Catch FringeNYC Artists at Special Events This Weekend!
BY ANDREA KRUSHEFSKI
Tonight,
FringeNYC will be kicking off a series of special events throughout Manhattan
affording sneak peeks of some of this year’s shows.
Borders at
Columbus Circle will host the first event,
a panel discussion hosted by Martin Denton of nytheatre.com, featuring
playwrights from MacChin, A Separate Peace, My Name is Ruth, and Richard
3.
Later this
evening, the Brecht Forum will host a similar
event involving shows from three other staycations:
Political Junket, Battleground Tour, and Summer Camp(y). Not only will there be
a panel of playwrights, but also sneak peek performances from a few featured
shows.
Tomorrow,
Summer Streets will Manhattan streets for its first Saturday of teasers. Hang
around Spring and Lafayette to catch the free previews.
During
the following week, Borders stores throughout Manhattan will continue hosting
exclusive events with shows from FringeNYC’s Literary Lane staycation.
FringeNYC 2010 program guides will be available at all Border’s locations for
theater-goers unable to stop by FringeCENTRAL in Greenwich Village.
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FringeNYC Artists React to Recession with Innovative Viral Strategies
Crowd-funding expected to draw interest online
BY ELIZABETH SORRELL
With the effects of the recession still being felt throughout the country, producers have added the economy to the long list of challenges they face when mounting a Fringe NYC production.
Not to be put off by a little adversity, artists and producers are coming up with new, creative ways to raise funds. In order to make their FringeNYC dreams into reality, they utilize everything from crowd-funding Web sites, alumni networks and multi-talented friends. Several new Web sites provide platforms and tools that help productions tap into crowd-funding, a process where a group of people pool their money together in order to support an organization or project.
Kickstarter.com, which was started in April of last year, offers users the ability to raise money for just about anything. Projects include independent films, special food mixers and single day events. Each project offers tiered rewards for pledged money. Not to be confused with investing, project creators keep 100 percent ownership of their ventures.
Playwright and Magpie company member Shawn Reddy’s “The Great Galvani” was funded 100 percent by Kickstarter pledges. He was not familiar with the Web site before this year’s New York International Fringe Festival. He was turned onto the concept by a fellow company member who had used it to fund a cookbook project.
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At first, Shawn was skeptical, but the concept quickly won him over. “I had never heard of Kickstarter.com before, but it was clear from their Web site that they were very open to all kinds of artistic endeavors, including theater,” he said.
By setting up a page, and promising rewards that included signed posters and meet-and-greets with the creatives, the Magpies exceeded their goals by raising $2700 in 30 days. In addition to funding their production, they also found it to be a great tool for promoting the show. “We are obligated to give something in return to all of our donors. It’s a great way to rev up excitement,” he said.
Productions hoping to raise funds virally are not limited to Kickstarter.com. Anthony Francavilla and Eric Louie, lead producers of “When Last We Flew,“ met the RocketHub.com co-founders through a Columbia message board, and worked personally with them to create their fundraising page.
“The goal was to create a group of supporters for the show that would get to experience the piece from casting to final product and have a vested interest in the entire creative process,” Business Development Manager Caroline Hendrix said. Because of their close working relationship with the founders, the project was featured on the site’s blog, creating further excitement and exposure for the show.
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Click to learn more.
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