Seeking a comedy producer.

Hello.

Okay just thought I'd put this out there but I've been trying to find a producer to help bring together a project I wrote that has attracted several headliner acts and some up and coming talented actors. It's a Northern based sitcom, somewhere along the lines of League of Gentleman and Pheonix Nights. I need someone who can help bring this together, push the script to the next level and bring to production on a small budget. Ideally I'm looking for someone with experience producing comedy.

I suppose PM moi if you're interested and we can take it from there.

Best

Chris

What sort of small budget do you have Chris?

Hi Marc. The budget at the minute is fairly meagre, around £200 but the intention is to raise funds once a suitable producer is found. Have been told by several producers the film is achievable for around a thousand pounds.

Quote: confusedcommunist @ May 31 2012, 8:28 PM BST

Hi Marc. The budget at the minute is fairly meagre, around £200 but the intention is to raise funds once a suitable producer is found. Have been told by several producers the film is achievable for around a thousand pounds.

View original

Sad to say you aren't going to attract many producers with just £200.

Well I'm looking for a producer to help find ways to raise the funds. Obviously I will throw in my own tuppence.

Quote: confusedcommunist @ June 2 2012, 11:46 PM BST

Well I'm looking for a producer to help find ways to raise the funds. Obviously I will throw in my own tuppence.

View original

So, you're up to £200.02.
Onwards and upwards.

Seriously, though, if you have genuine attachments shouldn't you be taking it to an existing production company?

Quote: confusedcommunist @ June 2 2012, 11:46 PM BST

Well I'm looking for a producer to help find ways to raise the funds. Obviously I will throw in my own tuppence.

View original

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!

Sorry.

The producer is on the debit side of the accounts, something that needs to be paid-or even if they are a volunteer travel expenses etc. need to be arranged. Yes, they ask for funds for things, but they need to see some money first.

Your accounts need to worked out before you get a producer aboard...

http://www.wefund.com/how-wefund-works

If you need to raise money, start a WeFund. If people's pledges hit the 100% total, you'll get the money to shoot your show.

Although, if you're really confident in the script and it will only cost £1,000 to make, you should be able to cover that money yourself with a little bit of saving.

Also, if you want to attract a producer, why not amend your first post to include a script sample? That'd be more convincing.

Quote: Lazzard @ June 3 2012, 9:57 AM BST

Seriously, though, if you have genuine attachments shouldn't you be taking it to an existing production company?

View original

Lazzard is very right. Unless you've exaggerated the level of talent.

Also, to produce a broadcast quality pilot, you will need a fair bit more than a grand.

Sorry Tim but the idea for me getting a producer is so I can work out accounts etc. I'm no good at it and as far as I'm concerned and what has been explained to me it's one of the many things a producer does, they find resources and funding or at least attract some.

I've attempted to try and get it to existing production companies but unless you know their script development execs or producers, very hard to get it to them especially if you don't have an agent. Its been sent and read by the BBC Comedy North, they said it was too dark for them for the time being. I'd love to get someone at Baby Cow to read it. I'm not looking to make it broadcast quality but the things you can do with a DSLR these days is incredible and a lot of the semi decent comedy pilots I've seen made were done for a thousand. So I don't think doing it for a £1000 is completely unreasonable.

Thanks Gary for the link, I'll have a look. As for the sample script its not a bad idea but ideas do get nicked amongst other issues.

Well I guess the cost just depends on how decent you want it to look/sound. You do want it looking as slick as possible really if you're planning to show it to professionals. I mean, I co-made a pilot a couple of years back and it cost a lot more than a grand and we had to ask a lot of favours to keep costs reasonable.

Ben would you be kind enough to let me know exactly how much you spent on the pilot, and what your money went on? Was it money well spent?

I'm putting together the finishing touches to a 30 minute sitcom script, and in view of my zero industry contacts or experience, I've resolved that I'll probably have to make a pilot myself.

I'd like to think my only major expense will be a prosumer camcorder, which I anticipate spending £1k, but maybe that's naive? Any advice from someone whos 'been there done that' would be appreciated. thanks.

Ik won't get you a broadcast quality camcorder with a decent lens, I shouldn't think. You'd be better off hiring one. And sound is a major issue to factor in.

Thanks Marc - renting's a great idea and one I hadn't even considered, so thanks!

I guess I'm not hell-bent on getting something broadcast quality, although I agree sound needs to be pretty sharp - sometimes you watch something in 'Showcase' and it's barely audible, which is useless. The quality of picture and other production values is less important IMO: a lot of stuff on TV today (in high definition) is a lot less funny than Peter Cook or Monty Python in grainy low definition, where the poor quality production values aren't detrimental to the humour...

All I'll say, Newman, was that it was more than a couple of grand for the total thing! We had a production company involved who provided all the equipment and you really do need decent equipment. As Marc says, the sound is very important and you need good kit to achieve that.

With a sitcom, I wouldn't really advise filming a pilot as it's going to be a waste of money. Production companies just want to see a script. The only reason that myself - and the writers I was working with - filmed our pilot was that it had a specific bent that you couldn't really show in a script. Whether it was worth it is open to interpretation. We didn't get commissioned, but personally, I learnt a lot about how scripts translate to screen. Also, I got to work with my hero, Kevin Eldon.