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by Barb Jungr
May 2001

Barb Jungr's performance background was the alternative cabaret circuit, and she has been at the cutting edge of European cabaret in Britain for the last decade. Perrier award winning as part of the duo 'Jungr and Parker' she performed internationally for 13 years, appearing regularly on television and radio. She created the sellout nationally touring show 'Girl Talk' and 'Hell Bent Heaven Bound' was a Perrier Pick of The Fringe and subsequently toured Canada. She currently created and hosts the successful Cafe Prague at Komedia in Brighton and her CD 'Chanson The Space In Between' was one of the Ten Best Jazz CD's of last year in The Sunday Times.

You've got a great show, and you want to bring it to the biggest performance bun fest in Britain, The Edinburgh Festival which takes place in Scotland every August, usually from around the 10th of the month to the end of the month although dates do vary a little each year.

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival runs alongside the Edinburgh International Festival, but operates quite separately from it in terms of performance spaces, bookings and advertising brochures.

The bible of the Fringe Festival is the Fringe Brochure, published annually some two and a half months before the Festival commences in which all Fringe venues and their programmes for the Festival are listed, as are entries for most of the acts appearing. These brochure entries are paid for in advance by acts, venues and producers and it is imperative to be in there if you plan to appear during the Festival. Get details from The Fringe Office - number on the contact page to come.

The Festival incorporates acts from all disciplines of the performing arts including drama, comedy, music, dance, puppetry, mime, circus, performance art, poetry, fine art and any and all combinations of these.

Venues range from school halls to full professional performance spaces, from within the centre to the outermost reaches of the city.

Shows may be self staged and financed to productions mounted by acclaimed London producers.

The big questions are - do you really need to go, how much will it cost, and how can your production be most efficiently mounted to achieve at least the minimum effect, if not the best possible outcome?

If you are going to stage an event on the Fringe you will need to start thinking about it some 8 months before August. Most venues programme in the early part of the year with the most prestigious Fringe venues holding out until the last minute before finalising their lists. If you want one of the top venues you may need to showcase your work for them in London in the early part of the year if you are not a well known company or act, or get a producer or manager on board to help you secure a slot. If you are approaching the smaller and less established venues you may be able to make contact and book your place early on. Early is good.

Do you really need to go?

This is an important question.
Funding an Edinburgh show may well leave you at a loss financially, so the costs must be carefully weighed against the prospective gains. Gains are that at Festival time there are agents, TV and radio producers, Arts Centre and other programmers, press contacts, overseas bookers and other performers there with whom you can network and you may make terrific contacts. Weighing against this is the possibility that you may make none of these connections and your funds might be better spent putting your show on elsewhere, or making a CD, video or demo of some kind. There are no guarantees that anything will happen, but it might.

How Much Will It Cost?

Costs will include the following: your entry into the Fringe Brochure, venue hire, accommodation costs, day to day expenses for your performers and stage managers, transport there and back, marketing (fliers, posters, artwork, distribution) and press representation. There's a basic budget at the end of this section to give an idea of what costs actually are at specific venues based on personal experience and on the budgets of regular Edinburgh Fringe Producers.

Here as a guide is a rough budget for a one person show being staged in Edinburgh 2001 at one of the smaller Pleasance venues. One budget for a three person show at a larger Pleasance venue was approximately £30,000 and for a dramatic production £70,000. Note that in the budget below there is no fee for the actual performer. Think that for a professional package you are looking at a budget of around £8000.

Of course it is possible do go "on a shoestring" and sometimes that can work, but some costs will be unavoidable and these figures are indicative of what money will be needed and where it should go. You can have a sellout show in Edinburgh and not only not make money but loose some. Be under no illusions about the financial side of the equation; you may be happy to work on a loss leader, but do not enter into a production if you cannot afford to loose money.

PROJECTED EXPENDITURE FOR ONE PERSON SHOW
Performer 1 x 0 per week = 0.00
General Manager flat fee = 1100.00
Technician = 390.00
Costumes/Set/Props = 100.00
Press Agent flat fee = 850.00
Press Expenses = 250.00
Photographs including photographer fee = 300.00
Print/Distribution/Advertising/Marketing = 2400.00
Accommodation for 1 person for 4 weeks = 800.00
Transportation = 75.00
Fringe participation = 390.00
Contingency 10% = 665.50
Venue hire/split 40% of box office = 2230.80

Totals:
£9551.30 with contingency
£8885.80 without contingency

ESTIMATED INCOME
Sponsorship to be sourced = 0.00
Ticket sales 60% of 55 capacity at £6.50 avg for 26 perfs = 5577.00
Venue - Pleasance Below

Total: £5577.00

Which Venue?

Beg borrow or steal the most recent Fringe brochure. Highlight every venue which is staging something like your show. Get the name of the artistic director of that venue and get your package to them. Approach the movers and shakers who regularly manage, produce and represent Edinburgh shows (some listed below). One of them may fall in love with your show and help you. Be fearless, but do not hassle.

A venue may want a rent for the run, they may expect you to pay that rent up front and may also want a share of your profits. Make sure you understand when and how you pay your bits and when and how you are paid after the events. Ask questions. How many seats, what ticket prices will be charged, what will you get for your rent - some venues will charge you for all sorts of things you may not expect - scenery storage, microphones, leads, someone to set up sound and lights, technicians. If you can find someone who was in that venue the year before ask them how they got on. Make a careful budget based on a variety of attendance figures and look on the bleak side.

Some rough venue rents for 2001 will give an idea of what you might need to pay:

Lowest is free - Starbucks on Princes St this year are looking for performance poetry/storytelling.
Q Bar on Leith St are looking for £15 per slot.
Spiegeltent don't charge at all - they only do co-productions.
Most venues charge from £100 to £1000 a week.
C venues can cost up to £1500 a week for an hour long slot.
Assembly, Pleasance and Gilded Balloon eclipse this - some costing close to £3000 a week.
Hill St can cost as much as £4500 for 12 days.
Get the most central and best venue you can.

Accommodation.

You may be in Edinburgh for three and a half weeks. Should you decide to stay with friends up there be aware that that is a long time to sleep on someone's floor.

Usually, companies hire flats for the number of people associated with and in their productions. Flats during the festival are let by a variety of establishments. And they are not cheap. You may well find yourself paying well over London prices for your accommodation.

Make sure your flat is in the right area. It is pointless having a wonderful flat way over the other side of the city from your venue.

Has it got all the things you will need? Washing machine? How is the electricity arranged? Is there a phone? If there is how will you be charged for it's use? Is bedding provided? Towels?

You will be asked to make deposits and may have to pay your rent beforehand. Do not pay all your money up front unless it is unavoidable. If you get there and your flat is a ghastly pile, you have bargaining power if you have not handed all your readies over to the agency in advance.

Numbers of some reputable agents can be obtained from the Fringe Office. Flats can be booked right up till the last minute, but it is always best not to leave it until then if possible.

Press Officers.

Ask around.
Who did well for acts or shows like yours in the past. Approach the relevant companies and find out whether they plan to work at the upcoming Festival. What are their rates? What might you get for your money?

Remember, it is in a company's interests to take people on, however, no press agent worth their salt will make guarantees of what they can get for you. They can only do their best. They can construct and send out releases, they can phone and meet journalists and TV and radio producers, but they cannot make any of these people write about you or hire you for their shows.

Good press officers are worth their weight in gold. Bad ones simply cost you money and cause you pain. You cannot tell one from another.
Its chemistry, timing, and most of all luck. And none of those carry a money back voucher.

Marketing.

There is nothing more important in the package of your goodies (aside from the show) than marketing. Using your money and sense wisely here can reap huge rewards.

You will need excellent visual images. The festival is awash with posters and leaflets of every size, colour and type. You want yours to stand out. So does everyone else. Make sure you have good images, whether photographic or artworked, well in advance of the Brochure deadline should you need them for advertising in the Fringe brochure.

If you can afford it it may well be money well spent to advertise in the Fringe brochure itself. This is in addition to your entry. Your entry is in itself a minefield. Your fifty word copy must represent your show or act and be enticing in whatever way that works for you, if you have some good quotes you may want to include them - watch your word count dwindle.
Look at old entries. See which ones make you think "oh yes I'll book for that" and see if you can use that approach in your own entry.
Make sure your name or company name is the one alphabetically listed so audiences can find you easily.

Fliers and posters are worthwhile if you can afford to produce them. Artwork and printing is a sizeable expense. Fliers will need to be disttributed by a company who will do that for you, in addition you will want to carry them yourself to hand out and leave whenever possible. They should have all the relevant information on them, times, prices, venue address and contact numbers.

It may seem expedient to skimp on things like marketing and press.
This is a mistake.
Professional press and marketing people who regularly attend the festival have amassed a raft of useful contacts and know the scene, they can help make your show, without them it is possible to do well but you will have to do alot of legwork yourself and that is hard if your attention is to be fully employed where it should be, on your performances.

It is likely you will work almost every night, 21 night runs are not unusual. The temptation is to think you can run around during the day doing your marketing and handing out your fliers. The reality is that this is hard work and takes a toll. If you cannot afford the press and marketing people it may well be worth enlisting a reliable friend who can manage the show and fulfil these needs on some sort of profit share.

Venues will often provide press and marketing help, but they will be offering that service to every show they mount, and if they co-produce shows inevitably they will focus attention on their own works.
But be certain, you will need help and the more the better. You will be up against other shows who have professional teams and sometimes massive budgets, and although as artists we all believe "talent will out", lets be realistic, talent is out alot quicker if rafts of people are behind it. Be as prepared as you can be.

USEFUL INFORMATION

Fringe office number (opens shortly after the launch of the Fringe Programme in early June.): 0131 226 5257

Edfringe - the website for Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Edinburgh International Festival - official site

www.festivalcast.net/ - broadcasts live and recorded events from the Fringe when it is running.

Festival in The Scotsman Online: offers news, information, listings, previews/ reviews and interviews on the Festival

http://if.comeddies.com/ - The official if.comeddies website

Producers who regularly attend the festival and stage shows there -
Martin Sutherland, Richard Jordan (new writing),
Fat Bloke (Andrew Collier and Piers Torday - character comedy and stand up only),
David Babani (cabaret and event based),
Guy Masterson (one person shows),
Julius Green (Green and Lenagan).
Chrysalis, Avalon, and Off the Kerb focus on comedy.