Chortle Conference: What Broadcasters Want
Panel: Chris Sussman (Executive Editor, BBC Comedy), Alison Vernon-Smith (Executive Producer, BBC Radio), Charlie Hanson (Tantrum Films), hosted by David Mulholland.
Charlie says that he's drawn towards surprising new content and that he's currently working on three short films purely because he liked how they were pitched. He feels his model allows for more creative autonomy. He's hugely critical of the plans to move BBC3 online, questioning whether they can offer anything to creatives working online that they're incapable of procuring themselves.
Neil describes his company as "a tiny indie outfit" where "passion is key". He's currently working with a new writer on a sitcom set in 1980s East Berlin and insists that a pitch should be "distinctive and different". Chris says the BBC are looking for 9 or 10 long form comedies each year and advises the audience to find an independent company and a producer who is passionate about the subject. Alison produces 170-180 new hours of comedy each year for the radio, mostly for Radio 4. Cites "The Show What You Wrote" and "Newsjack" as shows with open door writing policies. In particular, radio shows need to be character driven and she's particularly drawn towards well written female characters as too often they're depicted as "the straight person".
Ideally prospective writers should send sample scenes with treatment and do practice script reads with other comedy performers. Most of the remainder of the panel was taken up with pitches from conference attendees. They were something of a mixed bag, although I particularly liked Liam Mullan's pitch for a football based sitcom inspired by reading the work of Jonathan Wilson and Lindsay Sharman's concept based around a bridal business that had clearly been well thought out.
We're nearly at the end of these Chortle Conference blogs now. We've certainly learned a lot about the limitations of my note taking.
Charlie says that he's drawn towards surprising new content and that he's currently working on three short films purely because he liked how they were pitched. He feels his model allows for more creative autonomy. He's hugely critical of the plans to move BBC3 online, questioning whether they can offer anything to creatives working online that they're incapable of procuring themselves.
Neil describes his company as "a tiny indie outfit" where "passion is key". He's currently working with a new writer on a sitcom set in 1980s East Berlin and insists that a pitch should be "distinctive and different". Chris says the BBC are looking for 9 or 10 long form comedies each year and advises the audience to find an independent company and a producer who is passionate about the subject. Alison produces 170-180 new hours of comedy each year for the radio, mostly for Radio 4. Cites "The Show What You Wrote" and "Newsjack" as shows with open door writing policies. In particular, radio shows need to be character driven and she's particularly drawn towards well written female characters as too often they're depicted as "the straight person".
Ideally prospective writers should send sample scenes with treatment and do practice script reads with other comedy performers. Most of the remainder of the panel was taken up with pitches from conference attendees. They were something of a mixed bag, although I particularly liked Liam Mullan's pitch for a football based sitcom inspired by reading the work of Jonathan Wilson and Lindsay Sharman's concept based around a bridal business that had clearly been well thought out.
We're nearly at the end of these Chortle Conference blogs now. We've certainly learned a lot about the limitations of my note taking.
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