so you don't miss anything .
Speaker 1Yeah , and you'll find that there's a lot of information being thrown out in lots of different spaces , but it's truly so . You don't miss anything . Honestly , you'll see like , oh , it's either on the website , on the Instagram , on the Facebook , like we just don't want anyone missing out on the important things , and that's what we try our best to do in a variety of ways . I'd also shout out we have a podcast and we have a podcast too .
Speaker 1So like there's a lot of ways to ingest this information . But I think that brings us to why we're here today , which is our how to make your Fringe Show accessible . Presentation and discussion . We'll kind of break into conversation and questions following the slideshow and the discussion , but I think I think we can just dive into it .
Speaker 3I think so Great , let's do it .
Speaker 1So while we're here on the opening slide , I'll just give you a like what is accessibility here at the festival and oh yeah , you're all . Oh no , the slideshow . Actually , jeanette , you want to take that first talking point .
Speaker 3I'll give you the paper here . The Hollywood Fringe is committed to increasing accessibility for audience members of all abilities and backgrounds . This includes disability access , interpretation services , as well as providing clear ideas of what we can and cannot provide as a non-curated , primarily volunteer-run festival . As a festival , we provide resources and workshops , town halls , even to educate , empower and encourage producers to make their productions as accessible as possible . Each venue and show has its unique conditions , so we rely on the individual producers of each show to accurately report and uphold their own accessibility practices .
Speaker 1Incredible . I cheated , I pulled it off on the map . Okay , so , talking about our accessibility checklist , oh yes , this is everything Jeanette just talked about . There we go Accessibility flags . We're going to spend some time on this , but when you're creating your project page and you're going into edit and updating it , you'll notice that there are a couple of flags that you're able to add and select , like content warning and things like that . I'll dive into that in a second .
Speaker 1But , yeah , these are so many of the accessibility flags that we offer . I believe we'll be updating some of these as well . But , for example , with our lovely ASL interpreters today , that is one of the flags . If you have a show , if your whole show is an ASL interpreted , like the whole run , you can add that . But also you can add select performances that are ASL interpreted , and so that will help on the search function . When those who need ASL interpreters for their experience here at the festival , they can select that on the search bar and then your show that is ASL interpreted for that night will be found . Yes , that's just one of the many examples and we look over here . Oh yeah , so it's amazing that we're using the accessibility flags because they're crucial . You also do have to like follow up on the accessibility flags , right ? So , again , don't click ASL interpretation if you're not having one , but also know how to work with it .
Speaker 1Like , some are hard of hearing , and I know our venues here have , like , some of our venues have auditory devices that can help as well , and so that's where communication with your venue is key . Be making sure you're like oh hey , I have a will call request which , when we get into ticketing , will be a function that you can see where a patron has asked for a device , a listening device . Venues offer it , and that's something you should absolutely communicate with them , being like is this a service you offer ? And that might be like a thing you want to make sure is a part of your festival experience , for you and your patrons . And then , once you've received a request , you can communicate that with your venue , and your venue is like great , here's our device , here's our technology , here's how we make this experience happen for our audience .
Speaker 1Let's see , oh yeah , so in addition to providing these accessibility flags and just to let people know what your show's about , we also encourage like being a little bit more descriptive in your main project page . You see , it's called like long description . The short description , of course , is for the printed guide , and I know words are there's a commodity when it comes to it but , please know , on the longer project page , it's not a word limit that I know of . I don't think so , right ? No , alan Lowe has told me no and , however , he isn't here , but he'll be telling me to eat the microphone , so I'm going to get closer , so right .
Speaker 1So let's say , you know , there's a toggle , there's a flag that says content warning and please use that when you feel so inclined to , when it's necessary . But it doesn't specify what that content warning is , just that it is in place , what you can do on your project page , like when I did mine in 2023 , my show contained suicidal ideation and discussion on suicide , and so I brought that up on my longer description . I kind of like bolded it , or was the first thing there being like heads up , this is what that show content is about , as well , as there's a couple others like multi-language performance . There's also performances in Spanish or multilingual shows , so a show that is like 50% English , 50% Spanish or however the breakdown happens . You can also raise that as a content flag , just so that people know like oh great . Like I'm a predominantly Spanish speaker , I know I will enjoy this . I know I will connect with it more , which is incredible . That's how they can make their decisions . There is also another one called nudity
Understanding Accessibility Flags on the Website
Speaker 1and that's super .
Speaker 1that's not searchable , because that would be strange . We just want to make that clear . You can't search for nudity on the website and we're just yeah because we don't need to do that . But you can identify your show as containing nudity so that when a patron is buying a ticket , they understand what's happening and no yes , must identify .
Speaker 1Yes yeah , right , let's see .
Speaker 1Um , let me see if I'm like jumping the gun on any of this .
Speaker 1Oh yeah , so you'll also see some venue accessibility flags , right , and so , with the venues , some of them are wheelchair accessible and some of them unfortunately aren't , and that's just the nature of some of these theaters in Los Angeles . Again , that's something you want to be aware of . I know that some venues have ADA compliant plans in place where , like , their theater space is ADA compliant , but they may not have an ADA compliant restroom , and so they've partnered with , like a business down the street , a business across the street , to make sure that that is provided . Again , follow up with your venue , check in with them on whoever you're like wanting to make a contract with , and that will give you a better sense of what they can offer and what they can't . We already covered assisted listening devices , 88-flight restrooms yeah , size-inclusive seating same thing . It's just a conversation with your venue and obviously most of you will be touring spaces with your venue and checking in , seeing it for yourself , knowing what they're able to accomplish and what they're not .
Speaker 1But , honestly , the initial journey with Flags is just talking to the venue and seeing what's able to be provided and , yeah , I think you want me to take it Okay , cool , yeah , I'm on a roll here so I briefly mentioned it , but I was speaking top of my head .
Speaker 1This actually details how to add a flag . So when you add a flag oh , brilliant , when you're adding a flag , you're going to go to your project page , which is that space where you're like uploading photos , where your long description lives , where you're adding your team members , right , so you'll go into your administrative side of it , which only you can see as the primary producer , and any other party you've like opted into that . So , like , your cast members probably won't be able to see that unless you allow them access , clicking on the admin tab , clicking on the individual show you want to edit , unless it's like a general content warning , you can apply that to the whole show . But , like we're saying , for ASL interpretation , it might be a one performance only event . So that's where you'd be going to edit that in and then again check any features your show may have . Whether that's everything we just talked about , let's see .
Speaker 1Yep , and , like we said , we're working on the site right now and always continually updating it and listening back to what artists have said they would like , which is why we have like drop down menus , which I'm so happy about , but also the search functions . You're able to find anything that you really want to , except for nudity . Can't do that one for good reason , and yeah , that's how that all works out . I think we go to the next slide . And yeah , do you want to talk about this ? Yeah , yeah , yeah , go for it all right , so definitions .
Speaker 3So just so you guys know what we're talking about . We're talking about accessibility terms , so we're all dealing with the same vernacular relaxed environment . Forward slash , sensory-friendly performance Performance with slight adjustments , including the reduction of any jarring sounds or intense lighting , plus a separate quiet area and activity area for those who need to leave their seats during the performance . Specify for those who need to leave their seats during . I'm so , so sorry . Specify on the project page which dates these performances will take place on . Learn more about what to expect at a relaxed performance and why to offer sensory friendly performances .
Speaker 1If you select this option , list on your project page what adaptations you will make to give as much information as possible to those searching for this option yeah , and then speaking a little bit to the , to the practicum of that , you know , when I've been in shows and I've attended , like relaxed environments or sensory friendly performances , that that includes a lot and I encourage you to do your own research and endeavor . My experience that I've seen as an audience member has been like leaving the house lights on in case of you know , blackouts like kind of like what we're seeing today where we have a house light situation going on . It also is like toning back strobes If you've planned shows that have strobe lights , removing those cues for that performance . Additionally , I've seen like , let's say , your sound system , your sound cues are all at 100% . Toning them back to 50 is . Those are some things I've commonly seen that are easy , like solutions to things without interrupting your intent of your show or everything your show is about . Hey , well , you're in the right place , just feel free , come . Come . Welcome to the Accessibility Town Hall .
Speaker 1I think I'm going to move on and talk about yes , live ASL interpreted performances and captioning available . So , just like at this town hall , we have our lovely ASL interpreters helping us out today from Sign Language Company . They're listed in the packet . You can reach out to them . We also have a couple other options for ASL interpreters , and it's all about getting that conversation started , hopefully sending in a script beforehand , giving them an idea of what the show's about , finding placement . Obviously , you're developing the show and you're taking the stage , but you also want to be like hey , this is how it's going to go . We're going to have either a light on you or making sure you're not going to be in darkness so that people can see the ASL interpretation happening in real time . And again , just like on those flags listing you're able to accomplish , like all the performances will be interpreted , or if it's like no , I can only at this time provide an interpretation for one show , but like making that very clear and also like putting it on like where everyone's following . So like if you're creating an instagram page or a facebook page , like making sure you're telling hey , saturday night at 6 pm , this show will be interpreted and that's yeah , if you need to know . Now you know Captioning available .
Speaker 1So there's a couple different ways of going about captioning . Some of the venues provide live streams and you can work with the venue , you can try to get on top of how do you provide captioning for those live streams ? I would also say and this is actually something I did in for my show we , because it was a bilingual show , we provided some captioning , some captioning . So when we had things on Spanish , we , you know , we worked with our venue , made sure they had a projector , we programmed our cues on QLab . You know it takes it takes some time , but it's very worth it so that the audience doesn't feel lost and they're also enjoying that experience . Typically , like I mean , I , just in my frame of reference , I see it all the time when I go to operas , in the few times actually , I should say , in the few times that I go to operas , I'm not going every weekend but , like you know , like they're provided the top or at the bottom and your tech team to figure out how to solve .
Speaker 1That is a great way . Let to figure out how to solve . That is a great way . Let me see Awesome . Jeanette , do you want to take this one ?
Speaker 3Yes , all right Audio description . So this is something you can put for your project in terms of accessibility . The performance will be accompanied by live or pre-recorded narration on what is happening on stage , primarily visual performance . The production will be mainly visual , containing little to no dialogue , music or sounds . Audiences can fully engage with and experience the show without any of the auditory elements , primarily sound performance , as in this performance , will mainly be auditory .
Speaker 1audience can fully engage and experience the show without the visual elements I was going to talk about this here because , when it comes to primarily visual performances , it kind of leans itself to Muddy Waters and I just want to like kind of bring some examples because I understand where like people are coming from when they're saying like , oh , my farce is super , like slapstick comedy fueled and it can be enjoyed with a primarily visual performance . And it's kind of a gray area because , yes , that can be enjoyed with a primarily visual performance and it's kind of a gray area because , yes , that can be applicable , but there is also a lot of dialogue going on . I would recommend , if your show is like a dance heavy show or like truly , if you are not having a bunch of dialogue in your show and it is truly a visual performance , this is really the tag for you or the flag for you . I'll also say primarily sound productions or performances .
Speaker 1One that comes to mind is there was a really cool show in years prior . That was all a like everyone sat in a theater , they pulled two audience members and everyone had headphones and you're on channel one or channel two . That was a completely auditory experience with , like , audiences providing some movement on stage , but everyone was just collectively experiencing an auditory experience and that Closer . Okay , haverty , okay Cool , okay , yeah . Oh yeah , you'll meet Haverty . No , you're good , you're good For the live stream .
Speaker 1And actually I think , for those here right now you might not have met Haverty . He's our wonderful videographer , taking a bunch of photos as well . You'll see him at a ton of events within the festival and he's also just helping us out a ton in how to teach me how to use a microphone Genuinely . I'm going to keep moving on .
Speaker 3Oh , no , no , no , of course . Just want to add a quick note as we continue with flags , specifically with these definitions and flags as well . Just remember , obviously we all want to make our shows , as independent artists , as accessible as possible . I think that's a great goal to have , but especially for this , the goal isn't to have as many flags as possible . It's not about you know what I mean . It's just make sure that , like , if you do put any flags , like , people really do listen in , like and really take that into consideration if this is something they look for for for their best enjoyment of their performance . So if you really just like , like Roddy said , like , think about , like primarily visuals probably leans towards more like a physical theater piece . Like , just really think about like . Does this definition actually accurately describe my show ? You know , just so audience members are very clear about what they're getting to before they sit down in your show , that they will continue . Just want to put that note in there .
Speaker 1Thank you , that's incredible . Yes , so we've got sensory advisory flashing lights , smoke and haze . A lot of these are also venue conversations , so , but let's talk about sensory advisory first . So , yeah , again , there have been shows that have a very loud noise at the very beginning to kick it all off or somewhere else in their , in their run , in their performance it . It is really important to label it , because it's like
Content Warnings and Audience Notifications
Speaker 1you know , for for your average theater goer , they might also they might jump in their seat , but it also can also be a lot of unnecessary stress for your audience , would be a lot of unnecessary stress for your audience , and that's a moment where you have to differentiate . Like is this a sensory warning ? Is there like ? Is there a , is there lead up to this noise , or is it truly like a high volume noise ? I will also say about volume levels .
Speaker 1We have a lot of phenomenal venues here . Some of them , like the Broadwater here , are for theaters in this space , so something to just be courteous about with your fellow artist is Noisebleed . So right now , we're here at the second stage . Right next to us , though , is the Black Box , and shortly over there is the studio and then the main stage . They're all pretty close . So just being courteous of your fellow participants , because , again , theaters will be running all day for the whole month and you don't want to have your neighbor being like hey .
Speaker 1I'm so sorry , but like that's really really loud and like it's a conversation , but like just be aware of your performance , your production getting along with the rest of those in that space . Flashing lights we kind of talked about it a little bit with strobe effects and how you can tone those down or accommodate them . But also you know , in your traditional show , like if there is a ton of flashing , just list that out . I know that . I've seen shows .
Speaker 1I've had shows where we blast the audience with light and it's something that we very , very are adamant about letting our audience know like this is going to happen at a moment , for whatever reason within the show . It's built that way . It just helps the audience out a ton . I helps the audience out a ton . I also wouldn't recommend , like I did that very early in my theater days when I was like I'm going to blast them with lights . Nobody likes it , especially if the cue messes up . You're just hitting them with light for a while and it's like was it worth it ? Was it necessary ? I don't know .
Speaker 1Anyway , lastly , is Smoke and Haze I will actually add an additional one to this , unless I'm jumping the gun . But speaking to smoke and haze , yes , list this on your page Like be aware of people with breathing issues and asthma . Also , you must talk to your venue about this , because every venue is different on how they handle it . I know there's conversations around like oh , but this is a water based smoker or smoke machine . It still needs to be talked about with your venue . Don't assume anything . That's truly like the best advice Because , yeah , you don't want the fire marshal coming to your performance or because your performance is an hour long , coming to the next performance and being like oh , that show wrapped already and you don't want to ruin someone else's show and having your venue know about that is super helpful so that they can communicate whatever needs to happen . I was gonna say something else about this oh , oh , oh , I might be jumping the gun and we may be talking about it in a second but also like as a content warning , but also as a communication with your venue , and a lot of them already have like checklists and things to talk about . But like , if there's a lot of liquid being thrown on the stage I'm coming to mind this phenomenal fringe show that had a watermelon on stage and then they broke it on stage and it was a whole thing . But they came with a plan . They came in . The whole floor was tarped . It was part of the show that they collected the pieces .
Speaker 1Like again , you traditionally have 15 minutes of load in , 15 minutes of load out and it's just like if you want to accomplish these big things or these outside of the box things , talk to your venues 100 but also come in with a plan to offer your venue like I'm assuming most venues have plans in place but if you can begin that conversation , be like I've thought about this . Here's a way that I have solved this . Is that within the parameters of the theater . Do you have a better plan ? Do you have another solution ? How ? And also , a lot of these venues have done Fringe before and have seen a lot of out there things I know .
Speaker 1Another thing is like blood on stage , and what kinds of blood . Even if that's allowed , not every venue will allow this , and so it's like well , what's your cleanup plan ? What are you going to do in those 15 minutes , or is it cleaned up within the performance ? Like having those questions . Having those answers at the ready is super helpful . Hey , come on in . Come on in . You're in the right spot . Brilliant , I'm going to let you take the next one and let's see what's there . Let's see what's there ?
Speaker 3Oh , this is a good one , all right , priority early access seating . An announcement will be made that any patron who needs more time getting to their seats will be given a chance to enter the venue early before general admission seating . That way they'll be able to find specific seating based on their access needs . Live streaming performances , kind of like how we're live streaming this town hall right now Live streaming your performance , provides a unique opportunity for your show to be accessible to those who might not otherwise be able to attend an in-person performance . I will say for a priority early access seating .
Speaker 3When I worked with Fringe in the last festival , that was something I was working on a lot , with people contacting shows producers , letting them know like , hey , someone on your show needs priority access seating . Like , are you aware ? Okay , great , it's a really great resource . I will say , as a patron , I've had my plenty fair share of injuries and I've needed that in times of my life and I went to go see a fringe show for my friend and they had this available and I was like wait , really . So that was one of like the biggest like nervous things for me is attending the show . So it was like a . It made me feel better about going to see the show , knowing that I had time to just kind of get myself situation , not feel rushed , because Fringe is very go , go , go . But so I think that's a great thing to consider for your show .
Speaker 3And then , of course , live stream performances . I mean that's just great all around . I think we all learned during COVID and now that , like , live streaming anywhere possible is a really great accessibility tool . I mean , when I did my show , I , you know you don't have to , you know live stream every performance . I think that might be pushing it , I mean , but hey , you know , do what you want to do . But I would say I got to live stream one of my performances and not only were people that I know , who were , you know , trying to stay conscious of their health , able to actually see my show . But , you know , depending on how your live stream would work , I have people from my family , from like all over the country got to see it . Like there's's just so many great access spirits . So you kind of win in a lot of ways and your audience members win too and get to , you know , see your show , whether or not they could be here in person or not , but yeah , that's all I have .
Speaker 1Yeah , adding to that with like frame of mind of what Fringe is . So , talking about priority access seating , keep in mind that your show , typically the norm is that you have 15 minutes to load in . That also is inclusive of your patron seating getting them into the theater . So I know , the year that I did it , I I learned so much . I learned so much , truly , where we had the audience file in in the final three minutes we didn't have a priority access seating moment . But , like that is something that I regret having not thought at that point , um , and it's something I wish like , oh , if this did happen , I would have a game plan . The other thing is it's fringe and if someone is coming in and needs priority access seating during your setup time , let it happen , it's okay . The fringe magic is not broken if they're seeing you set up a table or a couple blocks or getting ready to perform the show . A table or a couple blocks or getting ready to perform the show With live stream performances . Not every venue has the Wi-Fi strength to do so .
Speaker 1The venue I was in wasn't able to , so instead , what I did is I was looking through the participant packet and that supplied a wide array of individuals who were filming shows for a discounted rate . A lot of the discounts in a lot of the discounts in the participant packet are a lot of the offers sorry , in the participant packet are discounted . So you'll see graphic designers that have a like a regular rate and they're like actually , we're going to do $20 off , 10% off , 15% off . And same thing goes for videographers and photographers . And , as a result , because I wasn't able to do a live stream , I instead recorded the show and then we then sent it out to those that weren't able to see it and we're like here , here's like a pro shot where we like you know we and when you do that , you do have to keep in mind with your seating , like oh right , so the camera is going to be in this spot .
Speaker 1I need to remove one ticket from my , from what's available to be sold . I know that I was very lucky to have like a very well attended show , so it really became a priority , being like the camera needs a spot , the camera needs access ahead of time to set up Because again , it's 15 minutes Like , okay , camera gets in first , they set up , they have any questions , which are hopefully discussed prior , and then the audience again comes in with the camera already in place and you may find yourself wanting one standard shot . You may want multiple Talk to whoever you're asking to film your show , but make sure you have seats for them , because it's just important .
Speaker 1Brilliant Size-inclusive seating . So we kind of talked about this at the beginning as well , but seating options are available for all body shapes and sizes . So again , it's kind of this thing of like letting the patron will notify you that they would like to have size inclusive seating . Many of our venues do offer it , which is amazing . Sometimes it comes to a seat that has a removable armrest , a detachable one or a flexible one that can help . Bench style seating , from what we've heard , is the most accessible form of seating for many of the patrons . I think that there are options of adding seats to many of the theater venues , keeping in mind fire regulation and safety , but oftentimes they're a little bit bigger , so they can accommodate an extra row here and there and just ask them if they have bench-style seating available , because you could put a regular foldable chair system . But you could also say , hey , do you have a couple like boxes that I'm not using in my show that I'd love to lay out Whatever works to accomplish that .
Speaker 1And yes , so again it's , if nothing else leaves this accessibility , meeting it's flags and talking with your venue and keeping that strong level of communication , because there you can ask hey , venue , what's your depth of seat Like ? How much legroom is there , how wide is it ?
Speaker 3All that good stuff Like how much legroom is there , how wide is it ? All that good stuff , all right . On-site ADA compliant restroom . So inside the venue is an accessible restroom with proper signage that complies with California's ADA guidelines . Learn more about the requirements which I guess we will have there . I just realized , yeah , so that's something to communicate with your venue too . As you talk to them , them , ask them do they have ADA-compliant restrooms ? If they don't , again , like Roddy mentioned earlier , they probably know of a place nearby that does and they have a plan in place . So just make sure you are educated on what that is what they have available so you can communicate that with your audience .
Speaker 3Wheelchair-accessible seating . The venue has wheelchair-accessible hallways , entrances and seating For venues with stairs . Know if there's access to a working elevator or ramp ? So , yes , not just about the seating , but does someone who does need to use a wheelchair are they able to even get into the stage ? What is that like for them ? Just making sure they have full access to be able to be seated for your show . And assisted listening devices available , so hearing devices to amplify the sounds on stage . Many of our venues are equipped with assisted listening devices or hearing loop system . Again , if that's something you're interested in , communicate with your venue to see if that's something they provide and what they . What is the what's where I'm looking for like mode of action for them to get that started with your production .
Speaker 1Absolutely , and I know I jumped the gun on some of these because we kind of already talked about it . My bad , but to add to this . So , when it comes to ADA compliant restrooms , your venues will absolutely know if their spaces have ADA compliant restrooms . It's their business to know . So , whereas it may not be your business to fully know the ins and outs of that , your venue knows if that restroom they have is accessible , if it's big enough to be considered accessible . Considered accessible the wheelchair accessible seating , yes . So it's an account of , like the getting there and navigating in the space . Oh , man , I must have blanked . There was something else about . Oh , this is tangential but it's super important to note and something I'm just going to throw in that's adjacent to the accessibility , but it's about when you're bringing in things into the theater .
Speaker 1Often the question that many participants do is like , oh , can I fill everything into this theater in 15 minutes ? And it's a bigger question than that . Like , everyone understands the modified sets that you can do here and like , or like , just like the gestural moments that you can have , like a table could be so many things . But also like , how do you navigate your set into the space ? I just want to make everyone aware of that , because you can . There are guidelines at fringe and rules that can be broken and expressed in creative ways . It's just like definitely having at least like three backup plans .
Speaker 1I'm speaking here from my direct experience . Um , in 2023 , where I did , I think I made like five players to know the ins and outs of everything , because fringes and fringes move so fast . Yeah , I'm gonna move on to the next one because , jeanette , you covered it . Ah , the accessibility checklist . Amazing flags that apply . Not every flag will apply to your production and that's okay . You may not need a content warning , but it's truly important to know that what you think is a content warning probably is a content warning , I mean that's just the rule of thumb .
Speaker 1It's honestly , it's better to be overly cautious than less cautious , and understanding that , like you , a lot of shows may have . I mean , my show talked about very traumatic experiences or discussions , and that was something I very much needed my audience to know , because , again , where , as a patron , I sometimes like to go in surprised , it is a different ballgame when you're talking about more intense subject matters , and so it is better to land on the side of caution than not . Oh , I'm actually going to go back two steps and talk about assisted listening devices .
Speaker 1That's what I forgot about . So your venue will have may have sometimes , depending on which venue you're scheduling have assisted listening devices . Again , like all things , do not tell them the day of that you need an assisted listening device . Again , some venues have one space and that's the only space . Some theaters have four , three like multiple spaces , and if the earlier you can tell them , the better they can prepare . It is not advised that you tell your venue honestly anything day of .
Speaker 1Don't leave any surprises for the end , and you might think things aren't surprises . I think it's . I'm going to jump , jump the gun again just because I'm always doing it , but , like , when it comes to weapons and and anything that even remotely looks like a weapon , talk to your venue again . There's also like a bunch of like I would recommend looking at , like the equity standards of how to handle a weapon , but also keep in mind your frame of reference , like what constitutes a weapon and even , like you know , a toy sword . That is a weapon and it needs to be handled with care and it needs to be communicated to your venue that you're bringing it into their space . That is super important and your venue will . I mean they can approve it , they can talk about it and they may come up with better solutions or ask that you do not bring whatever thing you're bringing into their space . It really is just as much your level of comfortability that venue's level of comfortability , and we just ask that both parties respect each other there . That was the two cents I was going to say about that .
Speaker 1Yes , one more thing about accessibility flags that we've already talked about is , if you are offering an accessibility flag , know how you're going to offer it . If you have ASL interpreters , know how to communicate to them for when to be at the show . Example if your show like because fringe is a well-oiled machine , if your show starts at three o'clock and it's an hour long , it's gonna start at three and be an hour long . Otherwise , it just delays the whole process because there are multiple theaters in a venue . So tell your ASL interpreter please arrive 15 minutes beforehand . Meet me on the street outside the theater , right as we're all loading in . Talk to them beforehand about where they're going to be placed . Have a lighting cue possible shining on them so that people can see the
Working with ASL Interpreters and Special Accommodations
Speaker 1interpretation going on . That's what we mean by game plan and and we've kind of talked about this too but it truly like leading with honesty , honesty being the best policy . Sorry , sorry , it's true . I felt like a school teacher then .
Speaker 1I was like it's true , though , and nobody gets mad when you're being honest for the most part you know , but when talking about accessibility flags , truly , if you really aren't able to accommodate a need , you can message them through the system , being like I'm so sorry , at this time we just can't . We can't accommodate this request , and I understand that it's . It can be rough not being able to provide accessibility to everyone , but also you don't want to have a patron attend your show and be disappointed because they didn't get the experience that they were hoping to get in watching your wonderful artistry on stage . Yeah , do you want to take that one ? Oh , did I get it ? I believe we break down the slideshow at hollywoodfringeorg forward slash accessibility . It's not really in this colored fashion . We kind of provide it in a more document style where it's like paragraph broken up a little bit . But , yes , hollywoodfringeorg forward slash accessibility . And we can also yeah , we I mean there's other topics from adding it to . Why not ?
Speaker 3Yeah , Cool , perfect , all right . Three confirm your venue's accessibility flags are up to date . Up to date and accurate for your performances . So , again , like we've been saying this whole town hall , we're going to keep saying this for every workshop , anything we do in the future , just communicate with your venues . Like they know what they're doing . They have to keep up to date on everything , like and know exactly how their venue works for patrons and all that fun stuff . So , just communicate with them . Make sure , like , let them know , like should I do this ? Like would that actually make sense ? Is that something we can provide ?
Speaker 3No-transcript practice , especially if it's your first time producing a show , which is super exciting . We have a lot of first time producers at Fringe . This is a great thing to learn . It's like , okay , like I'm using this venue and they have they don't have an ADA compliant restroom on on by . Okay , that's good for me to know , okay , so how should we have someone to direct someone to this location that they let like all that fun stuff ? It's just really good to know the ins and outs , yes , of the show itself and the production , all your cues , but like , the beginning process of getting your audience members and then when they leave . I know this may be we might be mentioning this later if not . But even like parking , I know that'll be included later in marketing , like in ticketing and stuff , but just think about parking too , like that's a huge I mean accessibility and just also , we live in LA , so just make sure people know , because that does take time as well .
Speaker 1So anyway , yeah , two things I'll add because , yeah , if parking is not covered in the future sections , we'll just talk about right now . It's super helpful to know on the project page when tickets go on sale May 1st , people will begin buying tickets . Also , don't panic if it's May 2nd and nobody's bought a ticket . People sometimes buy tickets the week of the day of it happens . But as people go along and purchase tickets , you will be able to message them directly and what we advise is a either a 24 hours in advance Sometimes it's the morning of but like , truly reach out to them . Also , it doesn't hurt to email them twice directly to talk about hey , my performance starts at two o'clock . Here is the address , here's what you need to know . You may do some personal research and be like oh , I know that there is often parking available on X and Y streets . Please be on time . I mean honestly that email , that messaging system , also serves extraordinarily helpful to be like hey , this is Fringe .
Speaker 1Not every audience member knows about Fringe . You have to be in the mindset of , you have to be there on time . Sometimes there are shows that you may find yourself attending or producing , where the venue opens up , like the entrance to the theater opens up to the stage , and this did happen to me a couple of times where we said we will not be seating any late comers because it interrupts the flow of the show and we don't have that built in . And there were moments where we closed the door and people missed out . And again , you can accommodate like they'll . I'm sure they'll reach out to you , being like I'm so sorry , I missed the show . Is there any way I can see it ? And you can take that conversation elsewhere and try to figure out how to get them back into your theater if you really want them to come see the show .
Speaker 1And then we're talking about accessibility plans . Just like every venue oh sorry , every venue is different . Some of the venues can accommodate your box office , some cannot . When you're negotiating your contract , it'll be listed that , oh , this venue , they requested that they maintain all of the box office in person , meaning you will send them their will call and any accessibility requests will be sent to them earlier . Some of them , however , are like no , we don't have the infrastructure or the capacity to handle your box office . It says so in the contract . Just double check what the language is . And so either you're informing the venue or you're informing your friend or your box office manager who's running that for you ahead of time .
Speaker 1Those are the two things I just wanted to add to that . That's so funny . You'll meet W as you like , experience your time at the festival , and he helped us , like , create these , because this is a lot of his brainchild and wanting the accessibility things to come out . I didn't realize they were both pink and green . It's just giving me wicked vibes and that's not super important right now , but I just wanted to let you know that's what I was thinking . Do you want to talk about ? Yeah ?
Speaker 3I would . I would love to talk about Wicked . No , I'll talk about content warnings A warning audiences can view on your project page prior to purchasing tickets , stating if the production will contain potentially triggering slash harmful content . Content warnings play an important role in ensuring your audience feels safe , prepared and has the choice to protect themselves from discussion or portrayal of potentially harmful topics . Roddy mentioned this earlier for his show . He did at French . He put suicidal ideation . My show also had suicidal ideation . I made that very clear . I also just talked about death , a lot and grief . So I just said , hey , we talk a lot about grief and death , Like if that is the whole show , so if that you know . So my honest members know they don't want to come see that show . That is totally fine . But they made the choice to protect themselves and say I'm not going to see that . It's really important . I just think it's really important , it's just really good no-transcript .
Speaker 1It's very much more implied that it's more interactive . But there have been many shows at fringe that are solo or ensemble shows that bring an audience member on stage . There's a whole discussion about how to go about doing that . You never just want to be like come with me on stage , like no , no , no , let's , let's roll it back and like maybe it's like extend an arm or , if you , sometimes the performance , the performers aren't able to vocalize as per their show . But of course some of them are like would you , could you please join me on stage ? And no is an acceptable answer . If you want to notify your audience , you can say like hey , just so you know , there are moments in which I bring on an audience member . If that is something you are open to , feel free to sit in the front row . I know that there are just a couple of audience members who are a bit skittish about being interacted with in that way , and so they're like actually , let me sit in the back , so I won't be selected , which is totally fine , and it's
Speaker 1just , you know , getting everyone to enjoy theater the way they want to and the way that you've explained to them that you are performing your show Moving on , yes , so talking more about this . On the content warnings Right , we've talked about the best practices of on the flags . You can select them , but content warning is very general . That is one of the flags and , like we've said , I talking about how our show was . Our shows were brought about death . I set my show in hell , so there was a lot to notify people about . Yeah , I was like we're going to go through like it was like about Inferno , so like we're gonna go through lust , we're gonna go through all these these very , very intense levels of hell and I we just had to outline it . We'd be like , hey , we're going to be talking about a lot of things tonight and that can all be tackled in the long description . And the long description we've talked about it a little bit as well where April 15th that's the guide deadline . Your short description cannot be fine-tuned after that because it goes to print . The long description can be edited . It's a place to put larger descriptions of those content warnings , but also it's a place where you can insert if you got good reviews , if you got awards and accolades before the festival's over . You know , just be conscious of how you're ordering everything . I do feel like the content warnings personally should go first . It won't take a bunch of real estate . The site on full view or even in partial view provides a lot of space for that . But I just would speak to putting content warnings first and then reviews , or like a synopsis of your show that you can put a little lengthier in there . It really does become something that participants during the festival use quite a bit and that audience members will absolutely be looking at , because it's also where the ticketing portion of the website is per show at , because it's also where the ticketing portion of the website is per show .
Speaker 1Um , yes , and like we said , yeah , yeah , like we're talking . Talking about is diving into what it means to have that content warning . If we're talking about suicide ideation , if you feel so inclined to explain a little bit more , or if you're talking about death and themes of death , like it's , it's about like the loss of a parent and again , like being as descriptive as possible and what you're comfortable with and what the audience is comfortable with is super helpful , just the more information you're able to provide . Is is just always the best route . I think yeah . Do you want to add to it ? Should I move the next one ? Yes , here we go should I ?
Speaker 3yes , please . All right , so these are just some examples . It's not the full list that you could put on your project , but just some examples of topics that require content warnings Rape and or sexual assault , abuse , whether that's physical , mental , verbal , sexual self-harm , suicide , violence , death and or dying , pregnancy and or childbirth , miscarriages and or abortion and blood . Yeah , I think that's pretty self-explanatory . So , yeah , if any of your shows have that , please , please , you need to put that on your project . Maybe audience members need to know about that absolutely , I actually think it goes on .
Speaker 1it continues . Um , there's a lot , there's a lot and because we've we've been around for 15 years and we've learned . I wish we could say that all of this existed before 15 years , nope , but but it didn't and we've learned a lot . Yeah , I mean every year .
Speaker 1We're continually growing and also like continually taking artist feedback . I mean , towards the end of the festival , you'll see there'll be like a final town hall which is really an open discussion about artist experiences . That has been such a helpful tool for us to respond , for us to respond , for us to respond directly to what the community is speaking to . But I'll just continue on with this list . So we have , you know , torture , jump scares , mental illness , eating disorders or diet culture and any kind of discrimination and or bigotry , including , you know , racism , homophobia , transphobia , sexism , ableism , anti-semitism , islamophobia , all of those terrible things . It's good to let your audience know that you are diving into those subjects , as well as drug , alcohol or substance abuse , police brutality and fake or mimed gun or weapon use .
Speaker 1I feel like the faked gun use one doesn't get discussed too often .
Speaker 1It's super important .
Speaker 1Again , it's just something that you really need to notify and and you know there's a full range of artists that we talked to again about this but , like , if you are making your hand into the shape of a gun and you are treating it as a gun , it should be in your content warnings .
Speaker 1I I understand that sometimes it can be used in more comical matters . But we do ask that you , you list that and you display that and even if you want to explain like it's used in this context , like , by all means , provide that information because it's important and like it's nobody's really at fault , because sometimes you just forget , sometimes you're , and that's why we're providing this town hall and providing this accessibility discussion , because it's that you don't know what you don't know about and you don't know that you could be affecting someone . Until you find out and we don't want that to be an uncomfortable realization we would like to preemptively notify you about how to provide the best experience for your artists or for your fellow artists and your audiences . Yay , I don't know why I didn't say anything . Do you want to tackle this one ?
Speaker 3I was like oh , he got so excited . Okay , personal accessibility request . Through the website , patrons have the option to make a personal accessibility request , which will be communicated to the producer or producers of that show . It is up to the discretion of the individual producer or producers if they are able to accommodate the request or not . So some examples may be brighter house lighting during seating . Large print program , extra assistance , getting to their seat copy of the script prior to performance . Civic seating request , for example
Final Thoughts and Q&A with Participants
Speaker 3, front row for hard of hearing or visually impaired patrons .
Speaker 3Again , just like we've mentioned , I think , throughout this whole town hall and even at the beginning , don't just say yes for the sake of getting someone in your seat . Like they really are genuinely gauging , like , is this going to be something that they're going to enjoy ? You know , is this something that they're going to enjoy and like in the ways that they are specifically asking you . So just make sure you're keeping , know you're keeping track of your emails , any requests you get through . Just be honest with them . It's OK , I promise you . Like they're like sure they'll be sad not to see your amazing show , but like , at least they'll know that . Like , ok , this wasn't going to be a great performance for me to sit in and watch . Anyways , we just want to make sure our audience members are comfortable .
Speaker 1Yeah , and going speaking to like what I cannot provide . It's not all the time that print shows have print programs , let alone large print programs . So if that's not something you're able to accomplish , if it's really not in your budget , again like , but you should be in the phase right now of budgeting and seeing what you want to provide . You could just let them know . I'm sorry , we don't have a large print program , we only have a QR code digital program , and that's another way of accommodating or suggesting an accommodation , because it's not really the it's not what they requested , requested , but it's another solution that you can offer .
Speaker 1I will say I have personal experience from copy of the script sent prior to the performance . Honestly , I just thought it was a really fun request to do . I thought it was very sweet because it's like oh wow , this audience member really wants to know what my show's about and wants to come in , and often it's like there's a language barrier , that there's like something on the mic . Okay , the accessibility request is like yeah , sometimes we have audience members that aren't able to comprehend what's going on in live time super fast , like not everyone's first language is english and it can be . It can be difficult . So if you're able to provide that script to them ahead of time , it's , it's , it's very . I find it very , very endearing and very , very like . Like , yes , you really want to know what my show's about . I'm so happy to provide that and I'm so glad they felt comfortable asking for that because it is , it can be a big ask , I think . I think there's a lot of humility in asking for this and a big like honor in able to provide that . If you are able to provide that , I should say yeah , I mean , sometimes the show is improv , and then you're like you have to explain to them like we don't really have a script . We have a structure . That's another thing . I know there are some improv shows or there are moments of improv . Let your audience know that too , because I've seen a lot of that happen at Fringe the great , great improvised moments , but it's not really a script thing Brilliant .
Speaker 1So through the website , you'll be able to directly communicate with everyone . This is when we talked about , like , parking notification . How do you that the website has its own messaging system , right ? Also , I've used it as well because , you know , we're in the month of June and we're in Hollywood . There's a lot going on . I think one day I was performing my show , there was a Hollywood premiere , the Hollywood Bowl was , and then they closed off another street in the Hollywood area for a pride parade . So a lot was going on , right ? So I had to notify all my patrons being like listen , we always say to be here , like you know , 30 minutes early . Listen , I'm going to have to ask everyone or just like notify them . This is what's happening in Hollywood . It's going to be very difficult to navigate the streets . It's going to be even more difficult to find parking .
Speaker 1Communicating to them all of that is super necessary and helpful , that you know you perform to the house that you planned on . Like you know if you sold 60 tickets , I really hope that 60 people are able to enter that audience when your time for your show comes . Similar vein , on accessibility you know you'll be able to let them know what the performance will entail if they haven't checked in on your project page . Also , you can remind them about , like , where the box office is , which for some theaters they only have one box office . For others , like the one we're at here , I believe that everyone , every artist , functions as their own box office and you have to tell them like oh , we are the main stage . Our box office will be located outside of the theater , located on this side street . Don't get confused , because there are other shows performing , and it has happened . It has happened where an audience member is like I'm in the wrong show .
Speaker 1And they still have a great time hopefully . But you know , mishaps happen .
Speaker 3I've almost watched the wrong show before I was sitting . Yeah , it's happened to me where I was like this is not right and that's okay , that's okay . And you know , if I fully read the email I would have known . So just make sure you have those emails or messages detailed for your patrons , all right . So these are some good box office practices Clear directions and signage . Again , probably there were when that day that I went into the wrong show , I just didn't read them . That's my fault , but let's use your error .
Speaker 3Consider your audience's experience . Be hyper aware of not tokenizing audience members with a sensibility request , while also working your hardest to ensure their access need is met . Remember that it is better to be clear about what you can and cannot offer audience members than to promise something to a ticket buyer you cannot come through on . Like we've been saying pretty much . I think these last two bullet points are really much .
Speaker 3Just again , it's not about being like , yes , I'm going to be the most accessible show in the world and , if you can , cool , but like . That's not what it's about . It's about just communicating with your audience , being realistic about your show and what it can provide and you know , just be , it's okay . It's like people may be disappointed . Maybe you'll be disappointed . Maybe you realize OK , you know , I realized after my run this year at Fringe like this was something a lot of people asked about . Ok , now I know next time around I'm going to do this or have this available . It's just good for all of us to learn . But again , it's not about having the most flags . It's just about being clear and concise about what you are able to provide and not able to provide .
Speaker 1Yes , and I'll speak to a little bit about the third point there , because we as a staff , like when we were talking with Wiley about this , we were like this feels a little like we're trying to say something that we're lacking the verbiage for . But essentially , when we're talking about tokenizing an audience member , you know we're just saying like , treat them as an average audience member . Do not not and I don't think anyone would go this far but like you don't need to go out of your way to self-congratulate yourself for being so accessible . I'm just saying . But also like , when you have an audience member and like , let's say they need early entry , like bring them into the audience , allow them to get ready for the show , there's just a level of respect and hospitality you can offer without being like clingy I should say overwhelming , even to the audience members .
Speaker 3Just , you know , just we're all people . We all have different needs in life . This audience member has specific needs for your show . Communicate with them exactly .
Speaker 1So that's really what that third one's about . I we're still working on the verbiage of that um and we just felt it was necessary to kind of explain that a little bit more Great .
Speaker 1So , yes , this is talking about gun safety again , and not following these guidelines will result in you being prohibited from presenting as a part of the festival which is awful , and I would never want to see that happen to any of our participants , where either they consciously did it or they didn't know about it , and that's really what we want to solve here . So , again , only non-firing guns replicas are permitted in use in the Hollywood Fringe Festival shows and they should never be pointed in the direction of the audience members I would also speak to never be pointed at fellow actors on stage . Again , there's that trick where you know if you have a gun you're pointing it , yes , exactly Like at a diagonal . The audience will never know if it's pointed at a diagonal , also pointing it above audience heads , and that works well too . Diagonal , also pointing it above audience heads , and that works well too .
Speaker 1The Fringe provides blanket recommendations on how to deal with gun safety . Your venue will absolutely most likely have more regulation on what they feel comfortable allowing into their space Because , again , you're entering into two contracts a contract with the Hollywood Fringe Festival that's where your registration comes into play but you're also entering into a contract with your venue negotiating performances , rehearsal tech , whatever is in that contract , and weapon safety will absolutely be a part of that . I don't know a single venue that's like , yeah , bring in whatever you want . No , they're on top of it and they have a level of comfort just as any other audience member would . We also briefly touched on this as well .
Speaker 1Physical interaction must be consented to to both in rehearsals and performances . Audience members should have the ability to engage or opt out for any interaction . For those of us on the live stream or in person here who are working on immersive shows , I would recommend checking out one of the early workshops that we had that's now on YouTube which all dived into immersive work and how to go about that . But also , like I said before , there are moments where there is a clown piece that interacts with an audience and you have to understand how to navigate that . And if you have further questions about that , like email support , we will get those answers to you , because it is a wider discussion about how to connect with an audience .
Speaker 1And , yes , if they're like I'm done with this interaction , like I opt out to not be involved . You know I don't want to be pulled up on stage . That's also fine . And in fact , some of the immersive shows you know that I've seen . I've seen participants who are like , or audience members are like I am here to witness , I'm not here to engage and I still want to experience of it all , but just from a different angle , which is also fine . Yes , great .
Speaker 1Final questions , questions to ask yourself .
Speaker 3All right , so here's just some questions . What do you think is important for audience members to know before they buy tickets to or attend a performance ? What do you do throughout the process to learn about and support the access needs of your team ? Why should producers provide a content warning on their project page , and what does that ?
Speaker 3entail I think I mean I don't really have much .
Speaker 3I think we just went over it all . But yeah , I mean again , it's really just about knowing your show in and out again , knowing your show not just the actual like production of it and your cues and all your lines and stuff , but really just about getting people in and getting people to leave . I mean , this is something that I like to say when , when I've done shows in the past or I've directed shows and stuff , but , like you have a theatrical contract with the artists on stage , there are people in the booth , your tech team and the audience members . We're all part of the same contract . So we we just and part of that like nonverbal contract when we sit in the seat is we all want to feel safe and enjoy performance , right .
Speaker 3So all of this is set in mind , especially when we were talking about just before , about like guns or really any weapons , not just guns , any sort of weapons you need to communicate with your venue and they see what they're comfortable with and how that works . But you know , if we don't follow those rules , as an audience member I feel like the contract was broken and then I don't feel very taken care of in the show . So that's all it is about . You know and we're all learning , but that's why we have these town halls to educate you guys .
Speaker 1But yeah absolutely Moving on to the slide . So , yeah , final thoughts on creative solutions to make your fringe theater unique . I feel like I've talked to a lot of participants . One example , but there's so many other ways . When they're like I have blood in my show and my venue doesn't want blood in the space Rightfully so , you know they have a lot of shows . So , like , what can I do ? And then there's a little bit of brainstorming session and I can really only speak when I talk to artists about what other fringes have done in the past , because , again , we're administrative staff , we're not necessarily wanting to suggest creative decisions .
Speaker 1I can just say , like well , in the past , like artists have used like a satin red fabric as blood , or they've used like some sort of confetti , which also must be talked about with your venue . If you decide to use confetti or glitter or whatnot , all of that stuff still has to be talked about with your venue . It's also just things to keep in mind , because if you shoot confetti off , you're going to have to clean it up in 15 minutes or less , unless you have another conversation with the venue and they have different rules . But typically , everything you're throwing on stage you're picking up , you have to . And then , yes , increase your audience by making performances accessible to your community . Well , that means having an ASL interpreted night .
Speaker 1But also like finding the workarounds that work best for you . If you can't live stream , how can you like record ? If you can't do X , how can you do Y ? Like work within your means . I really want to preface that as being really important . Like , yes , like you've been saying , we want to be the most accessible we can as independent producers , but there are unfortunate real life costs that come with it . And like we understand that we would like to provide all of these services and we can't all the time , and that's where being upfront is super important .
Speaker 1Okay , let me see what time we're at . Ah , amazing . So we are going to kind of go into a Q and A portion here . I would just ask well , one . I'd ask and apologize to our interpreters if we've been talking quite fast . It's something that we were just trying to be hyper aware of , but we may have faltered , and so I ask the same of our audience members If you have a question , just please speak a little bit slowly , but also talk about , like , who you are , what show you're bringing to the festival , and then your question . I think that would be amazing . Haverty , am I good to walk around ? And provide the mic ?
Speaker 1Or do you have a oh , yeah , sure , okay , haverty's good and ready , but yeah , yeah , in the back , as close as you can .
Speaker 11I have a few questions On your code of conduct . There's something about censorship . I can Start over On page two of your code of conduct . Is it not working ? Test test one , two , three . It says we don't censor your words unless there's actively harmful or hateful . It says that where ?
Speaker 1where went the person I tabbed ?
Speaker 3oh , no , the the red one , sorry howdy hello use this one .
Speaker 11the reason why I'm asking this is because , like , I worked on a show three years ago and they asked someone to like remove a song from her musical and I wasn't sure why , and I just yeah . It says here that there's limits to the uncensored nature , which are often set by the Access Advisory Board and enforced by a committee made up of members of Hollywood fringe staff and board of directors . So I'm wondering what is that process when you submit your script and you say this is the show I want to do , and then do you guys come back and say cut this out , take this out , we can't do this Like . What does that look like ? And then how do you ? Is there an appeal process ?
Speaker 1Yeah , so I can , I can speak a little bit to this and then I'm going to pass it to Lois , who would absolutely like . Well , actually , lois , you just want to take it .
Speaker 4Yeah , yeah , yeah , sorry , ellen and Lois are co-executive directors of the festival who know like the ins and outs yeah , no , this is a great question and so just to , so I can give the best answer was the show at Hollywood Fringe that you're talking about Hollywood Fringe , yeah .
Speaker 4I will name . We've never . We've never done that and we just started adding actually our language around content just last year . I'm going moving up , ok , hello everybody , I don't know what to do , ok , but with that y'all it's . It's really just making sure we don't have hate speech in shows . It's work that we can feel confident , uplifting , and . But the line is it's it's not super strong , it's as long as there's no hate speech , there's no problem . We're not actively reading scripts , we're not actively coming to shows looking for this . It's something . If we do find out , there will be a conversation . Usually it ends up something like hey , this one line needs to you know , and here's why . Or it's to make sure our community feels safe and there's no harm being done . Does that answer your question a little more ?
Speaker 11I Does that answer your question a little more . I'm not sure of why they asked her to take a whole song out . There was no hate speech in it at all . It was actually just like a very devotional , like wonderful song . It wasn't there was . No , I don't know . It's very confusing . It's good to know that you clarified that you guys aren't scouring over scripts and all that , Okay .
Speaker 4And even then y'all it's literally we have a conversation . So it's not like and pulling . The one or two times it's ever happened in the last couple of years has been like a conversation with the producer , where we talk to what was your intentionality , Perhaps ? Usually it's a question of like who is on your project team , you know , is this coming from lived experience , or are you speaking like to a race that you are not familiar with in such a real way ? And so it always ends up in a conversation , though it's never just an email saying hi , pulled your show , you know , okay , bye . It's always a conversation .
Speaker 11Okay , yeah , and then , like even in the conversation , like maybe the person can say well , I'm still going to keep it and I'll just , you know , deal with it , or how does that work ?
Speaker 4If it were to come to that , the reason where it would end up being like , okay , you're keeping it is because again , we find out your co-director is speaking to lived experience or there's . You know , there's there's multiple reasons . It could be like , okay , no big deal . Thank you so much for clarifying that for us that way , if it comes down to our email we're able to discuss it as well .
Speaker 4But , there is a chance , like if it is just , if it goes against our code of conduct . If our committee sees that it's I mean if it's harmful to a protected group then that decision will be made . But we'll always work with you to help make that easy and not ruin your show .
Speaker 11OK , so in her situation it was . It was something that wasn't her lived experience , but she was playing a bunch of historical characters and this yeah , and so that probably I'm not going to .
Speaker 6I think I know what you're talking about too , and I want to be honest and say this was a very , very rare instance , but it was something that was flagged because it was like there's been two pretty problematic things where people have been like I'm white and I'm gonna play a black person that's what it was , yeah let's talk about that privilege and like that thought process .
Speaker 6And so what we did with that instance is we had a conversation with the producer and I don't know if you're talking about this show , but that had happened and for us , we had a conversation with the producer . The producer was like , oh , I see how that could be different . They went back to their director , they had a conversation about how are we going to honor the fact that this show is about inclusivity , about empowering women , and make sure that if a Black person comes in , they don't feel like , okay . Now you're kind of talking about my experience as a Black woman and more , saying I want a show that empowers women and I want to have a show that empowers Black women , and so I think that there's a lot of nuance when it comes to these conversations and they're never going to be Black and white , because these are gray area conversations and they need to be and they need to be private between the producer and Fringe staff , and then we need to just kind of navigate it through from there and it's really about what is going to sell your show after this .
Speaker 6Our whole hope is that after Fringe , your show is not over . We also have a lot of cutting edge work and we want to make sure that that work is able to be as extreme as it wants to be . We really want people to be able to take big , big , big risks . But when you're taking those risks , be like where's the context . You know what I mean . And having those deep conversations takes time and it takes a lot of effort and it's happened twice in the time that Lois and I have been around and each time has ended with that show going on and having a great run .
Speaker 11Thank you . Yeah , and you know there was another show that pointed a gun at an audience and that was really uncomfortable . So I understand . I'm glad you spoke about the gun thing . One other question I have sorry this is my last question about content warnings . Let's say you have three of them , but you forgot a fourth one . What happens ? Do they shut down your show because you were so busy putting your show together that you forgot something ?
Speaker 1Well , I will say , human nature is human nature and truly , you probably will figure it out after the first performance and you'll be like , oh , I can go back and edit the site , because we do want to always respect that . Yeah , a lot happens during Fringe and there are things that get lost in the shuffle that you like , you , that you're conscious of with your rehearsal , with actors , and so if you've listed three of those content warnings and have forgot that , that fourth one , you know you're able to , after the first week of previews , if you're performing them , like go back in and be like , oh , shoot , like , here are my three , here's that fourth . I will also say , just briefly , touching on what Ellen Mills were talking about , but like in a sidestepping kind of way , not necessarily on content , but on like tapping artists on the shoulder , being like , hey , just a heads up , don't use copywritten material unless you have the rights . Like we do have some shows coming to Fringe that are productions that have been produced before and have their rights up for sale . We tend to check in with those so that they're not getting into any legal trouble .
Speaker 1But also , I will mention just be aware of any promotional photos you're using , that you're not taking something that is copywritten . Don't take a photo of a famous actor and put it up , because there are rights and implications that get into it and we just don't want that unnecessary not only stress but potential mess that you can get yourself into . That's completely separate from really what we were talking about , but I just want to bring it to the room because it is something that we really don't want to have happen because it does ruin a festival experience and I know there are statues of limitations where it's like sure , I did my show three years ago , but that's the statute of limitations , so it's a side thing . But I just want to ask that everyone err on the side of caution there . Yeah , lois , you want to add a little bit more . I know it's not the question you asked . It just reminded me of something artists should know about .
Speaker 4Yeah , no , you absolutely said it perfectly . I have a question from the chat , if I can throw that in .
Speaker 1Oh yeah , Thank you , by the way , for your questions .
Speaker 4Sure , thank you . Yeah , I reach out Like if you're , if you have something in your show that you're like , huh , this might come up later . Just let us know y'all , like , we're so happy to have that conversation . Hop on a call and make sure you're not worried moving into the festival season . Ok , so , greg , from the chat , my show has adult themes suicide , genocide , sex , queerness but it's it's also dramatically dependent on a kind of mystery there . Do you think writing adult themes is sufficient for this content warning .
Speaker 1I would recommend to list some of them , like as much as you're able to be comfortable with .
Speaker 1I understand there is mystery and intrigue in shows like that , but because the nature of Fringe is so experimental and such a vast array that you know everyone going into your show may not necessarily know you or your work and I think it's super important that you , like you're not going to ruin I hope you wouldn't be able to ruin your experience by writing like discussion of genocide and you're then able to still fulfill your artistic intention and desires while letting your audience feel very comfortable sitting in the seat , especially because we have some artists or some theater goers who are artists but also audience members that see , I've met a lot of people last , last year , not yesterday , last year that that's all like 60 shows and , to give you a frame of reference , people see shows like five in a day , back to back to back , and they love it and it is a lot , of a lot of theater to intake and there is some emotional capacity there that goes into it .
Speaker 1But many of them are highlighting the shows in our printed guide that want , they want to see , they're reading about the show , making sure they want to know what they're getting into . I I would ask I would err on the side of caution of listing those . You you may not want to explain everything in that way , like your synopsis , but as long as you're like saying this is what is in the show , that is what will be mostly very , very triggering to some people in my audience . Do you want to know ? We're asking in the chat . Yeah , oh yeah .
Speaker 7Is this working ? Okay , great , thank you for all this information . This is great . I have a question about content warnings , just because they're kind of a new concept for me and I want to make sure I understand . About content warnings , just because they're kind of a new concept for me and I want to make sure I understand . So my show is it's just a silly musical about mushroom trip and I saw the thing about drug abuse and I'm thinking like the word abuse is kind of catching because I'm like , well , it's technically illegal , right , but it doesn't . I don't feel like my script is portraying it in a particularly harmful or kind of destructive light . So I'm like wondering , would that include a content warning ? And then a similar instance there's a scene in my script where a character takes a shower and they're going to be in a flesh-colored sweatsuit with , like comically like placed sensor bars . Is that warning Like when you're kind of being cheeky and playful about some of these more mature themes is it ?
Speaker 1treated as the same that it would if it weren't for the scariest first part on the machine grip . You're fine , that's okay . Also , I'm sure you'll be working on a synopsis of the piece for the short description and the larger description , and that I mean audience will absolutely be reading that of the piece for the short description and the larger description and that I mean audience will absolutely be reading that , especially on the short description , if that kind of , if that is the overarching narrative of the show , I'm sure it's going to be popped up into that short description and longer description . So it should be good .
Speaker 4On the example of nudity , though , I would like to defer to Ellen and Lois no and I think these are great questions and you're doing exactly the right thing already by like , trying to think of those , like those gaps . And if everyone in the room is just starting to think about the gaps , you're going to be totally fine . I would say . I mean , there's a word of like not nudity , but but mention it because it might change the age group that wants to go and it also might help you market your show , right , like it's kind of leading into some of that marketing and theme . So I think , mention it , but I'm trying to think of the right word and I can't . But it's not like , no , it's not even partial , because you're fully covered , but it's like suggested there it is , thank you and we're all learning together .
Speaker 1Yeah , I'll also because we actually , I don't think , talked about it on the website page . When you're creating your project , which so many of us have done , you're able to go back in and like , if you realize that your suggested age range or age limit should be higher , you can go and do that , like . I know that you know these town halls are free , open dialogue , so we do ask that they're like 18 and up , but every podcast is going on pitch shows and they say like actually it's like five and up or 12 and up , and that's something else to control , like people coming into your space and because there is , I well it's .
Speaker 1I think it's rare , but there is sometimes . There's moments where someone's like I came into the show , I didn't know what's going on and , oh my god , am I mad and I'm like well , there's a lot of detail on the website and there's a lot of detail what happened .
Speaker 4But , um , it does happen and we we assist in , like mediating that yeah , help you right , because if we're able to see it on the page , because your audience is going to come to us first , right , and then we're going to come to you . So if we have all of the information , if we're looking at the project page , I would love for our response to be hey , it was listed here . I'm sorry you saw it , but I cannot give you a refund because it was listed and with I want to add to the age . That's your first accessibility flag , or your first content warning , if you think about it . So make sure that is really correct . Like , really think about your show , think about what age it's going to be appropriate for , because that is the first one . And if you are at no , we don't have any 21 plus venues , so never mind , but you can make it 21 plus . Sorry , we used to have a bar .
Speaker 6I think that when it comes to any of this , it's all about making sure that you are doing your best to market your show to your audience , because the fringe audience is so vast .
Speaker 6You're going to have your like nitpicky types and then you're going to have your I go to fringe because I want to see the fucking weird shit types and then you're going to have your types that are like somewhere in between where they're nitpicky and weird , and those are the hardest to navigate . So our whole goal is that when we navigate those , we can be like you know what . We've been so in deep conversation with this show because it has tricky themes , that we don't have to worry about a complaint because we've been in deep conversation with them and we can say no , we know what they're doing and we've got their back . You know , our whole goal is to have your back as the artist , protect you as the artist from having a bad experience , and so we'll never try and overstep in that place , unless it really is something that our artist advisory board has set , which is hate speech or playing a character that is not in your race or things like that . And even with that , then there's talking about the gray area . Talking about how to navigate those things .
Speaker 1Yes , and just quick pause because I do want to have Ellen Lois continue . Sorry , havreta , can we just have the camera on the interpreters , because I know I want to see Ellen and Lois , but I also want what they're saying to be interpreted . Thank you , sorry .
Speaker 4You can go back .
Speaker 1Lois . Oh yeah , I was going to say that was it .
Speaker 10Sorry , this was my question is if you're writing a play that has a lot of content warning themes I know you should write it in the long description . Should you also write it in the short description ? Or like , how does that work ? Because , like , my play is like 90%% mental illness and there's no way to avoid that and if somebody somehow misses that , like that could be a problem .
Speaker 1well , yeah , I think that there's this moment where , if your show is dependent on it , like like that's what your show is about , um , it's gonna find its way into your short description regardless , because because that's what the narrative of your show is , and and so it's like if it is 90 of your show , I imagine it will be included , not necessarily like as blatant as like a content warning , but like when you're explaining , you know , like it's like roughly like three sentences synopsis .
Speaker 4It'll probably come into play there yeah , I'll add in if it's something where if it is an extreme content warning , we're talking something where you fear for your audience that they don't know ahead of time and are able to mentally prepare for that experience Use your venue box office as well . Some venues are going to have , they're going to run , your box office . Sometimes you , the individual show , will but use that as that additional space to go . Hey , flashing lights is another one , right , because that's medical , something that's medical or it could be deeply trauma filled for an audience member . Your box is going to be that second , just in case they missed it , you're taking care of them there and they'll keep coming back to your shows because you've taken care of them . So now when you email about your third run , they're going to be like hell . Yeah , I trust that artist , because that's key Marketing is trusting your audience or artist .
Speaker 8Hello , my name is Chris , my pronouns are he , him , and my show is a comedy called what Happens in the Dark . It seems like there are two schools of thought on a lot of these accessibility talks and on the one hand , it's like providing an interpreter for a show and sort of setting . This is the of . If people need an interpreter , they can ask for that sort of thing and you can make accommodations . In general , and maybe there's not a definitive answer between those two schools of thought , is there a direction that you're better off going , Because it's this idea of like maybe people wouldn't be available . You set a show as the one with the interpreter and then nobody ends up needing it that show , but somebody else wants to come to a different one .
Speaker 6And what a waste of money if you're providing a interpreter for one show but you're not inviting deaf audiences .
Speaker 8No valid .
Speaker 6So I think that , like the whole point of providing an interpreter is making a marketing plan where you're inviting deaf audiences in to come see your show and some of us aren't at that level right . Some people are like you know what this is me getting my show up in Fringe and I need this . And some people are like I want to level up in my producing and I want to reach a new audience . I also think that booking interpreters is really expensive . You need to rehearse with them and you need to be able to have so many things .
Speaker 6So a lot of people will say I'm going to forego that and make everything else about my show as accessible as possible until I get to the run where I have built that audience , I have built that trust , I have built that narrative and if you already have deaf friends and folks that could benefit from that happening , then it is something that maybe you can work with them in tandem to schedule around that , and then it could be a schedule it on your own thing . But I think that really , if you're booking an interpreter , you need to be ready to work with an interpreter as a part of your production process and that takes a lot of money and investment and it is not for everyone at the point of their producing . It is for every artist at some point in their producing career right , but not necessarily in the fringe part of it .
Speaker 4I'm going to quickly add , because , exactly , but accessibility , like anything we're doing , we're growing , we're learning're learning right , and it's not you're not going to be perfect and so think about it as steps too . Like you compared , like you basically compared what is the best case scenario and , quite frankly , what fringe is able to do right now , which is provide interpreters for some of our larger events , one or two panels , but then make them available upon request , because that's where our budget is , and so like . Think about accessibility like you would . Anything you're learning and trying to be the best at is , it's a process , and so if you can take one of those two things off your list every time you produce a new show , fantastic , you're on the right road .
Speaker 6Hollywood Fringe had its first accessibility plan in 2018 , and it took us like five years to really get to a point where we were able to start teaching our producers how to do things , and so know that , like , our plan to provide this workshop is not even that every single Hollywood fringe producer is going to do every single one of these things .
Speaker 6It's that we're able to provide as many options for as many people who have as many interests as possible . So , say , you have a lot of friends that are , you know , need that sensory friendly show , which a lot of artists have , that friend group that needs the sensory friendly show , then you have those tools to be able to do it . If you have that deaf audience , you have the tools to do it , and if you're looking to build those , it's taking this and then also creating a marketing plan for those audiences to make sure that you're in kind of that concert , because those audiences do exist . 11% of Hollywood fringe audiences last year were disabled , and so you have to kind of think about the fact that disability does exist and it's 25% of our population , while also kind of putting in your own growth plan of how you're going to make accessibility an initiative that you are committing to as an artist , not just as a fringe show .
Speaker 8Just to clarify slightly on something you said of you know , if you have an interpreter , they should be there from the beginning . So in your mind , that's not something that you could make available upon request , because it has to be built in from day one type of thing .
Speaker 6And like of course sorry , of course there are exceptions to the rule . Sometimes you know , if you're working with an interpretive service , you can talk to them about your show and like your things and talk to them about what they think is the best idea . But if you want it to be , you know this great experience where deaf audiences are going to be like excited to come to your show . Having it be built into your show in some way is way more exciting for them . Into your show in some way is way more exciting for them because it is and I've seen some incredible work at Hollywood Fringe do that and other fringes and but it does take a ton of time and money investment . And I just want to say that providing accessibility as a checkbox is never going to be good for you as an artist , but providing it as something that you're working towards and always kind of trying to be better at is going to get you to that place where you have that incredible show and then it just blows people away right Cool .
Speaker 8One more kind of not related at all question that hopefully is a much easier one when you have your production team on the website , do you recommend that that's just production team in terms of producers , or should that be a place where your whole cast is listed as well ?
Speaker 3cast , okay , great yeah , put your whole cast in there , I know working on the team . Yeah , that's really helpful . I mean , it's just great for everyone involved . But , yeah , whole whole crew , whoever's working on it um , advise them to make a account be added . Add them to the project page .
Speaker 6It's super helpful great , thank you and they get jeanette's emails , if they're added .
Speaker 3And then you get my emails that I write for you guys . I love doing those , please .
Speaker 9Hello everyone , thank you for doing this and helping us produce our shows . Really appreciate it . My name is Anthony and I'm putting up a dark musical kind of like Lord of the Rings goes biblical musical play . Musical kind of like Lord of the Rings goes biblical musical play . And I was wondering how does the audience who can review the shows if they're like purchasing a ticket as a guest ?
Speaker 4could they review the show or they have to create an account . How does that work ? Yeah , I could take it . No , that's a great question . So reviews and we'll talk about this in great detail in our next workshops , y'all we try to like give you the steps as you need them so that you don't have too much information all at once .
Speaker 4But with reviews , anyone who purchases a ticket on the Fringe website , we track that and so we're able to . If they put it in a review , it's a certified review , meaning they bought a ticket . We can confirm said ticket was bought and it wasn't mom from Washington dropping reviews , which is so lovely . But if mom didn't see the show not to be trusted here right , but you can as an audience member . If you didn't , maybe you just got let in through the door and there's no verification you can still write a review . It comes up as uncertified , like a general review . But if you can confirm that they bought a ticket , send support an email . Hey , so-and-so bought a ticket at the door . There's no record on the site and we'll happily certify it . We're not trying to over police it , right . But so just let us know if it's an uncertified review that needs updating and we can take care of that for you . Oh cool , Thank you .
Speaker 1I will also add that the producers can also certify the uncertified reviews on their on their page , yeah , yeah . So I mean as much as I would love to have your email that says , like can you certify it ? I'm like , yes , but also you can also certify those reviews yourself which is super fun .
Speaker 1Yeah , and that , and that way you'll like get a more intimate knowledge of like , oh , whatever they're saying , it'll probably be speaking to the show itself , so so there's kind of like a tell where you're like , oh , you saw the show instead of , because there is sometimes spam and that's like , oh , yeah , like please email us about that , because the bots are going crazy .
Speaker 1There are bots that happen on the fringe website where they're like , hey , get this discount to this casino . And I'm like that's not what . Yeah , it's like that's not what my show is about . My show has nothing to do with casinos . Uh oh , I'm sorry , any questions ?
Speaker 10sports betting now it's sports betting , yeah any , do that , keep it up , but otherwise let us know and we'll take it down if you're like paranoid , that something might have a topic that's within the code of ethics , can you we just shoot you an email and being like , hey , there's this one situation where this one line is kind of a microaggression , but it'd be , but it's addressed , or yeah yes , we're , we're here .
Speaker 3We're not . Absolutely . Please do like we're here as a resource . We were again , like we're . I also want to make it very clear like , specifically with accessibility and everything , we're not here to get you . We're not gonna be like , oh , they didn't put this content warning for this . Like , it's fine , it's okay . Like we're , we're all learning . We're all learning , like alan was saying earlier , like the whole us . Even be able to educate future fringers on accessibility is very recent because things are changing all the time . So we're learning . We want to spread that information as much as you can .
Speaker 3And again , even when we're talking about earlier with your show , about like the sue and everything , you're like is that considered nudity ? We were all like , is that like ? Is that like ? We all were just deciding in the moment to like it's a conversation . So , as long as you start the conversation , please reach out to us . We're more than happy to figure that out with you . And if anything in the future when your shows start and then we get something , if we receive something like hey , so-and-so show has this and it wasn't put on their condom warning , we're not going to email you and be like you're out , like no , no , no , no , no , no , like we got you do that . We would just be like , hey , we got this , no Like can we check in about what this means ? And a lot of the times it's just like they just didn't know . And then we learn together .
Speaker 3You update your project page and you update your audience . We're good to go . That's all it is . Yeah , please do Thank you , for even that's really good too , to think about your pieces objectively , like especially . You know , I I wrote my show and I brought it up here and I had my actors working on it . I've had them act like . That was a long process for me . And then I literally had to like give it to , like like a friend of mine in a class and I was like , can you just read this and tell me like what pops out at you ? And there were things where I was like , oh , I didn't realize that that was something concerning . Thank God I had someone I trusted to do that . So again , think objectively . But but yeah , thank you for that question .
Speaker 2Hi , I'm Regina . My show is Trans Mom vs Family Court . Hi , and because my description talks about the transphobia , do I have to still put a content warning on it ? I mean , if it's like five times in the title , I think people are going to expect that that might be broached , you know .
Speaker 6I think , that that's also true . I'm so sorry and I'm so sorry that I keep talking to you , Go Roddy .
Speaker 1You're fine . Yeah , I think we've talked about . What we've talked about among a couple of the shows is like where the subject matter is unavoidable . That's OK , you know , and your short description will absolutely talk about it . Your title may talk about it , and that also . I mean that's more than the content , warning like the biggest signal for an audience member being like oh , that's what's going to be talked about . That's where my expectations lie , Ellen . Do you want to add anything else to that ?
Speaker 6No , I think if your show is about you know , your lived experience , it's going to be really clear that you're going to talk about those things . And if it's not , then that's your time to be able to kind of think how are you marketing it to those people from that community that are gonna be in your audience ? Because our audiences are diverse . Make sure that you're having it be clear to people what is coming in . They're coming in to watch .
Speaker 6You know , like I've gone into a show and been like this was really really dark and really hard and I thought it was gonna be a comedy and that's not a good feeling , you know . And I've also gone to things that like had so many content warnings and I was like , oh , this is way too many content warnings . You know , you're all good and it's about learning that balance and you might have one show that has too many things on the page . And then you're like , oh , I can take it away here . I can take it away here . It's so , you know . And so you're going to try things at Fringe and see if it works .
Speaker 11I missed the very beginning , when you did a land acknowledgement . I don't remember if you said that we're required to do one for all of our performances .
Speaker 4Yeah and this is a new thing . We'll send out information again closer to when everyone starts their tech , but we work with the venues on this as well . This started just last year that every show does the land acknowledgement and we have it prepped and you can certainly add to it . We've had shows especially that were were about lived experience . They talked about land acknowledgement in a very different way and had blended it into their story . But we have a recording we'll send out to all venues and all artists and then it's up to the artist in the venue , depending on who's running that pre-show speech , because a lot of venues do it for you and so we'll make sure all parties have it . But it will be required this year .
Speaker 5Yes , yeah , I heard somebody use their opening little remark like hey , welcome to the stage . Yeah , we're here in Compton or whatever . We're also on the land of blah blah blah . So they kind of incorporated it into their story . So it's not just a blanket , just an announcement . You can weave it in if you want thanks , avery .
Speaker 1Yeah , does that answer the question , or you want to okay ? Yes , I think , that's where we're like making that shift over to doing that , because it is just , you know , it's important , yeah , it's very meaningful for so many of our community members . Yeah , sorry . Oh , no more questions in the chat and if there are no more questions in the room , we are . Oh , my God , wow , I talk a lot and I talk really fast often and so we just never finish on time and like this is great . Oh , I don't , we got Greg's question .
Speaker 1yeah , yes , yeah , so when I say we , I meant me . I don't finish on time .
Speaker 4I always like go ahead of time ellen lowers are great , so jeanette's the magic here is that maybe I just have to sit here yeah , you have a calming presence anyway we'll .
Speaker 1we're gonna end the chat in a second momentarily , so any last minute questions haverty will be exiting us out . We're all still still going to be here . We don't disappear . We'll be like one of us or two of us maybe , like moving the room back to neutral . But also , if you're like I didn't really want to ask a question on the chat or in person , can I just push you , pull you aside and ask this question ? Also , if it's non accessibility related and just generally fringe , that's okay too .
Speaker 1I just want to reiterate that you can contact us at support at hollywoodfringeorg as the email and then also , if you sign up to the artist newsletters , you get access to the one-on-one scheduling where you can ask any fringe questions and we'll schedule a Zoom meeting and chat all about what your question may be . Any other ways to access us ? No , I think those are the main ones . Those are the ones where we reply the fastest . Support at Hollywood Fringe . There's always like two or three people monitoring that and during the festival we like update that , you know , by the hour super fast , which is where , like , audiences and artists are asking questions . But right now it's mostly artists questions and we try to respond within 72 hours , if not sooner , depending on weekends or whatnot . But yeah , if nothing else , thank you all for attending . Thank you so much to our interpreters from Sign Language Company . Truly , it was amazing . I hope we did okay . Is it literally called Lines , lines , sign what LinesSigningcom .
Speaker 1Oh , oh oh . Sign Language Company . Sign Language . Sign Language Co . That's what Nigel is a team member at . Yeah , yeah , sorry , you're asking about what the name of the place is . Yeah , yeah , oh , which can also be found in our participant document hollywoodfringeorg forward slash participants . They're listed there asa service and , just you know , start that conversation whenever you need to if you're at that point in your fringe show producing journey . Yeah , that's it I think we're good thank you .