So Victor, where did the idea come from?

I found an old illustrated children’s book about a birthday party, and there was one character in it who, on every page, seemed to be looking out of the pages directly at the reader. The illustration style in those old book makes a lot of the characters look quite creepy, so I thought that would be a good concept for a horror film – that if you’ve seen his picture in the book, then he can see you and can come out of it. In the original book it’s a child, but for our version John is clearly an adult man, yet he’s still dressed as a 1960s schoolboy and for some reason is attending a kids birthday party – so there’s some quite bizarre and unsettling imagery.

Why did you decide to shoot it in the found-footage style?

Partly because I wanted to be in it and this way I could without hiring a cinematographer. But also because it’s a good way of making something when you have no budget.
You don’t have to worry about getting everything to look cinematic because it shouldn’t. Out-of-focus shots! Poor lighting! Bad sound! Yep – that’s all deliberate.

What were the challenges of making a found-footage film?

In terms of the writing, you have to make sure there’s a reason for the camera to be on in every scene. The worst thing about bad found-footage horror films is when someone’s fighting off a murderer with one hand and still recording a nicely framed shot with the other. So, I came up with a special helmet that they wear in this that meant we could get away with filming action scenes and it still be just about believable. And because it’s a comedy you can get away with stretching the logic more than if it was a straight horror.

You have to get everything done in full takes as you can’t cut away, so we all had to know our lines well. We also had to do a lot of practical effects because you can’t do any of the usual editing techniques, so for one of the stabbing scenes we built a fake stomach for one of the characters which was filled with fake blood. And for another we needed a knife to stay stuck into a character’s chest, so we made a special belt with magnets that they wear under their shirt. It was a lot of effort for some pretty brief shots but I think they worked well enough.

Who is Smithy Jones?

Smithy Jones is a character I’ve played for a while who has had brief appearances in some of my other films. He was in “The Actual Truth: Coronavirus” in 2020 complaining about panic buying, and cropped up in a short film I did with comedian John Dredge last year called “Splorry” as a pizza delivery guy, but I’ve always wanted to do something bigger with him as the lead. He’s very geeky and egotistical and, despite only being in his 20s, talks like an old man a lot of the time. So, he’s quite an unusual character and I did worry that he’d be too bizarre for people to accept, but so far audiences do seem to have taken to him.

Why make a comedy horror film?

I’ve never made a horror before but I really like the genre. With this, I wanted to make the horror side of the comedy-horror genuine, so it isn’t just a parody, and the scary bits are actually scary. Tonally similar to shows like “Inside Number 9” and “Psychoville”, or “Shaun of the Dead”, so the world and the characters are real, but it’s also got lots of jokes throughout.

How did you pick your cast?

The cast are all amazing. They’re challenging roles because they need to be able to do both the comedy and the more realistic acting, as well as operating the camera for some scenes and doing quite long takes in one go, so casting was really important. We had loads of people apply for the role of Calvin, including a lot of very experienced actors, but Dillon’s comedic performance style was just perfect for the part. I watched a lot of his sketches, which are hilarious, and his audition sealed it. Rebecca had been in one of my other projects (“The Actual Truth: Cancel Culture” where she played an aggressive woman ranting about freedom of speech), and she was brilliant, so it was great to be able to offer her a bigger role in this. I met Christian at a comedy event (“The Chorts” by The Comedy Crowd) where we both had our sketches screened and I really liked his type of comedy and performance style so invited him to play Marcus based on that. I wanted to prioritise people with a comedy background over those with an acting background so that the humour would definitely come through.

How did you achieve the visual style of John?

It was important to try to capture that creepy vintage illustration style for John and the book. Callum Courtney was our designer and did all the paintings for the book and created the John masks. Instead of painting each page of the book individually, he painted individual aspects which we then composited together digitally, which meant the faces wouldn’t match the bodies and would have much more detail than could be achieved if they were painted to scale. So, this gave all the illustrations a creepy and unsettling vibe. I then had to get the book printed – I have no idea what the publishers must have thought because they didn’t have the context of it being for a horror film; It’s just a kids book that suddenly becomes very creepy and has no ending.

For the design of John himself, we wanted him to look like an illustration come to life, so it took a while to find the right way of achieving this with the costume, and making sure it matched the style of the book exactly. For the masks these were simply paper-mache creations with interchangeable faces for his different expressions. For the rest of the costume, we initially made a jacket out of paper-mache too, but it was too rigid, so in the end we just painted directly onto some ordinary jackets and by layering up the paint and letting it run as it dries, you get a great result.

I’m really happy with the end result. It’s creepy but also sort of funny because of his little shorts, and totally unique as a design.

What is next for “It’s John”?

“It’s John” will be released on Halloween 2024 on the Oxar Productions YouTube channel, (and so will the 20 minute prequel “It Was John” starring Amber Doig-Thorne from “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey”). After that, we’ll hopefully be launching on some streaming services. I’m trying to keep it non-exclusive so that it can be seen by as many people as possible, so hopefully it can remain freely accessible on YouTube and any streamers will just be an extra way of a different audience finding it.

I think horror audiences seem to be quite open to trying a new film from an unknown director if the concept sounds good, so I’m hoping people will give this film a try.

And if we get a good response to the films, we will be making two sequels. If we get a bad response, we will make three.

Ready to see the film? Check it out here:

By Tom Worsley

Shared Drive is an audio sketch showcase starring Alex Garrick-Wright, Rob Gilroy, Elaine Malcolmson and Rhiannon Shaw. It’s produced, directed and edited by Tom Worsley and scripted edited by Rebecca Bain. Songs are by Alex MJ Smith. Theme tune is by Katie Butler.

Shared Drive was written by Chris Ballard, Chris Douch, Alex Garrick-Wright, Sophie Hall, Max Kreisky, Paul Read, Vicky Richards, Kalum Wilson, Tom Worsley and Amy Xander.

There’s a distinct lack of sketch comedy – and comedy in general, really – and as many brilliant writers and performers are struggling to find opportunities as the comedy marketplace dwindles, it made me realise that you’ve got a choice – you either get terribly sad and cry about the industry or you decide to make something yourself. After all, creating content and releasing it online has never been easier. So I promptly dried my tears, blew my nose, showered and dressed, and set about getting in contact with the funniest writers and brightest performers I could think of and asking them to be involved in ‘Shared Drive’. Every one of my connections came about through online networking and social media and, incredibly, lots of talented people, all with comedy experience, credits and awards, wanted to be involved; to volunteer their creativity and time to create something funny with me.

The aim was to create a one-off sketch showcase just to get something out there, bringing in as many writers and creatives as I could possibly cram into a 20 minute show without it simply bursting open and drenching everyone with comedy. A showcase that performers and writers could clip for their social media and send out there to whoever would listen.

Shared Drive is a sketch show at a time when opportunities for sketches are limited, and are only continuing to get smaller. More than ever making sketches that are just – well, funny, quite frankly – seems out of fashion. A forgotten branch of the comedy world. We just wanted to get together and make something funny. No themes or with a message. Nothing zeitgeisty or topical. Just funny. Some quick, silly sketches to put out into the world.

Everything was submitted to a shared drive and recorded remotely, relying on a group of writers and performers coming together with passion and a shared drive to make a little audio sketch comedy show to put out across social media… Wait. ‘Shared drive’?… Oh, I get it now. That’s clever… Huh. It’s got two meanings.

Right now this is a one-off. Everyone involved volunteered their sketches and their time because it’s just a small pilot show to see if it was possible to produce some high quality audio sketches from our respective homes. Could it be a recurring project? Could we do more? Like everything, it comes down to money. It remains to be seen whether this could grow into something bigger. But I’m excited to see if it can…

Shared Drive is available to listen to now on Acast, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts!

By Sean Mana

What happens when you drop a team of New York comedians into the luscious heartland of Scotland?

Well, it seems we’ll find out this summer, when sketch comedy group I MOSTLY BLAME MYSELF brings their electrifying set to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival August 20-25. IMBM has been selling out shows in New York City since 2021, performing original sketch comedy and occasionally going viral from short clips posted online. They boast over 750K YouTube subscribers, 125K follows on IG and 6M likes on TikTok.

But how does a sketch comedy troupe find their way out of a sewage filled Williamsburg basement, to one of the biggest art festivals on the planet anyway??

I can only speak for myself (Sean Mana), but when IMBM creator Nick Shanman posted that ad on Backstage, looking to assemble the most fearless, hungry, hilarious comedy team alive, I think we all felt that little tingle in our jeans that pool jets used to give us.

IMBM consists of 9 artists: Nick Shanman, Emma Rylands, Jackson and Kelly Hinden, Kaya Simmons, Allison McHugh, Justin Cooper and myself, Sean Mana. Nick had worked with some of us prior to forming to the group and some of us went through an interview process to prove we had what it takes to open our email. The night of our first meeting, we all looked at one another, already feeling the undeniable chemistry. It was immediately clear: this group, this fellowship was something special, and our different voices, personalities and taste would help set us apart from anything else in the comedy scene.

We set out to do ONE show on the third floor of The Players Theatre, just to see how it goes. A small set was prepared, rehearsed, and promoted and we sold the mother out. The theatre invited us back for another performance to see if lighting would strike twice, and we sold that show out too. The Players Theatre offered a year long residency, performing two shows a month and after selling out several months in a row, IMBM was upgraded to the 170 seat main stage where we’ve continued to sell out for the past 3 years.

There are a few voices writing for IMBM. With every new show, the writers retreat to their darkened cellars and return with a handful of scripts. The sketches are read as a group and voted into the show after a round or two of punch ups. Some of our most viral bits include a whimsical musical about the new sex offender in town, a drug dealing Dora the Explorer parody, a medieval gladiator battle where each combatant brags about their sword and a World War II era musical changing history for one historical figure. The humor is sharp, crude, shocking, silly and humbly self produced.

The virality of the group has certainly contributed to its success – strategically posting 10 second clips with a hilarious caption or click baiting text to bring the scroller in. Once their eyes are on the scene, it’s over for them – they’re fans for LIFE. Some clips have been shared around the internet bringing a flood of new viewers to our channels and pages.

With six performances on the horizon at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, IMBM has a huge collection of great material to pull from and any combination of fan favorites will lead to a brilliant show. We’re excited to take our comedy out of New York City and slap it on the faces of our international audience.

I MOSTLY BLAME MYSELF will perform LIVE at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival August 20-25 at the Gilded Balloon! Tickets are available now.

https://www.youtube.com/@imostlyblamemyself

imostlyblamemyself.com
@imostlyblamemyself

By Paul Angliss

Did you know that in the animal kingdom, ‘the seasonal synchronisation of libidos exhibited by the big litter strategists is rarely observed in human society? Except, that is, in the transient communities formed on Club 18-30 holidays’? And that ‘a man will feel the urge to play the field. Or, in the case of Norwegian men who entertain multiple partners living in communities distributed along high-sided sea inlets, an urge to play the fjord’?

The above are excerpts from my first foray into self-publishing a book, Sperm & Eggs, a kind of satire of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. These I cobbled together with a bunch of other stand-up type observations to fit a narrative, an exploration of a questionable theory, a proposition that the behaviour of men and women is determined by the behaviour of their respective gametes, their sperm and eggs. It’s presented as an accessible-to-the-masses revelatory Jordan Peterson or Richard Dawkins blockbuster, turning on its head what we know about ourselves. Supplemented by illustrations that have only a tenuous link to the subject matter, Sperm & Eggs is a triumph of style over substance. In essence, it is a parody of the bestseller non-fiction genre. Furthermore, Sperm & Eggs is reassuringly gender apolitical, more of a comment on the absurdity of life.

I initially released the book as text only without illustrations. Despite finding an amazing influencer in sex historian, Dr Kate Lister, on Twitter and her retweets of excerpts from the book going viral, book sales on various publishing platforms were low.

A few years later I wondered if an illustrated version might be a better sell. I have an old mate and ex-work colleague and fellow substandard impersonator of Des Lynam, Simon Thompson, a fantastic illustrator, portrait artist and book designer, who shared the same sense of humour, liked the book and agreed to illustrate and design Sperm & Eggs for a 50/50 share in any royalties we might earn from the relaunched illustrated title.

We wanted to see if there was an alternative to Amazon’s self-publishing service – Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) – for creating paperback, hardcover and ebook versions of your book. However, our research showed strongly in favour of first-time self-publishers using a company that squirrels vast sums of money into offshore havens and offers bathroom facilities for its delivery people in the shape of repurposed Evian bottles jettisoned onto hard shoulders. KDP allows you to choose which genre your readers will search to find you so that you can, as we have been, in the top 20 bestsellers for the rather niche genre, ‘Theories of Humour’, but 2,000 plus in the wider genre ‘Satires’. KDP also allowed us to set a publication date in advance so that we could plan a book launch campaign promoting the book on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

All very well EXCEPT in our case when we wanted to delete my original text-only edition of Sperm & Eggs so shoppers would buy the new, illustrated version instead of the old one by mistake. KDP won’t let you delete a title, but ‘unpublish’ it instead. To do this, you have to request KDP to unpublish your book using the email address you set up your KDP account with in the first instance. 40 emails later and it was confirmed that the email address associated with my KDP account was someone called Sharon. Either our account had been hacked or Amazon had some malfunction in their system. Had she known about it, Shazzer might well have experienced Imposter Syndrome.

Simon and I took a calculated gamble by taking out a full-page advert in Viz, the readership of which we thought would be a targeted audience. It was worth a punt, especially as we had timed our launch for 6 weeks before Xmas. So far, we have seen only 19 sales in total. We still have faith in the book and I’m looking now to try and find influencers who might endorse Sperm & Eggs. You never know what might spark sales, what might be the toilet scholars next must-read.

Sperm & Eggs is presented in three volumes. The first is Sperm & Eggs – Attraction, covering the initial phase of the sex cells herding the procreators together. The second is Sperm & Eggs – Interaction, the third is Sperm & Eggs – Relationships. They are a must read for those who wish to know why they do what they do and then blame something else.

Sperm & Eggs – Attraction can be found now in paperback and hardcover versions here on Amazon.

Get inspiration for your comedy writing from Chris Head, comedy coach, teacher and author of “Creating Comedy Narratives for Stage & Screen” in engaging 10 minute episodes. Each episode gives you a question to chew over that will inspire. Produced in association with Comedy Crowd. Comedy Crowd listeners can receive discounts and special offers on Chris’ acclaimed courses and one-to-one coaching.

Listen now on Spotify, Apple and Amazon!

———————-

ONE-TO-ONE COMEDY DEVELOPMENT SESSIONS

Chris can work with you on your comedy writing (stand-up, sketch, sitcom and more) and can also coach performance and speaking.

10% off your booking by entering COMCROWD when you fill in the enquiry form.

More info https://www.chrishead.com/directing.

ONLINE SKETCH COMEDY WORKSHOP

Live interactive Zoom course

Join a great group and get inspiration and learn techniques for writing (and making!) TV, Social Media, Live and Radio comedy sketches – you can focus on the areas that most interest you.

£10 off by entering COMCROWD when you fill in the booking form. (Normally £125)

More info & booking https://www.chrishead.com/post/write-inspired-comedy-sketches-zoom-course

STAND-UP BEGINNERS & IMPROVERS LONDON COURSE

If you want to try stand-up in London, this is an inspiring, friendly place to learn how and to develop your creativity and performance skills in ways you never thought possible.

Pay FULL FEE (£250) and enter code COMCROWD to receive a free 30 minutes online one-to-one session on your act

Course info:

6.30pm – 8.30pm,

Mondays 9th January to 27th February 2023*

@ Theatre Deli, 107 Leadenhall Street, London, EC3A 4AF

* no class 20th Feb half-term

And THE SHOW is 3pm on Sunday 5th March @ Museum of Comedy, Bloomsbury, LONDON

Full info & booking https://www.chrishead.com/post/about-my-stand-up-comedy-classes

by Ailish McCarty (@thesleepycomedian)

Hey everyone! Very excited to be submitting pieces to the Comedy Crowd, a fantastic platform that encourages creativity and showcasing comic talent. I’m writing a series of how comics can increase their brand online through my own trial and error. Tiktok has managed to outshine Instagram in terms of online content and can be a very powerful tool when it comes to approaching promoters and agencies. The thing to keep in mind about your Tiktok channel, is that it is a marathon and not a sprint. You will need to post a couple of videos a week, and the platform boosts creators that engage with other pages in order to boost a community online. Be patient and its better to put an idea online than to be quiet.

To get the ball rolling, I’ve listed a couple of do’s and don’ts when it comes to Tiktok to help comics boost their exposure on the platform.

DO’S

• Unless you have been living under a rock in the last year, odds are you’ve heard of TikTok. It is a video editing application that sky rocketed in the pandemic. The app promotes short videos in order to enable users to scroll through their for you page and absorb higher amounts of content. If your videos are 7 seconds long, it has been proven that Tiktok will push your video to reach more users

• The algorithm changes constantly. This is because recreations and sounds that go viral have a short shelf life. If you notice a sound is trending, make notes and see if you can hop on the trend while the algorithm is pushing it. If you hop on a trend too late, you will not have the same exposure as early initiators

• Do engage with the comments on your videos. This tricks the platform into thinking that your video is topical as it is reporting high levels of activity (comments), when all that you’re doing at the end of the day is thanking people for watching your content. TikTok boosts all activity when it comes to engaging with your community, so remember to like the comments and reply to them

• As I’ve mentioned, building a community is at the forefront of Tiktoks platform. Leave comments on other users videos and follow friends. This leads TikTok to avoid perceiving your account as a bot.

• Use the same username as your other socials so that its easy for people to find you on Instagram, twitter, facebook and Youtube.

DON’TS

• In the previous section, I mentioned jumping on trends in order to get your video boosted on the platform. Avoid creating a page where all you’re contributing is miming. This lowers the value of your content for followers – diversify. Post your own content as well as trends

• For the love of god – don’t tweet on TikTok. It is a video platform that promotes, you’ve guessed it – VIDEOS! If you want to post pictures, go to instargam or Twitter

• Don’t post reaction videos unless you have a following over 20,000. Nobody cares

• And last but not least, don’t lose hope in going viral. I was using the app for 18 months and following these steps before I got huge exposure. Be patient and be consistent

In our next blog post, I will discuss hashtags, so be sure to keep an eye out!

Check out Ailish’ superb comic stylings on her TikTok account – @thesleepycomedian

Signed up to The Comedy Crowd Newsletter? Weekly articles like this, plus all the latest opportunities, delivered straight to your inbox, here.

This video, by Sven Pape of the excellent ‘This Guy Edits‘ YouTube channel is an incredibly valuable insight into comedy creation through the eyes of an editor, specifically Roger Nygard, who has worked on ‘Veep’ and ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’.

He talks about a number of key lessons for editing comedy, and many of these should be considered throughout all stages of the creative process:

1. Yes, and…
How to apply the rule of improv to make sure you explore all options for creating the funniest scene.

2. Setup is primary
When a joke isn’t working, the problem is almost always in the setup, not the punchline.

3. Plot over jokes
Funny moments that emerge from situations are far more impactful than a nicely writen quip or pun.

4. Faster is funnier
Why pacing is key, and usually the faster the better. There’s a great example from Veep in the video.

5. Find the button
The button is the biggest moment of the scene, and it won’t necessarily come at the end of the script. The scene needs to be structured to optimise it.

6. Trim the fat
‘The enemy of comedy is the unnecessary pause’ says Nygard.

7. Cut Wide
Wider shots give greater possibilities for reaction and body language, but there are also times when you want to cut closer.

8. Feature every frame
In particular, how to frame a punchline to make sure it lands.

9. Keep it real
Why it’s so important to achieve authenticity in the final cut.

Signed up to The Comedy Crowd Newsletter? Weekly articles like this, plus all the latest opportunities, delivered straight to your inbox, here.

We are looking for an aspiring animator intern to develop a comedy project. This is a paid role at student intern rates for 5/6 hours per week that would be ideal for someone looking to gain experience alongside their studies or work. Details below!

Role: Animator intern – animating comedy content for distribution across multiple digital channels

Requirement: 2d animation experience including working experience with Toon Boom. Interest in comedy and keen to develop new ideas,

Time commitment: 5/6 hours per week

Duration: Ongoing from Feb 2022 for minimum of 3 months

Location: Remote working

How to apply: Please email a CV and brief summary about your interest in comedy to “theccteam@thecomedycrowd.com”, subject: “Intern Animator role”. Deadline is 31 January 2022.

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.

Click here to read more »

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.