About — SAVI FEST

Who We Are

Jacque Arend, Krissy Lenz and LIz Hutchman, three women with deep roots in improv communities around the Valley, recently founded Sonoran All-Valley Improv, a non-profit dedicated to further connect performers, theaters, and the art of improvisation throughout Arizona. With our team of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers, we are bringing an exciting, all-inclusive opportunity for play, education, and entertainment (and more) to the valley. Our mission is to produce an annual celebration of improvisation and comedy arts via SAVI FEST, which will take place this coming February 2025!

Sonoran All-Valley Improv has a 501c3 status under their fiscal non-profit sponsor, Improv Utopia, and will seek there own in the near future.

SAVI LEADERSHIP

Jacque Arend

Executive Director
Jacque started improvising in 2005 at the iO Summer Intensive, and soon after went on to be a founding board member of The Torch Theatre and Managing Director of the Phoenix Improv Festival. Now she’s Managing Director of Improv Utopia, Associate Artistic Director at Arizona Actors Academy, and a regular performer and instructor living in Phoenix, AZ. Her regular monthly shows are at Second Beat Improv Theater.
Liz Hutchman

Managing Director
Liz has been performing and teaching improvisation in Phoenix for over twenty years and you can find her on stage monthly with her teams Skewed News Hour, The Collaboratory, and Birds & Broads. When Liz isn’t doing something improv-related, you will find her enjoying quiet moments at home, cooking and watching movies, or out traveling and enjoying one of her favorite pastimes, camping and fishing.
Krissy Lenz

Artistic Director
Krissy Lenz is one of the Directors and the Most Enthusiastic Person at the Neighborhood Comedy Theatre in Downtown Mesa Arizona, working alongside her husband Dorian. In addition to improv Krissy enjoys podcasting and you can put her in your ears anytime on the Most Excellent 80s Movies Podcast, Gank That Drank: A Supernatural Drinking Game Podcast or the Cool TIme DIce Hour, all available on trustory.fm or wherever the finest podcasts are procured. Krissy is also a pro at mom-ing for two awesome teenagers.

MISSION

Sonoran All-Valley Improv's mission is to foster a connected, inclusive community of artists in Arizona to celebrate, grow and inspire the art of improvisation through an annual festival.

VISION

We aim to connect the Arizona improv communities to an array of diverse artists, resources, and education with a commitment to support the sustainability of our local artists and theaters for years to come. Our goal is to support inclusion and accessibility to improvisation through outreach programs and scholarship assistance.

VALUES

Provide a creative community outlet while enriching, educating and producing quality entertainment through our annual SAVI FEST.
As a volunteer based organization, we build as a collective, using the strengths and input from our local talent to achieve our goals through collaboration.
Our focus is to connect the community to an array of artists and education through shared experience with a commitment to support artists and theaters in our area.
Provide hands-on learning in improvisational theater through educators and theater representation nationwide while offering networking opportunities for Arizona theaters and artists to thrive and grow in our local community.
Connect our volunteers and donors through the celebration of improvisational theater and the arts.
Offer opportunities to our community through altruism and fundraising with an emphasis in accessibility, affordability and inclusion.
Support and feature inclusive and diverse representation of artists in the valley.

Thanks to our 2024

Volunteers

Stewart Gross - Legal Counsel

Jessica Abbott - Designer

Marisol Chavez - Programming Lead

James Hoffmaster - Technical Director

Those planning, prep and full festival support Andre Bryant, Beth Boyd, Caesar Udave, Christopher Hooper, Clifton Gray, Dorothy Willoughby, Ryan Knoll, Grace Campbell, Jose Gonzalez, Julie Cain, Laurie Shellenbarger, Lisa Akorli, Manu Moeller, Priya Rajdev and Troy Roy.

Our anonymous submissions panel who watched over 17 hours of video and curated a top-notch line-up.

Our hardworking weekend staff Annika Wines, Barbara Sabbadini, Bob Caplan, Brian Ress, Craig Kinsel, Jacob Stovall, Kristan Moran, LeDawn DeMoss, Maddie Moe, Margaret Tueller, Matt Francis, Michelle Cannon,Molly Kurtz, Morgan Vinson, Rick Larson, Brian Ress, Stephanie Close, Swati Ghorpade, Tommy Cannon,and whoever else generously comes along by the time you’re reading this.