Will the Chicago Fringe Festival be a Bust or a Babe?

Q: Have you performed in Chicago before? I am doing the fringe there...a bit nervous...especially as it is $10 "suggested donation" for tickets....and first year...any thoughts on the matter?

A: Well, you know how Mr. Fringey feels about fringes that are younger than three years old. They're usually a bust in terms of recouping your investment. 

Unless there's a better reason to go than financial gain, you should usually look at a first year fringe as a total write off.  This is true for a few different reasons. 

First, fringe fans are a different breed than your typical run-of-the mill theatre goer. A fringe fan is used to seeing multiple shows in one night and multiple shows during the course of a festival. A typical theatre fan goes to see one show per month and then goes home until the next month. It takes a year or two (at the very least) to educate audience members on fringe etiquette.

However, there have been recent fringes that have broken rank with Mr. Fringey's First Year Fringe theory. The Capital Fringe was the first fringe to come along and do this and although all the data isn't in yet, the 1st Annual Hollywood Fringe may do the same. 

Why? Both of these fringes gathered a lot of creative support from the artistic community and leveraged that into media exposure. The HF already has the support of LA Weekly and Backstage Magazine in an effort to review most of the shows. (Not bad for a FYF or first year fringe)

I would place my bets that Chicago has much of the same thing going for it that both Hollywood and Washington DC have. A large city, a passionate creative community and a theatre tribe that is aching to make their fringe a success. I'd place my bets that with your fringe savvy you'll do just fine. If you doubt it, read what the Chicago Fringe peeps wrote to me early on when they were sending out applications: Chicago Fringe Kicks Fringe Butt.

 

Question of the Week: Using the Fringe Media List

Dear Mr. Fringey,

The Capital Fringe sent out a list of media contacts: 176 of them. Many have organizations associated (NPR, Washington Post, DCist, Washington City Paper) but many don't (maybe they're bloggers)? I could do a shotgun approach and send press releases to EVERYONE on the list... that doesn't seem so strategic. I know it's key to hit Washington City Paper, but any advice on narrowing down the media list?

I've got a unique show (http://www.timereneta.com/1349.html ) as it combines traditional storytelling (folk and fairy tales) with a modern frame (I make topical jokes on politics in between... well, 14th century politics... and endowing the audience as fellow 14th century bards and poets).

I appreciate your advice and look forward to meeting you at the fringe.

Best,

Tim Ereneta 

A: First read my article on 5 Things to Know About Fringe Media Courtship.
 Although a lot of it won't apply since we're so close to Fringe launch (we're less than 30 days to countdown) it's still worth a glance.

You're right about the nature of the list. There are a lot of blogs on the list, magazines, newspapers, Latino media contacts, radio stations, and TV stations. Most Magazines, only consider press releases about 3 months out, many of your Press Releases will go to spam, a lot of the contacts have already planned their fringe articles (many did that planning about 5 months ago - I did an interview for one Washington paper about 2 months ago) and most on the list have been hit hard by everyone and their brother pitching their show. I had about an eighth of the contacts bounce back this year which is down from 1/2 two years ago.

Everything I advocate is about personal connection and personal relationships. You can chance a blanket press release - there's a 1 in 176 chance that it'll get read by someone who is interested in 14th century politics. Probably not though.

At this point, I would send a short e-mail (no longer than 5 or 6 sentences pitching your show to the contacts and extending the invitation with a free ticket and a link to your website) 98% of these invitees won't take you up on your offer, so don't worry about selling the shirt off your back. But each of those contacts will appreciate the gesture and when they go out for their night on the fringe, they'll remember that gesture.

At this point you're looking for someone to review your show. Most reviews are actually assigned in the office by the straw system, metaphorically speaking. The writers pick straws and are assigned shows. 

Your best bet would to send a few of these strategic short e-mails during the first week of the fringe, once things have started to run their course. I've done it in the past and it's worked wonders. Oftentimes you'll get an e-mail back that says, "Joey Rockstone is assigned to review your show on Thursday. Thanks for checking in."

Happy Fringing,
Mr. Fringey

Question of the Day: Fringe Post Cards

 

Q: Dear Mr. Fringey,

Read your reviews of Cap Fringe. Wondering how many postcards I need. As an out of towner, I won't be able to pre-distribute cards many places and my trip to DC is actually a family vacation. So I can hand out cards... but not a full court press. The Fringe recommends printing 3000. That amount seems excessive to me (?). Wanted to get your advice.
Thanks....

A:3,000 cards is excessive! I don't know where they got that whack number from, especially since the Cap fringe isn't really a postcard fringe.

You hardly see any performers handing out postcards in DC. You’ll see me and if you join me, then you can feel like a freak like me. At other fringes, everybody is fighting to get a good spot to hand out their cards. In DC it’s like a ghost town.

I run 1,000 per fringe and my other fringe pals who sell out their fringe shows run the same amount. To really get the most bang for your buck I would only devote 20% to stacks around town and at Fringe central. So don’t sweat the stacks!

That means 800 should be put in the hands of ticket buyers directly.

Once you're there, you'll get an idea of which fringe shows are sell-outs. When you find out, you'll want to get outside the door when that show ends and put a card in everyone that leaves the show.

That’s it. Good luck!

Mr. Fringey

PS. The second most effective way to market your show at the Cap fringe besides the Postcard is the Shout Out!

What is this? Well, since I already know your show is going to be good, at the end of my show I’m going to shout out, “Hey everyone, if you’re looking for another great show to see, make sure you check out “so and so’s show.” I may give out up to 4 shout outs at the end of my show. This is totally cool to do at the Fringe.

Often, at the end of my show I’ll say, “Are there any other fringe performers in the audience who have a show?” Then, I’ll ask them to stand up and announce their show.

The Capital Fringe Festival in Washington DC (A Second Look)

Question: Hey, You look like an experienced Capital Fringe attendee. I am concerned about the high registration and insurance fee without any guarantee on venue, performance dates or percentage of box office. An expensive high risk investment. What has been your experience and others that you know of?

Answer: When I look at a fringe I base a decision on a few different factors and although price is a considering factor, it's not always a priority. Here's what I consider:

1) How long has the fringe been running?
2) What kind of fringe crowd does the festival usually attract for in-town and out-of-town acts?
3) How strong is the fringe audience community within the festival city?
4) How expensive is the city in terms of lodging, incidentals, and food?
5) How much money does it cost to apply?
6) What kind of platform increasing potential does the host city hold?



 
1) How long has the fringe been running?
This is the 5 year birthday for the Cap Fringe. For a US fringe this is usually a safe bet. If you haven't heard horrible things about a fringe at this point, chances are, they've had a decent amount of time to work out any kinks and to develop a fringe audience within the city. I've only heard great things about this fringe.

As you know, I don't recommend doing fringe festivals that are less than 3 years old. But I broke the rules with this festival and performed during years 1 and 2 because it's literally in my back yard and building my audience in DC, NY and LA has been an important part of my business plan.

2) What kind of fringe crowd does the festival usually attract for in-town and out-of-town acts?
The fringe audience continues to build in DC for both types of acts. Just ask DC performer extraordinaire Zehra Fazal who sold out just about all her shows at last years fringe and got an extended run with Headscarf and the Angry Bitch and San Diego Performer Mark Whitney who did the same thing with his show "Fool For a Client."

I think it's important to note that both performers brought their shows to the festival the year before and both had built a following there previously. Regardless, there is a large and growing and loyal fringe audience in DC, period.

3) How strong is the fringe audience community within the festival city?
The Capital Fringe has one of the strongest fringe audience communities I've seen. When they introduced the buttons the year before last and rooted down at Fort Fringe, it really helped audience members find a focal point for the fringe itself. Fort Fringe is so close to the Verizon Center area that it really helps pull in the mainstream and keep them there without feeling too much out of their comfort zone.

Add the previews that the fringe promotes and all the around town button specials and the fringe crowd in DC is, quite honestly, one step away from becoming what I would label as a group of "fringe fanatics."

4) How expensive is the city in terms of lodging, incidentals, and food?
DC offers billeting to out of town performers. I've asked for it this year, although in previous years I've made the drive back and forth from my hometown. I've usually found lodging close to my venues for under $50 using Hotels.com and Hotwire.


5) How much money does it cost to apply?
I just paid my application fee and to tell you the truth it took a bite out of my bank account - with the $30 early registration fee it came to $605. In another month, because I'm not an equity actor, I'll have to pay an additional $200 insurance fee.That brings the total amount to run my show to $805 if I don't include any advertising costs. This isn't a small bean number to most artists.

How does this compare* to some of the other US fringes?
Minnesota: $425
Boulder: $610
Orlando: $660
Indianapolis: $577

*Some of these prices may have gone up since I last documented them.

Additional things to consider are how much tickets go for (the typical price in DC is $15), what kind of split of the door you're getting (the typical split is 70% to the artists) and how big your house is (the average seating capacity is about 80 seats).

Because of all the other factors I mentioned above, if you have a really great show, you won't be able to keep the crowds away. Just ask Dog & Pony Theater Company with last year's Barebreasted Women Sword Fighting."

On average at any fringe, performers can expect to fall into the following categories in terms of gross ticket sales for their entire run of shows:
Type 1: $400 - $600
Type 2: $1,200 - $1,800 (most performers fall into this category)
Type 3 - $3,000 - $8,000

6) What kind of platform increasing potential does the host city hold?

During my first year at the Cap Fringe, I ran "The Neon Man and Me." I got a nice review in The Washington Post , DCist , DC Theatre Scene and The Washington City Paper. If you're looking to beef up your platform, DC can be just the place to do it. In addition, because of my shows there,  I landed a nice review in American Theater Magazine and a great segment on NPR in their series "How Artists Make Money."

The second year, I ran my show "Slash Coleman has Big Matzo Balls," and although it wasn't well received, I still managed to make some really great networking connections and get some great exposure with some bad reviews.

To Sum it Up: To me, the Capital Fringe is the perfect host city. The city is educated enough to know about theatre but not so saturated (like NYC) that they aren't always hungry for more.

Should you risk your investment on the Capital Fringe? To me it's a no-brainer. WWJD? I think he would go. Yes, he would definitely go.