This week’s featured creator is Izzy Radford. Izzy is a bold, young and exciting new writer who leads the Scripted department for TV production company ‘Ten66’.

This video, by the ‘Comedy Without Errors’ YouTube channel is an equally informative and entertaining piece on heckling, and how to respond.

It profiles the different types of people who heckle, and the varying responses that can blunt them. Weaved in are some classic examples of comebacks, ranging from the ‘meet fire with fire approach’ to the the more subtle but utterly devastating deconstructions of those rudey shouter outers.

As the creators says ‘defeating a heckler is less about shutting them down, as it is about keeping the rest of the audience on your side….’

By Paul Holliday. I’m excited to be producing my first live comedy show, ‘A Little Bit Sketchy‘. And at the Lowry no less! It’s been quite a trek to get the show up and running and thought to share a few bits of my experience.

Welcome to a new feature where we scour the comedy universe for the most promising and innovative new comedy talent. We want to showcase new creators who are doing something a little bit different, or making use of new trends and platforms, so that we can all learn a little something.

‘Comedy-Drama’ is increasingly being recognised as a genre of it’s own, including a number of the opportunities we share creating specific categories for submissions. But this Nerdstalgic video argues that comedy and drama are already interlinked in the example of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a fast paced and joke packed police sitcom.

A new style of comedy is emerging. It’s a trail blazed by the likes of ‘The Eric Andre Show’ and Tim Robinson’s ‘I Think You Should Leave’. These shows reflect the themes, trends and behaviours observed in the online world, and it’s a rich vein of comedy.

On Monday 14 June 2021, Coca Cola lost $4bn in it’s share price after footballer Cristiano Ronaldo moved two of it’s bottles slightly to the left on a table. Such is the world we live in.

The last decade has seem the proliferation of the panel show. It’s not been a welcome development for many, as opportunities for new creators of original scripted comedy have been squeezed out on mainstream TV.

Taskmaster is different.

The winners of Comedy Crowd Chorts! 2020/21 contest, in association with BCG Pro, have been announced!

On one hand we’re often told that comedy is about structure, and on the other we’re told that truly innovative creators plough their own furrow and break rules.

Could there be a happy middle ground to seek?

Hi. I’m Ed, I wrote my short Mockumentary script “Country Lines”, then recruited a team and project managed the process until the film’s release a few days ago. You can watch the film here. I’m going to try and talk through the pro’s and con’s of making your script, why I think it’s ultimately a good idea, along with some “quite good” advice about what I learn during the process.

Tell me a bit more about you, Ed.

Well, I’ve been writing comedy scripts for about 5 years. Taking courses, entering competitions, doing the odd smart phone character piece, you know the like. About two years ago I set myself the challenge of making three short films with all the stories set in my home county of Shropshire. I’d call the faux production company “Shropshire Investigates”, with the three films all being mockumentaries. Sounds alright so far. A bit This Country, but all good. I wrote and brought to life the first script – About two siblings inheriting a farm with a small, skeleton crew.

Now it was time to make the second film. I’d had the warm up of the first, this next one felt proper. I wanted to move things up a gear. The running time went from six to eleven minutes, I’d direct, there’d be a bigger crew, with a more complex set of scenes too.

But let’s rewind. You may not be as gung-ho as me, so here are some…

Issues to consider before making your script.

Our friends running the Sitcom geeks podcast have regular discussions on the pro’s and con’s of producing your own script. I’m sure they won’t mind me saying that the conclusion is generally not so positive as there are all of a sudden too many uncontrollables which might tarnish an otherwise good script. This is a huge consideration and here are others too:

Time

Writing a good script, even if it’s “just” a short film, takes long enough. It’ll take that time again, plus some, before your film is actually released.

I began writing my script at the end of 2019, and it’s finally out now (March, 2021). But many factors can play into how long it takes to make your film. Such as; script completion time, aligning many diary’s for rehearsals and filming, the potential abyss of the edit, your main prop; a tractor having a flat tire, a global pandemic, etc.

Money

We’re not talking about getting your mate to film you on their iPhone and knocking it together with iMovie. Money will definitely be a consideration.

There’s a big debate on your local actors and film makers Facebook pages about not paying much (or just expenses) for a film crew. I completely get that it’s an issue that needs to be treated with respect. See what you can afford, be upfront about it and if the script is good enough, you will be surprised the quality of talent who want to have their name attached to your credits

The Other Variables

Going back to the Sitcom geeks point made earlier – why risk your perfectly good script by getting half a dozen others involved who may unintentionally dilute the quality of the portrayal of your script? Well, yes, this can certainly be a gamble. But if you do a solid job of recruiting your team, getting the best crew you can, even with a small budget, then you will all of a sudden have a lot of talented people who will be pushing for this film to be a success.

My reasons for recruiting a team and making my short film.

Maybe some of these will resonate with you.

• Getting a broader look at other departments involved in producing a film

I think this will be invaluable experience for me going forward. I was living a very sheltered life as a solo writer.

• Networking

Living in Shropshire (Up to Birmingham, turn left, keep going, just before Wales) it’s hard to find other screenwriters or similar creatives

• Fulfilment

When constantly writing scripts and sending them off, not hearing, or even if I did hear feedback, it never felt like there was a fulfilling end to all the work I put in. With this film I feel like I have a proper finished piece of work now. Like a painter, or a brickie.

• Marketing myself

It really does all depend on the final piece being a fair representation of your work. Or better than fair, ideally. If so (and it’s a big if), then there is no doubt a film is a far better and easier way of bringing attention to your writing.

Recruiting your team

Other than your script, recruiting your team will be the most important factor in making your script.

Tom, our Director of Photography, was recommended to me. He was brilliant, as were all the team. Looking back, one of the most important pieces of knowledge Tom brought to me, was the use of a “casting call” document. This was an imperative tool in recruiting the team.

A casting call essentially gives all the details about your project such as the genre, planned dates for shooting, estimated running time, expenses paid etc, along with a kind of pitch document about the premise, story line and characters. This is the bible document that I used to send to people who would then have all the details needed to decide if it was something they would want to get involved with. Mine was fairly short at 2.5 pages and I’ be happy to share this with anyone if it might help.

With Tom on board and after spending a bit of time getting the casting call right, I set about using this document on the Comedy Crowd TV site (whoop), which is where I recruited one of the actors from, Sean – he messaged me after reading my project page on CCTV. Actor recruitment websites are really useful too (surprisingly enough) It was all pretty easy to set up the adverts and they are free too. The two or three sites are all similar and ask the same questions. With a bit of luck, actors will then apply for your role as you then look through their profiles. Our actress, Amber came through one of these sites.

Finally, social media. I mainly used Facebook, but I can imagine other socials may be useful. Facebook has lots of groups set up for actors and film crew members who are looking for projects to get involved in. Our music composer came through posting on one of these groups. Again using my casting call document… Have I told you these casting call documents are a good idea?!

I was amazed that we had over 30 applicants for the three main acting roles. All had sent in self tapes for certain lines within the film. I had such respect for their efforts. I gather that although my casting call document was really fantastic, that number of applicants was not actually uncommon for other film makers.

So that’s a bit about if making your script is the right approach for you and the recruitment side of things, now for the quick fire round.

Here’s some other tips after making my script

• Just keep buying the team food and drinks when you meet up. This has served me well in everyday life too.
• Unless you know a bit about editing, this stage of the process will blow your mind. You’ll feel like you’ve just been shown the internet for the first time. It’s a whole new world and I barely understand any of it still, but I do know editors are very important! Although don’t let that scare you off. Your script can completely change in the edits, communicate regularly with the editor to make sure your vision is followed as best as possible.
• We had three, three hour rehearsals. They were great fun, and each of the actors had a completely different approach. Work with them separately in between rehearsals. It seems only when everyone is fully confident with their lines does the real chemistry start to happen.
• Carefully, carefully plan your shoot days. They will fly by very quickly and those little details can easily be forgotten.
• Performances come across much more relaxed when everyone has settled in. Plan time for warm ups at the start.
• Get as many team members involved as you can manage! I could have really done with a hand on the shoot day to sort out bit and bobs, props, sound – bloody sound! We missed having a sound pro. That ended up being me. I’m not a pro and those booms are damn heavy!
• Make sure you have a very supportive support bubble. Due to blessed Covid, we had to change locations which meant turfing my partner and daughter out of our house (they had somewhere else to stay!) for a day and a night. There are peaks and troughs in the project but in general it’s a consuming process.
• Continuity of set and costume. Be wary of this over multiple days filming.

Thank you reading. I’m always keen to hear from potential collaborators or maybe just to have a chat about some of the above. Here’s my website with further details.

Also, twitter and the film’s instagram.

All the best,

Ed.

To set up a new comedy project and look for collaborators, or to set up your own creator profile and find projects to get involved in, head to Comedy Crowd TV.

We are delighted to have partnered with O2 to produce a series of original sketches showcasing up and coming talent from this fantastic community.

The partnership is part of O2’s campaign to “Do more of what you love”.

O2 and The Comedy Crowd have partnered to enable new creators to make five original comedy sketches which are available now exclusively on Priority. They cover a range of topics including ‘When a Group Chat Joke Fails’, ‘When Fans Forget How To Fan’ and ‘ The Ref Who Can’t Stop Running Backwards’.

At O2, we have a long-standing history of working with up and coming talent. Now we’re bringing the comedy to your living room, through this unique collaboration with our partner The Comedy Crowd to share the talents of new comedy creators and help our customers take some much needed relief.

Maya Murrell, Head of Priority

To make these videos we brought together writers, performers and producers from the Comedy Crowd community, matching them according to their skills and comic style. Our unique approach of working with the community means we can produce tailored content quickly, plus it gives new creators the opportunity to showcase their talents. Creators can sign up for their free weekly opportunities newsletter here to find out more about how to get involved with The Comedy Crowd.

As a new comic used to playing to dusty rooms above pubs with audiences of 8 people, getting this opportunity to create and release my sketch with O2 has been unreal! It’s so exciting that O2 are supporting creators on the grassroots level like this. The whole process has been invaluable and it feels amazing to see my finished sketch on the Priority app!

Jessica Lee, Comedian

Priority is exclusive to O2 customers and brings a collection of invite-only moments to help them do more of the things they love. From exclusive treats and experiences, to early access to the most sought-after tickets in entertainment.

Customers can download the Priority app via the app store, or by texting PRIORITY to 2020. For more information, search Priority on O2 or visit https://priority.o2.co.uk/. 

To watch the five sketches on Priority click here.