2016-Artist-Handbook.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2016 SYDNEY FRINGE FESTIVAL ARTIST HANDBOOK ARTIST HANDBOOK CONTENTS Registration ............................................ 3 Venues ............................................... 5 Artist Opportunities .......................................6 Ticketing .............................................. 11 Budgeting..............................................13 Marketing and Publicity.....................................17 The Business Side of Things..................................24 2 1. REGISTRATION KEY DATES us know about it in this Step. Registrations open: 1st March YOU’RE THEN BLOCKED FROM GOING ANY FURTHER. At this point in time, you Registrations close: 31st March pay your participation fee and once we have Branding strips available from Fringe received it, we will start working hard to website: 31st May find the right venue for your event. You will Sydney Fringe Festival: 1 – 30th September be contacted during March or April by our Artist Liaison to discuss your event. Festival Awards Night: Friday 30th September STEP 5: Sessions Once you have a venue you will be able to REGISTRATION PROCESS proceed to Step 5. You will have discussed your contract and fees with your venue and The Sydney Fringe is an open access event. can now enter in the Session (dates and The process to register and communicate times) that you have agreed on. If your event with the festival and the venues happens is ticketed, this is also the place where you mostly in a custom built online environment set the ticket categories and prices. designed specifically by the Sydney Fringe for our artists. We did this to make things as STEP 6: Approval automated and easy as possible for you. In Step 6 you will be able to sign off on our You will need to consider your answers event. carefully as the information will be used to populate your event page when the site FRINGE EVENT REGISTRATION SITE goes live to our ticket buying audience. (FERS) We won’t delve into too much detail here, as The Sydney Fringe is an open access event. you will be prompted online, but once you The process to register and communicate have created an account through our online with the festival and the venues happens registration portal, the main steps are: mostly in a custom built online The Fringe Event Registration Site (FERS) is STEP 1: Presenter Information our online portal for entering all your event You provide your name and contact details details. STEP 2: Production Company To register your event: Enter the name of your Production Company 1. Head to sydneyfringe.com (It may be the same 2. Click the Register Now Button name as your Presenter!) 3. Create a username and password STEP 3: Event You provide us with all of your event details STEP 4: Venue Essentials This is where you provide us with all the relevant information so that we can match you to a venue. The Sydney Fringe plays an active role ensuring that works are matched to the right venue. If you already have a venue in mind, there is an opportunity to let ARTIST HANDBOOK 3 EVENT CATEGORIES When you register your event you’ll need to What does my fee get me? select from two categories: • An event listing/tile in the Sydney Performing Arts Fringe printed guide (30,000 distributed throughout metropolitan Genres under this category are: Sydney) Comedy • A unique show page with ticket Music buying click-through on Fringe Theatre Website sydneyfringe.com Musical Theatre and Cabaret • Ticketing and box office management provided by the Sydney Fringe Dance • Possible listing opportunities in Poetry, Literature and Spoken Word designated magazine special editions Physical Theatre and Circus and wraparounds where possible Kids Fringe • Access to discounted advertising through Fringe Sponsors where Visual Art possible This category includes all visual art and • Free access to all Artist Masterclasses design including photography, sculpture, installation and film, solo and group • The potential to be highlighted in exhibition. Fringe features and advertising, in media partner publications and Please ensure that you select your genre online, where possible category carefully as this will inform where your event is categorized and presented in the Festival Guide and on our program online Please note: Artists are responsible for all of the presentation and production costs relating to their events PARTICIPATION FEES Your event is not official until payment is Our 2016 fees are: received. SESSION 0-3 SESSIONS 4+ SESSIONS PERFORMANCE 180 280 VISUAL ARTS 80 Participation Fees are GST Inclusive 4 2. VENUES OUR UNIQUE VENUE MATCHING PROCESS While we’re an open access Festival, we take on the role of matching artists to their venue. This ensures that artists find the right space for their event and have a greater chance of covering all their costs. Our team uses their knowledge of the industry to work with producers and to find the right space. This process has also proven very successful with interstate and international artists who aren’t familiar with the Sydney scene. As part of your online registration you will need to document all of your venue requirements. The Sydney Fringe will use this information to match you to an appropriate venue. Our Artist Liaison will also contact each producer individually to discuss his or her venue needs. You may already have a venue in mind for your event or already be in converstion with a venue. If that’s the case you’ll have the opportunity to let us know during the registration process. EMERGING ARTIST HUB As part of our commitment to supporting first-time artists and producers, the Sydney Fringe will operate an Emerging Artist Hub to provide a safe home for new producers to bring their work to life in a supported environment. The Hub will also provide an opportunity for audiences seeking emerging experimental work to find it in one home. You can nominate for your show to be considered for the Emerging Artist Hub during the registration process in ‘Step 4: Venue Essentials’. ARTIST HANDBOOK 5 3. ARTIST OPPORTUNITIES We’re interested in the long-term Artist who attended the masterclasses sustainability of the Independent arts and in 2015 found them to be invaluable and are committed to supporting artists in as offered very positive feedback about how many ways as we can. the workshops directed benefited their event’s bottom line. We highly recommend you make time to attend these sessions. PRODUCER MASTERCLASSES AND NETWORKING NIGHTS And why stop there? We’re hosting all masterclasses in one easy to get to location. An 8-part Masterclass series is designed Each masterclass will be followed by the to provide detailed hands-on advice to opportunity to network with other artists guide you through producing your event. over a drink from the bar, and then enjoy We will provide you with additional printed some free live entertainment from 8pm. resources, worked examples, and an opportunity to ask questions and hear from guest industry experts. The masterclasses align with key festival dates to provide the support you need as you work toward target deadlines. WORKSHOP 1: Budgeting Essentials Notes When: 9th May 2016 Where: Old 505 Theatre, 5 Eliza Street Newtown Free to Fringe Artists Successfully managing a budget is essential to producing arts events. This workshop will guide you line-by-line through your budget, give you tips for reducing your costs and optimising your revenues, and leave you feeling confident about the financial control of your project. Key ideas covered: • How to accurately estimate ticket revenue • Strategies for reducing expenses • What is a budget contingency? • How to budget for performer fees and profit share • What are my tax and legal obligations? • What records should I keep? • How should I budget for sponsorship and philanthropy? 6 WORKSHOP 2: Funding Strategies Notes Corporate Sponsorship, Crowd-funding, Grants and Philanthropy When: 23rd May 2016 Where: Old 505 Theatre, 5 Eliza Street Newtown Free to Fringe Artists This workshop will assist you to create a funding strategy by taking an in-depth industry look at your funding options. You will be armed with practical ‘how-to’ advice and printed resources. Key Ideas covered: • How to create a funding strategy • How to approach potential philanthropists • Should I bother with government grants and if so, which ones? • How to make my grant applications more competitive • How to confidently approach corporate sponsors • How to create a successful crowd-funding campaign Industry Guests: Local, State or Federal Grants Expert WORKSHOP 3: Marketing Intensive All three Marketing Workshops (Marketing, When: 6th June 2016 Publicity and Social Where: Old 505 Theatre, 5 Eliza Street Newtown Media are designed Free to Fringe Artists to fall by end of June and July so that artists The first of three workshops dedicated to marketing, this have 2 months (Jul and workshop will equip you with Marketing essentials and focus Aug) to implement on creating a marketing campaign and creating strong marketing campaigns marketing collateral. consistent with the Key Ideas covered: producing cycle • Identifying your target audience • How to share the load – your marketing partners • What are the secrets to great marketing images/ photographs • Should I pay for advertising? • Promotional strategies Industry Guests: Local, State or Federal Grants Expert ARTIST HANDBOOK 7 WORKSHOP 4: Publicity Intensive (including Outside-the- Box publicity strategies) When: 20th June 2016 Where: Old 505 Theatre, 5 Eliza Street Newtown Free to Fringe Artists