British Comedy Guide - Make It Newsletter


Make It Newsletter	Thursday 5th November 2015

This is our monthly newsletter for those interested in creating or working in comedy. Lots of insight and opportunities below. Read on...

Features

	Fast and Funny Can you write something short and funny? Are you the next comic internet sensation? BBC Scotland Comedy are looking for writing talent to create shortform digital content. You need to be 18 or over and living in Scotland to apply. Details
	Comedy Central job Comedy Central is looking for a new Development Executive. If you have previous experience working with comedy talent at an agency or a broadcaster you might like to apply. Be quick though: the deadline is Monday 9th November. Application Form
	Silver Stand Up of the Year Competition 2016 Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival has launched its annual search for the country's best comedian over the age of 55. The deadline to enter the competition is Friday 8th January 2016. For further details email maya@bigdifferencecompany.co.uk
	Musical Comedy Awards 2016 Are you a musical comedian? If so, you should enter the Musical Comedy Awards. The deadline to submit your application video to be part of the 2016 competition is 13th December 2015. Details
	How we made SuperBob SuperBob director Jon Drever explains how his movie was made. The film had a long development time, but a very short shoot. Read
	Lucy Lumsden to leave Sky Sky's Head Of Comedy, Lucy Lumsden, has announced she is leaving the network to return to producing her own shows. Read For those interested, Jon Mountague is now 'Acting Head Of Comedy' at the broadcaster.
	Sam Bain writing tips To tie in with final series of Peep Show (on Channel 4 from Wednesday 11th), Sam Bain supplied some writing tips to a magazine. For example "Always strive for better". Esquire Magazine
	Sitcom Geeks The podcast series in which James Cary and Dave Cohen discuss sitcom writing continues. In the latest episode they talk about making sure your secondary characters aren't stereotypes. Listen
	The Comedian's Comedian Podcast There are now nearly 150 episodes of Stuart Goldsmith's interview series available to listen to via BCG. In his latest podcast he talks to Jason Byrne about formatting stand-up for TV. Listen
	Are comedy courses worth it? Bruce Dessau's website Beyond The Joke is always worth a read. In one of his recent opinion pieces, Dessau considered whether courses that teach you stand-up comedy are worth it or not. Read
	Emma Kennedy: How to make a sitcom Three years in the making, The Kennedys is currently on BBC One. Creator and writer Emma Kennedy talks about the development process in this article. Standard Issue
	Video: How to pitch your project In this video from the Royal Television Society, Sky's Ben Boyer explains how to pitch for scripted comedy. "You need to have just the right about of hussle." YouTube
	Danny Wallace: How to Get Started In this recent BCG interview, Danny Wallace talks about writing for a variety of mediums. "The best advice is to get involved. Things will only happen if you do things." Read
	Andy Hamilton interview In this interview with BCG's Circuit Training column, Andy Hamilton talks about writing. "You've really got to want to do it, and be prepared to live with the rejection." Read
	Face Your Fears of Stand-up Comedy The charity Changing Faces is running its 'Face Your Fears of Stand-up Comedy' initiative again. Those taking part will be tutored by Logan Murray before performing on stage. Details For further insight in what to expect (although note that this year's course is over a weekend rather than spread over week nights), check out the course diary that BCG contributor Craig wrote when he took part last year.
	Shaw Society - T.F. Evans Award 2016 A competition held in memory of the long time editor of the Shaw Society Journal. It's looking for comic stories featuring "wit and wordplay within a social and political context". There's a £500 prize. Details (PDF)
	Scream Street - Voice Acting In this series of interviews for CBBC's new animated comedy, the cast (John Thomson, Debra Stephenson, Claire Skinner and Tyger Drew-Honey) discuss the challenges of voice acting. Read

What the TV commissioners want

Earlier this week the Broadcast Commissioning Forum took place - a TV industry event at which executives meet up to discuss their plans. As part of the event, comedy executives and commissioners from the BBC (Chris Sussman), ITV (Saskia Schuster), Channel 4 (Phil Clarke), UTKV (Simon Lupton), Comedy Central (Jill Offman) and Sky (Jon Mountague) took to the stage to explain what they're looking for.

BBC: The BBC is looking for "comedy that reflects the way the world is now". The corporation's current priority is to find new shows for BBC Two's 9pm slot. Terms like "big and bold" were used by commissioning editor Chris Sussman. BBC Two needs to be more "diverse" in its output going forward, apparently - The Javone Prince Show was named as an example of that.

Meanwhile BBC Four is looking for shows with "satirical bite" and BBC One is still the channel the network gets the least pitches for, because it is seen as "hardest to crack". Bosses are now looking for comedy shows that would fit in the 8pm - 9pm schedule window on the flagship channel. As has been the case for a while now, the BBC also needs more studio audience sitcom pitches for BBC One. Additionally, it was revealed they're still seeking pitches for the next round of Comedy Playhouse pilots.

ITV: The commercial channel is looking for shows with "big characters and narrative" that can go in an 8:30pm slot after the station's flagship soaps. Commissioner Saskia Schuster explained that ITV viewers liked "a certain amount of recognisability" so ITV wasn't looking for 'high concept' pitches.

BroadcastNow reports that ITV2 said it is not getting enough "naughty scripts", with E4's Chewing Gum given as an example of a show that had the ideal tone ITV2 were looking for. It was noted that Family Guy is arriving on ITV2 next year, so the channel will need to make sure it has shows that can sit alongside and gel with its fast pace.

Channel 4: "Witty narratives" remain the primary interest of Channel 4 - with head of comedy Phil Clarke pointing to Catastrophe as an example of that kind of programme.

UKTV: Gold will continue to pilot sitcoms in three part series, much like it has done with Marley's Ghosts and Bull recently. For both Gold and Dave, the network is looking for shows with famous faces or high concepts to help "suck viewers in".

Comedy Central: The channel has various pilots in development, but is still looking for shows that have elements of "warmth, authenticity, youthfulness and edge".

Sky: The satellite broadcaster revealed it is looking to "commission a British equivalent of Modern Family" and is seeking out pre-watershed sitcoms for Sky1. "Heart, laughter, family and joy" are reportedly the principles they think about when commissioning.

Don't forget that if you want to pitch to a broadcaster you should get an independent production company on board as a first step (broadcasters rarely pay attention to unsolicited pitches). How to get a production company interested in your script is a whole different essay in itself for another time, but essentially you need to find and get in contact with an established producer. Look at the credits of the programmes you like (we have full credits in our guides), ones which match your comedy style, and then approaching the production companies behind these with a well planned introduction email. Don't do this until your script is polished to within an inch of its life though!

Advert

Message Board Posts...

Here are some examples from our message board, which we include here in the hope it will encourage you to get involved in the discussions on there too.

"Does anyone in Edinburgh fancy doing a bit of a writers' meetup to bounce some ideas around?" jamforfree in Writers' Discussion

"I am looking into having a go at writing a radio sitcom and would like a few tips to get me started." MargateSteve in Writers' Discussion

"Hi to all wannabe stand up comedians in South Wales! Are you finding it difficult to find gigs in this area like myself?" Jamie Di Cataldo in Performance Discussion

"It's a tricky business but has anyone tried or are currently writing a funny book? I'd love to hear your insights if you've ever tackled it." Davey Jay in Writers' Discussion

"I am looking for comedians to put on a show for the night of the 28th November." Lisa peake in Performance Discussion

Spotlight

In each 'Make It' newsletter we shine a spotlight on a project posted to our showcase forum...

Bad News Podcast

Tyler Barrows posted in our Showcase forum to introduce Bad News, a podcast he has recorded with his friend. Their aim was to create "a podcast that walked the line between personality driven comedy and topical comic discussion". Hear how they did that here for yourself: SoundCloud

Thanks for Reading

We've had a few people asking if we're organising another Big Comedy Conference this year. The answer is sadly not, sorry! But we hope to return in the Autumn of 2016 with another event so do watch this space.

The British Comedy Guide