Quote: Kevin Murphy @ December 11 2009, 12:01 PM GMTQuota.
Yay I'm in 'cos I'm a girl. I knew it would come in handy one day. 
Writing for Newsjack (aka 7 on 7) Page 90
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Any feedback from those who went on the 4th? How big was the group? Anyway, look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. 
What, and spoil the surprise?
Our group was 18 strong - 17 lads and one gal.
Don't forget to bring your jokes - they make you do it in your vest and pants, otherwise.
A fun day and great to meet the BCGers and the producers as well as Steve Punt. Bonus!
Ditto. Your anonymity has now been blown CN.
Bit scary knowing that the sketches we each had to write there would be performed that day but we survived and people laughed and I for one will see if I can recyle my vox pops for about 4 weeks' time.
The only awkward bit was Sweryt running around in his vest and pants, but you did warn him RJ. 
A very interesting and enjoyable day. And in the words of Lou Reed 'I'm glad I spent it with you... BCGers and other people I didn't previously know...'
Quote: Jane P @ December 13 2009, 9:01 AM GMTThe only awkward bit was Sweryt running around in his vest and pants, but you did warn him RJ.
Pleased to hear the day went well. Onwards!
Yup yup yup. Nice to see/meet y'all yesterday.
A bit of encouragement for those who weren't at a workshop but are planning to submit stuff for next series: the producers totally sold me on the notion that they (supplemented by a couple of Writersoom people) read absolutely everything and take notice of people who send in quality stuff on a regular basis. Even if you don't get stuff recorded or broadcast, if you consistently submit decent sketches your name will be remembered. Consistently good is better than occasionally brilliant, it was said.
I think Griff may have the facts and figures on how much non-comm is received each episode.
Yeah, just echoing what everyone said, a really useful day. The producers and BBC writers were helpful and encouraging, everyone on the workshop was really friendly, I learned loads, and wow, we had a talk from Steve Punt and even saw Barry Cryer in reception (who does have lovely white hair). Am really fired up to try and write loads for the next series.
That table read is brutal though!
Facts and figures - I think there were something like 600 sketches received every week, which get filtered down by the script readers to about 80 for serious consideration, and then whittled down further by two table reads, requests for rewrites, the on-mic rehearsal on the Wednesday, and some unlucky souls even get dropped after the Wednesday night recording, so that in the end there's around 15 sketches used per episode. Does that sound about right?
Yes I agree re everything getting read. Steve Punt re-iterated that about comedy submissions generally. I think they said they were getting 700 emails a week which could mean twice as many actual sketches. All are read and then the best 80 or so are given further consideration.
They choose approx 22 for the readthrough by the cast - after which they may work on them further or drop if there's no time to 'fix' them. And to recap from last time they'll usually record two or three more than they broadcast.
Just realised I'm not Griff, but I'm sure he'll correct me where my memory has failed!
And yes they did say they chose people for the workshop based on consistently sending in ideas they liked even if they weren't all used. Any conspiracy theories were convincingly squashed.
edit - I was typing at the same time as you Griff - some figures were approximate - just checked my notes - they gave different figures at diff times but yes hundreds of emails and approx 22 get read through.
Just looked at my notes Jane, I didn't write any numbers down so your recollection is as good as mine. Basically it was something like:
BILLIONS received -> about 80 seriously considered -> couple of dozen go into the readthrough process -> about 15 broadcast.
Anyway, to reiterate:
(1) Whether you've been broadcast already or not, whether you were on the workshop or not... if you do well on the next series of Newsjack (when they open it up for open subs) they are looking to find some writers to commission for future series. So it's a prize well worth aiming at and the opportunity is there for everyone.
(2) The producers made it clear that if you want to go onto bigger things on radio (your own sitcom etc) then even if you find a producer who supports your project, they still have to sell it to commissioners, and rightly or wrongly the commissioners will want to see that you have a track record as a writer. Shows like Newsjack and Recorded For Training Purposes are as good a way as any of getting one.
And yes, good to see you, Jane, Dan, Badge, Kevin and Nuts. A fine BCG turnout.
How many vox pops submissions do they get?
I don't remember them giving figures for that (someone else might know?) but presumably similar numbers?
Quote: Ben @ December 13 2009, 12:51 PM GMTHow many vox pops submissions do they get?
I can't speak for anyone else but I sent them about 173.
From chatting to people generally I think most of those who send sketches, send a few VPs at the same time.
They didn't mention them specifically but seem just as keen to continue them in the next run, although the corrections never took off in the same way.
Initially they limited the number of VPs you could send, not sure if that's still the case. I guess they'll print guidelines soon. The only thing Dan T mentioned about Vox Pops was that it's important to keep them short and write the language convincingly. Often they just 'sound' wrong.
Quote: ContainsNuts @ December 12 2009, 11:25 PM GMTA fun day and great to meet the BCGers and the producers as well as Steve Punt. Bonus!
Good to see ya Nuts!
(That's better than any of my gags from yesterday)
PS Good to see everyone else too. And I echo what everyone else says about the workshop.
One thing I forgot to say. Not very exciting but make sure you get your formatting right. Especially with the lack of time the producers have, it really helps them and gets you in their good books if you do. So a reminder...
Send as formatted Word documents not Final Draft (nor as Badge says BBC Script Smart). One document per sketch. One document with all your vox pops/ corrections on.
Use Arial 12pt. Space between dialogue. Character names in capitals.
Make sure your name and the sketch name are in the header OF EVERY PAGE. And insert page numbers on every page.
Make it as easy to read as possible. If as happened with one script yesterday they fluff it in the first read through because it's unclear it might get passed on because early laughs are missed.
They spent a fair bit of time reiterating all this and gave us an example so it's worth taking note.
And good luck all BCGers!
Jx