News From The New York International Fringe Festival

Elena K. Holy is the Producing Artistic Director of The Present Company, Off-Off Broadway's most innovative, entrepreneurial and imaginative company. First organized in 1991, Holy oversaw the incorporation of the company, and was responsible for establishing the Board of Directors and securing 501.c.3 (Not-For-Profit) status from the federal government. As Producing Director, Holy was responsible for budgeting, contracts, fundraising, marketing, advertising, public relations, board development, financial reporting and long-term planning. The company existed solely on box office revenue, rehearsal space rental income and individual donors for its first four years. For the past seven years, The Present Company has received funding from private foundations, corporate sponsorships, a multi-year grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, and funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. From 1998-2002, the Present Company operated the largest rehearsal and performance space on the Lower East Side (the 7,500 square foot Present Company Theatorium and Downtown Variety Lounge) providing subsidized space to more than 200 companies per year. In the fall of 2001, upon the resignation of Founding Artistic Director John Clancy, Holy was named Producing Artistic Director of the company. Under Holy's Artistic Direction, the Present Company is a not-for-profit theatre producing organization dedicated to inciting art, cultivating community and creating new American theatre.

Prior to coming on board full time with The Present Company, Holy worked at Richard Frankel Productions for six and a half years, assisting Mr. Frankel for the last four. Richard Frankel Productions, Inc. (RFP) is an independent theatrical production and management company.

In 1996, The Present Company created the First Annual New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC). As Producer, Holy was awarded the 1997 New York Magazine Award for her "creativity, vision and enterprise" in creating the festival. FringeNYC recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, and is the largest multi-arts festival in North America. Holy directs an all-volunteer staff of 100 people, over 1500 additional volunteers, and 5000 artists representing 200 companies from all over the world, producing nearly 1300 performances annually. Productions from FringeNYC have appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway, and on the road. Many have been published and turned into screenplays.

In 2006, Holy was named one of New York Magazine’s “Influentials” because she “turned the Fringe Festival, which she founded in 1996, into Sundance for the theater crowd - a place where anyone with an idea and a tiny budget can get noticed. Urinetown, the 1999 Fringe musical that made it to Broadway and won three Tonys, is the most extreme example, but more than a dozen Fringe shows have gone on to significant Off Broadway runs. Applications approached 1,000 last year. Her triumph: retaining the fest’s brilliant lunacy amid commercial success.”

In 2007, Mayor Bloomberg awarded The New York International Fringe Festival the Mayor’s Award for Arts & Culture “for its phenomenal leadership in showcasing the best and boldest theater and performance by both established and emerging artists. The New York International Fringe Festival is renowned for presenting work that reflects the excitement and energy of the contemporary theater world - locally, nationally and abroad”.

In 2008, she began serving as a Tony Award Nominator. And under Holy’s leadership, The Present Company continues to grow under the new model she has built for not-for-profit sustainability – operating on 90% earned income (10% contributed) while spending 98% of the nearly million dollar budget on programming (2% administrative costs).