Alfred J Kipper
Sunday 15th November 2020 9:23am [Edited]
Aldershot
8,385 posts
Business is business, don't apologise, if punters are demanding a service, that means there's money in it. Is this service just for the same scripts or for new ones as well, and do they have to be 15 mins only?
Puzzled a bit by the short longlist, especially after such a long sifting process, if I may, and in a strong year for quality as you said earlier. Why only six when you say that some were just a tweak or two away from it? Why not let the entrants tweak them in the next stage then, keep the comp a little more open? Having more punters involved in the vital stages is both more encouraging to writers and a better business model, imho.
Some free feedback from me - I'm guessing this was a record breaking year for the number of comp entries, as BR got over 900 but still had a puny list of finalists, much as SM did. The ratio of finalists to entries, you can see ain't great there. We each had less than a 100/1 chance of getting a pleasing (non rejection) email. This in my view is not great look for fee charging comps, who seem to be doing well at the mo while giving little back, in way of real opportunities. I believe three, 3 won the prize of being networked across various platforms involved in it. Three.
Remember, No One is offering a straight commission, just an invite to have your work 'looked at' by industry bods. That's 3 from over 900. Three. You can tell what I think of that. On the plus side for them their feedback (only issued after the comp closes, unlike SM's) was very good, they've clearly got someone new in doing it because it was far more technically detailed than I've had before from them (although still only two full pages). I didn't agree with bits but it was reasoned, promptly delivered and at £42 for the entrance fee, decent value. That's the feedback service. What I do not think is decent value is 3 winners from 900+ especially when they talk of high quality entries the same as you.
Finally, back to SM, are you picking scripts based on trend and content advice from your judges or purely on comedy script writing merit regardless of it? What I mean is, are you having to pick out more dramedy style scripts and single camera non studio set scripts to fit the current output by broadcasters? That is the sense I'm getting from sitcom comps generally now and from BBCWR, who at least admit to it on their website. Thanks in advance for any replies and Good Morning. 
