New initiatives for BBC College of Comedy

The BBC College of Comedy today announced two exciting new initiatives for 2010. All Mixed-Up is a sitcom writing competition where writers will be asked to submit proposals which reflect multicultural Britain. The second initiative will be in collaboration with CBeebies In-house Production to develop a writing workshop which explores the creation of new comedy for viewers aged four to six.

Writers who are interested in All Mixed-Up, and can demonstrate some professional achievements, are requested to submit the first 10 pages of a script with a limit of six characters and three settings.

The best six scripts will be workshopped in preparation for a showcase with a professional cast at the Soho Theatre on 4 December, where a celebrity panel will choose the best two for further development by BBC Comedy.

Both scripts will be optioned, with the winner’s option worth £1,000, and the runner-up £500.

The competition is being run in association with Triforce Promotions, which promotes talent across a multicultural network of people in the media industries.

The aim is to encourage work by diverse voices and to provide promising writers with an opportunity to develop their professional skills.

Writers of the next best six scripts will be invited to attend workshops on 4 December and to join the showcase audience.

Micheál Jacob, college creative head, said: “We hope the competition will attract entries from writers who may feel their lives are not currently reflected in television comedy, and will introduce us to funny and fresh new voices.”

The second initiative will see the college and CBeebies run a four-day workshop to explore the creation of a new comedy for viewers aged from four to six.

Invited writers will be given an insight into the CBeebies audience, hear case studies on hit shows for the channel, including Gigglebiz and Grandpa In My Pocket, and work together to develop ideas for a live action programme.

The workshop will be held in Newcastle in November.

“Watching CBeebies is fun,” Micheál Jacob says. “They have some excellent shows and I’m very excited to be exploring whether the College can add to them.”

Information on how to enter All Mixed-Up will be available from 31 August at bbc.co.uk/writersroom.