BBC WritersRoom Page 7

New to this site/forum. Wish I'd found it years ago but finally got here after searching for a discussion about the BBC's Writer's Room.

I've just finished writing a radio sitcom with the clear intention of sending it to the BBC. Now I'm not so sure. Does anybody know if there's an alternative way of submitting radio comedy?

Perhaps I'm wrong in not trusting the Writer's Room to take my work seriously but the BBC apparently exists for all us yet they don't even have a place where writers can gather and talk. (In fact, quite unlike the old Writer's Room.) And after reading this thread, is seems that most of you think that the WR is just a pointless PR stunt.

A few years ago, I spoke to a friend who'd just then gone to work inside the radio department at the BBC (though, not a friend good enough to get my scripts read). One day, I got them drunk enough to explain that the Beeb adopts this approach to commissioning new writing so they can actually have a zero-tolerance policy towards the slush pile. They encourage new writers in with one hand whilst the other hand holds a large stick with which they'll beat us silly for even daring to suggest that we're good enough to write for them. In other words, they appear to welcome new writers but there are few real opportunities. They don't want new work but launch periodic competitions to suggest that they do.

I could rant about this for hours but am I the only person that's annoyed that among the examples of 'excellent' writing they have on the site includes a monologue from Johnny Vegas with the opening line 'a crowd of polyester bry-nylon clad bloke's freeze'. So, okay, I'm just a pedant about apostrophes. But the whole shambles is epitomised by the fact that the link to the Writer's Room Liverpool comes up with a '404 Page not found' and has done so for months.

Okay. Now I'm just mad. Sorry for this... I'll retire to my dark corner.

Cheers. I will search them out.

I accept that I'm far too cynical but I refuse to believe that the BBC are anything but Machiavellian.

Have spoken to a few of the people who work in the Writers Room as readers and they all came across to me as genuinely passionate about finding and developing good work.

They read the first ten pages of everything. That's everything. They give everything a chance. If it doesn't go any further then its simply because there are major, major problems with it. And they could be any number of things.

I think a lot of people think the writers room is there to give advice. Looking at it like that is a mistake imho. They're not your tutors or even your friend. They are professionals doing a job. The onus is on you to deliver something which is the best you can do and is done to the best of your abilities. If you do that and it's a good original idea with good characters and writing, then they're there to help you find a home for it.

Don't send them first drafts. That's going to go in the bin straight away. Don't give them things you're unsure of. Give them something you're proud of.

don;t send them something you've knocked out in a few days because it's not going to be any good.

It's so easy to slag the writers room and blame them for not recognising your 'genius' but ask yourself - is what you've sent them the absolute best it could ever be?

I think they do a tough job for which they get a lot of grief from a lot of crazy types.

Don't write them off - people do get in that way and they offer excellent training and mentoring in some cases. One thing people often don't realise, is that the script you send is unlikely to ever get made - it will be viewed as a 'calling card' script and if they like it they will be interested in you and your work.

Jdubya, thanks for the reply. I wouldn't want to 'slag' them. No doubt the people running it are committed to finding new talent. I just wonder about their place in the larger commissioning process.

I can also see that the problem of commissioning new writing is that everybody with a keyboard attached to their computer believe they're the next Austen/Greene/Clancy/Galton&Simpson (tick where appropriate). There has to be someone to filter out the noise. I merely wonder if it's worth sending my work via that route. I certainly don't want them to be my friend but nor do I want patronizing. I just want my submission to be treated seriously and given a 'fair' chance. The old iteration of the Writer's Room seemed more interested in dealing with the community of writers. Having read through every page of the current site and having followed it for a while, it seems, for want of a better word, notional.

However, I will send my work – it is something I'm proud of, spent a long time writing, and believe is good. But, of course, what do I know.

Loopey, I will send it to them and hope it does work as a calling card. But if my calling card doesn't work, next time I will next try a bulldozer.

I was thinking more literally than that.

just writing generally. nothing personal Dicky.

I used to be of the opinion that the Writer's Room was a waste of time, mainly because they brushed-off a script of mine years ago. Dented pride and all that.

I don't think that way anymore. I've met the Writer's Room people and their readers and as JDubya says, they're truly passionate about unearthing new talent. True, there's no doubt that some gems will slip through the net given the enormous amount of material sent in, but I think they do an admirable job.

Just make sure your first ten pages are ridiculously-funny. And then make sure the rest of the script follows suit. And don't forget, the world doesn't begin and end at the Writer's Room. There are lots and lots of production companies out there who're just itching to exploit...(ahem, sorry)...nurture new talent.

Don't thnik for a second that comedy's a closed door. It really isn't. You just have to knock louder and longer than most.

Or if that fails, stick your knob through the letterbox. Knob gags are always funny.

I agree with uncle dick but got slagged off for nearly two years on another forum for suggesting the points uncle dick makes.
People do tend to speak the truth when drunk too

Quote: UncleDick @ May 25 2009, 6:47 PM BST

Jdubya, thanks for the reply. I wouldn't want to 'slag' them. No doubt the people running it are committed to finding new talent. I just wonder about their place in the larger commissioning process.

I can also see that the problem of commissioning new writing is that everybody with a keyboard attached to their computer believe they're the next Austen/Greene/Clancy/Galton&Simpson (tick where appropriate). There has to be someone to filter out the noise. I merely wonder if it's worth sending my work via that route. I certainly don't want them to be my friend but nor do I want patronizing. I just want my submission to be treated seriously and given a 'fair' chance. The old iteration of the Writer's Room seemed more interested in dealing with the community of writers. Having read through every page of the current site and having followed it for a while, it seems, for want of a better word, notional.

However, I will send my work – it is something I'm proud of, spent a long time writing, and believe is good. But, of course, what do I know.

Loopey, I will send it to them and hope it does work as a calling card. But if my calling card doesn't work, next time I will next try a bulldozer.

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Why not try the Sitcom Trials next time they come around. It seems the best way at the moment.

Quote: Lee Henman @ May 25 2009, 11:25 PM BST

Knob gags are always funny.

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Unless they're in Coming of Age.

Quote: Lee Henman @ May 25 2009, 11:25 PM BST

I've met the Writer's Room people and their readers and as JDubya says, they're truly passionate about unearthing new talent.

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I've met Writers Room bods too, and they're not that passionate about discovering new talent. They're mildly passionate.

Quote: Chappers @ May 26 2009, 1:17 AM BST

Why not try the Sitcom Trials next time they come around. It seems the best way at the moment.

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On which subject (though this appears in the Sitcom Trials thread too): I have just learned that Declan Hill & Simon Wright are no longer going to be producing The Sitcom Trials (a move which I hasten to add is entirely their own, as I have been more than delighted with the success of their two seasons in the saddle).

This means the onus is upon me to produce the 10th anniversary season in October. The Pitch Fest will be returning, under an exciting new guise, as will the original format with the winners announced at the end of each show. As for other details of the season, in particular the method by which the scripts will be selected, these are under discussion.

Writers, actors and directors who want to be involved should stay tuned to this spot for further details. (Don't email me your photos and CVs just yet, the call will come.)

Looks like the future of The Future Of Sitcom is back in my hands.

Kev F Sutherland
Executive Producer
The Sitcom Trials - The Future Of Sitcom, In Your Hands http://sitcomtrials.co.uk

Quote: chipolata @ May 26 2009, 10:20 AM BST

Unless they're in Coming of Age.

I've met Writers Room bods too, and they're not that passionate about discovering new talent. They're mildly passionate.

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Well as passionate as you can be about reading 99% shite all day

Quote: Lee Henman @ May 26 2009, 3:07 PM BST

Well as passionate as you can be about reading 99% shite all day

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LOL.

Well, I wouldn't like to do it, so I don't envy them.

Mind you, I read on someone's blog (might have been Danny Stack) that they way they do it is this:
Every couple of weeks or so, they go through all the ones sent during that time, clearing them as fast as possible.

Now, surely, doing it that way, with so much pressure, they're probably going to miss quite a few gems. I'd probably get so peed off, I'd end up reading only a couple of pages and not just 10, which I'm sure is done sometimes if they have a LOT to go through.

Wouldn't it be better to have readers in every day, going through them? That way, they can read more at their leisure, rather than bionic speed and skimming.