2011 Philly Fringe Artist Resources

Artist Resources

This special page is for participating artists only. Here you will find useful information for your participation in the Philly Fringe, along with several key documents that you'll need to use in the months leading up to and through the Festival. For your convenience, we have posted the most important documents at the top. A more detailed description is below. The Fringe Manual can be found under the Fringe Manual Page.

Fringe Facebook Discussion Board | Venue Finder | Press Pitch Worksheet | Blank W-9 | Money Order Form for 2011 Insurance

Festival Box Office at the Prince Music Theater
1412 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19110
Phone: 215-413-1318

Pre-Festival Hours
Aug 22—Sept 1: 12pm—7pm

Festival Hours
Sun—Thur: 12pm—9pm
Fri—Sat: 11am—9pm
Sept 5 (Labor Day): 12pm—7pm

All Fringe artists must find their own venue. We do not assign space or otherwise find you a venue. It's best to explore different neighborhoods to look at spaces that may be unique and interesting for your audience to experience your show. Your venue information and full schedule must be sent to us on your Artist Agreement by June 10 at the very latest. Any venue information received after this date will not be printed in our Festival Guide and will only be available on the Festival's website. As this may affect the strength of the marketing of your show, please do not wait until the last minute to start looking for a venue.

In the past Philly Fringe has published its own Venues List. This year, however, we are recommending all artists and potential venues to use a new online service called Phillyspacefinder.com. This site is published with support from multiple arts organizations across Philadelphia. It is free, very easy to use and it has multiple sorting features to help you identify potential spaces specific to your show needs. All past Philly Fringe venues have been directed to use this service.

To use Philly space finder click here: www.phillyspacefinder.com

During the Festivals, our publicist deals with a wide variety of members of the press on a daily basis. Although we do not guarantee that we will pitch your show to the press, it is helpful for us to have detailed information about all shows, so we can provide information to reporters on request or if they are pursuing a specific story idea (an article on South Philly artists, for example). The Press Pitch Worksheet is due in the Fringe office no later than June 3. Please print and fill it out, and send to the Fringe Coordinator at: 919 N. 5th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123, fax it to (215) 413-9007, or email a completed version to Craig Peterson at craig@livearts-fringe.org.

Click here to download the Press Pitch Worksheet.

We will be sending you the Artist Agreement and W-9 in the mail in mid-May. Just incase, we have posted a blank W-9 for you HERE. Please note that the artist/company name on this form is the name we will use on any box office checks after the Festival.

Your Artist Agreement: Philly Fringe Artist Agreements are due June 10. It is your responsibility to make sure that your Artist Agreement reaches our office by 5pm on June 10. Do NOT wait until the last minute to complete and submit your Artist Agreement. This deadline gives us only two full work days to process and format this information before submitting it to our designers to put into the Guide. We have over 150 artists every year, which makes the Guide design a very labor intensive process. By submitting your Agreement a week or even one or two days before the deadline, you will be helping us a great deal.

If your Agreement does not reach us until after June 10, your show information (dates, times, location, etc) will not appear in the index or the day-to-day schedule at the back of the Guide. This may also delay the appearance of your show on our website.

Please mail or drop off your Artist Agreement to:

ATTN: Craig Peterson
Philadelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe
919 N. 5th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123

To protect you and the Festival regarding any claims for injury or property damage sustained by an audience member or other "third party," we require that all participants in the Philly Fringe obtain general liability insurance covering themselves and the Festival. You will need to provide a Certificate of Insurance as proof of coverage. For full details on this insurance, please see the 'Staging Your Show' Section of your Fringe Manual. If you wish to secure your insurance through Domenick & Associates, the company that insures the Festival, there is one simple form to fill out, and the premium is based only on the number of shows you will be performing. If you have an art installation that runs the entire length of the festival, you will be charged the highest rate. This year's rates through Domenick & Associates are $110 for 1 - 5 performances, $158 for 6 - 15 performances, and $200 for 16 or more performances. This year D&A requires a credit card or money order payment. No checks will be accepted. If you wish to pay by money order, you need to send it to them with the Money Order for 2011 Insurance Form, available here. Fill out the form and send it to Domenick & Associates no later than August 5. Their address is on the form. Please do not mail the form to our office as it will delay the process of insuring your show. Failure to provide an insurance certificate by this deadline may lead to our not being able to sell tickets to your show at the Festival Box Office.

If you wish to participate in the Fringe Self-Producers Insurance Program, go to the Domenick & Associates website at http://www.domenick.com, click on the Fringe Artist Insurance Enrollment link, enter the information requested, and pay online with a credit card. Your information will be submitted electronically, to Domenick & Associates, and proof of coverage will also be sent to Fringe Festival administrators.

Click here for the Money Order for 2011 Insurance Form.

Marketing & Advertising Your Show

CLICK HERE for the 2011 Press Contact List

You may contact the Press directly based on this list. Please note, this list is provided as a reference, and you should choose your pitches wisely. Target those contacts who you think would be most interested in your show and performers. As this list is meant as a resource of information, we strongly urge you NOT to spam these members of the press. It is best to send out your pitches no less than one month before your event.

Here are some other important documents you may find helpful:

• Discounted Philly Fringe Artist rates for advertising in the Festival Guide
• Writing a Press Release:
  See Marketing section of the Philly Fringe Artist Manual
  or view this guide from The Spin Project
• Press Photo Guide
• Press tips from Canary Promotions

* Please Note - Logo and Box Office Listing on Marketing Materials
All Philly Fringe artists are required to add the Festival Box Office phone number, the Festival web address, and the Philly Fringe logo to any communications pieces that they produce, including but not limited to press releases, posters, postcards, flyers, website, email blasts, etc. Please include the following information on all promotional items - Festival Box Office listing:

'For tickets, contact the Festival Box Office at (215) 413-1318 or visit www.livearts-fringe.org.'

To download, right click the format(s) below and "save target as" or "save link as".
Download both black and white logos in EPS format: .EPS
Download the white logo (for dark backgrounds): .TIF | .PSD
Download the black logo (for light backgrounds): .TIF | .PSD | .JPG

Instructions For Use of the 2011 Philly Fringe Logo
The logo should always come from the left side of the page. If your software has the ability to apply an effect to the logo, please use the "hard light" transparency option. There is a black type version and a white type version available for use, depending upon which works best for the image you are laying it over, i.e. white over a dark image or black over a light image. Email craig@livearts-fringe.org with any questions.

Philly Fringe artists also need to include the info below on all print materials (flyers, postcards, posters, etc.)

To download, right click the format(s) below and "save target as" or "save link as".
Download the Festival Info image: .EPS | .TIF | .JPG

Fringe artists receive exclusive discounted pricing on ads in the Festival Guide. The Festival Guide is the #1 tool our audiences use to decide which shows to see. We recommend that any artist promoting their show place an ad in the Festival Guide. We print 40,000 guides with a shelf-life of at least 1 1/2 months. Reach our 25,000+ loyal audiences with your full-color ad. Design assistance available upon request.

Click here to download our ad rates and specs

Contact dan@livearts-fringe.org to reserve your ad by June 3. Payment and artwork are due by June 10.

• How to participate in Phillyfunguide.com and Funsavers
• City Paper Fringeboard Ads
• Metro Philadelphia Advertising
  Discounted rates for Fall Arts Preview and Philly Fringe feature August 31:
  Full page $1850
  Half page $950
  Quarter page $500
  Sixth $400
  Eighth $325

How to Participate in the 2011 Philly Fringe

The deadline to submit your participation in the 2011 Philly Fringe has passed. For general inquiries about Philly Fringe, contact Craig, Director of Philly Fringe, at craig@livearts-fringe.org.

Please note that the date of the Box Office Workshop has been changed. The workshop will be held on July 25 at 6pm at the Live Arts Studio. (It was previously scheduled for August 1).

Welcome to the fifteenth annual Philly Fringe! Our mission is to provide an opportunity for artists to produce and present their art in an exciting festival atmosphere.

The Philly Fringe is open to any artist who has a piece of work to present and can find a venue. We do not invite anyone to perform, nor do we produce Fringe shows. In the tradition of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, we ask that you challenge yourself to be an artistic pioneer by taking your work to new levels of artistic innovation and presentation.

Self-producing an event for the Fringe enables you to reach new audiences, choose your own venue, set your own schedule, and have artistic, financial, and organizational control over your performance. While you produce your work, we help you with marketing and box office support. Every year we produce 40,000 Festival Guides that highlight every Fringe show and are distributed throughout the entire city. We will also provide you with a large list of press contacts so you can professionally market your own show.

The 2011 Festival dates are September 2-17, 2011

We know that producing your own show is a big deal. That's why we provide these webpages to you as a resource. We will outline everything you will need to do to produce a successful show, followed by a more comprehensive overview. Bookmark this webpage!

Firstly you will need to submit a participation form and fee ($95 one time, non-refundable fee) by April 1, 2011. The Participation form will become accessible on January 24, 2011.

You will have the option to attend our New Artists Workshop on March 14 at 6:00 PM. This workshop will be geared towards people like yourself who are new to the Festival or unsure of the Festival procedures. This will allow you to ask us questions about participating in the Fringe before the participation deadline. The workshop will begin at 6:00 PM at the Live Arts Studio (919 N 5th St. Philadelphia, PA 19123).

Each year we produce Festival Guides and distribute them all over the city. Every Fringe artist gets a space in our guide to help market their show (on the participation form you will have the choice of a 50-word description of your show or a photo and description for a fee of $125 or $225, respectively). We highly suggest using both a photo and a description in the guide to help market your show.

After you submit your participation form, it would be best to start looking for a venue. When approaching the venue, it might be in your best interest to ask the venue if you could rent the space for a % of your door sales so you won't have to pay out of pocket. There are many other ways to work with the venue in deciding what the rental costs will be. Finding a venue is usually the hardest part of producing your show, so make sure you are working on this early. You will want to stay in close contact with your venue in the months leading up to the Festival to finalize the details about your rental and use of the space.

On May 2 at 6:00 PM, we will host a Marketing Workshop. This workshop will be geared towards getting people to come see your show. We will outline different marketing strategies and innovative ways of gaining attention for your show. The workshop will begin at 6:00 PM at the Live Arts Studio (919 N 5th St. Philadelphia, PA 19123).

The next two deadlines are for the 50-word description and for the photo. The 50-word description is due on May 13 and the photo (w/ credits) is due on June 3.

At this point you will have received your Artist Agreement. This is a contract that you will be producing a show for the current Fringe year. You will be required to provide your venue location, the name of your show, your dates and times for production and a marketing fee. This fee is to cover our guide production and design. If you choose to use a Photo you will need to provide the names of any people pictured and credits for the photo being used.

The Artist Agreement and Marketing (for the Guide) Fee are due on June 10, 2011.

This is where everything really starts to kick into gear and you get busy producing your show and making sure all the dots are connected.

Once we have all the Artist Agreements, we start the lofty task of putting together the Festival Guide, while you put the finishing touches on your show.

On July 25 at 6:00 PM, we will host the final workshop, based around our Box Office procedures. This is a very important workshop, as the box office will be your main source for selling tickets. Our Box Office opens on August 22, two weeks prior to the Festival opening on September 2. The workshop will begin at 6:00 PM at the Live Arts Studio (919 N 5th St. Philadelphia, PA 19123).

It would be best to determine the number of shows in your production's run based on realistic estimates of audience demand and venue size. Having too many could be costly and divide your audience, where having too few shows could hurt word of mouth and people won't hear about your show until it's too late.

Please see below for more detailed information on each of these topics.

If you are new to the Philly Fringe, please be sure to read all information below before registering. If you still have questions, please contact Craig T. Peterson at craig@livearts-fringe.org

Be one of the 200+ acts that turns our city into a performing arts Mecca and gives Philadelphia a creative blast of energy every year.

16 days of theater • dance • comedy • musicals • circus arts • visual arts • poetry • opera • puppetry • storytelling • rock n roll performed all across the city at art galleries • theaters • basements • churches • rock clubs • abandoned lots • row homes • flatbed trucks • storefronts • sidewalks • parks • bars • graveyards • museums • underpasses • parking lots • cafes • train stations • night clubs • swimming pools • buses • rooftops • benches • booths • boats • driveways • cars • tennis courts • grass-fields • places you didn't know existed.

The Philly Fringe wants you! Join the ranks of the risk-taking artists who have made the Festival a Philadelphia tradition since 1997.

Fringe artists pay a small, non-refundable Festival participation fee, and nominal marketing fee. In addition, there are a series of deadlines leading up to the Festival that you must meet in order to participate.

Before you decide to participate in the Philly Fringe, think about whether you are ready to present your work to a Fringe audience. You might consider some of the following questions:

• Do you have a concrete idea for your work?
• Do you have a committed group of performers for your project?
• Can you provide staffing for all other aspects of your production, such as technical direction, publicity, etc.?
• Are you prepared to find and secure a venue for your work?
• Are you prepared to meet all Festival deadlines and pay all fees that are required for Festival participation?
• Are you aware of all the Festival Box Office policies you must follow including ticket discounts and the procedure for picking up will-call tickets? (See Discounts below)

The first step in becoming part of the Philly Fringe is to fill out and submit an Artist participation form, along with your non-refundable $95 participation fee. Artist participation forms will be available on this page starting January 24 and due on April 1, 2011. Forms must be submitted with a one-time, non-refundable $95 participation fee.

On the artist participation form, we will ask basic questions regarding the discipline, title for your work, company or artist name, and basic contact info. We will ask you if you would like just a description or a photo and description for the Festival Guide. Click here for more info on this process. We ask that only one member of your group or company is responsible for all contact and interactions with the Fringe staff. This person will be in charge of completing all necessary forms and agreements and returning these on or before Festival deadlines. It is very important that you provide a current email address when filling out the participation form, as almost all communication from Festival staff will be conducted via email.

After we have processed all participation forms in mid-April, you will receive an email from Craig with instructions concerning your participation. At this time, the 2011 Fringe Manual will become available on the Manual page.

Working from our own experiences and artists' feedback, we have developed the Fringe Manual to address important elements of the Fringe process. The Fringe Manual offers information on everything from securing a venue, to preparing a press packet. The Manual also includes an Artists' Resources section where you'll find names and contact information for local costumers, technical equipment rental services, photographers, and more. The manual is downloadable in full or in sections as PDF documents. (If you have trouble downloading the Manual, please contact us and we will send one via snail mail.)

After we have processed all participation forms in mid-April, this page will serve as your one-stop source for information concerning all Fringe instructions, forms & documents, and press info. You will be asked to fill out and return several documents throughout the Festival process. All of these forms may be downloaded from the Resources page. These documents are: Press Pitch Worksheet, W-9 and, General Liability Insurance Form. You can also find many helpful tips from the other documents provided, such as a Venue List and tips on press, advertising, and other marketing opportunities.

A list of 2011 venue suggestions will also be available on the Resources page by mid-March. Aside from the challenges that come with creating and producing your own work, finding a venue may be your most difficult task. Please be aware that we will not find or assign you a venue or location. You are responsible for finding your own venue. Our only requirement is that your venue or show location be within the city of Philadelphia. Some exceptions will be made for participants planning to stage a show outside of city limits. Productions that do fall outside of city limits will be required to reserve a Philly Fringe sandwich board and introduce each performance with a curtain speech about the Festival.

Look for a venue that will allow you to reach your audience and meet your artistic and financial needs. If you plan to use a public space, be prepared to investigate whether this will require a permit. You will need to set up all financial arrangements with your venue.

In mid-May, we will send you an Artist Agreement in the mail. At that time, you will need to fill in your venue and ticket information and finalize your schedule. The Artist Agreement will ask you specific questions regarding the location, contact information, and wheelchair accessibility of your venue; the title, running time, and ticket price for your show; and all of your marketing preferences. You will also be asked for a signature of indemnification. The Artist Agreement is the final word concerning the details of your show, so be sure that all info submitted is correct. You must have your Artist Agreement completed and returned, and the remainder of your artist fees paid no later than June 10.

All artists are required to have a description of their event in the Festival Guide. This Guide description or blurb can be no longer than 50-words, at a cost of $125. If you wish to include a photo or graphic image with your description, the total cost will be $225. We strongly encourage you to submit an image with your Guide description. With so many events to choose from, Festival goers may be more attracted to your show if they are offered a strong visual representation of your work. Your Guide description must be submitted by May 13, 2011 and your image (if desired) must be sent to us no later than June 3, 2011. Image specs will be communicated to you by email in April.

The Philly Fringe has a long tradition of press coverage from local newspapers and magazines including Philadelphia Weekly, Philadelphia City Paper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Philadelphia Magazine. We strongly encourage that you prepare a press release, press photos, and information about your event for local press. Please return these materials no later than June 3, 2011 (along with Guide image). While we only market the Festival as a whole and not individual Fringe shows, we sometimes get press requests for certain shows. We will forward all press materials you send us when receiving inquiries from the press. That being said, we encourage all Fringe artists to promote their events to local media independently. We will provide access to Festival logos and press lists for your use.

Fringe artists set their own ticket prices. Prices should be set in increments of $1. In the past, artists have set their ticket prices within the $10 - $20 range, but feel free to set yours higher or lower based on your running time and needs. Of course, you can decide to make your event free. We begin internet ticket sales for Fringe shows in mid-July and will begin selling tickets through our Box Office on Monday August 22. Before setting the ticket price for your event, please be sure to familiarize yourself with Festival discounts as we will require you to honor them for any sales through our Festival Box Office or website. Once the Box Office is open, artists are welcome to sign out a certain number of tickets to sell independently of the Box Office or web sales. While the number of tickets you may sign out will vary based on the number of shows and your venue's capacity, our general rule is that you keep 25% of your total number of tickets to be sold through our Box Office. It is an important customer service that we can provide tickets to ALL Fringe events through our Box Office. Please note that artists keep 100% of the revenue from any tickets he or she signs out.

Box Office Fees

Ticketed - All tickets to your show sold at our Box Office or through our website will be subject to a 10% fee deducted from your sales to cover a portion of our administrative costs.

Philly Fringe artists are required to honor the following Festival discount offers:

Students and Festival goers 25 and younger
$5 off Philly Fringe tickets if original price is $15 or over.

Groups of 10+
25% off regular ticket prices.

All Access Passes
Pass holders receive free admission to every show. Limit 1 ticket per production for “All Access Pass for 1” holders, limit 2 tickets per production for “All Access Pass for 2” holders. For every ticket redeemed by an All Access Pass holder, the Festival will reimburse Fringe artists 80% of the ticket’s face-value.

Press Passes
Select members of the press are issued Press Passes which grant them up to two tickets to each Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe production. The Festival does not reimburse for tickets used by Press Pass holders.

Members
Festival Members receive a 20% discount on up to two tickets to each Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe production. During at-the-door transactions, Members must present their card to receive the discount. The Festival will reimburse Fringe artists half of the discounted amount (10% of the ticket’s face-value).

Artists in possession of an Artist Rush card will receive $5 off any ticket purchased at the door up to ten minutes before the show. For more info on Artist Rush, refer to the bottom of the Deadlines & Fees page.

We strongly encourage you to have visible outdoor signage for the convenience of your audience. You may provide this on your own, or rent a sandwich board sign from the Festival for $50. This fee includes the frame itself, the sign, and the design. For anyone mounting a show outside the city limits, we will require you to rent a sandwich board through the Festival.

All participants must provide proof of general liability insurance that lists 'Philly Fringe' as an additional insured. You may obtain this insurance though your own carrier, or through the Festival's insurer, Domenick & Associates, (215) 629-5701, who has insured Fringe artists for years. 2011 rates range from $110 - $200. For more information about insurance, visit the Resources Page. We strongly encourage artists to use Domenick & Associates, as they know exactly what we need and will make the process much simpler on your end. Their rates are competitive.

Artists are solely responsible for obtaining all rights for using copyrighted text and/or music in their show as well as paying all related royalties. We strongly recommend that you take all necessary steps to comply with all copyright and licensing laws. Failure to do so could result in having your show closed down by representatives of the copyright and license holders.

For Producers: Producers who are interested in using AEA members in the "Theatre" section of either the "Live Arts" or "Philly Fringe" portions of the Festival must be signed to an appropriate (SPT, Guest Artist, Special Appearance, etc.) AEA contract.

For AEA actors, there is an AEA "PHILLY FRINGE" code crafted for the "Theatre" section of the "Philly Fringe" portion of the Festival that can be utilized only by AEA members for AEA member-produced productions.

All Actors Equity concerns should be directed to the AEA business representative at (212) 869-8530, the Philadelphia AEA Liaison Committee at phlliaisoncommittee@yahoo.com or you may call the Philadelphia AEA Hotline at 1 877 AEA 1913, ext 832 for more contact information.

If you have any questions concerning the Festival process, please contact:

Craig T. Peterson
Philly Fringe Director
craig@livearts-fringe.org

Please click below to pay the Philly Fringe participation fee and complete the artist form

Deadlines and Fees

April 1, 2011
Artist participation form and fee ($95 one-time, non-refundable fee) must be submitted by this date.

May 13, 2011
50-word descriptions for our Festival Guide are due on this date. Your description is how most people will choose to see your show or not. So make it good!

Send your description via email to craig@livearts-fringe.org with the subject line: "Guide Description for 'Your Name' and 'Name of Your Show'." Please attach your description as a Word document entitled: "Your Name - Name of Your Show."

June 3, 2011
If you choose to have a photo accompany your description (highly recommended) you will need to send us your photo with the proper formatting by June 3. Photos must be formatted in a ratio of either 6x4 or 4x6 and at a resolution of 300 dpi. Also due on this date are your press materials, including your Press Pitch Worksheet, which can be found here. Information on creating a press release can be found here: Writing a Press Release or view the Marketing section of the Artist Manual. Sandwich Board reservations are due on this date as well.

June 10, 2011
This agreement will contain all of the finalized info pertaining to your show, such as show title, venue, dates and times, for use in the Festival Guide and website. Also due are your marketing fees ($125 for description or $225 for description and photo). Again, we highly recommend opting for a photo or image to accompany your blurb in the Festival Guide. A strong image will really help your show stand out!

August 5, 2011
We require ALL Fringe participants to send us proof of general liability insurance for the performances of your shows. We have made it very easy and inexpensive to gain this coverage through our own insurance broker. This year's rates through Domenick & Associates are $110 for 1 - 5 performances, $158 for 6 - 15 performances, and $200 for 16 or more performances. Please see the more detailed information on the Artist Resources tab under General Liability Insurance.

For us to be able to extend this benefit to you, we need to know the names of the artists and technicians who are integral to the creation and running of your show. Each of these people will receive a personalized Artist Rush Pass for discounts and artist rush tickets during the Festivals. Please note that these Artist Rush Passes are only for your use and are not transferable to others. These passes will be available to you and your crew at the Artist Check-in Table beginning August 29. They will not be mailed to you. All Festival artists must honor these Artist Rush Passes. Please provide the Fringe Director with a list of names (preferably in an Excel document) or by emailing him at craig@livearts-fringe.org. This must be done by August 5 as Artist Rush passes will NOT be made for anyone once the Festival opens.

Mandatory Fees

• Non-refundable participation fee ($95) Beginning January 24
• Marketing Fee: $125 for 50-word description; $225 for 50-word description and photo.
• Box Office ticketed events: All tickets to your show sold at our Box Office or from our website will be subject to a 10% fee. This fee will be deducted from your final sales report/reconciliation check to cover a portion of our administrative costs.

Optional Fees

• General Liability Insurance from Domenick & Associates, 215-629-5701: Rates through Domenick & Associates are $110 for 1 - 5 performances, $158 for 6 - 15 performances, and $200 for 16 or more performances. D&A requires a credit card or money order payment. No checks will be accepted. If you wish to pay by money order, you need to send it to them with the Money Order for 2011 Insurance Form, available here. Fill out the form no later than August 5. Their address is on the form. Please do not mail the form to our office as it will delay the process of insuring your show. Failure to provide an insurance certificate by this deadline may lead to our not being able to sell tickets to your show at the Festival Box Office.

  If you wish to obtain the required liability insurance through Domenick & Associates' Self-Producers Insurance Program, go to the website at www.domenick.com, click on the Fringe Artist Insurance Enrollment link, enter the information requested, and pay online with a credit card. Your information will be submitted electronically, to Domenick & Associates, and proof of coverage will also be sent to Fringe Festival administrators.

  Click here for the Money Order for 2011 Insurance Form.

  If you elect not to purchase insurance through Domenick & Associates, you must provide proof of general liability insurance that lists the 'Philly Fringe' as an additional insured.

• Sandwich Board ($50) Please reserve your Sandwich Board by June 3rd via email. Productions that fall outside of city limits will be required to reserve a Philly Fringe sandwich board.

Fringe Artist Manual

The Fringe Manual is a very useful tool for all Fringe artists, with details on every stage of planning your show. We are cutting down on the amount of paper we use by making our manual a downloadable PDF. You can reference these materials online or print a copy for your use. If you are unable to download the manual, please contact fringeinfo@livearts-fringe.org to receive a copy in the mail.

We have provided the Manual both in its entirety for download and in sections to view online. As certain deadlines approach, you may only need to reference specific sections of the Manual so please be sure to focus on those sections.

You will need Adobe Reader to open these PDF files. Download it for free here.

Click here to download the 2011 Manual in its entirety.
Or, click each of the headers below to download only those sections.

(Click to download this section)

This section is an overview of some things to keep in mind when doing the Fringe. It will outline the specific changes to this year's Manual and certain Fringe procedures, as well as provide a brief history of the Philly Fringe and discuss the basic responsibilities of being a self-producing artist within the Fringe framework. Please reference the specific sections below for more detailed information on marketing, box office, insurance, etc.

(Click to download this section)

This section contains advice on securing a venue along with sample venue agreement, tips on being a good neighbor, selecting dates and times for your shows, notes on securing the proper permits one might need for using alternative spaces, why and how to obtain General Liability Insurance, and finally a few words on Actors Equity Issues.

(Click to download this section)

This section is a resource guide for applying for grants, gaining sponsorships, advertising, and general fundraising tips.

(Click to download this section)

This is the most important section, as it will outline all crucial elements of participating in the Philly Fringe such as, completing your Artist Agreement, Box Office procedures, discounts and ticketing procedures, and artist responsibilities during the Festival. Please make sure you review this section thoroughly.

(Click to download this section)

This section includes notes on what show and press information we will need from you, when we need it, and why. Also in this section are the specs for submitting your 50-word Guide blurb, Guide photo, and additional press materials. You'll also find helpful tips for writing your blurb and press release, taking a successful photo, and notes on posters and flyers. Please reference section 5a for our publicist's detailed guide on what makes a great press photo.

(Click to download this section)

This is a handy guide for creating a successful press image written by the Festival publicist at Canary Promotions.

(Click to download this section)

This section is full of resources including audio editing, bulk mailing services, buttons and shirts, costumes, flyer distribution, graphic designers, insurance, photography, postcards and printers, props, rental services, and technical equipment.