North East Comedy Hot House are teaming up with Tiger Aspect to uncover and help train the best scripted comedy development and producing talent in the region.
Could this be you?
Do you love, live and breathe sitcoms and scripted comedy? Do you think you’ve the next Friday Night Dinner, Fleabag, Man Like Mobeen, Ghosts, People Just Do Nothing, Plebs, Motherland, Brassic, or Benidorm inside you? Have you got a passion to turn those ideas into the next big British comedy? If so, then you’re going to love this.
In a nutshell
Northern Film + Media’s North East Comedy Hot House has joined forces with award-winning production company Tiger Aspect to offer an exciting training opportunity for an up and coming Scripted Comedy Development Producer from the North East to shadow, and learn from, the in-house comedy development team at Tiger Aspect on a six-week flexible training placement. And the best bit – it can be done right here in the North East.
What we’re offering
If you’re successful, you’ll learn how sitcoms and scripted comedies get all the way from idea, to script, to screen. This learning will take place for two days a week (Mondays and Wednesdays) over a six-week period.
- You’ll attend development meetings (on Zoom) where you’ll learn about channel briefs, managing slates and nurturing talent, and how to align development thoughts with that of commissioning briefs and market trends.
- You’ll learn how pitch decks and treatments are formulated, what makes a good one and why approaches may be different for different channels.
- You’ll be encouraged to work on your own development slate and the Tiger Aspect team will help and advise you on how best to navigate the development.
- You’ll be shadowing the specific development of a sizzle tape as part of a pitch for a new BBC3 series set in Sunderland. Following the development from script, to shoot, to edit, to the final delivery of the sizzle tape and supporting document.
- There will be other opportunities to gain experience attending shoots and post-production sessions to help give you a fuller rounded perspective of the development to production process.
- You’ll also receive two hours per week of one-to-one mentoring and support from Emma Lawson and Lisa Laws from North East Comedy Hot House.
Could this be the perfect opportunity for you?
If you’ve got this far, then you are definitely interested in knowing more. But first off, we need a bit of info about you:
- Are you able to demonstrate a proven interest in developing comedy projects for broadcast and have a keen interest in comedy (this can include all avenues such as online, social media, film, radio and TV)?
- Are you already in the comedy world? This isn’t an entry level position, so any experience you have with developing comedy will need to be demonstrated – this doesn’t have to be broadcast work. This could be work on social platforms, theatre, podcasts or radio, running comedy nights, writing for papers – anything that demonstrates an appetite for developing work, and a love of comedy.
- We’re interested in diverse viewpoints and would love to hear from candidates who are underrepresented in broadcast TV. If you’re unsure whether you might fit the bill, then drop us a line and we’ll be happy to have a chat.
- People of all ages are encouraged to apply.
- Funding for this initiative comes from North East Local Enterprise Partnership which means you must live in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, County Durham or Northumberland to take part.
- We’ll need you to work from your own home, the Northern Film + Media offices in Gateshead and on location across the North East, so please consider how you’ll get around before applying.
- You’ll have the opportunity to travel to London on occasion to work either on location or in the Tiger Aspects offices (subject to local Covid-19 restrictions).
- You’ll need your own laptop and internet connection.
- You’ll receive a bursary of £2,000 to cover your out-of-pocket expenses and additional travel expenses where appropriate.
How to apply
The deadline for this opportunity has now passed.
If you’re still interested in knowing more about future opportunities like this, please drop us a note and we’ll keep your details on record for future projects we have coming your way. Email sizzle@northernmedia.org
Northern Film + Media is working to build a more diverse workforce. We value difference and promote inclusion and actively encourage applications from those who consider themselves as having minority representation in the creative industries (i.e. due to their socio-economic background, age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and/or belief). We encourage applications from people who are underrepresented as part of North East Comedy Hot House’s commitment towards creating a more diverse TV sector.
About those involved
North East Comedy Hot House, co-founded by Emma Lawson and Northern Film + Media, is a first-of-its kind scripted comedy development initiative and scripted comedy production co-operative, supporting industry focused North East talent both on and off screen. We are dedicated to nurturing up-and-coming comedy talent from the region by creating exciting opportunities on home soil, giving you the chance to work here in the North East.
Tiger Aspect Productions is internationally recognised as one of the UK’s most successful and prolific independent television producers. Producing high profile, multi-genre content for both UK and international audiences, key productions include Man Like Mobeen (BBC Three), Peaky Blinders (BBC Two), The Good Karma Hospital (ITV 1), The Other One (BBC One), Hitmen (Sky One) and Mr Bean (CITV).
This year Tiger Comedy has a number of different productions in the works, including TV pilots, a radio show and six TV series – for broadcasters including Sky, C4, Netflix, R4 and the BBC.
This is initiative is part of the Sizzle project, a collaboration between Northern Film + Media and North East Local Enterprise Partnership developing North East Comedy Hot House as a regional cluster for broadcast comedy.
More general information on TV Development Producer job roles can be found on Screenskills.
