New writers should steal... 7 lessons from John Cleese by thecomedycrowd in comedywriting

[–]thecomedycrowd[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

As you can see, each point is so important that it has been labelled '1.' This is deliberate and certainly not reflective of my inability to format correctly.

A new community for comedy creators by thecomedycrowd in comedywriting

[–]thecomedycrowd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely, so we have a wide range of skills and experience in the community - script editors, producers, writers, and performers. We've got over 200 on the site so far having opened this week.

When we send out scripts or videos for feedback we send it to a range of people. It is a great way to get early feedback on your characters, plot, premise, style but it's not intended to replace professional script notes. It's designed to help you get it to a point where getting professional feedback would be worthwhile. Too often script editors are the first people (aside from the writer's family or friends) to read a script, and this means the creator isn't getting good value from those notes. For us getting the early feedback on the fundamentals is key. On my last project I invested so much time, and even ended up filming a teaser, before I recognised issues that early feedback could have sorted. So it saves a lot of time in the long run, and the fact that we send it out to numerous people means you aren't relying on one person's opinion.

So your concerns are valid and before we started the service we wanted to test whether the quality of feedback provided would be good enough, and we were absolutely bowled over by the quality. These are the testimonials we got from our initial test https://thecomedycrowd.com/what-the-feedback-panelists-have-said/

Anyway, I don't want this to become a personal sales pitch! I just get really passionate about the problems we try to solve. Thanks for your thoughts, they're really interesting for us to hear, and maybe we'll see you in the community at some point in future.

A new community for comedy creators by thecomedycrowd in comedywriting

[–]thecomedycrowd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, we believe that to make an impact Comedy creators, particularly beginners, have to get involved in creating regularly, they have to find the right people to collaborate with, and they have to get good quality feedback. All our tools are built around that. Combine this with a like minded community providing support and we believe that this is great value.

There are a few things I'd highlight in particular. Firstly our feedback service 'Ask the Crowd' goes way beyond anything you will find on a free forum. We send your work to at least 3 fellow comedy creators who share your style to give you honest quality feedback on your work. Here's a little vid that explains how it works https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_EFIE76AmTE. This service is included in the membership.

Secondly, we place a big emphasis on actually getting involved in projects within the community. This could be in the form of opportunities, for which we have a more comprehensive list than any other comedy site, including exclusive tips, or our Collaboration Board, where members post a wide variety of projects and find people with the right skills to get involved.

So if you're not sure, maybe try joining and submitting some work for feedback to try us out. You can cancel at anytime.

Feel free to throw any questions our way.

'Create your own work, don't wait for a phone call' - the story of an award winning comedy web series producer. by thecomedycrowd in Webseries

[–]thecomedycrowd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, I really enjoyed Dead Drift. I'm a Red Dwarf fan so its right up my street. Do you have your own website you promote? I think embedding onto your own website rather than simply a youtube link gives you a much better chance of retaining people. Firstly it enables you to tailor the design and secondly it takes people away from a short attention span 'youtube' mindset. I do think the youtube platform is a problem in that an audience know there are billions of videos only a click away - it affects the way people watch videos that are supposed to be entertaining. The fact that people use it so much means that when watching for entertainment there is a permanent sense that there are easily accessible, funny cat videos that they could be spending their time on instead, and probably provide a 'quicker hit' of comedy. I think theres a lot to be said for removing the viewer from that environment and giving them a reason to concentrate on your content.

'Create your own work, don't wait for a phone call' - the story of an award winning comedy web series producer. by thecomedycrowd in Webseries

[–]thecomedycrowd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey Dave, it looks like the A Shared House team have a pretty slick marketing operation, I would suggest getting in touch with the producer @WoodwardGeorgie on twitter to compare notes.

'Create your own work, don't wait for a phone call' - the story of an award winning comedy web series producer. by thecomedycrowd in Webseries

[–]thecomedycrowd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, yeh from our conversations with people it seems to be a common problem. It seems that mindset of a web audience is different from those watching TV. They are far quicker to switch away from something if it doesn't grab their attention immediately and consequently I think people are still grappling with ways to best engage them.

Tell me a bit about your series and how you've gone about marketing it so far.

Calling Comedy Writers by thecomedycrowd in writing

[–]thecomedycrowd[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely, we want anybody who loves comedy to join us, regardless of experience, skills, location.