DecadesOut Supports the Documentary, The Fringe!

What is this documentary about?

The Fringe is a feature-length documentary that tells a story of social change and artistic expression as it chronicles 20-years of an indie theatre festival in NYC, FringeNYC. As it struggles to find its own voice in the world, it gives voice to thousands of artists worldwide, and becomes part of a global fringe movement that has helped redefine society.

It is through this lens that questions arise — what does it mean to be on the fringe? Who is considered an outsider in society? How has what it means to be “fringe” changed in twenty years?

Our Subject

Founded in 1997, FringeNYC has seen the world through 20 years of political upheavals and presidential elections, natural disasters, gentrification, and changing social values. It celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2016. 

The festival has gone from “those crazy kids downtown presenting avant-garde theatre” to an institution of NYC’s indie theatre and cultural scene. Yet, amazingly, it still struggles for its existence, shutting down in 2017, and soul searching through 2018, asking itself “is our mission achieved, and does the world need a fringe theatre festival?”

The Film's Backstory

Our team and a host of disparate crew members have followed and filmed FringeNYC for 12 years, over half its lifetime. As the exclusive documentarian, Dedalus VII has access to all elements of the festival including shows, behind-the-scenes action, interviews with participants, volunteers, audience, archival footage, photos and more.

With over 1000 hours of footage and 15,000 archive photos, the story expands beyond a simple portrait of FringeNYC to become a complex film rich in the history of New York City, national culture and social identity. The tone and look of the film draws on a mixture of the raw and the polished; the eclectic and fast-moving.

Meet the Team + Contributors

It takes a village? In some cases, it takes a city! For over 12 years, myself and small teams of friends, fellow filmmakers (who volunteered their time and donated their equipment), hired crew, and random bands of do gooders ran around the NY International Fringe Festival from 2006 to its penultimate year in 2016 in the dog days of August, cramming ourselves into some tight venues. In that time we documented nearly 1000 hours of interviews, participant stories, performances (where union rules would allow), and behind-the-scenes scrambling of the dedicated volunteers.

This project has had MANY people contribute throughout the years, and we'll be happily acknowledging all of them in the film's credits. We'd like to shine a light now on some of the amazing contributors we literally couldn't have made this film without:

• Francis Kuzler – Producer, Director
• Jennifer Larkin – Co-Producer
• Patrick Sullivan – Associate Producer, Camera
• Taty Sena – Associate Producer, Camera
• Tyler Sparks – Camera
• Marcella Dawson – Sound
• Sean Muzzi – Sound  
• Sonia Abraham – Assistant Editor
• Nikki Dodd – Assistant Editor, Camera
• Alexis Bates – PA
• Dixie Sheridan – Archive Photographer
• George Rand – Archive Photographer
• Other Camera Operators/Sound – So Many People to Thank!

Project Timeline: Completion Early 2019

• Production – We have over 100 interviews, and they have all been transcribed. We have several interviews left to shoot with key figures that have a connection to the festival and have gone on to have celebrated careers.
• Post Production – Editing, Editing, Editing. For the last two years, we have been getting our 1,000 hours down to a manageable 200, and we have been carving out the arc of the story. By October 2018, with your help, we will to have a tight rough cut of 120 minutes.
• Music, Color Correction, Sound – We've begun conversations with experienced folks about music composition, color correcting, and sound mixing.
• We've also started conversations with experienced post-production supervisors to oversee final output and delivery. 

We expect to have the film completed by early 2019 and start showing it at film festivals next year.

Filmmaker’s Statement

When we began this documentary 12 years ago in 2006, the intention was to tell the story of a NYC theatre festival celebrating what was then its 10th anniversary. I was also personally inspired to share this story... As someone who loves to create live theatre, I’ve had two “AHA!” moments that moved me past my fears and empowered me to get out there, and one of them was at FringeNYC. I will gladly fill in details later, but let’s just say, it had to do with onstage cave people, the dawn of humanity, me loving it, and saying to myself, “Whoa! I didn’t know you could do that!”

It was that kind of moment that gives you a license to try – experiment, exclaim, rise to the moment or fall flat on your face – to believe in yourself. At that moment I knew I could be more than anything I was ever told I could be. That’s the heart of the story I wanted to get to.