Once you’ve figured out the best way to talk about yourself, you’re ready to get everyone else talking about you! Melbourne Fringe has a publicist who will get media buzzing about the Festival broadly, but it’s also super important that you are proactive in securing your own media for your individual event (last year we had 450+ events in the Festival!). Often media are also more interested to hear directly from the artist/company when highlighting individual events.

If you don’t have a publicist on your team, don’t panic — here’s your guide to creating and implementing a publicity plan.

Step 1: Write your media release

See some example media releases below;

Media Release template & examples

Once you’ve had a look at some examples, download our media release template and follow along with the steps below.

1. Header

• The first line at the top of your media release should be MEDIA RELEASE in bold uppercase letters.
• Include the date on which you’re sending the media release.
• Lead with MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL, followed by the TITLE OF YOUR SHOW, then a snappy, encapsulating headline.

2. Opening Paragraph

• The opening paragraph (100-200 words max) may be copied verbatim by journalists when they are short of time. This is particularly true for ‘What’s On’ type listings. Your opening paragraph should be short and provide a clear, engaging summary of the key points about your show. It can also include one ‘hook’, point of interest or quirky fact.
• If you can, it may also help to tie your show to a current cultural event in the current news cycle to increase the perceived relevancy.
• Make sure you include: the title of your show, the name of your production company and/or details of 1-2 key team members, a very short description of what it is about, its themes or the type of work it is, and something unusual, clever, quirky, innovative about the show.

3. Body (What, Who, Why)

In this section you can write a few paragraphs (not longer than one page) that go into more detail about your show. Think about the things that are important, interesting or innovative about your work and expand on them here. Perhaps some of your cast and/or crew have interesting backgrounds, maybe you are doing the work in an unusual venue or there is an element of the production that you feel is particularly clever or new.

4. Past Awards and Productions

If you have any previous awards for this production, or another production by the same artists, include them here. Make sure you include who/where the award is from and the year you won.

5. Quotes