I recently have come to the conclusion that its very unlikely that i'll get anything commisioned for TV by sending in unsolicited scripts. So i'm trying other avenues such as sending stuff in for Radio or getting in by doing stand up. Another way is to act but i can't be arsed with that. Has anyone else come to the same conclusion?
yup thats why I'm making a pilot show outta my own cold hard earned. People want things given to them not to have to think so this is my thinking plus going thee with walking talking life is always more exciting then a bit of paper with words on.
Totally agree, self-production is the way to get noticed.
DVDs of work etc are seemingly more appealing to poor harrassed TV execs than reading ten or more pages of double-spaced wide-margined thinly-populated pages.
** gives up **
Yeah this isn't a very promising thread for the rest of us on this forum that are sending off unsolicited material. 
You can get commissioned based off an unsolicited script, comedy is the area in which producers are crying out for, it's just that the majority of unsolicited material they get is crap..to put it bluntly. Send them something TV worthy, then they have no reason to turn it down.
Martin you remind me of the Albino bloke in the Da Vinci Code, you have so much faith. Unfortunately I don't share it.
I'm also trying to get something filmed, also getting on the sketch project would also be good because producers may take notice of it.
I gave up a couple of months ago because of Charlie Brooker. During a episode of Screenwipe on BBC4 he said this..
"If you have an idea for a show and that idea can either be done live or broadcast over the internet then for god's sake do it that way because the TV execs will probably just want to piss all over it anyway.
Although I'm attemtping to blaze ahead into this brave new digital world, I cannot help but feel I'm like one of those musicians who has a crap album that his record label turned down and therefore creates his own label to get it out there.
Time will tell.
Cameron, in that case take heart from Herp Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - No-one wanted to sign him up (Author of Little Spanish Flea) So him and his mate whos name began with M formed a little ole label call A and M Records. He later sold it for half a billion or something... I'm digressing.
I thought about getting into stand up, theres a few places round my way that do open mike, and I have jotted stuff down - But the more I read it, the shitter it sounds. You've got to brave or stupid to stand up in front of a room full of people with soul intention of making them laugh.
I thought about doing it in secret without telling anyone I know, so if I fail tremendously no one will ever know... mwwaahahaha!
ajp
Write for radio for a number of reasons:
(1) Apparently I've heard you get a script report back from BBC Radio. It takes about nine months, but you do get it back.
(2) If you can create 'pictures' on the radio, you'll find the transfer to TV a lot easier.
(3) Write for one-three characters, buy some sort of digital recorder (anything that'll record your voice) and podcast it yourself. This is what me and my writing partner are planning to do.
(4) Treat it as a hobby and don't stress about not getting commissioned. It's not what you know, it's who you know and getting on the internet and making a name for yourself is probably the best way to 'get to know people' (Don't worry -- they'll contact you if it's good enough)
Re: point (3). You could fire off an email to a local drama college (or evening college that does drama courses) asking if they're interested in performing a script and/or acting in a radio drama. Worked for me (I was on the comedy course 'downstairs' at the same college) and it was encouraging to see your work performed (and also be funny again cos it wasn't after 200+ reads). If you do this, go to the local pub afterwards and thank the actors. They'll all give you their numbers afterwards (cos actors will turn up to the opening of an envelope 
) and tell you to contact them if you're doing any more work. Such as your radio recording.
Hope this helps
Dan
The podcast idea is a good one, it's what I do. But I still hope to get some where with my sitcom script.
Definitely film stuff if you can but I think scripts are still the main route in, I've not heard of production companies asking for material instead of scripts (yet!). Filmed material is quite a novel top-of-the-pile jumper maybe.
The Podcast is a good idea, it's cheap and you don't have to be a great actor thanks to editing! And you can also tell if a sketch is funny before committing major time to filming it. That's happened to me a couple of times where I've thrown an idea out at the audio stage as it sucked.
The biggest problem is promotion. Unless you hit the comedy nail squarely on the head and it virals it can be just as frustrating watching your hit counter go up veeeeeeeeery slowly as it is waiting for a producer to read it.
I'm pretty much planning all of the above really...If you make a scattergun of your material ect it's hard to be ignored... I for instance have started a new Myspace... www.myspace.com/pscomedy
Yeah I plugged it why the hell not!
I'm doing my routine tonight and I've also found a couple more places to check out after that if I do well, so looking good for me at the moment.
And martin I would suggest doing what the slags do and try shooting some of your sitcom and sending it off in script form to production companies is one of the hardest routes to get your stuff commissioned and another problem we both have is our age, I've only heard of one comedy writer our age to get anywhere with comedy... (It’s on this site somewhere)
Good Luck Paul, let us know how it goes. I thought after reacching 21 i wouldn't have to worry about age, damn my youth and good health!
Yeah its all good advice here. Dan I have already transfered to writing for Radio for two reasons, Its cheaper to produce so more likely to get commissioned and, like you say, if it is rejected I can make it myself.
I think my next move maybe to get some sort of comedy reel, with stand up and filmed scripted stuff and send if off to an agent.
I think BabyCow ask for filmed material.
But does anyone know an example of an unsolicited comedy script (from a 'nobody') ending up as a mainstream TV series? I guess there have been some one-offs after 'new talent' competitions.
Well Susan Nickson got a commission after she entered a competition I think.
Another thing, I haven't got the money to film and hire actors to perform my script.