University of East Anglia launches TV comedy study

The University of East Anglia (UEA) has launched Make Me Laugh, a project to explore the creativity in British TV comedy.

The three-year project, funded with £300,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, is aiming to explore the working practices of those who work predominantly behind the scenes of sketch shows, sitcoms and all other types of British television comedy.

Through a series of interviews, the project will give writers, producers, directors, commissioners and other creatives the opportunity to talk about their careers, the projects that excite them, and the things that make their working lives difficult.

Make Me Laugh is also mapping the development of television comedy projects to show the chain of processes from concept through to broadcast.

A number of well-known names have already signed up to take part in the study. Men Behaving Badly writer Simon Nye, newly appointed BBC comedy commissioner Shane Allen, The Office producer Ash Atalla, Trollied creator Paul Doolan, Miranda writer Richard Hurst and Sky comedy commissioner Lucy Lumsden are amongst those who will be giving their views on the industry.

The project will also look at how creative processes contribute towards academic, policy and governmental understandings of the television comedy industry and its workers. The research comes as the Department for Culture, Media and Sport undertakes an inquiry into support for the creative industries. The Centre for Economics and Business Research also recently predicted that sectors such as the media and creative industries will be the major drivers of London's economy within five years.

The project has been announced as the second Salford Sitcom Showcase takes place at the BBC's new MediaCity HQ, an event in which six newly adapted pilots are being tested in front of a live studio audience (story).

Dr Brett Mills (pictured), the head of UEA's School of Film, Television and Media studies, is leading the Make Me Laugh project. Dr Mills, who has previous written two books on the subject of sitcom (Television Sitcom in 2005, and The Sitcom in 2009), says: "Comedy is a multi-million pound industry in the UK. Last year the main public broadcasting channels spent in the region of £140m on comedy output and showed almost 2500 hours of comedy programming.

"What we are doing is looking in detail at the whole TV comedy industry - from writers, directors and producers to high level commissioners, and their relationships within the industry structure.

"We want to get an insight into how they go about their jobs every day, and the pleasures they get from their work. We'll investigate their career paths and ambitions, as well as unearth the factors that make their jobs more difficult, and identify how comedy workers at all levels can be better supported."

Lucy Lumsden says: "It's a fascinating and unusual experience to look at the nature of comedy and creativity from a more academic perspective and I'm delighted to have been asked to participate. I'm sure the project will prove to be incredibly valuable and helpful to all those wanting to learn more about the industry."

Simon Nye, whose latest sitcom was In With The Flynns, adds: "I'm glad to be involved in this project as British television comedy is a vital part of our culture and our national identity, and anything that can make the industry think about how it works, and supports all those involved in it, is to be welcomed. It's also interesting chatting to academics - they ask weird questions."

Meanwhile Shane Allen, who is just transitioning from being Head of Comedy at Channel 4 to the BBC's new Comedy Commissioner, has described the initiative as "incredibly interesting and useful".

If you work in the television comedy industry and would like to be involved in the project, email makemelaugh@uea.ac.uk for more details. The website for the study also has more information: www.makemelaugh.org.uk