Introducing Our New Director of Development!

In 2009, fundraising became a focus for the Vancouver Fringe. As you already know, 100% of the regular ticket price of a Fringe show goes directly to the artist, which means the organizing body of the Festival relies on application fees, memberships, and government grants.

Gareth Duncan at the 2009 Fringe Bar. Photo by Brice Ferre.

With the BC government’s announcement to cut funding to the arts, we know we have to spotlight on year round fundraising. That’s why we’re welcoming Gareth Duncan, our 2009 Fundraising Coordinator, back to the Fringe as our new Director of Development!

Gareth began a lot of great projects in 2009, including implementing the revamped Sweet on the Fringe campaign and successfully raising “$5,000 (and then some) in 5 Days” through a post Festival email campaign!

With Gareth on board year round, we hope to develop stability for the Fringe, decrease our reliance on the government for funding, and build new opportunities for artist development.

Gareth is currently at the Festival Au Desert near Timbuktu in Africa. Although it’s a far cry from his Dead Head days (let’s be honest, he still is one, and has gone to three concerts this past year) he keeps us posted about his trip via his blog.

You can expect to hear from him about upcoming fundraising plans for the Fringe soon after he returns.

Blogging About Her Win

Cara Yeats performing her 2009 Fringe show, Some Reckless Abandon. Photo by Dan Fairchild.

Cara Yeates, the winner of the Fringe’s 2009 Joanna Maratta Award, has begun a blog about her year long mentorship with long time Fringe favourite, TJ Dawe. Named for the Fringe Festival’s founder, the Joanna Maratta Award is meant to honour the founding spirit of the Festival. Cara was chosen for the award because of her consistent artistic development as a writer and actor over the past several years, particularly her depth as an actor in Leah Bailey’s Some Reckless Abandon. Her strong potential as a community leader and her willingness to collaborate with others made her the ideal candidate for this award, which is intended to encourage artistic growth and community leadership in Vancouver.

Be sure the check out Cara’s blog regularly for updates on her progress. So far, it’s been decided that TJ will be directing Cara in Brendan McLeod’s first play, a one-woman show with the working title, The Lives of Children. The show will be workshopped at the Cultch at the end of February.

Helping the Arts, One Computer at a Time

Mac Station, the power behind the Fringe’s Box Office, celebrated its sweet 16th birthday this past year and the company has grown wise in its years. They are a great supporter of the arts in BC, and not just the Fringe! In addition to us, Mac Station supports Arts Umbrella, DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Out On Screen, and the Whistler Film Festival among others (not to mention that TJ Dawe is learning how to make podcasts thanks to the seminars they sometimes offer).

Part of Mac Station’s desire to support the arts comes from being associated with Apple. Apple has a history of being the computer creative people use, due in part to their early desktop publishing program, PageMaker, and their infamous Super Bowl commercial, 1984 (view it here!).

The other reason behind Mac Station’s arts supporting ventures comes from the acknowledgment that the arts are under funded. “With a background in event management, I have always empathized with organizers who need to set up their pre- and post-production offices and facilitate their day to day logistics. This is traditionally a huge expense,” David Malboeuf, Mac Station’s General Manager says. With Mac Station’s line of used and traded in computers, they’re able to help out groups such as ourselves work more efficiently!

Fringe Flashback

Fringe Volunteers!

This was not a show. These are Fringe Festival volunteers!

We’re not sure what year this photo was taken. But everything points to the early ’90s. Check out the guy wearing the Batman shirt. That movie came out in 1989. And this is certainly Heritage Hall, which suggests that this photo was taken back in our Mount Pleasant days (prior to 1995).

Over the years our volunteer base has grown from a small group of 25 to about 450 during the 2009 Fringe. We certainly would not be able to put on a festival without their help. So thank you to all of you who’ve volunteered for the Fringe over the years!

Stay posted on more volunteer opportunities here and through the newsletters.

Are you in this photo? Tell us about it! Or tag yourself in it on our Facebook Fan page!

Larisa Fayad Memorial Award

On September 16, 2007, Larisa Fayad a well known lighting designer and technician who had previously worked for the Fringe, passed away in a plane crash in Thailand.

Now a new lighting design award has been created in her memory through the Vancouver International Dance Festival. The Larisa Fayad Memorial Award is a biennial award that will be presented to a student pursuing lighting design or to an emerging lighting designer.

Applications for the award are being accepted until January 31 and the recipient of the award will be announced during the Vancouver International Dance Festival’s 10th Anniversary Gala on March 11.

For more information on applying for the Larisa Fayad Memorial Award, download the application here.

Want a Giant Fringe Poster?

Do you want one?

Last August, you may have noticed some bus stop posters promoting the Vancouver International Fringe Festival. They featured our cartoon mascot, Jimmy, in his little pedal plane against a hot pink background.

Now that the Festival is over and we had our large posters returned to us, we realized that we have more than we need. So if you’re a huge Fringe fan and want to commemorate your fandom in your living room, basement, or garage, then  contact us and we’ll put one aside for you!

Fringe Poster Update: We are overwhelmed at how many of you want a giant poster! We feel so warm and fuzzy inside! Sadly, we’ve had more requests for posters than posters themselves, so we’ve come up with a little contest…

But before I tell you the details of that, to answer some of your questions:

Yes, the posters are free, but now you have to jump through our contest hoop.

No, we cannot mail them to you unless you’re able to make a donation to cover the cost of shipping.

If you’re chosen to win a poster, you must arrange to pick it up from our office of Granville Island (Mon-Fri 9-5ish).

Ok, now for the contest details:  Please tell us in 25 words or less, why you want a giant 2009 Fringe Festival poster. We will chose our favourites at our next staff meeting (Tuesday, January 19) and you will be notified by Wednesday the 20th. All entries must be received by 10:00 am (PST) on Tuesday, January 19) to be eligible. We may use your quote on our Facebook page, Twitter feed, or newsletter (if you prefer that we do not use it, please us know). Please email us your entry!

Thanks! And we look forward to reading your entries!

Photo of poster and poster design by Jena Powell of Hatch Creative Group. Illustration of Jimmy by Zuzia Gandy.

Who’s in the 2010 Vancouver Fringe?

This past Saturday, December 5, the Fringe’s mainstage lottery was held at the Carousel Theatre. For those of you who don’t know, our mainstage shows are chosen by a draw! The lottery! Donors, volunteers, artists, staff, and fans of the Fringe came together to see who would be in the 2010 Fringe!

One of many 20 second dance parties. Photo by Dale North.

After some prerequisite mingling, and with beverages in hand (from our lovely sponsors St. Ambroise and/or Wild Horse Canyon), we handed out the bingo (or Fringe-o) cards and David Jordan, the Fringe’s Executive Director, got things started. After explaining our bizarro version of bingo that included 20 second dance parties and eating gummie worms, we got down to business.

Board members Susan Ogul-Propas and Lonnie Propas drawing lottery balls. Photo by Dale North.

We split 45 mainstage spots evenly among three categories (provincial, national, and international). The international category had three spots reserved for the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals lottery winners, leaving 12 spots to be drawn. Each application corresponded to a numbered ping pong ball, placed by category into one of three crazy hats. The fuzzy purple and white hat held international balls, the yellow and black hat held the national balls, and the big black hat held the provincial balls. Then the draw began!

Meanwhile, our Communications Coordinator, Debby Reis (that’s me!), was tweeting the results as they were drawn, with help from her lovely assistant Sandra Perry. There were loads of shenanigans interrupting the draw such as the aforementioned 20 second dance parties, but there were also random prizes given away from Theatre Conspiracy, the Cultch, Touchstone Theatre, Pacific Cinematique, Cocoa Camino, and of course, Fringe t-shirts and vouchers.

Frances Kitson jumped up when she won!

There was extra jubilation in the crowd when Frances Kitson (seen here jumping up as she won) and Melissa Haller of Connecting Flights Theatre won spots in the lottery. We also got immediate response to our Twitter feed when we tweeted that Liz Wilton had made it in. Liz was following “at home with risotto and champagne” and was “ecstatic” when we announced her name!

All in all, the night was a blast! To see the full list of lottery winners, check out our website. If you’re an artist hoping to be part of the 2010 Fringe, there’s still an opportunity to participate by producing a BYOV show. You can find a BYOV application and all the details here.

The Fringe is Hiring!

Our Festival Manager, Isabella Kessel, is having a baby! And that means that we’re looking for a interim Festival Manager to cover her maternity leave.

The deadline for applications is December 11, so have a look at the posting, and if you think you’ve got the stuff, send us your cover letter and resume to administration@vancouverfringe.com!

Countess de la Fringe

For all the props we give to the artists and creative people who contribute to the Fringe, we wouldn’t be able to put on a great Festival without the help of our Finance Manager, Kathy Costello. Kathy keeps track of all our money issues–budgeting and making sure that artists get paid just being a few.

But that’s not to say that Kathy isn’t the creative type. She made a collage of Fringe tickets that adorns our office wall, and she’s often on our “Quotes of the Week” list. In fact, she’s still trying to get us to change her official title to “Countess de la Fringe!”

For fun, Kathy started Geocaching last year. In that brief time, she’s found 337 treasures and hidden four, including one on Granville Island.

Kathy with the infamous Lovin' Lamb and its receipt. Photo by Gareth Duncan.

On top of her Fringe responsibilities, Kathy handles the accounting for two law firms–very serious places compared to the Fringe. “I keep a list of ‘things I don’t do at my other job,’” Kathy says. Her list includes “not having to reimburse for the purchase of a ‘Lovin’ Lamb,’ [the prize for the Nasty Award] or not hearing radio calls [like] ‘if anyone sees the guy wearing the helmet and jockstrap could you send him back to his venue.’” You can tell she loves it and we love having her aboard!

FYI Granville Island Visitors:

If you’re coming down to Granville Island between now and January 29, you may notice that there’s extra construction going on outside of the Net Loft. That’s because they’re constructing an Island Plaza on the east side of Net Loft. They’re remove a curb, add additional bike parking, add a cross walk between the Net Loft and the Public Market, and make the Net Loft more accessible and visible.

In the meantime, the construction will cause some traffic congestion, so please schedule yourself some extra time, and be conscious of pedestrians near the Public Market and the Net Loft.

The Queens was part of the Fringe in 1992.

Fringe Flashback: The Queens

Directed by Katrina Dunn
Photo by Deborah Dunn
Actor: Dianne Brown

Written by Quebecois playwright, Normand Chaurette, The Queens is the story of six royal women vying for power in London in 1483. The Queens was also one of Ruby Slippers‘ early productions and it was featured at the Vancouver Fringe Festival in 1992.

This past July, at our 25th Anniversary Party, Diane Brown shared a story about one night at the Fringe when there were some technical difficulties with lighting.

“There we were, a group of actors dressed up like various old Victorian Queens, exposed in the harsh house lights pushing around the humongous plaster walls of the set, trying to make it look ghostly and magical and easy….! We did the show in house lights, and got a standing ovation. For effort. And we loved it.”

Happy Holidays from the Fringe!

There are lots of holidays this month: Hanukkah, Eid al-Adha, Yule, Kwanzaa, Christmas, New Year’s, and of course, Festivus. Whatever you celebrate, we here at the Fringe want to wish you a fabulous holiday season!

Fringe Lottery Time!!

Every Fringe Festival that belongs to the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) reserves a select number of show spots for the winners of the CAFF lottery. These lottery winners apply to CAFF and choose five Fringes that they want to tour to. This year’s CAFF lottery winners that are coming to the Vancouver Fringe are Daniel Nimmo, David Gaines, and Button Eye Productions (the creators of Die Roten Punkte)! You can catch their shows at the Vancouver Fringe in 2010! Congrats to these winners!

If you’d like your production to be included in the lottery for the Vancouver Fringe, we’ll be accepting applications till November 27 (for the mainstage category).

We encourage Bingo outfits.

The draw will be conducted on Saturday, December 5 at the Carousel Theatre and everyone’s invited! We’ll be playing bingo with the lottery results and dancing to DJ Lizard of Oz till late into the night! It starts at 8:00pm and it’s free! So come on out and see who’ll be performing at the 2010 Fringe!

Bring Your Own Venues are chosen on a first-come, first-served basis and that application will go online on our site on December 9!

$5,000 in 5 Days?? You Did It!!!

You folks are so Fringin’ awesome! We destroyed last year’s total and reached our goal!

It was a crazy week around here, but thanks to you, we raised $5,383!!

Cara Yeats accepting the 2009 Joanna Maratta Award. Photo by Brice Ferre.

We owe it to you for making this our best email campaign yet!! You’ve helped support our foundational and legacy work, such as the Joanna Maratta Award!

Thanks to you new donors, we’re off to a fantastic second quarter century!!

From the artists and all of us here at the Fringe: thank you, thank you, thank you!

P.S. Don’t worry if you didn’t get a chance to give–we’ll still gladly accept all new donations!

Industry Images’ Hot Ticket Program

As the Fringe Festival’s print sponsor, as well as the print sponsor for other arts organizations such as the Calgary Underground Film Festival, the Fernie Mountain Film Festival, and the Saskatoon Reggae Festival, it’s no surprise that Industry Images supports the arts.

In addition to printing pre-addressed grey square postcards so people could easily send their thoughts on the arts funding cuts to Gordon Campbell, Industry Images has recently announced The Hot Ticket campaign in support of local non-profit arts groups.

The back of the Industry Images Hot Tickets will look like this.

Until June 1, 2010 or until 50,000 free tickets are printed, any non-profit arts organization that produces at least three shows a year can take advantage of Industry Images’ free ticket printing!

So if you’re looking for tickets and you think your organization fits the criteria, download this info sheet and application and email Kate Wilkins at Industry Images today!

A Long Overdue Welcome

Back in July, we here at the Fringe had to scramble to find a new Artist Services Coordinator after Andrea Fraser-Winsby was offered a position working in TV. The Artist Services Coordinator is responsible for arranging billets for artists during the Fringe, addressing concerns, ensuring artist get paid from their shows, and pretty much anything that pertains to making sure the artists are kept happy.

Michelle loves our beer sponsor.

When Michelle Leclair turned up to fill the position, she was a godsend! Despite describing herself as being “an overall pain in the ass,” with a history of working in film, Michelle has just the right combination of organizational wizardry and artist wrangling capabilities to fill the role of Artist Coordinator at the Fringe.

Extended Runs=More Fringe!

Lavignia and Louis Riel are back to back at the Firehall.

If you missed The Seven Lives of Louis Riel or Lavignia: A Modern Fairy Tale of Gigantic Proportions at the Festival back in September, here’s your chance to catch them again!

Lavignia stars Tara Travis, who the Winnipeg Sun says “keeps audiences of all sizes hooked along the way with her charmingly sheepish demeanor, exaggerated physical antics, eccentric puppet friends and unexpected guest stars.”

And the Winnipeg Free Press called Seven Lives: “Irreverent? You bet. But tempered with a massive dose of salty humour, Gladstone’s play is, ultimately, a tribute. And a terrifically funny one at that.”

Open now and running until November 14 at the Firehall Arts Centre.

Fringe Flashback

The Hope Slide was at the Vancouver Fringe in 2004.

The Hope Slide

The Hope Slide was at the Fringe in 2004 and was about Irene, who is inspired by the Doukhobor protests, which included naked marches and bombing government buildings in BC in the 1960s.

The Hope Slide stared Terri-Lyn Storey, who played 10 characters. In 2008, Terri-Lyn’s Following Foster won second place in the “Five Minutes to Change Your World” documentary-making contest.