Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
If you are new to the Fringe, or even if you are not, choosing a venue can be a daunting process. Here we set about answering some of the questions you might want to ask or which you SHOULD ask your potential venue. If there are any other questions you would like to see answered here, send us feedback.
Questions
- What should I look for in selecting a venue?
- Why the Underbelly?
- What do we get if we come to the Underbelly?
- What is the difference between your various spaces?
- What slots do you offer?
- How much do you cost?
- What is included and what costs extra?
- What else is in the contract?
- OK, that sounds great, how do I apply?
- What is the deadline?
- Where can I get help?
- I don't have a technician - where can I find someone?
- I have a show/venue - how do I get people to buy tickets?
- Where should I stay during the Festival?
- Will I make money?
- Should I have insurance?
- What other permissions or rights do I need for my production?
Selecting a venue can be a difficult process for any company. In making a decision there will be a number of factors. Price is obviously a major factor for most companies, but there are other factors too that you may want to consider to make your Fringe experience as enjoyable as possible:
(1) Track record - you are investing a great deal of money in your venue. Ensure it has a good track record for productions like yours. Preferably choose a venue that you have visited before so that you know exactly what you are getting. Don't rely soley on the venue's own marketing blurb - try to get an idea from press reports etc - that is why we link you to press features on the Smirnoff Underbelly.
(2) Atmosphere - you are going to spend a great deal of time in your venue. Why not make it somewhere you enjoy spending time, even when you are not performing. If you get discounts at the bar or other shows in the venue, then even better!
(3) Location - can never be under-estimated. Picking that venue that miles from the city centre because it is dead-cheap seems like a good idea initially. It's never worth it. Even if you save money in the long-run, it is demoralising to be performing to 5 people!
We are one of the leading venues on the Fringe with a proven track record of programming high quality and diverse shows. In 2007, we were the most highly awarded venue at the Fringe. Our central locations make us one of the most accessible venues on the Fringe with high audience figures and strong press attendance. The atmosphere in the venues is unrivalled. Smirnoff Underbelly's four floors of theatres and bars offer a hedonistic heaven at the centre of the Festival. Smirnoff Baby Belly is a relaxing and atmospheric experience deep in the caves under Edinburgh. And our E4 UdderBELLY, Cow Barn and Pasture in Bristo Square have become a new Fringe hub.
Often described as off the wall and quirky we are the refreshing alternative to the more conventional venues. We take risks in programming and support new work and emerging talent. What you will get is a professionally run venue with truly unique performance spaces. What you’ll enjoy is the thriving atmosphere of the Underbelly community. Our bars are the most talked about on the Fringe. As a member of Underbelly you’ll get discounts and be able to call it home.
That will make everyone jealous... we promise.
See the performing at Underbelly for more information on what exactly we offer and what we expect from you.
After opening the Baby Belly in 2005, we added the new Cow Barn (Reid Hall) and UdderBELLY in 2006, a 320-seat purpose-built structure in Bristo Square, taking our total number of spaces up to 12, ranging in size from 50 to 320 seats.
Most of these spaces are not the standard black boxes you see in many other venues. The spaces have their own character and atmosphere which can enhance some productions, indeed not only has the venue been mentioned as a contributing factor in many reviews, but we have even had companies develop productions specially for the Underbelly's vaulted spaces.
Some of the spaces are more suited to comedy, especially the Belly Laugh. The Belly Dancer is just off from the main Belly Bar and is particularly suited to comedy, bands and/or DJs and has a bar inside the space.
See our performance spaces page for a side-by-side comparison and details such as stage size, number of seats, layout etc or go to our photo gallery to see pictures of the various spaces.
We are open from about 10.30am to 4am, although most shows will have start times from about 11.30am to 1am. The slot lengths are not fixed but depend on how long you want. We only schedule our programme when we close the applications. After you have submitted your application, we will discuss with you what time of day and how long your slot should be. Slot lengths include your get-in and get-out time and you must always factor this into your application. Some companies try to skimp on get-in/get-out time to reduce their costs and end up over-running. We have to be quite harsh on companies that over-run as it is not fair on the companies coming on afterwards.
Our rental fee is based on a box office split with guarantee. The split tends to be 60/40 in your favour. The guarantee is paid in three instalments before the Festival begins. Our starting point for calculating the guarantee is to take our 40% split of what your gross ticket sales would be if you sold 40% of your tickets every night (at your average ticket price), though this may be different depending on the time of day and length of your slot.
We therefore first discuss with you the length of your run and ticket prices and from that work out your estimated gross. From this we calculate your guarantee. The total rental fee at the end will be the higher of (i) the guarantee; or (ii) 40% of your actual gross box office sales. As an example, if your guarantee is £2000 and 40% of your actual gross box office sales comes to £2100, then we will keep £100 on top of the £2000 guarantee we already have and return the rest of the net box office receipts to you. If 40% comes to less than your guarantee we take nothing from your box office.
In addition to this we also charge a publicity fee of £500. This covers the cost of entry into our joint brochure with the Gilded Balloon and all related distribution in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Unfortunately, we are forced to charge you VAT on our rental fee and publicity charge and pass on the VAT to Mr Brown's coffers.
The rental fee described above includes the venue rental, the standard lighting and sound equipment (CD player), standard technical support, marketing support and box office sales of your tickets (including advance credit card sales on our website and by telephone). We charge extra for special lighting/sound equipment which can be hired through the lighting/sound company we use. We also charge if you need technical operators, ushers or other dedicated staff. We charge for sundries supplied by us and photocopying on the venue copier. Finally we charge for any breakages and lost equipment in your space. Full details will be set out in your contract.
Go to our performing at Underbelly page for more details on our fees, what we will commit to provide and what you must commit to provide, including, most importantly, a great show!
First of all we would like you to choose your show, work out how long it is going to be and how much get-in and get-out time you will need. This will probably depend on how much setting you think you will use. Most fringe shows use a minimum of setting and rely on easily moveable props.
It is also worth checking that the rights are available for the show you are choosing. Check with the rights holder that you can licence the play and how much it will cost. The cost will probably depend on the number of performances you are doing and the number of seats in the venue. The average fringe audience is about 35 (ignore the urban myth that it is in fact 8) so there is no point paying more in rights and rent for the biggest venue unless you are sure your show will be a hit amongst the 1500 other shows competing with you.
You should also cost out your production to work out how many weeks you can afford to do. Include not just the production costs but also your living costs: rent and eating out during the Festival costs a fortune and rapidly eats up even the largest budgets.
Once you know what you want to do and that you are going to be able to afford to do it, then fill in our online application form. You may want to print it out first and ensure that you can complete it as fully as possible before starting to complete the online form. Do not worry if you do not know the answer to every question. We like to get as much information as possible about productions as early as possible as it helps us plan the venue's requirements. However, your application will not be prejudiced simply because you do not yet know what special lighting you will require.
The deadline for applications is 31 March 2008. After that we will try and allocate shows to all our slots. Sometimes we have odd spare slots or a company pulls out and we may consider late applications for these slots. However, nothing is guaranteed and most of the prime time slots will already be occupied.
We are always willing to help the companies coming to the Underbelly and the venue staff have had years of experience bringing shows to the Fringe before setting up the venue. The three founders of the venue have all previously been producers for Double Edge Drama which has brought around 60 productions to the Fringe in the 17 years it has been in existence, so there is not much we haven't seen or done before. We have also helped over 600 productions pass through Underbelly in the last 7 years.
The Fringe Office staff are also very helpful. You can register with the Fringe Office to get regular bulletins and advice sheets. Once you know you will be coming, you should pay your production fee to the Fringe Office. Even though they are dealing with about 2,000 shows, they are all enthusiasts and will be more than willing to answer your questions or give you advice.
Finally, as a last resort, you can try the chat forums on www.edfringe.com
The Fringe Office website has a bulletin board for performers that you can use to seek help. There are often some technicians seeking jobs or you can place a 'wanted' message. Some may want paying but there are usually plenty of people who are willing to help in exchange for a bed in your company flat.
We can provide you with a lighting/sound operator during your show at extra cost. If you want this service, please let us know as soon as possible and we can discuss your requirements.
One answer - hard work. Even the best shows which sell themselves require a great deal of hard graft to ensure that the 500,000 people who visit the Fringe know how good they are. Before the Fringe starts prepare a good press release and if possible get some interesting photos done. These should very rarely be more than 1 page of A4 and never more than 2 pages and must be in a PDF format to ensure that the reader sees it the way you intended (if you cannot create PDFs on your computer, use Adobe's free conversion service at createpdf.adobe.com). Look at the photos for each show in 2007 and work out what sort of photo will attract interest. Then send them to all the press that cover the Festival and to us so that we can put them on our website. See our publicity guidelines.
During the Festival you need to be shameless publicists. Simply walking around town or the Fringe press events in costume will just not cut it. Hand out fliers, as many as you can, but where possible engage people in conversation. Try and come up with a newsworthy angle. A good review can do fantastic things for a show but remember, with a review, you are subject slightly to pot luck as to whether the reviewer liked your show, even if you think it is the best thing since sliced bread. A feature or news item (a) usually gets more prominence in the paper and (b) will probably only say good things about you. Many companies pin all their hopes on a review only to be disappointed when it takes a week to come out and even more disappointed when it then gives them a neutral 3 stars.
Our dedicated marketing staff will try to get as much publicity for the shows in our venue as we can, but obviously we cannot promise coverage for all 140 shows. In the past we have been able to arrange interviews in the newspapers with performers and showcase slots in the Fringe press events. The papers are always looking for material, so any good gossip or (genuinely) funny stories have a good chance of getting a mention. See our publicity page for more information and tips.
There are a number of flat-letting companies which specialise in letting flats to performers, eg Factotum and Festival Flats. This can often be the most cost-effective way of finding accommodation even if the prices look horrendous. You can obviously save money by cramming 10 people into a 6 bed flat. The University also lets out student accommodation. You can also look on the Fringe Office bulletin boards which often have accommodation available. If you are loaded you could always book a suite at The Caledonian Hotel, but you probably need to book about 2 years in advance. There are lots of good B&Bs, but even they can be very expensive for anything more than a long weekend.
For the majority of shows, almost certainly not. The people who make money are popular comedians with very low overheads other than accommodation and agents and even then many of them find that the publicity and PR costs outweigh the ticket sales. Most shows, even well-reviewed ones do not make enough money to cover all their costs.
The average attendance in Fringe shows is about 50 (about 1.71 million tickets sold in 2007 between about 33,700 performances of 2,146 productions). If you then exclude the most popular shows at the big venues which sell 300-500 every performance then you can see that you should really only budget for around 30 paying audience members. This means that the average show will gross no more than £1,600 a week. In most cases, this will only cover your venue costs and not much else. You should therefore ensure that you have sponsorship or other resources to cover the difference.
Yes, we very strongly recommend that you do get insurance for your company. We advise using First Act Insurance (contact Kevin Harding on 020 8686 5050 or kevin.harding@hencilla.co.uk) a good friendly company who know the Festival well.
We have already mentioned above the rights to the actual play if it is still in copyright. We ensure that the venue has a theatre licence so you do not need to worry about that. The final thing to think about is music rights. All shows that use an already published piece of music (ie not their own) are required to pay music rights. However, this is not something you need to worry about before arriving at the venue. The Fringe Office has negotiated a deal with the Performing Rights Society on behalf of all fringe companies. You will need to fill out a form once you arrive at the venue and if a small amount needs to be paid, the Fringe Office will deduct it from your Fringe box office takings. The companies that own and licence rights do check the Fringe carefully for infringements so you should not be tempted to think you can get away without paying up.