From time to time, we will post articles from our “idea file”. These are for initiatives that have not been given the green light, as they say; its purpose is to to throw out big ideas and start kicking them around.

Have your own idea? Email us at [email protected]

Here’s our first idea from the file:

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Los Angeles is a big, big place which poses a problem for a festival such as ours. We have decided to make the Fringe as compact as possible our first year – centering the action in Hollywood and branching out from there (NoHo, East Hollywood, etc). This isn’t at all based on Hollywood-centricity, it’s based on general practicality.

Here’s our reasoning:

• We’d like to place the bulk of the festival venues within walking/easy-public-transport from one another. The beauty of the Metro Red Line, the general walkability of Hollywood, and a few trams added for good measure may make this a reality.
• There are natural concentrations of theatres, galleries, and potential found spaces in Central Hollywood, NoHo, and East Hollywood – very good for Fringes.
• Hollywood is a major tourist center – we will do whatever possible to pull those on vacation into the Fringe.
• Hollywood is a world-known brand name and a powerful attraction to artists beyond the city’s borders
• The general area is about as “Central” as you can get in the sprawl that is LA, making traveling here generally more convenient to most.

…all pretty good reasons to center the Festival around a small subset of LA neighborhoods. At the same time, we don’t want to leave anyone out of the fun; quite the opposite: We want to include as much of the community as possible.

Time for some abstract thinking and it was our newest board member John Mitchell who had this brainstorm: Center the Fringe in Hollywood, as planned with two weeks of fun, madness, and art. As a gift to venues outside of Hollywood (and all the people that live there), take the Fringe on the road for a third week – presenting “Best of Fringe” performances in venues located our LA – potentially including Santa Monica, Beverley Hills, Downtown, and beyond.

A potential negative, I suppose: People in those places won’t attend the Fringe proper, thus diminishing ticket sales – this will be something that will require some sensitivity, for sure.

Not sure if this is a “first year” thing, it’s certainly an idea worth considering.

Keep the ideas coming…

Ben

A hearty welcome to the Paul G. Gleason Theatre on Hollywood blvd., our newest addition as an official Hollywood Fringe venue. We are quite proud to have this wonderful space right in the heart of central Hollywood open its doors to the Fringe.

Here’s some information on the theatre’s namesake, Mr. Paul Gleason:

Paul G. Gleason is one of the most brilliant acting coaches in Los Angeles.
First generation in Alexander technique, Mr. Gleason directed and coached half of the Hollywood talent. He has had a long history on different sides of the entertainment business. Mr. Gleason runs the Paul G. Gleason Theatre in Hollywood and was artistic director of the American Center for Music and Theatre for over twenty years; he has privately coached actors such as Richard Chamberlain, Mary Tyler Moore, and Ed Asner. To add to his illustrious career, Mr. Gleason has also taught master classes in theatre, opera, musical theatre, and dance at many schools around the world.

Learn more about the theatre at www.acmt.org.

Ben

Venue discussions have been afoot all year – we just recently asked a select group of venues to officially commit to Festival 2010. Our friends at Second City Los Angeles Studio Theatre are the first to sign up, making them the first official Hollywood Fringe Venue. We are proud indeed to have this legendary company and wonderful Hollywood blvd. venue with us for our first year.

And in case you didn’t know, they do indeed offer classes there. Learn more on their website.

Here’s some more information on the company, the training center, and the theatre:
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The modern purveyors of sketch and improvisational comedy, including SNL, SCTV and MADTV all owe a debt to The Second City. After 45 years of being one of Chicago’s most enduring comedy institutions their members have grown up to be some of the top names in American Comedy: John Belushi, Bill Murray, Betty Thomas, Alan Arkin, Tina Fey, Chris Farley, Bonnie Hunt, Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert just to name a few.

And if the training ground of Second City is in the “Ivy League of Comedy,” it’s graduates invariably leave Chicago, Toronto or Detroit and come to Hollywood, where they don’t just sit around, they get together and ply their art form. Alumni members of the Second City such as Dan Castellaneta (voice of Homer Simpson), Larry Joe Campbell (Andy on “According to Jim”), and Keegan Michael Key (actor, Mad TV) often show up on our little stage to keep expanding the state of the art of improvisation with new forms and new ideas.

The Second City Los Angeles Studio Theatre provides an environment where both students and professionals can learn, explore, expand and showcase their talents applying the distinctive Second City style. Performances at the Studio Theater range from Second City alumni productions to Training Center Graduates Greenhouse shows to our training center performances. We also offer space for outside renters.

Occasionally, we will be posting comments from members of our community. Interested in having your voice heard? Send your letter to [email protected].

This letter is from Aaron Kozak….

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To whom this may concern,

I am a four year resident of Hollywood with a great love for the community. It goes without saying that our town is haven for artists in all mediums, at all levels of success. However, it also harbors an outsider’s image of a city void of artistic integrity, which is unfortunate considering how many dedicated local artists spend time and money on classes, shows, and personal projects. There are so many acting studios, comedy clubs(U.C.B., I.O., Groundlings) all paying taxes, attracting a slue of people ready to entertain the masses. And while the Fringe Festival may not be a comedy event like the LA Improv Fest, those comedy students are not just comedians. Many of them are actors hoping to develop their comedy skills and their ability to improvise. It’s sad that we let many of these artists go to waste. A Fringe Festival will succeed here in execution because of the number of artists, and the number of willing patrons, as well as tourists who will surely take advantage of some of the programming…and probably have a meal before at some of our local restaurants.

If we could make our Fringe Festival the standard of art festivals, I think it would really soften our image in the minds of artistic communities in other cities, other states. It would also bring attention to the artists themselves, who’s financial gain in turn benefits the State of California.

I hope you will help make this festival something special.

Thanks!

Best,
Aaron Kozak

How does it feel to visit the largest arts festival on the planet? In a word, exhilarating.

I have been before, this is my first time as an organizer. Key on our agenda was a panel discussion hosted by the World Festival Network and its founder, Holly Payton. It was a pleasure to meet all the international artists who attended this event and the promoters’ breakfast the morning after. Many thanks to the staff at EdFringe for making us feel so welcome.

Edinburgh is a gorgeous town; lots of beautiful buildings wonderfully lit at night. I immediately noticed a distinct uptick in the local economy since my last Fringe visit in 2002. This must have something to do with the massive throngs of tourists the city’s many festivals bring each Summer. The city boasts over ten festivals including Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, Edinburgh Arts Festival, Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Edinburgh Mela Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It is in every way a festival city.

It’s also a thoroughly walkable city which no-doubt contributes to the festival friendliness. Obviously this is something we need to work around in LA. Even though Hollywood is perhaps one of its walker-friendliest neighborhood, denizens of LA are not the biggest walkers in the world. Easy tram-based transport between venues and parking is a priority for us – on this we have already made some headway.

Their Fringe Central was a university building with three lecture halls – our panel discussion was in one of these. There were also printing, internet, and copying services for artists. There was a cafe and plenty of couches/tables for weary festival participants (and jet-lagged promoters). They had a separate facility on the Royal Mile for their box office, store, and information booth. In case you were curious: The Fringe staff weren’t allowed to suggest shows to patrons.

The outdoor event was right on the Royal Mile, the historic heart of Edinburgh. They had about four outdoor stages that artists could reserve to present a segment of their show. There were booths selling arts & crafts and artists promoting their projects everywhere. One of it’s keys to success (it was packed): Location, location, location. A short stroll up the road and you were standing in Edinburgh Castle – which is a pretty cool castle. They placed their outdoor event smack dab on the tourist drag from which all venues were walkable – so artists could actually say: “Come over to my venue in 10 minutes … [pointing] it’s right there.”

Our outdoor event is something we have been planning for a while now. No final word on its location or nature as of yet – we will be updating everyone as decisions are made. Currently, we are leaning towards a side street closure in central Hollywood open during the weekends.

We have devoted much time and thought into the creation of the Hollywood Fringe model – specifically, which model works best in a city like Los Angeles. Popular models include what I would call the North American Model with a strong and activist central Fringe organization and the Edinburgh model with a decentralized Fringe organization and empowered venues and presenters. For a while now, we have been drifting towards the Edinburgh side of the equation. Seeing the Edinburgh model in action with all its brilliant success (record attendance numbers this year) has further solidified our thinking in this direction.

To clear up all question on how the Hollywood Fringe is going to be run, we will soon publish the model for our 2010 Festival. Of course, we welcome any community feedback out there.

It was an eye-opening and inspiring experience in the hub of the international arts scene. The sheer scope made me think: “What sort of maniac masochists would actually choose to organize such a monster? Why would you put yourself through these trials?” Settling at our hotel that evening, the words of a former US President sprung into my head and delivered me into a restful slumber: “Not…because they are easy, but because they are hard”.

Ben