The 2005 San Francisco Fringe Festival and its publicist, Gary Carr of Rising Moon Marketing & Public Relations, are working to promote the Fringe as a whole to the largest possible audience of theatre-goers, critics and reviewers, Fringe fanatics, friends of performers, aficionados of the offbeat, etc.

In addition, the Fringe and publicist are providing materials that will assist individual performers/artists/producers in promoting their own shows.

In order to do the best job of promoting the Festival-as-a-Whole, we need to know as much as possible about the Sum-of-its-Parts. In other words, we need to get from you everything (photos, synopses, background info, previous reviews, etc.) that makes your show promotable.

The Fringe will provide you with templates for creating your own press releases in the official Fringe Festival format. There's strength in numbers and in consistency - if you choose to send releases about your own show, please use the format provided, so that we're all saying the same things about the Fringe Festival while you're talking about your show.

WHAT YOU GET FROM US

1. A Fringe Festival press release template
2. Sample releases
3. List of Bay Area Press contacts
As most press is now accepting on line submission of promotional materials
be sure when you email press releases that you ALWAYS put SF Fringe in the Subject line.

The above information will be posted on the Fringe Festival web site performer's services page

http://www.sffringe.org/fringe05/performer.html

Please be advised: reviewers themselves choose the shows they will review. If you send them intriguing information, your chances of being reviewed increase enormously. Do not call them. Do not contact them to ask if they received your release (they HATE THIS!!!) If they want to be contacted only by email, or only by fax, please respect this. Do not try to bribe or bully them in any way - not only is this not professional and counterproductive for you, but it reflects on the entire Fringe Festival.

WHAT WE WANT FROM YOU

Background info. If you haven't done so already go to the Performer's Services page
http://www.sffringe.org/fringe05/performer.html
and fill out and submit your Publicity Information Form. Be sure to give us a concise and intriguing description of your show, interesting information and quotes from previous reviews (if Available).
A note on intriguing information: If there is something promotable about you, please include it. Example: "I grew up in a local town (e.g., Benicia, Piedmont) or a specific neighborhood of SF." Your hometown/neighborhood papers might cover what you are doing. Or your show may be of particular interest to audiences that are, e.g., gay, Jewish, a particular ethnic group, lawyers, nurses, kids, older people, etc. (All of these groups have their own publications.) Or, your behind-the-scenes story is interesting (I am traveling with spouse and baby, I eat light bulbs for breakfast, my day job is CPA/lion tamer, etc.)

If a local reporter has been following your career (or is a fan of your author's/composer's/director's work), let us know and we will be sure to bring your involvement in the Fringe to his/her attention.

PHOTOS

Also get us a dynamite, awesome photo. This is the photo that will sell your show. Think about the photos you have seen printed and use that as an inspiration. A few other notes include using a black background, making sure the photo is in focus, not a head shot but something that will draw the viewer in. Make it professional. We are posting all photos on our Fringe Photo Gallery for the press to check out. Remember to include information about who is in the picture and the photographer's name.

Email photos as a jpeg attachment to
mail@sffringe.org
The attachment should be 5 x 7 inches and 300 dpi in jpeg format.

Thanks,

All of us at the Fringe