Curious about what being an intern for the Hollywood fringe is like? Check out this blog post by 2012 intern Samantha Evans!

Interning as the Outreach Intern for Meghan McCauley at the Hollywood Fringe 2012 was an incredible experience. It truly opened my eyes and introduced me to the not- so-underground theatre scene in Hollywood, as well as taught me a lot about the inner workings of the industry.

My usual day started at 2pm, except when I was volunteering to walk as a Fringe Freak in the West Hollywood Gay Pride Parade, but that wasn’t a usual day! I was quite keen, and also nervous about the summer school traffic, so I’d leave at 1 o’clock, and get there 20 minutes early, after parking in the staff lot, or finding some ‘gold’ street parking. I definitely shaped up on my parallel parking skills at the Fringe.

I’d walk to Fringe Central, where I’d ask if anyone needed help. One time I had to fold shirts, another time I had to clean the bathroom (that’s when I really felt like an intern), and another time I had to make a collage with all the theatre postcards in the bathroom (that’s when I felt like a hipster intern). Sometimes it was brooming the cigarette butts and picking up plastic cups, sometimes it was just having a chat with the Fringe Family. Once it was actually 2pm (told you I was a bit keen) Meghan and I would prepare for the Student Fringe, assembling press kits and programs and discussing how to plan and orchestrate an event of this kind. I saw first hand how much effort and time went into organizing and leading a Student Fringe Performance.

Student Fringe was an incredible experience. It was amazing getting to help the performers get ready, and then watch them on stage, thinking, I shook their hand, I helped them get into costume, and now they are on the stage in front of all the kids. The kidns loved the shows, and as the ‘Bathroom Buddy’, I was constantly on duty. It was funny talking to the kids after the show and seeing how they enjoyed themselves, as well as promoting some social media for the Fringe. I learned so much, and got to be a part of the final showing of so much effort.

When I wasn’t with Meghan, I was helping and learning about the Front of House and Box Office, answering questions, selling tickets, and introducing performances. I was pretty proud of House Speeches. It was such an amazing experience getting to meet all of the productions in the Fringe as well as before in preparation and then seeing them on stage. I felt so cool. Once a week, the other interns and I would meet with another person of the staff, getting to ask questions and learn about their role in the Fringe.

If I wasn’t volunteering with Liz in Box Office or Interning with Meghan, I just got to hang out in this radical environment, see some amazing and crazy weird dynamic performances for discount or for free, listening to live bands, hanging with the other interns (they were soo cool), singing live karaoke, talking with writers, directors, producers, actors, students, technicians (…basically the most interesting people ever), watching stand up comedy, and I even got to perform at the open mic hosted by Lonesome No More.

It was truly an incredible experience, like a dream, and gave me solid proof that all my goals and visions of the future could become my reality, and not just my life-changing summer intern experience.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for February’s Twitter Chat. This month the chat will be held on Tuesday, March 26th from 8-9 PM PST.

We’ll be focusing on last-minute registration concerns, marketing and festival prep. All you have to do to join the discussion is use the hashtag #HFF13. The chat will be moderated by Rachel Stoll Armstrong, our Social Media Manager, from the @HollywoodFringe account.

Did you watch last year’s FringeTV and think “I want to do that!”? Then you might be a perfect candidate for our first ever Fringe TV Short Film Contest.

This contest is open to all #HFF13 participants who are willing to get in front of a camera and make magic happen. To take part in the contest, we’d like you to make a short film (5 minutes or less) in the FringeTV style, centered around one of the following themes: “What is Fringe?” or “Tales from the Fringe”.

Please submit your film by uploading it to your YouTube channel anytime between now and May 1st. Then tag the video “Hollywood Fringe 2013” and tweet the link to @hollywoodfringe with the hashtag #HFF13. You must complete all the steps to qualify.

Then promote your film— the 5 films with the most “likes” will move to the final round. The winner of the contest will be awarded a recurring 30-second segment to be included in multiple episodes of FringeTV. Good luck!

Who are you, how’d you get into the Fringe, and why should we care?

I’m Kan Mattoo and I’m the Development Director for the Hollywood Fringe. I’ve known Ben Hill and Dave McKeever since college, back when they were lil freshman and I was an upperclassman. A few years ago, when Ben and Dave were first talking about starting up a Fringe Festival in Los Angeles, I immediately knew I wanted to be involved. Ben and Dave invited me to help them found the Hollywood Fringe in 2010. It’s been great having the success we’ve had and sharing it with a couple of my oldest friends.

[Above: Kan Mattoo on the left]

What exactly do you do as the Development Director?

I coordinate the Fringe’s efforts to raise money for our festival and I handle our business and government relations. We’re proud to be working with partners like KPCC and LA Weekly who have been strong Fringe supporters from the beginning. We’re also in the process of finalizing an exciting new partnership that we will be announcing in the near future.

Last year, we started our Fringe Green program, where we set up multiple Zero Waste days throughout the festival. Repurpose Compostables supplied us with their compostable drink cups and with their help, we diverted 86% of our waste from landfills on those Zero Waste days. It was a great success and something we are looking to bring back again.

I have also overseen our individual giving campaigns on Kickstarter the past two years. Thanks to the support of our great Fringe community, we’ve raised tens of thousands of dollars, all of which goes right back into promoting and running the Fringe.

Why did HFF switch from Kickstarter to CauseVox?

Because I didn’t want another ulcer! (Just kidding. Kinda.) While Kickstarter was a great resource for us, the countdown to making our goal every year was really nerve racking. This year we switched to CauseVox ,which gives the Fringe more control over the fundraising. We get all of the money we raise and don’t have to worry about losing it if we don’t make our deadline.

What is the money you are raising going to be used for?

The first $10,000 of the $20,000 goal will be going towards general production costs of the 2013 festival. The next $5,000 will be used to install pole signs in Hollywood to make the Hollywood Fringe even more visible. The last $5,000 will go towards starting a Fringe Shuttle pilot program between venues. Both the signs and the shuttle are programs we’re initiating in response to requests from our own Fringe community. If we hit our total goal, we’ll be able to do both.

Another exciting element of our CauseVox campaign is our 2013 Fundraising Contest. With CauseVox, individual shows can include a link to the Hollywood Fringe fundraising campaign on their social media pages and all the money raised on their pages will be credited to them. It’s a great opportunity for the performers because the top three fundraising teams will win ads in the Fringe Guide!

Could you tell some of our hair-challenged community members how you get your head so smooth?

Years of practice. Shave in the shower and use lotion! Also, be blessed with a beautiful round head.

After a successful start to our Fringe Internship program last year, we’re bringing it back! The festival is a huge event that grows substantially from year to year, exponentially increasing our need for support staff, volunteers and interns.

If you or someone you know (that is currently in high school, college, or has graduated within the last year) is interested in learning about the process of producing a performing arts festival, we’d encourage them to check out the qualifications and available positions here.

You can also look forward to reading about some Fringe Volunteer success stories in the coming months as part of our blog!