Sitcom (Com)Mission Page 81

Quote: Rhys Jennings @ May 19 2010, 1:35 AM BST

Big Thanks to Simon and Declan for all their effort on The Sitcom Mission. I've been in three under the direction of Lisa Cagnacci and I've been having a great time. I'm proud to be in the final with Custody by Paul Stokes.

I've also been blogging about the competition the past few weeks on my blog, The Actor Begins, so you can see what it's like from an actor's P.O.V if you like: http://www.theactorbegins.com

Good luck to the next round of semi-finalists. Particularly the cast and crew of 'Thunderer' who rock!

See you at the final!

Rhys

View original

I enjoyed reading your blog Rhys

Thanks Bushbaby - glad you enjoyed the blog! I can add you to the mailing list if you like

Hearty congratulations to Deadly Danger and Custody, you clever group of clever so-and-so's. If I don't laugh at your stuff at the final I'll kick up a fuss.

Anyone else aiming to head down for the Grand Finalé?

Quote: Rhys Jennings @ May 19 2010, 1:35 AM BST

I've also been blogging about the competition the past few weeks on my blog, The Actor Begins, so you can see what it's like from an actor's P.O.V if you like: http://www.theactorbegins.com

Rhys

View original

Top quality bloggage there Rhys! Good work. The site looks really good too, very well presented.

I'm suffering an odd, unprecedented sensation of jealousy as I look at the nice little date tabs on the left hand side of your posts... I want some...

Trust me Penge, it's all smoke and mirrors. Look a little closer and you'll see evidence of my lack of php knowledge!

I am very proud of the design though. I built it pretty much from scratch and it took me five days of staring at computer codes, but I got there in the end!

I'm bored, so I'm gonna go browse through www.randomlinkage.com - looks good!

Monday 24th is our second semi final.

We sold out for the first one, but at this stage still have tickets available for both the 5 o'clock industry show and the main show at 8.

Come along and talk to us. Meet other writers, network with directors. Persuade us why we were wrong to reject your script in the first place.

To book tickets for either show just Google The New Diorama Theatre.

Simon
for The Sitcom Mission

So that's that then as far as the heats and semi-finals are concerned...

A good-sized audience for both shows, with some great judges:

Esta Charkham, comedy producer
Alexi Duggins, TV critic, Time Out
Rob Epstein, TV critic, Sunday Independent
Karen Rosie, BBC radio producer
Marc Blake, Author, How To Be A Sitcom Writer

The sitcoms in contention were:

Thunderer by Bryn Mills, directed by David Fynn
Gladiators by Steve Keyworth, directed by Maggie Inchley
The Selected Few by Harrinder Dhillon, directed by Kamaal Hussein
Arthouse by Graeme Knowles, directed by Sacha Grimsditch

The audience voted for Arthouse and Thunderer at the 5pm and the 8pm show went for Thunderer and The Selected Few. The judges decided that Arthouse and Thunderer would go through to the Grand Final on June 7th.

So, to the audience leaderboard. The combined 5pm and 8pm votes on the night were:

Thunderer 62
Gladiators 16
The Selected Few 48
Arthouse 42

Which gave us a final leaderboard as follows:

(* = already through to the Grand Final on judges' vote):

Deadly Danger 142*
Thunderer 133*
Custody 131*
Arthouse 80*
The Selected Few 75
The Box 64
Should Know Better 54
Pints 46
The Moo Crew 44
Sitting Ducks 42
Gladiators 41
Sarantasia 38
The End Of Fun 37
The Honeys 33
Sons Of Diamond 21
Stand And Deliver 20

This gives us a Grand Final line-up of:

Deadly Danger
Thunderer
Custody
Arthouse
The Selected Few

Interesting that both the judges and audience voted for the same top four.

Thanks as ever to Jessica Fostekew for being a top MC and Debs Jones for being a fab stage manager. The Scat Pack make writing a show look easy with their utterly superb improv.

So, a week off next week thanks to Bank Holiday Monday, and we're back for our last gig of the season on Monday June 7th. The 5pm show is industry-only (apart from those eager people who've already bought tickets), so we'll see you at the 8pm show.

Cheers, Declan and Simon

Bravo and well done to Thunderer and Arthouse. I'm genuinely intrigued by Thunderer, I haven't seen it yet and have high hopes! If only for the name "Miss Amy Peasegoode", which is inspired.

I suppose it's a good thing that both the judges and the audience agree on the top sitcoms. It not only confirms that the judges obviously knew what they were on about, but also will stop any big arguments/fights/wars/kidnappings from popular audience entries that inexplicably didn't make it through.

Bring on the final! I've only seen Deadly Danger and The Selected Few (both my conquerors) so it's difficult for me to predict, but I've got to say that Deadly Danger is my favourite for the win so far, if I was a betting man.

Which I'm not. So I wouldn't listen to my betting odds.

I've only got knowledge of earlier versions of Should Know Better and The Box, and I know anything that beats those two must be doing good stuff. Congrats and good luck to the finalists and all involved.

Well both Deadly Danger and The Selected Few beat my obviously utterly mind-bendingly incredible and superb and too far ahead of it's time to be appreciated "Pints" so I'll be rooting for one of those to win, so I can say

"Well I did get beaten by the winner, so I didn't stand a chance really..."

Whatever you say, that approach is not childish. Because I said so. So there!

Have they all stuck to the crucially 15 mins? I am struggling to get my latest one down to that

Some of them have come in around 20 minutes, but we've put the word out to the writers and directors that they have to be as near as dammit for the Grand Final. One of the judges has to leave at 6.30, so the sitcoms have to come in on time.

It's best to make those cuts before you send it in and have something that's watertight, rather than be faced with having to cut something that's been successful thus far.

The 5 o'clock show on Monday 7th June is for industry only, so no tickets are currently on general sale, and the 8 o'clock show is completely sold out.

We're taking a short break after the grand final but watch this space where we will post the call for scripts for The Sitcom Mission 2011.

Next thing in the Sitcom Mission diary is a workshop on Saturday 5th June. Contact us for details.

Simon and Declan
The Sitcom Mission

Quote: simon wright @ June 1 2010, 11:19 AM BST

Next thing in the Sitcom Mission diary is a workshop on Saturday 5th June.

View original

Anyone going to the workshop this Saturday?

Quote: simon wright @ June 1 2010, 11:19 AM BST

The 5 o'clock show on Monday 7th June is for industry only, so no tickets are currently on general sale, and the 8 o'clock show is completely sold out.

View original

And I'm gutted that I've not been able to make a single show in this season. I's sounds like it's been the absolute best, with a stellar line up of judges, some brilliant presenters by the sound of it, and audiences to die for. Have a good one on Monday, I'll be there in spirit.

Kev F off of the Sitcom Trials

PS: Sitcom Trials may be having a one off next month in Manchester, stay tuned to the thread elsewhere in this forum. Autumn plans still up in the air I'm afraid.

We had an excellent workshop yesterday with some very good people.

One of whom came all the way from Kosovo. This beats our previous long-distance attendees (Paris and Finland) by some distance.

For those who managed to get tickets for the grand final-why not come and say hello? It would be good to put faces to names.

Simon and Declan
The Sitcom Mission