This is another post in the series about good reasons to make your own stuff, rather than sitting at home having your scripts ignored by the TV industry. I’m running a webinar about this on Thursday 10th October at 6pm UK Time.
Last time, we look at:
#1 Professional Calling Card
See here:
This time we’re on:
#2 Trying Out an Idea
A reason to make something yourself is to fully explore an idea that you think has potential. You have an idea for a comedy character or a comic world and it feels like it should be funny, but is it? You want to know if you have anything.
In this case, you need time to figure out the idea, and then you’re making a workable version and then listening out for feedback. It may be a series of videos for this character, or a blog or even a series of short stories. Maybe it’s a play at your local theatre – or just a rehearsed reading to see if the idea works.
You’re not trying to make money. It’s not ready to announce to the world. You’re trying to hone an idea that might eventually be ready to show a potential producer or investor.
Experiments in Quantum Physics
Back in 2010, I had an idea for a show about how science and religion can co-exist – and how they need to get along. In my mind, I had two characters, a vicar and quantum physicist. I contrived a situation in which they are literally handcuffed together.
I applied for a small grant and received of a couple of thousand pounds from a Christian trust – and I spent every penny on two actors, a director, a few props and a lighting rig. I didn’t take any of the money myself as I wrote it and rewrote.
There were rehearsals and then a few performances at my church. Each show had an audience of about thirty or forty, huddled in the chancel of the church. It was cold. I seem to remember it snowed. I didn’t advertise it widely. I just wanted to see it – and see and hear how it went down in front of an audience. And that was it.
It basically worked. So that was good. After a few subsequent rewrites it became – in my opinion – the best thing I’ve ever written. I still think it is.
Has this project made me any money? Not really. There was a run at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013 and a few tours. I’ve made some money out of it. It almost certainly hasn’t covered my time over the years. But it’s something I’m really proud of.
Back in 2016, I ran a Kickstarter so I could pay for a high-quality video and audio team to capture a performance at the Merlin Theatre in Frome. Again, that whole enterprise probably only broke even. But you can watch it here – and I know that it works because I spent time, money, attention and energy on trying something back in 2010/11.
Now we’ve mentioned Kickstarters, we might as well mention a variation on “#2 Trying out an idea”. That would be:
#3 Proving The Concept
A friend of mine, an animator John Lumgair, had a brilliant idea for an animated sitcom called Jazz Cow. He had the idea a long time ago and we kicked it around. But more recently, I’ve ended up helping write the story for a pilot episode and would love to write a full script. We’re pretty sure that it works, but we want to demonstrate that. So we’re planning to making a pilot. A really good one.
Having taken advice from the industry about what is required to take this idea to the next level, it looks like we need, in the first instance, a full script, full audio, some animation and a pretty decent storyboard for the rest. That’s why we’re gunning for £20k as a minimum. We’ve got some serious vocal talent as well as a full script and several minutes of animation. If we reach our stretch goal of £60k, we could animate the whole thing.
Going after that kind of money is hard – and is a project in its own right. Again, the target is clear: raise money for the Kickstarter so that we can prove the concept and make it ready for market. We can’t cobble that pilot together. It needs professional work and therefore an injection of cash. And if we don’t hit our target, that will be end of it for now.
There will be one more instalment in this series of Good Reasons to Make Your Own Entertainment before the webinar on Thursday at 6pm. That webinar will contain lots of info, ideas and advice that we can’t get into here on the blog. So why not kick in a few quid and join the webinar?