HFF26 Workshop #7: Festival Expectations

The workshop, led by a panel of past participants and veteran community members, offers you an insider perspective on what to expect in JUNE! This workshop also walks you through the festival experience through the eyes of people who have navigated it with great success. 

Looking to engage fully with the community, get the most out of your Fringe experience, and maybe even take home an award? This is a must-listen!!

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

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Hang tight for about five minutes and we will get this panel going. So happy to see you here.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

I have to have snaps on things.

SPEAKER_04 5:10

Okay, I'm saying uh before I uh think I feel like I said that wrong show.

SPEAKER_03 5:25

Okay How's everybody doing today? Okay, we're gonna try that again. Back to one, back to one. How are we doing today? There it is, thank you. Even if we don't have the energy, we have to pretend because the festival is like less than a month away, and so we we have to sustain, right? Um thank you all so much for being here at the final workshop of the 2026 series, uh, Festival Expectations. So we're super excited. I'm Lois, in case we haven't met. I know I'm looking around, I've met most everyone at this point, thankfully. Uh, but Lois, she, her pronouns on your co-director here at Hollywood Fringe. Uh visual description for anyone who may be blind or low vision. I am a white woman currently wearing a white tank top, tan pants, uh, with mid-length kind of dark brown blonde hair. Um, and we do that, like I said, for anyone who may be blind or low vision, so that they are just as a part of the conversation as anyone who is uh able to see us. Okay, before we jump in, the Hollywood Fringe acknowledges that we are on the unceded lands of the Gabrielino, Tongva, and Chumash peoples. Our statement serves as a practice as we commit to furthering our connection to indigenous communities, past, present, and emerging. You can learn more about our land acknowledgement and a bunch of resources at HollywoodFringe.org forward slash land. All right. Thank you for the McCadden for hosting us today and Aaron, who is somewhere in the building making things happen. Um just for kicks, are is anyone performing at the McCadden this year? All right. Sounds like those shows need to be coming to events looking at you. Um remember, uh, these events are live streamed and recorded for all those who are performing at the McCadden who are not here. Um so hello everyone watching on YouTube. Uh Roddy, wait, Roddy, everyone knows Roddy at this point, right? Hopefully. Uh Roddy is in the chat, so you can ask your questions and be just as involved as everyone is here, but in the comfort of your home, which is always nice. Um, okay, I think we're we're just gonna jump right in, right? I'm gonna talk at you for a little bit, but way less than I usually do at the town halls, I promise. Um, and then we're gonna jump in with these marvelous panelists who are here to share just absolutely brilliant information because they've done this before and done this really, really well. So we're gonna get to you so, so soon. Um, but let's start with code of conduct um because it's an important part of the fringe journey, especially as we get into the tornado of chaos. Um, I know that who's who's dressed? Raise your hand. Holy hell, right? Yes, yes, us too. And it's okay. And that's why I think it's an important time to bring up code of conduct again, because we do have it. It's important that you um check your behavior at the festival, that you're producing content that isn't filled with hate speech. We have a line here at Fringe and we do um take it very, very seriously. We've talked about it, and of course, the code of conduct can be found at hollywoodfringe.org forward slash conduct. But this is the reminder to be kind to yourselves, to be kind to each other, to be kind to your venues, to be kind to your fringe staff, uh, because it is so easy in moments of stress to act without thinking. Um, so I just implore uh upon you to take deep breaths in those moments and remember like our world is absolute a garbage fire. It's a garbage fire. And there is so much happening that I mean there is food scarcity, there is housing issues, there is there are people who do not have basic human rights. And you are all here at fringe telling stories, telling truth, like against all odds in a world that is trying to shut artists up from telling their truth. So I think it is so much more important that in this space that we support each other and we show each other kindness uh because you deserve that and we're all gonna be better for it. Uh so please take your code of conduct seriously. Um and make sure if you're the primary producer on your project to um be that leader in your team, to make sure your team understands the code of conduct um that you're sharing it with them. Like make it a point at your next rehearsal to have a 20-minute chat about the code of conduct because you are responsible for your team. You know, you are our contact. So if something happens within your team, we're looking at the primary producer. Uh so let's all move forward in kindness and love because we're gonna make our world better one step at a time. Um key festival dates, May 1st. What happened? Yes! And if you're like, oh fuck, I've only sold four tickets, that's okay. I want to remind everyone, especially in a post-COVID world, tickets move slow and don't let it like deflate you and stop you from continuing to market. Now is the time to continue to push uh people, especially like we're scrolling on Instagram, we have a thousand things in our heads. You need to remind people 35 times, I swear, in order for them to actually commit to that ticket purchase. So don't let it slow you down. Don't think you're way behind everyone else. Uh, we're just in a world where people do things last minute. So know that it's gonna be okay, but don't stop pushing for those ticket sales. All right, after that, the fourth through the ninth are the fringe previews, and then June 10th, the opening night party at the LA LGBT center. Tickets have gone on sale uh for that event. Um, know that with your fringe button, you get a free reservation, so you can just reserve that on the fringe site. Um, and if you do not have a fringe button, all the primaries get one for free. And then anyone a part of a festival project, so like a part of the team, get a $3 button. And that $3 button is your ticket into the opening night party. Um, that is our way to ensure that the opening night party is a part of the community and it's not just, you know, open to the general public. We love the general public, but we can't all fit in the LE LGBT center. Um, so it is an event for artists and community members to celebrate the opening of the festival. After that, June 11th through the 28th is the official 2026 Hollywood Fringe Festival. And then of course, June 29th, that following Monday, will be our awards ceremony. Okay, this is like I said, our last workshop. So we have one more town hall. That is gonna be an important one, especially if you want to talk about awards, because I'm not gonna talk about it much today. Um, but if you're thinking about awards, industry, all of the things that are that there for you to take advantage of in June, that town hall is going to be key. So that's going to be on Thursday, uh uh May 14th from 7 to 9 at the Broadwater. And I know the actors company does have an event that night if you are in that space, but no, again, it's recorded. Uh it's live streamed, so you will have access to that after the event if you cannot make it. Um so at that, like I said, we're gonna do awards, we're going to talk about the Discover Fringe Industry Program, we're gonna talk about press, kind of all of the details that you're not gonna wanna miss and then go, oh shoot, that was available to me all June. Um, and then we're gonna talk about Fringe Central or Fringe HQ, but we changed the name last year and eventually I'm just gonna stick. Um, Fringe HQ and all of the events that are happening there. Okay, um, all of that, remember at Hollywood Fringe is our YouTube channel. So if you've missed anything, if this is your first workshop, welcome to the party. So happy to have you. You have some more work to do. Jump in and watch uh the six other workshops that have happened uh so that you are fully caught up. Okay, uh participant, nope, office hours. How many people have gone to office hours? I love it. Do we even need to talk about it then? But it's important, right? I feel like they're fun, they're a chance to get to know the community and really take advantage of what the festival is. Uh, you could produce any old time. You can do a show at any of these venues, rent year-round. You are doing fringe to be a part of a community. So I highly recommend if you haven't been, anyone at home who hasn't been, uh please come to office hours and really embrace the whole point of being a part of a festival. Okay, participant resources. The artist hub is going to be so crucial still to your journey. You can find it. A quick link is HollywoodFringe.org forward slash participants, uh, but it's right in the artist hub on the right side of the website as well. Um there's a marketing opportunities blog that we've added recently with a bunch of opportunities to market your show through the festival. These are things like cabaret, um, postcards and poster drop-off, um, all of the different things that we put together as a fringe staff to support opportunities for you to market your show. We do not insist that you do them, but I highly recommend you take advantage of these few programs to make sure you are getting your show out there and all of the resources we have. Um, we also have our fringe blog, hollywoodfringe.org forward slash news, where we're dropping anything that we're putting out there and needing you to be reminded of. So that's something to keep an eye on. And then of course, read your participant newsletters, please, please, please. I promise you, if you're reading them to the bottom, I know they are long. Uh, but if you are a primary, I know I can I can hear them. Yes, they are. Um, but I promise um if you read them every week, you will not miss anything that is a important to your journey or B a possible like good opportunity for you. Uh so make sure you're reading those. Um, hot tip if you save support at hollywoodfringe.org in your inbox, that will keep us out of your spam folder, uh, which is super helpful because sometimes those support at emails end up in spam. Okay. That's like choke. We're doing great. So one second. Um remember you can always email support at hollywoodfringe.org, your best fringe pal, uh, to get help throughout the season. We're now playing the fun game of like audience and artist, because right, all of your audience is also coming to us for ticket exchanges and help managing the site. Uh, but please don't forget that we are still here to support your journey, even though things like the train is kind of up and running. So please email us with questions. Okay. Fringe HQ. Drink our break pause. Caffeine is what keeps the festival going. Um, okay. Starting June 4th, Fringe HQ will open. Our fringe HQ is our box office. So we do an in-person box office to make sure that audience has that like face-to-face interaction if they're looking for in-person in-person sales or help navigating the festival. Y'all, there are 480 plus shows at the festival, which is overwhelming to even the festival like organizers. And so, like, we are there to help audiences not just buy a ticket, but help navigate. Okay, you wanted to go see this show. Can I recommend another cabaret that might be up your alley? Like, so we're there helping them see the festival as a whole beyond just the ticket they may have come to purchase. Um, beyond that, we have our merch shop. We have some, I wish I we should have brought some. That would have been so smart of us. But um, some really sick merch this year, if I do say so myself. Um, I don't know if you've seen some of the promos we've started to run, but the mer the line this year is LA is a theater town, which ding ding ding, right? Y'all are making that happen. And we're just finally shouting it from the rooftops. Um, but the sh we'll have shirts, we'll have buttons, we'll have magnets. Um, Roddy and friends have been screen pressing.

SPEAKER_12 15:29

Uh screen printing.

SPEAKER_03 15:30

Screen printing totes that say uh LA is a theater town. So cute. So that's what we'll we'll have those available. And the shirt this year has all of the show names on the back or all of the show names that registered by the deadline of April 15th on there. You know, that's that's where that deadline was important. Um but definitely come to Fringe HQ as an artist as well. That's gonna be your place to engage with each other during the festival and engage with audience, right? People are coming there to buy tickets, and if they find you, they're gonna probably want it to hear about your show. So that's gonna be where that happens. Um, it's gonna be open Wednesday through Sunday, June 4th through the 28th. Um, our hours are Wednesday through Friday, 5 to 12, and Saturday and Sunday, 2 to 12. Uh and we'll have a little bar, beer and wine, kind of and the east side where there's not really any place to hang out in between. That was kind of our methodology with that is like where do you go in between shows? Now we are filling that gap, so you'll have a place on the east side. Okay, uh reminder that that place is not our ours year round. Uh the amount of times we always get people mailing stuff. We don't own that space, we will not be there until June 4th. So please do not use the the address on the website to mail us things because they will they will go to someone else. Um and that would say that would not uh that would waste your money. We don't want that. Okay, awards. I told you we wouldn't talk about it much, but I'm gonna talk about it a little bit um just to make sure we can have a conversation with a brilliant panelists about awards and there's some context. Um so again, we're gonna go in depth on our Thursday workshop or our workshop uh town hall. But the idea with awards, A, they don't fucking matter. I wanna get that in your head. At the end of the day, like it's art. It like an award does not make it better art. It just means the person giving that award really liked it. And I wanna like impress upon you because at the end of the day, awards will not change your ultimate journey as an artist. And the moment they start to change your journey, you're doing something wrong. Um, and it will affect how you're able to continue to create art uh because the the awards are a bonus, and I think if we need to look at them that way, we're gonna have a great experience. Um, but we do have two kinds of awards because again, we live in the world and awards are a thing. Um, so community awards, those are automatic. Um, once you've signed up for the festival, the community awards are you're automatically entered into the category selected. So where you're at in the guide and what's listed on the website, that is the category in which you are considered for comedy or clown or drama, those are the categories. And then top of fringe, everyone is considered international, anyone who is coming in from out of town, considered, and then best world premiere, anyone who is premiering their work at the fringe, considered, right? For that, you don't do anything. Um and we'll talk about some people do uh like for your consideration things, like that's totally up to you. But in general, you can kind of leave that alone and understand that if you are filling seats, you are filling your seats essentially with people who could potentially vote for you. Anyone who sees three or more shows is able to vote for those community awards. So that's what I'm gonna give you there. Like that one's kind of a hands-off um awards process. Industry or Discover Fringe Industry Awards. Those are a little different. Those are a apply for consideration uh because these are opportunity awards. We work with partners uh like Soho Playhouse in New York at Off Broadway, um several LA theaters, um, Australia Festivals, uh Milano Aw Festival, these different opportunities for your show to do something else post-festival. So those are gonna be the the awards you apply for consideration for because we want to make sure you're interested. We don't, we you know, we if you if we it's an award to go to Adelaide Fringe in Australia, we want to make sure the people getting the award want to go. And so these aren't just a laurel congratulations. It's a real opportunity to take your career or the show to the next level. And so those you do have to apply for consideration for. Some of them you may be right for, some of them you may not be. Um, and again, we're gonna go over this a lot more on Thursday, and we'll be sending emails in your participant newsletter. So another reason to uh make sure you're paying attention to that. Um, but I think at the end of the day, again, awards garbage, right? It doesn't matter. Um, I know they will to you, but I'm just trying to put that in the head. Um, but think about goals because at the end of the day, I think the awards really are the cherry on top if you're following kind of the right goals for your show, if you're remembering that personal relationships matter. Because even like, yeah, we might have 15 or 20 awards, but the people in this room, the people in the festival, like y'all have cool jobs. You have opportunities to give each other that go well beyond the partnerships that we're building. So if you're remembering to like think quality over quantity and getting to know your fellow artists, that's gonna provide you opportunity. Um remembering you're a producer, filling your house, that's gonna provide you opportunity. If you remember to put in the work, if you're creating uh sick art, that is gonna provide you opportunity. And so just continue to focus on the things that are going to affect your journey with this show. Everything else is gonna be bonus, yeah? And see each other's work. Oh my God, don't forget that like you have this beautiful like tea kettle to refill your cup with and it's going to change your ability to move forward as an artist and the work you create after because you get to see, I mean, if you it'd be hard to schedule, but hundreds of shows and you really get to dive in to the research, the learning, the inspiration. Because as an artist, we never stop learning. And if we do, oh no, the stories are gonna get boring, right? So continue to learn from each other. Okay, I think I'm gonna step off that soapbox now, and we're all done with that. And I am going to let the panelists take it from here. So, brilliant friends, please um introduce yourself. Yes. Um, but please introduce yourselves, your name, your pronouns, a visual description, and then tell us a little bit about your fringe experience and the show you brought to the festival. Um, and I have a microphone for you, and we can just kind of go down the line, keep it cash. Okay.

SPEAKER_11 20:58

Um, hi, I'm Sylvie Wang. Uh she hers. I'm an Asian woman. Um, I'm wearing a dress black top, uh, a tan skirt, and then uh talk about my your show, yeah. Oh yeah, yeah. My show was the most important part. Um the uh my show was called Sylvie Wang Present Sylvie Wang. It was a comedy show. Um it'd be insane if it was called that and not a comedy show. Um yeah, it was a solo show where I played um like a very heightened version of myself. I played a comedian in the year 2100 who was like the most famous comedian in the world. And then I was taking everyone, the audience through the journey of like how I became the most famous comedian in the world.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

That's um that is the general, it was a really good show. Always learning at shows, right?

SPEAKER_06 21:48

Hi everyone, I'm Angelique Vestukchian. Do I have to press the oh it's not real? Okay. I'm Angelique Vastukchian. My pronouns are she, her. I am a white woman with brown curly. Hair mid-length. I'm wearing a striped reddish beige top and flare blue jeans. And the show that I brought to Fringe, I did Fringe in 2023 and 2024. So the first year I did a comedy called The King and I and Paul, which is about a couple moving into an apartment together for the first time. The King is Elvis, and she has a an Elvis collection that he doesn't know about, and madness ensues. And then the second year I did a show here actually called Our American Tragedy, which was a historical drama that took place backstage during the Lincoln assassination. So yeah, Dizzy Bee.

SPEAKER_12 22:32

Awesome.

SPEAKER_08 22:33

Hey everyone, my name is Yusuf Sajid. He hymns, um, a South Asian man, dark hair, beard, wearing a blue shirt and black uh jeans. Um, I did a show last fringe last summer called Natural Born Citizen. It was an autobiographical solo show. It was like half storytelling, half acting as the people, uh, and this true to life story that was um slightly or moderately dramatized. Um I did it at the Hudson Guild Theater. Uh prior to that, I hadn't produced a solo show before or done something entirely on my own, and that'll be important for some of the conversations a little bit later.

SPEAKER_09 23:14

Hi, everybody. I'm Rashawn Durrell. Uh he him. I am an African-American man with a black sweatshirt and blue jeans. Um last fringe, I wrote a show called the Server Slasher Massacre. It was about a restaurant and the waiters in it who were being targeted by a crazy person and a mask. Um, it was 10 people on stage running around doing killing each other. And uh yeah, it was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_03 23:44

And I think you're right, and I think like context, uh, raise your hand. I already know, but like if you had larger casts and just take a minute because I feel like those with larger casts, you're gonna relate to a lot of their marketing strategies and then solo work the other, right? And so I think like keep that in mind because I think it changes the context of how you exist within the fringe community um and how you choose to do things. I love that. Y'all, I'm so excited to have you here. I these are my favorite because I just get to pick your brains about all of the things that I question all year. So this is amazing for me. Um, so let's start with we're just under a month away from the fringe. Um, where should your focus be? Where where should the like what should you be worried about? What should you be working on right now to give yourself the ultimate success come June 4th? And anyone can jump in. I can also pass that.

SPEAKER_09 24:28

Um I will you're probably nearing your tech date in a few weeks. Um I I feel like you can rehearse as early or as late as you you need to. Um if you have access to the space or if you're rehearsing somewhere else. Um but I think it should you should be getting towards like the final lock-ins of your show. And then that tech time is is really, really important. I feel like you want to go into that time as prepared as possible. So yes.

SPEAKER_08 25:04

I think like there's truthfully when I this point last year, I don't know about Sylvie, but I feel like I was pretty much doing everything simultaneously, like finishing writing it, um finishing some logistics with. I think that this a one month out, just to be concise, the advice I would give is it'd be really helpful if last year, a one month out, I had nailed down some of the logistics parts. So specifically booking my photographer, booking my videographer, and calling the theater to make sure whatever the requirements were for tech. The other kind of thing that I did do, which was helpful was I made a Google sheet and wrote like social media copy, and I picked like, okay, these are the 18 days I'm gonna do Instagram and Facebook and whatever other channels. This is the copy that's gonna be, we're one month out, you know, this is the promo code I'm gonna use. This is the promo code I'm gonna use when there's not a lot of tickets, so I'll reduce it to 50% off instead of you know 10%, and just having a sheet so you can just go on the day of. Because as as Lois was saying earlier, uh just like with any type of B2C marketing, you need to repeatedly hit the audience until they transact. So don't feel shy that you've sent 11 social posts or what have you, because that's just how it works in any kind of business to consumer marketing. Um, so preparing some of the logistics is uh a good, I think, place to be in for us.

SPEAKER_06 26:34

Yeah, definitely piggybacking off of that. If you're concerned about tickets or marketing, if you haven't been marketing, that's totally okay because we're all doing so much at this point. But definitely if you can set up a plan because something that we got caught up in often was oh, we we know we need a post on Monday and then it's Monday morning and we're figuring out that caption, we're figuring out that image. So if you're editing graphics, if you're doing Instagram reels that need to be edited, just really give yourself that editing time and understand kind of what your marketing plan is. If you're caring about having specific people show up, work on your press release and get that sent out in the next two or three weeks. I would say sooner if you can, but definitely be concise and understanding your PR. Because some people want to do PR, some people don't care either way, if they have certain people attend. But if you are wanting that, just you know, figure out who those people are that you want to invite and start being mindful of what they need, like a press release or just understanding your show, because their their June is gonna book up. So if you want judges or reviewers to come, definitely keep in mind that their schedules get busy. So have that in your head and and don't just wait till preview week because that might get a little bit more tough.

unknown 27:44

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 27:45

Oh, oh wow, I'm gonna keep this.

SPEAKER_11 27:49

I'm gonna keep I'll keep this one. Um, yeah, everyone what everyone said was so great. Um, I don't know if I have a ton to add on top of that. I went to office hours for the first time recently since last year, and I was like, wow, I forgot how much work this is. Just like meeting everyone and just like the energy, and it's a great energy, but it's it's it is a lot. So I do think, you know, along with all that, take care of yourself for sure. Um, take uh take a breath because it's like the work needs to be done, but it also will get done by the time you do it. Like by the time the date comes, you'll have it done. You'll do it, you know? Um, you'll figure it out. Um you'll make it work if you uh if you haven't. Um I guess the basic, I'm trying to think of things I did. I did, I think if you haven't already, um if you know people, other people who are doing the show or lightly my people message people to do comp swaps, because I think that's because if you're, you know, right right now, kind of uh what Lois mentioned, maybe ticket sales aren't the highest because it's so early. So it's kind of nice just to like kind of fill out your calendar too to see, like, to know what shows you're gonna see in June already. And then also it's kind of nice to just like see the ch tab change a little on the admin page and be like, oh, people are coming to my shows, even even if it is I mean, and it's great, comp swaps are great. It's like a great way to like start building tickets, and also because I reached out pretty early to people, and people were like, You're like the first one who's asked me to do a comp swap. And also, people were like, How do you make a promo code? So it was a nice way to communicate with people and be like, Oh, this is a you can tell and share of like how to use the back end and things like that. So that was helpful. Yeah, that was helpful to also just start talking to people and reaching out to people, even if it's people that you tangentially know, no one's mad that you're reaching out to like watch each other's shows. And yeah, no one's being rude or anything like that.

SPEAKER_03 29:48

Yeah, uh, 100%. Every one of these things, which I know sounds like a lot, but Sylvia's right, it will happen. And like, and you know what? Some of it won't. And that's okay too. It's recognizing like you're human, you're gonna get as much done as you can. And in those moments, you're gonna know how to triage what absolutely has to happen. Um, and I think, yeah, looking at like a spreadsheet, y'all. If you're not already a spreadsheet fan, today's the day to find those spreadsheets. Because I think it's easier to look at a marketing plan or a press plan or any of these plans, a tech plan, and if you can see the big picture and you can start to see which weeks are going to be more hellish for you, or you can start to build a story. So you're not just thinking I post on Mondays, because if you just post on Mondays, that can get really boring. Why are you posting this on that Monday? What is the storyline? You're creators. And so the more you can create within all of these plans, A, the more exciting they're gonna be for your audience and the more fun they're gonna be for you. So looking at that big picture uh will help all of these little things get into place. Um, okay, so let's talk about engaging with your community because Sylvie, you already kind of started that and I'd love to kind of continue that conversation of like now, yeah, people are just now reaching out. It's a great time to start to engage with community. So, how did you engage with community? And like, was it of course like marketing swaps or comp swaps, but was there things that you helped another show with and they helped you with uh box office support or like what ways did you engage with the community?

SPEAKER_11 31:02

Um, yeah, I think there were a lot of different ways. I think I was lucky, I was already kind of in the alternative theater comedy scene in LA. So I was very lucky um that I knew a bunch of people who are also doing shows. But um uh so we would comp swap and talk about things like that. And but then also I met a lot of people through the office hours. And also because I was doing a solo show, I was, you know, comp swapping with my comedy solo show friends. It was nice when I was like, oh, you're making something serious, like a serious play. Cause I was watching like, I was probably watching like 10, I probably saw like 10 to 15 like solo comedy shows that I was like, oh, I'd love to see like something more serious or something that's like something different. Yeah, something, you know, just like yeah, something to spice it up. So and I think it was very, I think that was also like getting to know people who weren't maybe in the same genre or category as you, I think was really helpful. And also I did feel very like, oh, this is a community and people are so talented. And uh the yeah, just like being exposed to different kinds of art was great. So yeah, I think the office hours reaching out to people. I think there was also um a big Instagram group that I got added to that did uh yeah, the Fringe Friends. But I don't know, I feel like that one, I don't know if it's as active now. I feel like if there hasn't been a new one created, maybe a new one being created because it was just um really good to have because sometimes people would be like, I have a time slot available at this time between two shows. Does anybody have a show or a code? And then you would just get someone to come watch your show because they'd be like, oh yeah, your show just fits into like I have time to kill between these two other shows I'm gonna see. So I feel like stuff like that was always really helpful. Because when you're in it, you're just gonna so be in the thick of it and you're um you're gonna actually, I think you're really gonna want to watch like a lot of shows. It's like a cool experience to be part of it.

SPEAKER_03 32:55

Yeah, yeah. And I think running with that last minute, just to add to that, like recognizing that like you can be more specific about filling your seats. Like if you want to just like openly comp swap, that name is so hard to say, um, that is totally fine. And I think it's a matter of like going into what your goals are, right? And so you don't have to, you don't have to feel like you have to take these free tickets and give these free tickets. Like, do whatever you've decided on both ends. I think that's important. But it can be more targeted of like, you know what, my preview. I think the preview, if you if you are gonna give away comps, that preview is the one to focus on. Get those butts and seats, we're gonna talk about it. And then additionally, it's like right, the last minute, like, you know what, I the show's in an hour and I have five tickets. Let's get my friends in here. Cause also that helps you if you do have someone from the press there, if you have an awards judge. If an awards judge sees an empty house, like I can't, in good conscience, send that show to Australia to market if they can't market here. And so recognizing that those butts and seats can sometimes work for you beyond just come see my show.

unknown 33:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 33:45

A big thing that we did, first of all, it's kind of twofold. We figured out who was also at the same venue as us. It's really nice to build community within community. And when I was at the Steph Fury the first year, we made a really genuine connection with three other shows. And we came together to do this sort of Instagram poll, like Instagram grab where you followed everybody, you know, like yada, the thing we all see it happen all the time. But basically, the winner of this raffle got a comp to every one of our shows, of to whatever show of their choosing. And it was a really nice way to spread the reach of our show and also make that genuine connection with other fringers. So definitely would recommend that as far as support within the community. And then the second thing, if you're doing a playbill, we did a digital one that we would just hand out a little QR code on a paper every day. And on that, it was through Stage Mag, which is a free playbill service if anyone's interested. Definitely write that down. Yes. And on there, there's a section. So like you can set it up however you want. And then at the bottom, there's an advertisement section. Something that we did because we didn't comp swap as much. We did for certain people that just in general, like as we met people we comped as needed, but we did a lot of promo codes and then something that we just offered anyone we met that was interested. Like if I would meet someone at office hours, I would say, Oh, you know, if you're interested, email me your show poster, we'll throw it onto our link. And so we had a whole section of fringe shows at the bottom, and you could link to their tickets through that. So if someone clicked on it, they would get redirected at the Hollywood fringe. And it was just something that we just did, and it didn't matter if they didn't do it for us. It was just something that we wanted to do to share the love and let people know about shows. Because as Lois said, 480 shows, you're gonna find out five years later about a show you didn't know existed. Like there's so many shows.

SPEAKER_03 35:27

So I'm still seeing shows from 2023.

SPEAKER_06 35:29

Yes, I know, but yes, that's the thing. Not even exaggerating. I last year, I think I saw 15 and I thought I was doing great. So just so you know, it might have been less than that. But it's it's just a nice thing to do. So if you're interested in, you know, making friends and finding support that way, finding ways to do some other people a solid, I think is a really nice good set of goodwill. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 35:54

There were three of us that had the same director, and so that was we did like a joint social post a few times, and so that was effective. And we made like a promo code that was a director's name and helped promote each other's shows. Um, I think an office hours similar to Sylvie, I think I found like the solo show people and tended to like that be my network within that. And so uh comp swamping with them, and then when you comp swap, I think it's important to remember, and y'all probably have the intuition to know this of like, you know, make sure you're building a connection with someone that there's some instinctual commitment there, that you when you say that you would go, that you would go. Um, and I would say for the most part, I would say like 95 out of 95% three throughput with the comp swaps. And so that that was effective. There was a few people I met in the office hour who are doing solo shows who through conversation, we decided to do um uh like two hours on Zoom where we actually tested our material because we were solo people, and even if we had directors, it was still very isolated. So, and shout out to Lindsay, Charlene, and Kyle. Um, and so um, yeah, and that was really effective. And you know, I was someone, and I'm still someone who's also very, and I'm sure everyone I hear is very picky and choosy when it comes to feedback, right? And I think that's important to remember use your own barometer, but it was really helpful. And because again, I was still writing up until June. And so it was nice to get some feedback from people I trusted in meeting office hours who are doing similar work, um, who had already done solo shows perhaps before and what have you. Um, and so I think those were some of the important oh, and then you know, to as they mentioned, going to the show and then I'll, you know, take a picture and then I would go online and put on social media, oh Charlene show, everyone go watch it. And here's I'll make a URL and they would do the same for me. So they would cross-promote on social, like snapping pictures or promoting that way as well. And then our venue hosted a happy hour, which was really nice because I met a few people. I had it in the happy hour and the office hours, um, and we just kind of bonded together and watched our shows. The last thing I'll say is for me as a solo show person, after I did my preview, I realized I was like, I actually have a lot of brain space and energy to watch shows because like you already done it. I yeah, I already I knew I had it memorized, had the hour memorized. I had done bulk of the marketing, all there was to do is just send social posts. So I was like, wait, I actually feel like I have more time starting June 6th than I did the past month. So I saw like 20, 23 shows, and so keep that in mind that you might actually feel more energetically free after the preview's done. Again, I was a solo show person, so yeah.

SPEAKER_09 38:35

Yeah, uh when everyone said just there's a really neat feature on the website where you, when you're uh registering your show, it asks you for kind of tags of what your show is about and the genre, and so I went and I found everyone who else who put horror. I was like, I'm gonna look for all the other sickos and find their shows. And uh I went to go see those shows, and uh, we opened on Friday the 13th at midnight. And uh it was super fun. We we put like blood orange mimosas out for everybody that was coming. And one great piece of advice that Amber at the Zephyr gave us is to make every performance seem special. You don't want to just say, just come see my show. We were like, well, Friday the 13th is like it's gonna be bloody. It was the same bloody, but you know, you just want to make it yeah, you just want to make it seem special so that you're not just treating everyone like a number or like a ticket price, you know. Um, and so we can make it like a night of horror. Go see their show and their show and then end it with us at midnight. And we had 10 people on the cast, it sounds really stressful, but that's also a really good networking advantage because I can't see 480 shows. But if all 10 of us are going out and networking and seeing people's shows and actually connecting with them, those are people that are gonna come see your show too. So um we cast a wide net of for all the all the freaks, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:12

I love yeah, can I follow up really quick just on that? Because I think I think that is a struggle I hear every year is like I have a large cast, but I can't for the life of me get them involved. How did you inspire them to be as involved in the festival as you were?

SPEAKER_09 40:24

Uh they were all my friends, so emotional blackmail is great. Um, but but we've also we've worked together for so long, and I think when I pitched it to them, they were like, sounds great, sounds fun. And then I was like, you know, like Lois said, you can do the show any time of the year, you can book these venues, but the advantage of Fringe is the community, and I was very straightforward with them. Like, I don't want to do this during this festival unless we're gonna like engage with the community and reach out and and really find people. And we we found some really great relationships throughout the entire month of June. It's a long, like pace yourself. It's a long month, and then on that flip side, then it's over, you know what I mean? So um, yeah, that was something that when I sat everyone down, I was like, let's let's like get in there and that's great, really smart early intentionality. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:24

And then Angelique, you wanted to add something? Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 41:27

I don't remember exactly if this is on topic, but when you said on the when you said big cast, I was like, oh yeah, something too. If you're feeling that concern of just building that community and filling seats, and you are someone that's down for promo codes, we gave each actor their own code. So if you I had a seven-person cast. Let's see what you can do. But we had seven people, so it was like well, and two of us were the producers. We had five that were just hired and friends that were doing this for us. So we gave them, you know, I think for opening, it might have worked for the whole festival, I don't recall right now, but it would be, you know, Luke 20. That's 20% off his ticket, or Luke 2, if it's $2 off his ticket, whatever it is. And that allowed us to promote them, but also they could promote themselves and feel like they were giving their friends and family the hookup because people want to help you when you when they feel like they're being helped. So as especially, you know, if your producer mind is going and you're like, how do I actually sell this too? Definitely loop in your cast that way. And I think that'll help them also engage with the community too, because they'll just meet more people that way as well. So just a little tidbit.

SPEAKER_03 42:33

I love it's inspire and empower. Like if you're doing both of those two things, your cast is gonna want to be involved. I love that. Yes. And how like use, I mean, for those that are solo shows, like use friends. Like I've seen a lot of solo shows have like, okay, my partner or my friend, or like involve your community even outside of the festival to be yes anding the process with you.

SPEAKER_12 42:52

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:53

And I'll add a quick thing.

SPEAKER_11 42:54

For the comp swap thing, it was by the last office hour, you will be like everyone's gonna be tired and everyone's gonna be like, it's coming. And it is like, but it's which is which is good, but it's it's also it's very exciting. And it, but it is like that energy starts to build. I remember a comp swap that was funny was that me and this other person we had just met through a mutual friend in an office hour, and I was like, let's give each other each other's postcard and like let's share our codes, but like no obligation to actually watch each other's shows. You know what I mean? Just like this thing of like well, we're already like putting so much energy out of there, and then I think it helped for both, and we both ended up seeing each other's shows, you know? It was just that thing where it helped to just be like you have to, and it's like you don't necessarily it's like you do I I I I I think I watched every show I I did a commswap with, but I didn't, but not I wasn't like a huge eel someone didn't manage to catch mine because it was just like we're all trying our best and we're trying to be supportive in this space. I had also just quit my job, so I had a lot of time.

SPEAKER_03 43:57

I love and I think focusing on quality over quantity is great. To mean you automatically do that, right? And I think all of the things that you're saying here lead to that. Like, don't think and I because I see it every year at office hours. So this is your warning where it's like, you know, you're going in with postcard, postcard, postcard, and you walk away going, I don't have a fucking clue who I just met. But like if every office hours or every time you're standing in line waiting for a show, give yourself a like, I'd love to meet one person that can be a real connection. Uh, because quality over quantity will actually impact your life and your career in a way that I know 30 people from fringe. No, you don't. Like you don't if you've just postcarded them and given a comp swap. And like that is not real engagement. So like find your find how you're building community and not just existing near community. Um, so let's continue on that buzz of fringe. Like, so you're like, especially like right in June, how do you use the buzz that's generated by the festival, by the other shows happening by the community to like push your show forward? And but then also how do you stand out amongst this general buzz within the festival?

SPEAKER_06 45:03

Hold on. So during the festival, how do we keep the buzz going or post-festival?

SPEAKER_03 45:09

I think both. I think so. How do you use it? Basically, how do you use the festival to your advantage? Like taking using the buzz and also making sure within that you're able to stand out.

SPEAKER_06 45:17

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think and to touch on awards a little, if you are interested, tickle awards. We're not gonna, you know, we uh I produce with my best friend Matt. So when I keep saying we, that's because it's not just me. Um we did, we were hopeful for awards both years. So we were like, okay, how do we gear ourselves down that path? And we understood more the second year than we did the first year. But I think the big thing, even pre-festival, and especially once you're into the festivals, understand your niche, like how you found the horror niche. I found I brought historical drama to fringe and comedies, I think, dominate over drama, I think is safe to assume. So understanding where you fit and finding a way to make yourself relevant within your smaller space and then in your micro space, and then it helps in the macro. I think it's a lot of what people have said already. Like you find your niche and you support that niche, you support everyone as much as you can. But if you we obviously have to compartmentalize and preserve our energy because it's very easy to get burnt out during the festival. So I think figuring out who resonates with you and your work and who you are compatible with, and truly like what you were saying about making genuine connection at office hours in these events. I know office hours are overwhelming and exhausting, and it's sensory overload, and you can't hear anything, and there's a lot happening, and we know that. I think for me, I would go in and it was I can I tend to like talk a lot if you can't tell and be on overload. And then most of I was like, Angela, just slow down and just like make a friend because I I want that genuine friendship. Every time we did that, we've we really just built something that's lasted for years, and I'm really good friends with most of those people three, four years later. So I don't think this answers the question. But as far as buzz, I think when you make those connections, that keeps it going because that person wants to support you as much as you're supporting them and they just start talking about it. And also a gimmick works sometimes, you know. I had to wear a huge hoop skirt and I was like, I'm not gonna look cute at opening night and that's so annoying. But I went, I wore that outfit to the opening night party and I stuck out and people are like, What the hell? What are you wearing? Thank you. But little things like that, you know, if there's moments here or there where you want to lean in and really have that festival spirit, I think that also helps literally make you stick out. And certain so certain shows lend themselves to that more than others, and I recognize that. But just find your niche, whether it's on social media or in person, and kind of just lean in that way. Cause I think it is hard amongst amongst 480, 500 shows to stick out is a challenge. So I think whatever you can do to set yourself apart. And if it is like how you were saying, make every performance a special one. Like for us, we had a late night show here that I think was at 11 or 11:30. It was which was very late. And I forgot what we did, but we definitely had something. I think we included every person got like a show pin or something. And we really made it to where, you know, and obviously if you're gonna do merch, make sure your costs are low. Don't do merch that's really expensive to make, like in my opinion, hats were really expensive to make, but you know, find ways to pull people in. And I think truly, when you sell out a late night show like that and then you sell out the next show, people are just going to naturally talk about it because they're, you know, the reality is a lot of shows won't obviously sell out all the time versus others, and so people just start talking. So I think front loading previews, if you can, I think is really great. And I'm gonna stop talking now because I'm forgetting my point. But yes.

SPEAKER_08 48:42

Yeah, I think what I can add to that is having a moment to understand what I'm not gonna do. And I think I had that kind of come to Jesus moment in the end of May. So meaning, like for me personally, um, I was doing the vast majority of the producing for the solo show. So I was like, you know, for awards, I'm not even going to attempt. So I put zero energy into it because I had way too much going on in other places. And to Lois' point, with awards and other things, it really is the meaning that you attach to it and what you make out of it. And so you can create buzz post-show beyond uh someone anointing you an award with your own kind of promotion that you do yourself too. Um, I think some other things were I realized how much of my own community had low awareness of Hollywood fringe. So just use it.

SPEAKER_02 49:32

Well, you know, you're not wrong in absolutely. Right.

SPEAKER_08 49:34

And so I think I and I say that to to bring the point of like, don't assume that you're in a dating your network with fringe if you mention it a lot. Yeah, because that's that's not the case, at least for my network. And so by having fringe on my social posters, by having fringe in the emails I'm sending out, by talking about Hollywood fringe, it got people who are maybe like four degrees of separation to perk up a little bit, see this a part of something, and then go. And I think because when I was right sizing how am I gonna fill, you know, 40 seats four times, that it didn't make sense for me to come to office hours with a marching band, right? I was like, I don't have an ensemble show, I don't have a hundred seats to fill four times, it's just 40 seats four times. Let me go through the avenue of just really maximizing my network. Um, because I felt like it was challenging for me, and I'm curious about others, to get folks out of side my network uh to attend the show. I think what I found to be helpful to what you had mentioned is I did an encore in July, and that's where I picked up people who had then heard the word of mouth in June. So I got the most strangers to come to the encore in July because they had heard about it from my degrees of separation network. So I think just a plus one of like if you can front load things and then have stuff later, you can assume some of the strangers will come to the stuff later. And I think if you have a lot of shows, that'd be good. I just had three in June and then the encore in July. And I feel like if you had five, maybe you can attempt to do that. Uh for me, it just expectations-wise, you know, I did email some industry and in, you know, talk about fringe. I did those things. I think coming into it, I was joking with Rati a little bit. I was like, I, you know, I think in the back of my head, I had a vision. I'm like, all right, I'm gonna finish my show. Shonda Rhyme's gonna be on the sidewalk. I'm gonna I'm gonna get in her bends. We're gonna drive to Netflix, we're gonna go to the top floor. Tess Serandos is gonna be there with a contract. I'm gonna sign it and then peace out. That's the last last y'all see me. Next time you guys see me, you gotta get you gotta get pay, you guys gotta pay, right? No, I'm like, and uh, but no, she never came. So she she was shooting, she wasn't there. She she never came, y'all. She never came. And I think the expectation is this, and I know I'm taking a moment, I'll pass it over, but I think the biggest takeaway I had from this is 90% of my show was my network. I did personal messages through email, Instagram attacks, and it worked. You know what I'm saying? Like that random person in the acting 101 class, the guy I want a date with two years ago, you know, exes, family friends that you haven't connected with in the city, but they actually came. And and I think it's important the personal message, having a promo code, making sure you design the message as if it is personal, I think is key as well. And that's how I got the bulk of people, and I think the takeaway from Fringe was whereas I didn't finish Fringe and then I had a Shonda Rhimes contract, I think like the takeaway was like it was my first time producing something. So what seemed like the top of Everest now seems like base camp for me. And I'm I hope that for all of you that after you finish this, you'll be like, Well, I know I can do this. So, what's the next thing I could do? And I think that can help right-size your expectations of like what you're gonna get out of this, um, depending on what you know what you're seeing for yourself. Yeah, yeah. That said, always shoot for the stars and all that. But just wanted to say, when y'all get shot arrives, let me know.

SPEAKER_03 53:06

Oh my god, I love just to throw a stat in there, because I think you're 100% right. I think fringe feels so big when you're in it. And at the end of the day, last year we had 73,000 tickets sold. There, but think about how many people are in fucking LA. Y'all, that is so like there are so many people, right? And so, like, yeah, it seems huge, but in the same way, like high school felt huge until you go back to it now, right? And so recognize, I think you're so right. Don't forget that fringe is still um a new thing. We're only 16 years old, we're teenagers, and so so many of your friends and family and acquaintances and ex-boyfriends like do have no idea about fringe. And so you're doing not just yourself a favor by engaging with them, but who knows how many other shows you're helping fill seats. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 53:45

Yeah, because I I mean, Buzz, I think creating like an elevator pitch of an elevator pitch is is great because you're going to office hours. I'm sure you've heard what's your show about, like more times than you can count. And uh, we were just like, it's Scream Meets the Bear, come see it. And that was that was all we had time for because like Angelique's it's just madness, it's it's overwhelming. Um, and I think uh creating uh maybe a moment, just taking something out of your show where like we do this, this, and this in 30 minutes, and just uh dropping a seed in someone's head of like, oh, I have to see that show where they cut somebody's head off. You know what I mean? Like it's just spoiler that's for the sequel, the sequel. Um, but yeah, it's it's about locking into somebody and also that connection that we keep talking about, so you're not just like throwing a a postcard to somebody and then walking away. Um where you're like, oh, I met I met Rashawn and he talks about his show, not just that guy who's doing that thing. You know what I mean? I I think that connection to go back to the the community is is really important.

SPEAKER_11 55:02

Um yeah, I've I figured out what I wanted to say. Um I uh yeah, just echoing what everyone said, and then I think again, because Yusuf and I did the solo show, similar thing. I moved to LA three and a half years ago. So I went on Instagram and literally filtered it to like most recently followed, and I DM'd almost everyone I met in like the past three and a half years, and it worked. Um, and uh it was the similar thing of like uh um people are excited to see your show. And also I think what we take for granted, this community is so great that we almost just like feel like it's a given that we're an artist community and everyone's an artist, but not everyone in LA necessarily is, and yeah, and those people want to see shows. Those are like like your coworkers maybe at your more traditional office or or just like people who aren't yeah, who don't come from a creative background. You doing a show is so cool to them, and they would be excited to see your show because it's like they don't necessarily have a friend group or in um or yeah, hang out with people who are always like creating and um making art or making theater, and we're obviously so lucky to be doing that. Um, but it's also yeah, kind of great for them. It's like mind-blowing to see local theater that's also like affordable and like someone they know is in it. That's I think that's really cool for those people as well. So yeah, and then also kind of crafting my message that I sent, I try to craft it, individualize it to certain people. Um yeah, but sometimes you just gotta send a massive message though, because it's a lot of it's a lot of people, but trying, yeah, but try I guess maybe BCC, please God, BC. Yeah, yeah, and yeah, for sure. And I think also crafting the DM so that it's like even if it's kind of obvious, it's like you're sending it to a lot of people. Yeah, change the name. I would always at least write hi this person's name, and then I think making like humanize it, I think. Um and because sometimes people respond, and then it's like I'll sometimes people respond. But um when people responded, I would always be happy to have like a conversation with that person about it. Um, and that usually definitely helped the person um come see the show, which was great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 57:22

Audience reaction, like during the show, right after the show. If you have like a stage manager or a friend, just have them right outside the door or have get like an audience reaction of applause or a moment that you know gets a huge reaction and just post it and it to like everybody in Hollywood saw my show, you know what I mean? Like just sell that shit, you know what I mean? But uh it it any little thing helps, you know.

SPEAKER_06 57:49

Yeah, really quick off of that too. If you're able to get your show filmed, if you want to do a photo shoot, you can, if not at least shoot your tech rehearsal, bring in a photographer friend, whoever. That was a huge thing when we did both shows, but especially our American tragedy. We got a little photo shoot done. And so when you do those DMs to people, if it's me as Angela, because Matt would do that as well, the other actors would also DM sometimes. But if it was me, Angelique, sending that message, I would sometimes forego our poster and it would be me in costume and in character, whether it was on stage or the photo shoot itself, and you know, graphic design it, make it look bougie, whatever. But I would send that and they'd be like, Oh, that's you, not as you, it's you doing acting things. That's cool. And so just anything that they can relate and tie it into with you more. I think that helps it keeping it personal. And, you know, we're such visual people and we're so addicted to our phones. If you can film something and cut it into a reel, we get bored so easily. Sometimes posters aren't cutting it anymore. I think people are wanting to see movement and life. So shoot a rehearsal. It can be, you know, not the greatest quality in the world, but shoot whatever content you can if you have the brain capacity for it. I know it's it's a lot. And anything that you can share coming, like in the next few weeks approaching June is great to generate buzz. And then generating buzz during the during the festival, you can, you know, shoot your tech and then you have footage of yourself as an actor or your team on stage, but then throw in like a three-word review from the reviews coming in so you look like you're doing really well and you know, fake it till you make it. And that really helps with generating buzz during the festival too.

SPEAKER_03 59:27

100%. And I think you're right on the filming. Like, I think we've seen a shift, and like I'm saying this is an almost 40-year-old, but like we've we've seen even right on our end. Like, we, you know, we send these newsletters, we send these tips on social. There's a reason. I don't know if it was did you know with Roddy's became a thing because nobody was reading our content. We had to film it. And I'm gonna name, I think it took less time to do like you and I spent 30 minutes filming five segments in Ellen's kitchen. Sometimes we forgot to turn the light on. And like, but it but it can be quicker actually to just quick like because we're like living in perfection can be so harmful, right? Like that's white supremacy culture bullshit. Like, let's actually like get out of that perfectionism and be like, you know what? I'm gonna shoot a five, I'm gonna spend five minutes. I'm not gonna over-edit, I'm not gonna filter. I'm just gonna talk about how much I love the work I'm doing and how excited I am for people to see. Yeah, boom, done. And then you can move in and actually focus on the rest of it. Yeah. Um, I would love to get because I think we're kind of people.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:19

Can I have you take Angelique's neck? Oh, do we get a little bit of a second?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:23

Oh, that's so insane. Switching up. Um, so I want to dive into because you're covering all of the things I'm gonna ask here. It's like marketing. So I would love, like we have all of the, we know how to, we know to post, we know to email, we know these things. Do y'all have an example either of something that you did with your show or something you saw done by someone else's show that's like kind of outside of the box? Like, oh God, I can't believe they thought, like, did you have an aha moment or see someone else's aha moment that can kind of get our brains spinning a little bit?

unknown 1:00:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:53

Um do you remember when Furiozzo came in 2024? The where was he from? Uh it was an international show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um Prague? Am I making Pro Poland? Okay, it was a P. So this fantastic clown came to town. That shouldn't have rhymed that it did. He was at the three clubs, and it was, I don't know if he was I don't I don't think it was an exchange. He just came to fringe, correct? So obviously he's at a huge disadvantage coming into an international market where he might not have the connections that he has here. Something that he did where I was like, I was like, that's cool. He had his phone on a tripod with a ring light, and it was literally just posted at the door because he didn't have a stage manager or like people on his team or anything. It was very low stakes. I think he like when he said thank you at the end, he did mention it, but it was very much just like, if you're down, please say hi to my camera on the way out. And so rather than just getting these written reviews, because people forget to write reviews. You can you have it's very important. I'm very much of the school of thought, send your before email of like what, like, you know, my show's coming up, like, you know, here's parking instructions, this and that, and like get people connected that way, and then also send your thank you email, reminding them to review and to, you know, vote for you for whatever, whatever things that you want. But and I was very guilty of this too. I would have a list of reviews I had to do, and I would keep forgetting to do them because you want to be very thoughtful and insightful. So that was a really smart thing that I thought he did because he was able to take these audience reactions and it was literally just like, can you just give me 10 seconds of what you thought of my show? Did you think it was great? Cool. And so honest. So honest. And there's a good chance a lot of people won't want to do it, but I saw I did it. I saw a lot of people doing it, and he was able to cut that into a video and he just put that on his socials, and it was very easily cut. It was just like snip, snip, snip, nothing insane. But that alone was just, I think uh, I think I've seen other people do that, but it was a very out of the box way because I feel like I usually see a friend come up to someone and ask them a specific question, but he kept it so open-ended and it was and low pressure because it wasn't someone being like, So tell us what was your favorite part, and I'm like freaking out, but it was just the camera. So that was something that I thought was smart. So if you're if you if your venue is in a safe place where like you can leave your phone, I just thought that was a a good thing that he did.

SPEAKER_09 1:03:10

So uh we had someone uh that was very TikTok savvy, it was not me, um, who would come in every rehearsal and she knew trends down to like the day. And so she would cut me off during rehearsal and she'd be like, Rashad, I'm sorry, we gotta film this TikTok. And she'd get a she'd get a couple like 10-second clips and she would post it and it would take off. And I have no idea how to do any of that. But if you know somebody who loves TikTok, it's it's an avenue that is great. And then we did um kind of the Vanity Fair thing where they're doing like this or that, and um it's super we went to FedEx, printed out A or B, and we did like Michael Myers or Freddie Krueger, you know, just to kind of nail the genre thing home, and and that really got people engaged and anything. Just if you think you're doing too much or talking about your show too much, you're not even close to it, you know. Like it's just be so proud of what you're doing because it's amazing and and just drive it home.

SPEAKER_08 1:04:30

Only thing I can think of to add is there was a solo show I saw where after the show, um, the individual he stood at the exit and thanked everyone for coming and passed out a sticker. And I just thought that was a nice personal touch. You just remembered him when you saw him as you exited, and he thanked you individually with the sticker. Um, and he also is really good about doing lots of um like social posts. He had done the show a lot before, the same show. So he had a lot of clips, and his show's very dynamic, which is nice because then it makes the clips exciting. Um, whereas mine can be tip for it was very brooding at times. So it's like um, so yeah, I think that that best stuck out best additive.

SPEAKER_12 1:05:14

Yeah. Was it Whitty's show?

SPEAKER_08 1:05:15

It was Mark, Mark Vigeon. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember that. That was really nice.

SPEAKER_11 1:05:22

Yeah, yeah. He's uh he's a hustler. Um, yeah, I mean, I think also, yeah, I mean, and he was a solo show. I it can be again tricky when you're a solo show. It's just like so much is on yeah, is on your plate. So I think I was like, how did I figure out like how did I figure it out? I mean, I think I was oh, I did make a promo video with my friend, and it was a really like a dumb promo video where he just followed me around and I was just like it was because I was promoting in May. But if it is, then it's like, okay, you're right enough for the show.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:41

Sylvie, can I swap this mic with you?

SPEAKER_11 1:06:46

That was that and that was basically it of what I wanted to say of just like just like really knowing what your show is and really being able to communicate it very fast and quickly because you're gonna be talking to so many people. And then for some people, it's just like, oh, it's sci-fi. Um, someone this was an office, but where's it was these girls who were like, we're sci-fi like alien girls. And I was like, oh, cool, I like that. Of just like really being able to like talk about what's fun or really interesting about your show that would be compelling to watch very fast.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:18

100%. The more you can have that simple, you want all the options, right? Because you might throw out that that scream across. I freaking love that. Like, I'm gonna use that from now on, the scream across the street version. And then if you catch them, you're gonna need more. So having like all of those steps is so important. I'm gonna add, like, uh just as that brilliant marketing. Um, and this is an example. So shout out to like Rosie and Haley from And Her Children, which won top of fringe last year and just got uh got this drama desk uh nomination after doing the Soho Playhouse run from Hollywood Fringe. So like that's a trajectory. Um, but that show is about gun violence. And so, and I know they're not, there's a lot of shows that are playing in the artivism world, right? Where they're like we're speaking like truth to power like truth and making political statements and making it's activism. And so if you are that show, that what they did, which was brilliant, is not just focus on come see my show. It's here's gun violence stats, here's what's going wrong in our world, here's like they so they focused on an issue that their show was helping, you know, like solve or like at least have a conversation around. And so, like looking at what are those like parallels to your show, so it doesn't, especially if you're uncomfortable talking about yourself, what is something you can talk about to bring awareness to or to celebrate or to uh be silly about that is about your show-ish, and then you can tie those together. But I thought that was such a brilliant thing that you get to do two things at once and her children, and her children, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:40

Yeah, it's fabulous. Can I have a question about this too, Roddy? You produced Girlblood, right?

unknown 1:08:46

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:47

Was that the show that had tampons in bathrooms? Oh, let me talk about this. So something, yay, Roddy, something out of the box that I saw girlblood do. Is that 2024 or 2024? It was last year, I think, 2025. I hope that was my heart of that. She's so good. Also a great, great producer. But for their show, you know, they literally had tampons in bathrooms at different uh venues that had a little tag connected to the tampon. And these were unopened, like we could use them. So it was really nice as a as a person with a period. It was nice to have this option. But like it was just like, oh, that's hilarious and so out of the box that I'm just washing my hands and there's a like a thing of tampons staring at me that say like a QR code and the dates. And so if there's any theme to your show where you're like, that's unique, just like put it somewhere it shouldn't be. And I think that I remember it to this day. I just thought that was so clever. So that's all I have to say. But yeah, I loved it.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:48

Yeah, I feel like like it's not always about merch. Like sometimes, like they're the the like in lieu of a postcard, what is something you can do? And but I think it is key. Make sure you they can get back to your show. I think sometimes it's you get in the creative space and it can be so easy to forget, like, oh, they're gonna have it. Okay, I have this amazing item, whatever it is, it's a rubber ducky. What fucking show was that for? Like, what how do I what was I what do I go support now that I have this? I have specifically there's like a thing from the years ago, but it was like cute little like rubber toy. And I, for the life of me, will never know what show gave it to me. But it's it worked had I been able to go to that show. So yeah, thinking about making sure you're making the connection. I love this. Okay, we're gonna do a quick shift into industry. So we're talking about because you gotta get butts and seats, right? That has to be your first priority, y'all. Um, because even if you get that industry there, it's nothing worse than having a press person in the front row and nobody else in the audience. So that focus is getting audience butts and seats. But then how was your press and or industry journey? And remember, we're gonna talk a lot about how your industry journey will be. So we're talking like tips and tricks, we'll talk about the details on the website at the town hall. Um, but A, how did you go about it if you did? How do you gauge expectations? Because I think Yusuf, you're so right. Like it's we're not, y'all we're at LA theater. And as much as like the film and TV industry should be paying attention, they're not overall. Like, even like Edinburgh Fringe, like I this is one of my biggest pet peeves, is like, you know, baby reindeer and flea bag came out of Edinburgh Fringe. What else? Like there, it's not like it's not a guarantee. And unfortunately, nothing is in this world, right? But I think like having that as a possibility, it's always a possibility for sure. But just commit to doing good work, commit to getting your work out there to the best of your ability. And the moment you you if you set expectations higher, you're just going to be disappointed. And so don't don't plan for that. Be excited by it if it happens. But so what what was your journey for press for industry? Did you do personal reach outs? How did that go? Because the press in LA is next to non-existent.

SPEAKER_11 1:11:39

Uh, I think I mean, I'm I I'm not maybe not the best one to talk about because I didn't end up doing press really or reach outs in that way.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:48

I did that's good to talk about that.

SPEAKER_11 1:11:49

Yeah, I didn't. I think also because for me, it was similar, I think, to Yusuf. It was my first time like producing a making show just for me, all myself. I was doing everything. So I was very like on a budget about everything. Yeah, where I was like, where I was like, we're just gonna have to uh see what works. I think I I'll also talk about awards a little bit because I think that was like the is that like uh industry adjacent.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:15

We can just like because that was my next question. I'm just gonna play let's put everything in one question.

SPEAKER_11 1:12:18

Yeah. Um, yeah, so for the awards thing, it was just like um I applying early, I think helped, and uh just getting those ducks in a row. That was I think like the most industry adjacent thing that I did. Because also I was in a 30-seat theater. So just numbers-wise, I knew that community awards might be a little trickier just because like numbers-wise, I wasn't, you know, like in a hundred-seat theater or things like that. So I think it was it kind of what Lois said, where it is just like what like what makes your thing, or like what do you think is special about your show, or what uh works for you in the show? And like if you have that genuine passion for it, I think it does translate. So I think it does show in the work and for the industry or award panel, you're just gonna meet people and just be, I think just like I think having that genuine enthusiasm for your show really helps if you just like really um do ride hard for your own show. And hopefully I if you're doing fringe, I I assume you are. Um what else? And then for awards stuff, I did, I think it was kind of nice not really having any expectations because my brain was like, oh, community numbers-wise, it's just not gonna work because I just don't didn't, you know, my venue wasn't big enough to have enough people for the numbers to be comparable. But I had applied to all these awards and I didn't know everyone who was coming to my show, so I did get nominated for two shows. And because I had so uh uh I got nominated for I think Denver and Adelaide Exchange and and also allowed me to learn about those shows. But because I really like that wasn't on my radar as much because I was only more aware, like I applied for it and then kind of forgot about it. And then I was more aware of the community voting because that's when everyone, everyone's promoting hard, everyone's sending those messages. And uh I was like, oh well, that's not gonna happen. So when it did, it was like, oh, this is such a nice surprise of like not expecting it. And then when it does, it's nice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:16

Something really quick to that, because I think you brought up something I wanted to talk about because I think you're a perfect example. Like when it comes to the awards, A, like with the industry awards, the opportunity awards, it's like an audition. Just be your show might be amazing and it could be the best in the entire festival. But if it's not right for that specific festival, like there's there's Adelaide Fringe, not every show is gonna work. They don't have a drama, a lot of drama, they don't have a lot of like dramatic theater. So, right, so already we're looking at or the short, like the short list that festival is choosing from, or shows that are gonna do well at that festival. And so, like, there's so many things out of your control entirely. But I think using the awards, like you did, where like you ended up um, you got introduced to Anne from Denver Fringe after. And so I think awards can be a beautiful way of not even about winning the awards, but it's about holy shit, that's an opportunity I could do. Because you can go to Adelaide Fringe on your own. You can go to Denver Fringe on your own and use the people that you know who have done it, you know, from the community. Like, so using the awards as a uh, oh, I could do this in the future, um, that's I think a really great way to look at the awards as well.

unknown 1:15:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:12

I think definitely going off of what you said, if you can put community awards to the side, because I agree with everything you said earlier, like it's not that big of it, it's like great, but not that big of a deal. But definitely the are they the Discover Fringe Awards? Is that what they're called? So these awards for exchanges and you know, Soho Playhouse and all these different things, I agree. Apply for those and definitely apply for them early. They're they're up on the website now, correct? No, no, no.

SPEAKER_05 1:15:36

Not yet. That's a lie. They're not, they're not yet. Mid-May, we're gonna release them.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:42

Great, great, great. But keep an eye out for those newsletters. Yes. But truly keep an eye on those because it's kind of a networking opportunity. If you can get yourself in early, you can also just get that anxiety out of the way of like having to like, you know, reach out to a judge or whatever. Just do your submission for those. And then it's exactly what you guys were saying. You might meet the, you know, the person that represents Soho at some point, just like having a drink at the Broadwater or whatever, and you already recognize their name or their institution, you can just chat. And to me, I find that personally more valuable than anything because they're just learning about you and whether or not you win, like that's a bonus, of course. But I think just getting the discover options done as done early if possible will just like alleviate that extra stress of another deadline in June or in late May. And then as far as if you want press or industry or very specific certified reviewers to come, something that we did, we went onto the Hollywood Fringe website and looked at shows that had done well in categories that we were in in the years prior and looked at who reviewed them. Because you can review all those reviews, you can review the reviews publicly, and it'll tell you what their status is. Are they, do they represent an institution? Are they just a certified reviewer? Are they uncertified? Whatever. And you can message them within the fringe website. So that is something that I would suggest if you're curious or interested. And then also just it's gonna be some cold messaging on socials or via email. You're not gonna get responses all the time, but also be willing to find every Facebook group under the sun, every Instagram group under the sun, and you know, whether it's uh what's happening in LA this weekend, if you just submit to that Instagram account and they accept your just anywhere that you can share your show, I think will help as far as like potential industry seeing it. But then as far as other like Facebook groups and things too, a lot of these people that are judging are on those websites or on those, you know, pages and some of them might be older. So I think it's important to, you know, consider those avenues as well. And yeah, I think yeah, I had something else to say, but I forgot, but it's probably for the best.

SPEAKER_08 1:17:46

So I think just briefly, like I mentioned before, I had to be I had to get to a point where I decided that I wasn't going to uh I didn't have time to really focus on PR or awards. And I think my biggest piece of advice is like if you were to uh if that is part of your goals, just to make a plan around it and understand what it takes, understand with awards you need to do some for your consideration business, put it in emails, reach out to people, show up more in office hours, things like that, and just understand what's behind those. I think for press specifically, I met with a journalist friend, and after I learned like the best practices, I was like, I either want to do it right or not do it at all. So it was just good learnings on like what to do for next time. And then I think if you are, you know, if you chose choose the path just to learn, what's nice is you will have a network of friends who maybe did go the avenue of doing press and get press, and then you can connect with them to learn like how did that happen? How did you get that random guy? I think there's like so many people got like Holly that like random guy from the Hollywood Reporter last year. I was like, how did that happen? And a lot of it just like he bumped into me somewhere or or other people.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:59

So like we could see the fringe side, we are looking at the whole. Like we are like we're working with own the Hollywood reporters and like other avenues, but we have just as hard of a time as y'all. Like, know that like just there's not a lot of coverage, and they're not changing ticket sales dramatically, too. Like, so know that like an Unlikes Article, nobody's buying tickets Facebook. Yeah, I'm just sorry, I'm like okay. Um, but we are doing what we can to connect. So we're learning about your show through your registration forms, through your project page. So good god, if you have not like really spent time on your project page, now is the time we're learning about your show, and that way when Alan's like, hey, we're doing an article about um that's not how we talk so well. I don't know what this voice is. I'm sorry, Alan. Um but doing it doing an article about um like TV and film artists who are going back into theater routes, um, were able to, because of your project pages, know who is coming from the TV and film industry. And so we're not necessarily saying this is like here's here's a list of the 45 shows we found have had it, and then they decide from there, right? Just yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:19:54

The only industry like success I that had that I got out of my first run of the show was um I cold DM'd on Instagram a few comedians who have moderate success, and then a few casting directors who cast shows that are around my identity what my show was, originally to the couples that were local to invite them to the show, and the others that are based in New York or other places in the world, just to say along the lines of like, hey, you've done um a similar type of show at So Play House or you've done a stand-up special that's in the same vein of what I'm doing, I just want you know that you've inspired me. And I was wondering if you'd ever be willing to connect. I would love to just like learn more about the path forward. And of like the like four or five I messaged, one replied back, and we did a phone call, which was super helpful. And now with like we stay connected. Um, and then with the casting directors, they didn't come, but I got a couple people just responding back, just like with the button, like that's good, and then like got a follow. And so, like, there's some awareness. Um, and so that was like neat. Um, and so you can use that you're doing this fringe thing. Who has who has inspired you, who's done fringe before, um, or done a similar show, and use that opportunity to connect.

SPEAKER_09 1:21:07

Um, yeah, sometimes the the visibility is is the the goal. Um, and your venue sometimes uh will be giving out award. We were fortunate enough to win an award that our venue was giving out. Um and that's visibility as well. They they gave us an extension the following week after the awards and podcasts. Podcasts are a great way. We reached out to any kind of genre podcast. Do you like slasher movies? Just come see us. Here's two comps. And we had people come and see, and a couple of reviewers came. So, you know, it like Lois said, this is not the value, the barometer for value of your show. It's it's what your end goal is. If you want to take this somewhere else, if we just wanted butts and seats and we wanted people to have a good time for an hour and enjoy our show, and everything else was a blessing on top of that, but um just be as uh specific as possible. If you know that you're doing a clown show or you're doing a drama or you're doing an ensemble comedy, improv, find uh podcasts that love improv or true crime podcasts if you're doing uh you know any kind of true life story. Um, but just hone in on what you're doing and find like-minded individuals, I think. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:36

Yeah, and I think you're you're you're all touched on this, and I think it's so important. Again, it's going back to like what are those little pieces of the thing and whether or not like you're getting an award or you're getting that casting director at this show, you're building a presence. Like I think that was the word you used, and it was exactly right. It's a digital footprint, it's a like the reviews, you're building a toolkit for this show and for you as a producer and you as a writer and you as a director, whatever roles you're playing within this, you're building that kit that will help you in whatever comes next. Um, like for example, when other festivals, that's the world I know the best as an industry member. I go to other festivals. What I'm looking at is an artist digital footprint. If I'm considering with the Exchange program, we're bringing in an artist who has never come and performed in the States. A big part of that is a good show, fantastic. We need a good show, but we need somebody who can do producing, who can come into a country they've never been to, perform, produce, sell tickets, be a full producer, not just a full artist. And so we're looking at things like other festivals, if you apply to them, they're gonna look at your Hollywood Fringe page. They're going to see what you've done in the past. They're gonna Google. And so I think it's building that presence is so much a part of whatever comes next. Um, okay, we don't, we this is going by so quickly, and I have so many other questions, but I'm gonna bring up my my favorite question. Um, because I think it's so important to talk about failures as much as successes. Um and I love that the fringe community is the safe space where we do feel like like bold enough to do that. And so I'm I'm gonna bring up the oopsie daisy. I would love if all of y'all could share one or two just like oopsie daisy moments from your fringe experience and maybe how you pivoted or or would maybe didn't and go look back and go, whoa, this is what I would have done differently. Um but I would love if you're willing to share that vulnerability about what you wouldn't do again.

SPEAKER_11 1:24:13

Oh okay. I'd I would turn off my phone. Um turn off my phone in theaters. Oh no, it's fine. It's completely fine.

unknown 1:24:26

No.

SPEAKER_11 1:24:27

Um that's my number one. No, no, I mean, oh, this is a very specific thing. So, so specific to me. But there was someone, and the phone thing did kind of remind me of that where someone, a friend of mine, asked if she could bring her baby to the show. And then and uh and I said yes because it was yeah, I said yes because it was my friend, and I'd met the baby before, and when I had it's a great baby, and it was uh she was uh a very docile baby every time I'd met her, but at my show could not stop crying, and I felt like the the logical thing would be if my baby's crying, I'm gonna leave, I'm gonna leave the show leave the room. She didn't. She just like she just I started my space again was a 30-seater, it was not a big space. I think she just like stood in the back and tried to calm her baby, but it was just like you should I but it was like during the show, and my my show is really interactive, so sometimes I would be like shut that baby up, but it was like and it was fine and it made and it made sense, it made sense in the context of the show. If you see my show, but I was just like, I feel like logically you should know to just to I hope she's not watching this, but uh all of all of and she was apologetic, but it I feel like the logical thing would be to just like oh this is happening, I'll I'll leave and then I'll maybe come back later, or just like see a show, see the show another time, you know. So I think just you know it feels obvious that well now I know, like don't uh maybe don't let people bring babies to your shows, or like if you know, if you know what your show like if you know like the content or the context of your show, just like having you know, be being aware if your show is like maybe more like 16 plus or like what I think in the yeah, in the larger range of like what is like the age because I think it's a lot of our first times producing a show or making a show, so we're not thinking about things like that necessarily, but it is like what is the target audience age of my show, and also what would be potentially disruptive if uh for my show. So things like that where that was such a specific thing where I'm like, oh, this should have been obvious, but it wasn't to me because I was just like, yeah, the more the merrier. I love that baby, but it ends up, you know, backfiring.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:48

You can get baby back by sending them to Server Slasher.

SPEAKER_06 1:26:51

Hello. I'm trying to think. One that keeps sticking out to me was even though it's so exhausting, we want to unplug, like, make sure you read all your DMs because we were really disappointed the year that we had an ensemble piece, the the the show that was in here because there was a very specific Discover Award that we were interested in and apparently never hit send or never submit or whatever it was, or they had responded with something and we were disqualified from being not so dramatic. We just didn't get to be considered, and it was like, I really think we had it, and so that's a real bummer. So I think just really review your checklists five times over because everything starts to get blurry and you start to get overwhelmed, and you're like, I did that, I know I did that. And we're there's two of us, so we're like, you did it or I did it, and then you find out neither of you did it. Yes, yes. So just really, you know, if you're just check the checklist a few times if you can, because there are moments where I just felt like, man, I kicked myself because of an oversight. And especially if it's your first fringe, definitely don't worry so much about being perfect. Definitely, Lois mentioned earlier, perfect. Is a cancer. I don't know if that's what you said. That's what I heard. But um it is overwhelming. And I think we cared so much about okay, it's our first office hours. We gotta wanna look the part. And then we show up and didn't have, you know, a postcard that we were ready with. And it was like we had to rush, we must rush a postcard by next week. And it was a design that we didn't end up using more than a few weeks because it was not the show poster. But we were so embarrassed and had this feeling of like, we're not gonna be seen as professional, serious producers if we don't have this thing that everyone else has. But just remind yourself to take a beat, a step back and look at the steps that you need to be successful. Because we wasted money on a hundred postcards we didn't need, and it was it's it's confusing branding because it's not the branding of your show because we switched the poster design. So just take a breath. And if that means you go to an office hours one extra week with nothing but here's my social media, that's okay. Because the high I'm is plenty, and don't worry so much about perception because I think we were just so it was our first time in a an indie space like that as well. And it was just like so worried about coming off like or doing theater, right? And you didn't, there is no right or wrong. There's I mean I guess there's a little, but like theater, but like there's so many ways to do fritters.

SPEAKER_08 1:29:35

I have so many specific things, I'll just sound them off really quickly. So my venue also sold tickets at their box office, and I needed to go on the fringe portal and block off the number of seats that they would sell. But on the first show there was some confusion and they were like turning away people. And I because I think they were confused as to if it was oversold or not. All that to say, just check that if you're if you're if your venue selling tickets or whatever, just check that. Ask questions. Ask questions, you know. Um, I think another thing is I had a videographer or photographer like a week before, you know, for for for a reason have to step back out of our contract. Um, but I found on what is that skills website? It's not Fiverr, there's another skills website. No, it's another no, not there's like a third one. I'll find an email you guys. I've one of these, yeah, one of these like skills. Huh? Yes, crucial list. I found I found a videographer on the skills website from Orange County, and then he was amazing. He was a wedding videographer. He'd never done a comedy show or any stage show. And honestly think he was better than most I've worked with in other comedy stuff that I've done. Um, and uh it was amazing. Edited one day, came from behind, had all these ideas, things like that. Um, what I would have done is I recorded, I invested the money to record my first show, the the preview. I because I wanted footage for social media, I would have just had a friend or put an iPhone do the preview and use that, and I would have had the videographer do my second or third show because the performance was better, and the tech was better because we needed the preview to nail that. Speaking of tech, the theater gave a one-hour tech for a one-hour show, and I thought that was fine. It wasn't enough time, and and then we didn't have the theater, we couldn't have any more time to provide at that point. I would have booked at least two hours, if not more, uh, for my tech uh had I known that. I also printed too many postcards and burned some money there. And um, I think another thing I've said this before is I would have had a proper second set of hands, at least for the preview. You know, that's just purely there for theater liaising, the ticket thing, the contact person for the videographer, photographer, if you're also the performer and what have you. I had production assistants and have full throttle producers in that sense. Um, and I think the learning is that regardless if the show's one person or a hundred, you know, producers a valid role.

SPEAKER_09 1:32:11

So I didn't make any mistakes, no after all that. Um no, uh I I guess to touch on the code of conduct at the beginning. Um our show, and I feel like a lot of shows have an aspect of improv. And I think in the beginning of the rehearsal process, I kind of gave free reign. Um and when there's nine people on stage, sometimes ideas fly out the handle, you know, and um and then you gotta rein it. And not that anything like terribly offensive was was coming out of people's mouths, but you just want to remember that everything that happens on stage is a reflection of you. And um, you know, there's profanity, there's a little violence and blood, but you want people to leave feeling like they were entertained and not attacked. Um, and so just keep that in mind whether you're a solo show or you have a group project, um just remember that your name is on the poster. And um I guess another thing I I wrote, directed, produced, and I was in it, and I think that was too way too many hats. Um, so don't don't feel like you have to do everything. Um, I was surrounded by some really amazing people that stepped in and co-directed and helped produce, and um they handled box office. Like if you have uh a really good community, a really good village around you, there's nothing that is impossible, especially during the whirlwind that is June. Um yeah. Uh don't be offensive, have have a tribe.

SPEAKER_11 1:34:10

Oh, I was gonna say, real quick, gotprint.com was what I used to print my postcards, and I think they were like an yeah, and I think like they were an affordable deal comparatively, is what I heard.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:19

Nice.

SPEAKER_11 1:34:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:23

Got print. Oh god.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:24

Gotprint.com. Yeah. Sometimes like 25 bucks sometimes. There's like a new customer promo code. Yeah, it's very, yeah, it's very cheap. Yeah. Double sided. Oh, yeah. Y'all I get goosebumps every time, but I think look it up. It should just come up with Google. I think it's green or got G-O-T.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:48

Like you got it.

SPEAKER_05 1:34:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:50

Got it. Um, but y'all, thank you. And I know especially like A, thank you for sharing all of the brilliant knowledge you have, but also sharing those pitfalls. I feel like that is a very vulnerable thing to do. And I think like we're all gonna be better for it, like learning from those like whoopsie daisies. And and I think like you've all said aspects of this, and I think it's a great like last reminder as we go into the tornado that is almost June. Um, but like, yeah, come as you are, as long as you come with kindness, you come with openness, you come with like ready to learn something new, like understand that everyone is in the journey. Nobody is in fringe who is like has nowhere to go. Like there's no ceiling when it comes to theater and then when it comes to the community. And so wherever you're at is exactly where you should be. And it allows you to learn from those who have done it for longer or are doing it currently more successfully. Help those who are struggling more than you are. And I think everywhere within that is gonna, you're gonna find joy and you're gonna find growth and celebrate those moments. It's not about having the perfect show, it's not about having the perfect every single house being completely sold out. It's about what if like, are you able to walk away from it and going, I'm better than where I started. And I'm, you know, I have these new skills, I have these new friends who have these new skills who are gonna do this with me next time. And so focus in on those little things. Um, and with that, we're going to take some questions. And so a reminder to start marketing yourself now. So I'm gonna run around the room with the square mic. Um, tell us your name and the title of your show. That way we're marketing the shows we're working on. So I'm going to run around, just raise, raise your hand. Ah, okay. One of these I'm gonna fall up those stairs, just wait.

SPEAKER_10 1:36:29

I'm not scared to raise my hand. Uh hi, I'm Shoshana Green, and this is my partner.

SPEAKER_08 1:36:34

I'm Nick Malice. Hi.

SPEAKER_10 1:36:35

Uh, and we are producing the show Comics Reading Comics, which is uh stand-up comedians reading ridiculous old silver and golden age comic books, which if you know those old comic books, I love them because they are so ridiculous. And there's light costuming and props and yeah. Um, yeah, so and this is a question for like the whole panel, yeah. Um so one of the things that I really love about Fringe um is that community aspect of it. And I know you've touched a lot on that, but um I guess it's I'm coming back to the fringe after not doing a show since before the pandemic. And I really feel that there's like a big change in like community that that sense of community. I'd love any advice you have on that or comments on yeah, how things are now.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:30

Yeah. Uh thank you so much for the little um I'm gonna jump in just to provide context because I have been around since 2010, and I think because that's a great question. Like anything, we're a teenager now, that means we're growing up, just like, you know, right? We're big girls now. Um, but in general, like we started out as a volunteer run organization, which was a bit of like, oh my god, we're doing this and we don't know how we're doing this and barely doing it, but somehow there was shows happening and people hanging out together. That's where it started. And it slowly evolved into now, like pre-COVID, we were um volunteers with a stipend. Like naming my, I was working almost full-time in my food and beverage and partnerships director position for $6,000 a year, right? Like, and it was a completely like volunteer with a stipend run org. We didn't have a code of conduct yet. We didn't have, you know, a lot of these professional elements. And then during COVID, we, because of the growth in 2019, really, we were able to spend that time during COVID with the leadership transition as well. It used to be run by two different people. Ellen and I took over in 2020, one technically, but 2020. And um, so we've been building that element. So we have the code of conduct, we have the industry program. We've started to kind of put into place more of what is in it for the artist beyond let's get to know each other when we're really powerful together, which is how it started. But then all of y'all have been in a post-COVID um fringe. Um, so what is it now? I guess is a good kind of transition into the panelists. Yeah. Um Wow.

SPEAKER_11 1:38:55

Uh yeah, the community aspect has been great. I heard about French because my friends did uh a few fringe shows the year before, and I thought it was really cool. But I was also like, oh, I can do this. And I didn't know exactly what to expect coming into it. And the community aspect was huge, and it felt like I mean, I think, you know, I think we all know the world's in a very weird time, and um like the art like the art that is being m mass-produced, a lot of it is bad. And um I think we're in a place where a lot of mainstream art isn't strong anymore, which is a bummer. So I think a lot of people are turning to theater and art, and it's exciting to meet other people where it is like the big I don't think anyone's doing this kind of like what Yusuf said, because we're we're expecting to get famous out of it, you know? It's um except for Yusuf. Um, but uh, but um, but it's like we're doing if we're doing it, it's because it's like we want to do this, we want to perform, we want to do the art, and it's like meeting a lot of people who feel that way is really gratifying. And also just seeing other art or theater that's like very unlike your own is really exciting. I think that's the kind of you know TV shows and movies that people get really excited about too and gravitate towards too, but that's happening less and less. So then people are turning to theater more, and I think that was like what was very excited about being part of that community and like seeing and witnessing that community.

unknown 1:40:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:40:26

Yeah, I discovered, I heard about Fringe for the first time. I think going into 2020, I was asked by a director friend to be in her fringe show, and obviously that show did not happen because of the pandemic, but it was on my mind ever since then. And when we finally decided to do it, we had never written truly like, you know, little short film things, but like not really written anything in full before. And we were lucky enough that we had done theater had just started coming back in LA. So we had done a little bit of theater with a with a theater company in Burbank and had grown like our theater friend community a little. So we went in and we're like, we'll have some friends that will show up. We'll see what happens. And being someone that has now produced at Fringe more than once, doing two years consecutively, me and Roddy have joked about this, how you kind of you've we realize that there's like a you have like your class, your fringe class. So I have like my class of 2023 paired with my class of 2024. So there's a bit of a cohort of us, and a lot of our friendships have continued on where even if we don't see each other all the time and they're even if they're producing outside of fringe, we're going to each other's shows and we're supporting each other and it's genuine, but we also all know the next time one of us is at fringe, you're gonna come. And so that community has been really nice to cultivate and see grow throughout the years, and yeah, it's been it's been really exciting. Even just like people in those two cohorts that that we have in 23 and 24, you know, getting invited to workshops that they're hosting, or just like someone wants to have a pool party. So you start to have this genuine friendship, and it's been nice because I think our audiences have grown every year because of it.

SPEAKER_08 1:42:00

So yeah, I think plus one to everyone, what everyone has said, and the only thing I'll add is like the fringe last year. I went to like 23 shows or so, and all the shows are just really good. Yeah, like I don't know what it was like uh prior to the pandemic, only I've only been here since 2023, and that's when it this when I started seeing fringe, but all the shows are really high quality, even those shows that are like silly or improvised or what have you are like really well done.

unknown 1:42:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 1:42:27

Yeah, I would say I was an actor for a few fringes pre-2019, and um this was my first year as a producer last year, and I would say the resources are probably the biggest change that I've seen. Um just everything that's yeah, everything that's that's available, the the visibility that Lois and Ellen and and Roddy have where it there's nowhere that you will be where you can't find an answer to something. Um I would take advantage of any resource that's available, and then don't beat yourself up for things that you can't do, you know. Um there's so many things and and you're one person or two people. Um but um yeah, it's it's it's a buffet of of creative resource. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:43:17

No, that's it's interesting to look at fringe um because fringes exist all over the world, right? And it's really it speaks to the need. I think the more Ellen and I travel to other fringes, we were able to learn like really how an a fringe operates at its like best capacity and when it's at its true value and it's it's speaking to the needs of the community. That's audiences and artists, right? At the end of the day, I think we've all seen the industry kind of just like go belly up and like really both film and TV and theater, and we've seen kind of the weight that fringe holds filling that gap of like study and like school into paid artistry. Because let's be honest, there's not, there isn't like the doors just don't open at the geffen because you've graduated from theater school, and like and and that it is such bullshit that there's so much being held back by these gates of like the four institutions that are actually funding, and then you have the United States, which isn't funding anything artistic, and so we are just holding on to stories until we combust. And so we see the need for fringe, which is naming a pay-to-play too. I want to name outright, like we don't see like the bullshit within that model either, right? Like we and our we're doing our job or doing our best to do our job of making it worth it because it is a pay-to-play model, and that cannot be the fix for our theater industry. Um, if it is, none of us are going to make it out of it. Um, and so recognizing that and trying to do what we can to at least provide more opportunity every year so that we can fill in the gap until something something shifts beyond fringe because fringe can't save the theater industry. Um, and you know, but trying to fill the gap in the meantime. Yeah. All right, I'm gonna go hear her, and then I am okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:44:56

Thanks. I'm uh John Schnitzer. I got something on my show's something spooky. It's uh it's a horror comedy about um it's about my grandmother's imaginary friend that turned out to be not so imaginary. And we show clips from the paramount investigation that happened at her house. I'll be there. I thank you. I can't wait for you to come. Um my question is where did you take your shows or what did you do with your shows after Fringe? And when did you make a plan for that?

SPEAKER_09 1:45:25

Uh uh I uh alongside writing the scripts for the stage, I wrote a screenplay alongside of it. Um so that was the next plan of of transferring it and adapting it to the screen um for me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_11 1:45:45

Um I to uh after my show, I uh did it at Lyric Hyperion. Uh uh, what did you say if came to see? Because he also could we were both so busy we didn't get to catch each other's shows. So it was nice that it was like, oh, okay, there's a time he didn't watch us separately, which was great. Very nice and supportive of him. And then um, but I was also partially doing a Lyric Hyperion. I'm originally from New York, so then I took it to New York when I went back for the holidays. And it's just like, what's yeah, what's one of the cool things is like once you have a show, you have a show. There is a thing you have that you've made that you can show to other people. That's like really cool. It's like that's your thing, and uh uh it can be, you know, presented to the world. And then now I'm doing because of the Denver Exchange, I didn't win, but because I was nominated, like Lois said, I was able to like uh connect with those people and meet those people. So now I'm doing Denver Fringe in the first week of June. So that's really exciting. It just wouldn't have been like on my radar, you know, if I hadn't heard about it through here. So yeah, it was great. It's great.

SPEAKER_03 1:46:45

Remind me to connect you with people who were going. There's a couple other Hollywood fringers going, so we can make that connection. Another reason to do like a community thing, right?

SPEAKER_06 1:46:53

For me, my show from 2023, we saw that a new festival was emerging that had shows that were 30 minutes or shorter, and mine was about a 23-minute show. So we submitted for that and did it again, which was really fun. And then we had a friend through Fringe approach us that they just wanted to shoot something new as a short film. So they were like, let's shoot this. So we adapted the script for the screen and it's in post-production now. And then, yeah, we'll see. And then with our American tragedy, a friend of we just got really lucky. A friend of ours saw the show here, and she has a theater in Arizona, and so she brought the show to Arizona earlier this year. We just had to make it a full two-act. So we revamped the script, added a character, and took it out of LA for the first time. So that was my first time ever going elsewhere with the show, which was very weird and exciting. So yeah, that was really, really fun.

unknown 1:47:45

Nice.

SPEAKER_08 1:47:46

Uh, my show's autobiographical and the actual subject matter, there were life updates that happened after my show. So I've I've been at a pause of doing it again because I need to rewrite the ending. So that's where I'm at.

SPEAKER_09 1:48:02

Also, um, Midsummer Scream is a fantastic. Oh, yeah. One of the Discover Awards. And ours was so specific to our venue, and there were like chase scenes and all that stuff. So it wasn't something that could be transferred easily. But um, yeah, that sounds fantastic.

SPEAKER_03 1:48:18

It's kind of speaks to the pros and cons, right? It's easier, like you had an easier time marketing, but it's a lot harder to get nine people to get on the road and go on tour.

SPEAKER_09 1:48:25

We didn't have a bus.

SPEAKER_02 1:48:26

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You had a question, right?

unknown 1:48:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:48:29

Yes, I do. Hi, I'm Raina. Um, my show is called the Uterus Party. It is a one-woman show. It is all about my hysterectomy, and how two days before I decided to throw a goodbye uterus party goodbye uterus party with 20 some odd of my girlfriends and three of my guy friends because they rule. Um this is my question for the solo artists, because you know, the other two, you have multiple cast members, you have a bunch of people that you can bring in. How do you bring in your people? How do you bring in people to help you with the marketing and the video and the this and the that and the all the tensilian little pieces?

unknown 1:49:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11 1:49:08

Yeah, I think it is just like it sounds like you have a lot of friends. So I mean, it was like my I think, yeah, utilizing your network. If you if uh 23 of your friends came to your uterus party, I'm sure a lot of them have the skill set and uh and and also yeah, but also are like happy to help out. You know, it sounds like you have very loving friends who are happy to help out. Like for my promo video, my friend who had like these video editing technical skills that I would never have, like helped me shoot the video and edit the whole thing. And I paid him by like buying him like a lunch because I was like, he knew I didn't have like a ton of money, but I didn't want to give him nothing. And then it was also like, we'll get a lunch after this, and I can like treat you, and that'll be. So it's just like, I think, yeah, utilizing the network you have. I'm assuming since we're in LA. A lot of them maybe do have more of the technical or production side or marketing experience. I'm sure if if they have I'm I'm sure everyone if they have the bandwidth or you know if they I think people are eager to help and because they care about their friends, so they want to help their friends. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:50:16

I know it was really hard asking for help. I was in that boat too. I think it's just the things that took up for me. It's like I would talk about my show a lot with friends in like April and May. There would be a lot of people who would be like, Oh, if you need help, let me know. And then finally towards May, when they're like, if you need help, let me know. I say, Yeah. And so I had a couple of one friend that helps shoot promo videos, and then he helped just need a second set of hands. I had a friend who did like photography pro bono, which was nice. Um, and then I had a friend we would like trade like door stuff, box office stuff. And even this year, I was a friend who's doing fringe and she's like, My partner's away, I have no one to do. I need somebody to be um for my show, pass all stuff while people are online because the event is the show starts there. And I'm like, Have you asked your friends? She's like, No, I don't know anyone could do it. I'm like, have you asked me? She's like, What? She's like, Can you do it? I'm like, Yeah, so I'm gonna do her, I'm gonna do her line on June 22nd. And so, yeah, so I think you just gotta ask. Yeah, I'll just say what people say, can I can I help you to say yes?

SPEAKER_03 1:51:11

Right, and I think specifics, right? I think you're absolutely right. Like, people do want to say yes. They mean it when they say, How can I help? But what they need to know is how to how to help. Like, I my six-year-old goddaughter, shout out HJ, but like what we talk about her, like when you're asking for something, look someone in the eye and tell them what you need. Like if they don't always know. It's like I want is not enough, I need is not enough. Like, what are the specifics so that they can actually come through for you? Um, because we're all golden retrievers that want to help each other. We just don't know how. All right, next question. Yes, and then I'll come back around. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:51:39

Hi, my name is Vivia Armstrong. Um, I have a solo show called Belly Fool, what's filling her physically, mentally, and spiritually. Um, June 7th, 14th, 15th, and 20th. Um, I I was wondering uh two things. One, what were some things that you did to um take care of yourself, like your self-care throughout the process and before and after? Um, and then what were um if if anyone did any fundraising, do you have any fundraising tips, especially during this month towards the start? Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 1:52:12

I can try the fundraising. Yeah, we fundraised both years. My favorite avenue was using Seed and Spark if as far as doing like an online, if you're doing crowdfunding specifically, um, and if you have people that are out of state, it was really useful. They have a really user-friendly interface. And what's cool is that seed and they're growing, but they're still quite a small company, so they answer you. Their customer service is great, and they require versus like Kickstarter, Indiegogo or those websites, they require you to submit your campaign for review and they give you feedback on what they think's not working. I mean, they won't let it go live until you revise. So they like, they'll tell you, like, we they always suggest a 30-day campaign versus 60 or 90s. Nan 90s the cap. And we were debating doing 60, and they were like, we really don't see as much success with 60 date. We still did 60. And like, but like, I it's fine, Matt. It's fine. I'm not that anymore. But like, I do think 30 was great. But we it was cool because they were like, we think you should do 30 for these reasons. If you don't do it, that's fine, but we're not gonna let you go live until you've thought about it and like review, and then they'll also review the content, like the backstory, the all the sections you fill out, and they will say, This sounds great, this is not meaty enough, this is too meaty, and they'll just give you some gentle pointers of like this is what we've seen be successful on our website. And they're also nice because you only have to hit 80% to get your funding to get green lit, seed and spark. It's a really great website. I've used a few different seed and spark.

SPEAKER_07 1:53:41

You can use it for film, intelligence, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:53:44

Yeah, I've used it, yeah, and I've used a few different websites, and I find that this one was the best option for us. And then as far as fundraising in person, we did a fundraiser for our American tragedy in February. Yeah, February. It was February. You were there, that's why I looked at Ronnie. Um, and that was an in-person fundraiser, and that was very different because we didn't want to crowdfund in the same way anymore because I feel like we had asked for enough favors from our friends and family at that point. So we did an in-person event at a local, a fringe venue, actually, Eastwood, where we had an evening of, we did a stage reading of the first act of the show. So it was a ticketed event, but the tickets were tiered. So if people wanted to come and play carnival games and enjoy our raffle, that was something that they could add on and enjoy separately. But you could also just come for the reading and have a chat with us as actors and producers. And that was a really successful fundraiser. It was my first time ever planning and hosting a fundraiser in person. That wasn't an online campaign. And I can talk about it for hours. If you have questions after, I'm down to chat. But it was really exhausting. It's like producing your show. So we were doing both at the same time and mentally very exhausting. So definitely know what you're getting yourself into before. We we needed, we had a friend manage the fundraiser because we were so overworked trying to get every element just right. So definitely if you're thinking in person, just really work out your beats of what that looks like. And if you're gonna do um, just so for your mental health, and then if you're gonna do an online campaign, especially something like Seed and Spark, they they need a couple days of a turnaround. So I would just to like give you that approval and that sort of thing and to go live. So give yourself two weeks of the application process, submit it as early as you can once you're ready, and then give them time to respond and calculate that into when you want to go live because you choose your date of going live. But if you are hoping to go live in three days and you're just submitting your first round today, they're gonna need probably a week to get back to you. So understand when you want to drop your campaign and if that's strategic. Like we had it go live, I think the first year, I can't remember exactly. We either had it close right after the first show, or I think it opened right at the first show and it went through the festival. Some people make it end right before their first show is starting. So there's pressure to, you know, we need to fund the show or it's not gonna happen. So your audiences and your fans, friends, and family will curate their finances based on what you need with that.

SPEAKER_03 1:56:05

Even a fake reason for a deadline is something you have to give that pressure, that reason for needing it. Otherwise, we could just be fundraising every day, all day. Um this shift only for the uh sake of time into um the how do y'all take care of yourselves? Because it really is a marathon, not a sprint. And and I mean, Roddy went down the first year Roddy did the festival, he was out sick for a full like week and a half because he didn't take care of himself, two weeks. So, how do you take care of yourselves?

SPEAKER_08 1:56:29

I think quick things for me is like make sure I made sure that I didn't plan going to another person's show like the hours before or the night before. Um after previews, as I said, I was like, actually, I think I can I can handle it. Um, and then another thing I that I did that made things special were I think for three of my three of my four shows, I had out-of-town guests. So right after the show had had made reservations at restaurants or bars, and going and like having dinner and celebrating with friends afterwards really made it feel more real compared to the one show where I just went home back to the bedroom in which I was writing the show in. Um, so I would say like treat yourself immediately after because you're gonna be on this adrenaline rush, and rare in life do you get those moments, right? It's either by doing this or doing illicit drugs. So you wanna do it by doing this.

SPEAKER_11 1:57:20

Yeah, I would echo a lot of what Yusuf said, especially since you're doing a solo show. It is. I also similarly for when it was my previous shows, uh, if you can, I try not to do too much before the show or after the show, but then after previews, sometimes I'd be like, oh, if my show is during the afternoon, maybe I can catch a show at night and it's fine because by that point you've kind of gotten in the rhythm of it. Doing a solo show is interesting, and I've talked to other people about it. Yeah, definitely connect to other people who are doing solo shows because they'll feel feel the same way. Where it was like, even when the show is doing well and the audience response is good and you're getting good feedback in your head, you still just might be like, was that bad? Because you are so just yourself on stage, you're just so by yourself. Well, with an ensemble, you can like connect and be like, no, the audience responded well. We all had like this uh reaction and or we all like uh had this experience together. So So show is really it is very rewarding. It's great, but it's it is also it can be isolating, yeah, because it's just it's yourself. So you have to like definitely take care of yourself because you're just uh you're just like processing the uh a lot of it on your own of like the performance of it and the producing of it and like the audience reaction of it. I also well sometimes I would try and have like a kind of big meal before the show because I'm like I my show especially I was like it's like on the aggressive side, and or it was just like it just took a lot of energy, so it was just like, oh, I just didn't want to burn out while I was on stage. So the basics of that for sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:58:52

Always carry a snack in that bag. You'll see me with my applesauce, y'all. I take it seriously.

SPEAKER_09 1:58:57

Um I'm very bad at this, but um I would say uh maybe choose a day or two throughout this month where you don't think about the show, you don't think about French, you just kind of check in with yourself. Um because you've you've gotten it to this point, you've opened, your show is is up and running, and it's great, and also celebrate yourself. Um you you made it, you did it. The moment you registered your show, like you won. Um so I I think that's because all the other stuff I'm not good at. My cast was like, go to sleep, go eat, you know what I mean. Um, but it's it's tough. Just just pace yourself and celebrate yourself.

unknown 1:59:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:59:42

I love that. I feel like I was gonna take one more question, but I feel like how do you not end on that? Like celebrate yourself. Like, boom, yes. Um, and and y'all, I know there were more questions. I'm so sorry, there's never enough time. Um, but we do have to be out of this space in the next few minutes. But if you want to head out to the front, um, I will be around until there's no more questions. I promise. Just give us a second to kind of clear out, and then I will meet you out front. Um, but thank you to our panelists. Thank you so, so much. Y'all, we are so lucky to be in community. And the bathroom is back here, if anyone is just having that panic attack of where's the bathroom?