Quote: sootyj @ June 18 2009, 10:34 PM BSTPlease stick these in critique or else this thread will get a little confused.
I just posted them so people could see some stuff that didn't make it -- I wasn't looking to derail the thread or to get feedback. I'll leave them up for a bit for people to read and then delete them.
Congrats to all who got stuff in the show.
It was a bit different from the pilot -- more a fake news show than a sketch show, and much more topical in content.
Quote: Dolly Dagger @ June 19 2009, 9:33 AM BSTI think that may have been the funniest thing in the show.
Not at all for a sketch. But I think they only used one-liners in the end from non-comm writers.
Yeah, It's not that long for a sketch. But in this venue, it's too long for a writer trying to break in. Still, at least I feel I have some vague clue now. For all it will help me 
Quote: Little Jersey Devil @ June 19 2009, 9:41 AM BSTYeah, It's not that long for a sketch. But in this venue, it's too long for a writer trying to break in. Still, at least I feel I have some vague clue now. For all it will help me
When Tilt launched they asked for sketches and one-liners based on spoof news headlines. Loads of people wrote the headlines and they never got used (if memory serves me right) but 2 page sketches were. It seems to be the other way round with Newsjack; they're using the one-liners and not the sketches. Of course the fee for the one-liners will be pennies, as they pay by the second....
Quote: Dolly Dagger @ June 19 2009, 9:47 AM BSTWhen Tilt launched they asked for sketches and one-liners based on spoof news headlines. Loads of people wrote the headlines and they never got used (if memory serves me right) but 2 page sketches were. It seems to be the other way round with Newsjack; they're using the one-liners and not the sketches. Of course the fee for the one-liners will be pennies, as they pay by the second....
Maybe I can write a one liner where the actor has to speak very slowly...Jokes from heavy gravity planets!
Quote: Dolly Dagger @ June 19 2009, 9:47 AM BSTOf course the fee for the one-liners will be pennies, as they pay by the second....
I don't think that's true Dolly, they'll round anything under a minute up to a minute - certainly my payments from Tilt and RFTP got rounded up?
But even so, of course, it's still hardly going to be a fortune.
Quote: Griff @ June 19 2009, 9:58 AM BSTI don't think that's true Dolly, they'll round anything under a minute up to a minute - certainly my payments from Tilt and RFTP got rounded up?
But even so, of course, it's still hardly going to be a fortune.
Didn't they add all the sketch times together and then round up? I can't remember....
Quote: Griff @ June 19 2009, 9:58 AM BSTI don't think that's true Dolly, they'll round anything under a minute up to a minute - certainly my payments from Tilt and RFTP got rounded up?
But even so, of course, it's still hardly going to be a fortune.
My payments from RFTP got rounded up. I made zero sales. You can't get rounder than zero 
Quote: Dolly Dagger @ June 19 2009, 10:05 AM BST
Hark at her, with her *four* sketches on!
On Tilt, average sketch from non-comms was 45 seconds from what I recall being informed. So, if you're really intent on conforming (and what sort of writer are you if you do?!) to something, you probably want to aim for one page of script to maximise your chances.
That said, a sketch ends when it ends, in my opinion.
As is becoming increasingly regular, I again have no point.
Dan
Did all quickies and one liners ... to no avail. Nothing my longer than half a page and most well under.
http://thefridaylink.com/blog/2009/06/topical-failures-some-newsjack-rejects/
(didn't want to clog up the thread with a long list of my misses)
Will have a look at the brief again and try to make something that fits better next week.
I haven't listened yet but well done to Matthew, David and any other lurkers who got on. From the comments it sounds like the tone has shifted a bit from the pilot. I am hoping to have it sussed in time for week 7.
It's worth a listen ... its quite a good show and deserves a slightly better slot.
The good news - for the chances of getting something in - was that this was a lot more up-to-date topical than the pilot, which means people can't just send in "bottom drawer" stuff, and therefore they'll be less of a deluge of material, esp. for sketches.
The bad news was that the pilot was misleading as a result and - like Mikey J - I subsequently sent in more general zeitgeisty material which wasn't really suitable. But with my "glass half full" hat on, I'm happy to write off one week if it means I stand more chance of being successful in future.
Also sounds like there were was a greater percentage of sketches (vs one-liners) than had seemed the case at the recording, which is also good news as there's loads of TV/radio programmes out there for topical one-liners, but very few for topical sketches. Plus if the Beeb is out to develop new writers, then writing sketches does that more than one-liners in my view.
Quote: swerytd @ June 19 2009, 10:37 AM BSTHark at her, with her *four* sketches on!
On Tilt, average sketch from non-comms was 45 seconds from what I recall being informed. So, if you're really intent on conforming (and what sort of writer are you if you do?!) to something, you probably want to aim for one page of script to maximise your chances.
That said, a sketch ends when it ends, in my opinion.
Dan
I'd agree with that about short sketches normally, i.e. if you consistently produce one minute sketches full of gags then you'll always do well selling material to shows. However, I do find that for topical sketches, the shorter sketches I see/hear are mostly based around the sort of groaning punchline better suited to the 1970s/80s... There were quite a few long sketches in the pilot and last night, some of which could have been made comfortably shorter but a decision had clearly been made to maximise the potential by letting them run for over 2 mins.
I love a constant stream of short sketches ... like a topical form of Demetri Martin's stand up. I would love a show where nothing ran longer than 2 minutes.
BNP- Daleks
Argh! Bang goes my sketch about David Cameron interviewing a Dalek as he'll let anyone be a conservative, but the punchline is that he ends up saying that the dalek would be better suited in the BNP.
+++++ EDIT ===========
Regarding the vox pop about cheese-face. Am I being thick. I don't get the reference? Am I missing something that's happened in the news about a cheese-face comment?
Quote: Mikey Jackson @ June 19 2009, 1:19 PM BSTRegarding the vox pop about cheese-face. Am I being thick. I don't get the reference? Am I missing something that's happened in the news about a cheese-face comment?
No, it's just a silly little bit, I don't think Brown does actualy go around calling people cheese-face. It's just supposed to be silly and so, hopefully, funny. In a softer 'On The Hour' type way.
