Quote: Dolly Dagger @ December 20 2008, 6:14 PM GMTYeah and what's the secret to joining these secret clubs other than having sketches selected and broadcast by radio shows - because it seems there is some further criteria
? Possibly not being female and not being called Daniel?
Damn my parents!.... I should have been called Jeremy.
Quote: Griff @ December 20 2008, 6:13 PM GMTAll I know is when David Bishop went on a similar workshop a couple of years ago and then wrote up the sketch writing notes on his blog, he got a massive bollocking from the BBC... so I probably will go a bit "Fight Club" on this one, sorry Dan. There's no massive secret anyway, it's not like they said "Use the code word 'badger' and we'll buy it every time."
Blimey - David Bishop? Small world. I have something writing based in common with him. He and I are two of the only 10 people in the world to have done one specific thing...
Quote: sootyj @ December 21 2008, 12:15 AM GMTOi me to Mikeyj and at least one other.
Fancy joining me in my new shouting based show.
To be performed in Regent's Park, the Circle Line and Paddington nick.
Ah, that would be me. I can't get there to shout, but I'll be screaming on the inside. Just like always. 
Quote: sootyj @ December 21 2008, 12:26 AM GMTIt's not the first, second or 100th knock back that counts.
It's the one that stops you producing.
Plenty of succesful writers have waited a long time before their bite of the cherry.
And tomorrow is another day.
Yep. Never give up. Keep going out of hope & on days when that gets low, keep going out of spite. They are not more determined to keep me out than I am to get in. We must bide our time and wait for the proper moment...
Quote: Ben @ December 20 2008, 11:28 PM GMTI didn't realise Gareth Edwards was acting head of Radio comedy. He's a lovely man and once gave me some excellent pointers as to where I was going wrong with sketch writing.
Only for now I believe. It's until they find someone to take over permanently from Paul Schlesinger. Gareth's a really nice person. He said he would read my script... except he hasn't got back to me yet, heh.
Quote: Griff @ December 20 2008, 6:13 PM GMTAll I know is when David Bishop went on a similar workshop a couple of years ago and then wrote up the sketch writing notes on his blog, he got a massive bollocking from the BBC... so I probably will go a bit "Fight Club" on this one, sorry Dan. There's no massive secret anyway, it's not like they said "Use the code word 'badger' and we'll buy it every time."
Sounds a bit harsh. I was going to write about a writers' meeting I had and submit the article to Chortle. I thank God I didn't now. (Though if he brought up sketch ideas which were pitched during the meeting he deserved it)
Am I the only one terrified about offending the Beeb somehow? Can I take notes about what sketches get recorded on Friday without incurring some kind of wrath?
Oh, and yes, Gareth Edwards is lovely (as is Victoria Lloyd as far as I can tell).
Quote: Griff @ December 21 2008, 9:41 AM GMTI don't know David personally but I enjoy reading his blog. But he did get into a spot of bother from writing up a BBC sketch workshop he went to. Mind you, he practically took it down in shorthand and reproduced it word for word. (I remember, because I managed to print off and save the notes before he was asked to take them down.)
OK, reading that post, my (thankfully unwritten) article wouldn't have been anything close to that detailed.
So are there 40 more slots for non-comm writers or is the 40 figure including the non-comms who got into the last recording? Either way, it's still a decent figure for a 6 part series. I'm going to have to push my rewrites to the max as I think competition will be fierce.
And in these e-mail days it's an open invitation to some poor producer getting a 1000 messages.
I suppose they need to put their filters in place and we need to respect them.
Even if they are all Sootyj grade filters.
Quote: Ben @ December 20 2008, 11:28 PM GMTI didn't realise Gareth Edwards was acting head of Radio comedy. He's a lovely man and once gave me some excellent pointers as to where I was going wrong with sketch writing.
He's good at spotting talent. Well, he spotted me. Well done to anyone who sent into this show who's getting somewhere with it.
Quote: Griff @ December 21 2008, 4:30 PM GMTYakob - I don't think there's any reason why you shouldn't jot down the sketches from a recording and post them on BSG. That's a PUBLIC show open to anyone who gets hold of a ticket, so the running order is in no way confidential.
But an internal meeting at the BBC is completely different. It feels inherently wrong to me to accept an invitation to a training workshop and then go straight home and then post all the details on the Internet. If I was one of the script editors giving the presentation, I wouldn't be very pleased to see all my work suddenly made public to the entire world without my consent.
Ben - the 40 figure wasn't entirely hard and fast, it was a rough estimate I think - but I believe it covered everything that wasn't being delivered by the commissioned writers. So - submitted sketches they liked by the invited writers, plus anything new submitted by the invited writers, plus everything written by the existing team like Afinkawan, Pripyat etc, plus any rewrites from people who got "the email" = 40 sketches in total.
I wouldn't make anybody's work public and would consider doing so out of order. I'm just hoping there isn't a problem with making a very general posting somewhere about what a writers' meeting is like (rather than specifics about what transpires there) for the benefit of people like me who have wondered for years what they're like, without a producer or script editor getting mad.
Really I'm writing this post out of paranoia. I'm scared there are unwritten rules between producers and writers I'm obvious to and I'm going to bother someone by breaking one.
Now I shall stop blathering.
I think they're only likely to get upset is if the report is a word for word reproduction of what they told you. And obviously, giving away private email addresses would probably irk them.
Oh no, I wouldn't mention names or content. I have at least enough social sense not to do that.
This paranoia is a result of getting a little bit 'in' with something and being weary of anything that could possibly get me 'out'.
Now you're all making me paranoid that I've said too much already! It would be out of order to mention any specific scripts or give out email addresses, but I don't think the general tips I mentioned are great secrets are they? I'm guessing they want whatever writing they receive to be as good as possible so that they can make a show that is as funny as possible.
I'll shut up now.
Yes, best leave it there I think. See you at the recording I hope.
Hi everybody, glad it went well for those who got invited. Apparently though, there is a small contingent of invitees now known as 'the blabbers' who are 'proper f**ked' ???
Wha' 'appened?
