October saw the first Comedy Conference to be held in Salford Quays, providing attendees with the unique opportunity to meet controllers from BBC, Sky, Channel 4 and ITV. The conference brought together commissioners, producers and performers to discuss all issues currently surrounding the comedy genre, topics included new platforms, nurturing talent and what the commissioners are looking for.
Possibly, the most anticipated session was entitled ‘I have a cunning plan’, a chance to hear what the commissioners want. Chaired by comedian John Bishop who questioned a panel that consisted of Shane Allen (head of comedy, C4/E4), Elaine Bedell (head of comedy ITV1), Lucy Lumsden (head of comedy Sky) and Cheryl Taylor (head of comedy BBC TV).The audience learnt of ITV’s larger comedy budget and their search for a new pre watershed comedy from Sept 2012, they are also keen to commission a female driven comedy. Channel 4 are also looking for new commissions as they have now gone from commissioning 25 hours of comedy to 70 and are searching for comedies based on universal subjects. Sky have changed the comedy landscape and continue to do so with their vast opportunity for commissions across Sky Living, Sky Arts, Sky One and Sky Atlantic. On screen comedy looks set to double over the next 18 months offering new comedies some fantastic opportunities.
A later session of interest was aptly named “And now for something completely different” considering how comedy content might be consumed in the future. There seemed a reluctance in the crowd to the idea of producing comedy in new formats. Maybe it's time to try and change that mind set and hopefully this session proved food for thought for those currently working in comedy.
The day concluded with a session on what makes great comedy? Kenton Allen (Big Talk), Ash Atalla (Rough Cut), Damon Beesley (Bwark) and James Corden made a fantastic panel. They shared both their experiences of triumph and misfortune, proving that unfortunately there is no sure fire way of making a successful comedy. However, one thing that they all had in common was their most successful comedies (The Royle family The Office, The Inbetweeners and Gavin and Stacey) had all been created organically, developed on their original ideas and what they wanted to produce rather than writing to a brief.
The day was packed full of insightful sessions all delivered in a relaxed manner leaving the audience feeling comfortable enough to participate throughout the day. Hopefully, everyone left as I did, feeling well informed and excited about the future of comedy.
