Writing for Newsjack (aka 7 on 7) Page 24

Quote: Mikey Jackson @ June 2 2009, 12:54 AM BST

Well, I have 43 radio sketches that I've written over the past few months which will be suitable for Newsjack.
Most of these have a very long shelf life, i.e. the economy, political, modern culture, etc, as opposed to news stories that wouldn't stay news that long. Many of these have been used in NewsRevue and Treason.

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Does anyone know what the BBC view is on material that's been previously shown, i.e. would the Beeb be very annoyed if they broadcast something and then discovered it had been on NR/TS (given that means several performances...potentially 20+ for NR)? I have a back catalogue of NR/TS stuff, but have always assumed I shouldn't send it in to the likes of Tilt.

I shouldn't think they'd mind about previous theatre performances of sketches.
After all, there are a lot of theatre productions that eventually transfer to radio.

Good questiojn. I don't know.

I'm fairly sure they'd be annoyed at paying you for a sketch and then you using it somewhere else later.

I suppose you'd have to be very sure that you had retained full rights to the sketches and that they weren't going to be used anywhere else after you'd sold them to the BBC, like in an end of year show or on a website or something.

Quote: Afinkawan @ June 2 2009, 2:04 PM BST

I'm fairly sure they'd be annoyed at paying you for a sketch and then you using it somewhere else later.

I suppose you'd have to be very sure that you had retained full rights to the sketches and that they weren't going to be used anywhere else after you'd sold them to the BBC, like in an end of year show or on a website or something.

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I don't think I'd ever it do it that way round but I have a recollection that the BBC sketch contracts I've had have signed over the rights to them for a certain period. Although the end-of-year show is very relevant to anyone thinking of sending in a sketch already used by NR/TS, i.e. they'd probably have to tell NR/TS they can't use it at Christmas/in Edinburgh.

As I have understood it, and I did ask a radio producer about this, you retain the rights of the sketch, but they retain the rights of that performance of it.

I can't see anyone would mind if the sketch had been previously performed live - after all how many people had seen it as NR? - as although NR have paid to use your sketch they don't own it.

But would it be topical enough?

Not really answering the question (as usual!) but Tilt had a totally different 'vibe' to NR/Treason. I found the topical stuff I was writing at the time either went to one or the other(s). I never managed to write anything that I thought suited both radio and stage at the same time.

Dan

Ladies and Gentlemen, we're officially on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/newsjack.shtml

Dan

Fanks Dan, and good luck all - and well done the Beeb for opening the doors (let's hope they're prepared for the inevitable avalanche!)

Quote: DrVole @ June 2 2009, 9:28 PM BST

Fanks Dan, and good luck all - and well done the Beeb for opening the doors (let's hope they're prepared for the inevitable avalanche!)

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Hopefully they'll avert a Laura Solon-scale "now what do I have in my bottom drawer" avalanche by being very specific about what they want...

This (Newsjack) pilot is on Radio 7 tonight at 11pm, in case anyone needs a reminder.

Dan

It will be interesting to see the show's structure.

Yeah, it was alright. I can sort of see the sort of things they want now.

Dan

An interesting listen. Now it is just a matter of coming up with the material they want.

The pilot seemed to be written by a lot of the Radio 4 usual suspects. 2 of the writers were non-comm by my count (obviously they'll be a lot more non-commers later).

My sketch was cut. Guess I'll flog it elsewhere.

I'm not sure what to make of it. I notice they seem to favour "silly" stuff.

But aside from that, with the right material, I can see its potential as being a good show.

The performers are all top-notch.

The GOOD thing, so I see here, is that it's not ALL news. They also take a punt at modern culture too, which broadens the scope.

How did they train the audience to laugh and then ALL abruptly stop laughing at once. You know, short bursts? Usually, you have some trailing laughter.