Fuzzbox

Producer Sally Snelling and director Peter Snelling, from production company My Pockets, talk to BCG about creating their comedy pilot. Fuzzbox is a puppet based sketch show featuring the voices of real teenagers having real conversations.

Thanks for talking to us. Could we start by asking you to explain how Fuzzbox came to be, as it's not your average comedy show?

Fuzzbox came about from working with teenagers on a First Light project tackling sex education. We wanted to produce something that teenagers would easily engage with, with a sense of humour, so we came up with the idea of using the puppets to do this. These 90 second films were then used as part of the application process for the Feed My Funny pilot.

The name came from the puppets being 'fuzzy' and them being on TV (i.e. 'box'). I can't repeat what the kids involved wanted to call the show!

Ha ha. So the conversations are real teenagers saying real things?

Yes. We started recording the conversations in November 2012 and we locked the audio edit late January. We had to work around the school schedules so we usually worked a couple of afternoons or days per week in each referral centre.

The candid responses of the young people involved are genuine. We have worked in both places many times before, so they either knew us or knew My Pockets, which helped create an atmosphere of trust. We didn't want to make them look like idiots - it was what they had to say that was funny.

The teenagers do say some quite amusing things. Was it hard to keep a straight face when taping them?

It was really great fun to make the recordings. We would all re-count stories, good and bad, to show they could be honest with us, and we learnt to do silent laughing!

Why did you opt to use pupils from, er, we're not sure what the right term is - 'trouble schools'?

We used the teenagers from pupil referral centres as they have more to say than most. They have experienced a lot of life at a much younger age due to family circumstances etc, and they often deal with the position they find themselves in with humour.

The pilot has been online for a while now via BBC iPlayer. Have you any sense yet of how it's being received by the audience?

The show seems to have gone down well. All the feedback from the public has been really positive. We won't know for a while what the figures will be, which is a bit frustrating, but we are hoping the number of hits of the clip on YouTube is a good indicator by way of comparison to the other pilots.

Have you spoken to any of the teenagers involved since the filming completed? Are they still OK with their conversations having been used?

Yes, we have had small screenings in the centres, which was a great moment for all involved. Their participation on Fuzzbox has counted towards their art award qualification too. They were very proud of their involvement and it going online, they really want to do more.

What do the teenagers think of how they're depicted?

When Marc Parrot, our puppet man, started making the puppets, he would bring them in various stages to the recordings. The teenagers were made aware the features and appearance would be exaggerated, but they ultimately loved them.

Presumably you'd love to make more if given the chance by the BBC? Would you change anything for a series?

Yes, we would love to do more! We have learnt a lot from the pilot and we would make some adjustments to certain elements for sure.

Our commissioner Gregor Sharp was brilliant in giving us almost complete freedom to create the show, so it has been an excellent experience so far.

Thanks for your time. Best of luck with the commissioning process now!

Fuzzbox is on BBC iPlayer now and can be seen on BBC Three on Friday 8th November at 11:45pm.