If you’ve come here for sitcom writing advice, just bear with me for another week or two. At the moment, I’m looking at making your own stuff but soon I’ll be back to the nitty gritty of scripts, plots, characters, jokes and all that.
Last time, I looked at bad reasons for making your own entertainment or shooting your sitcom script. Over the next few days, in the lead up to the webinar I’m running on Thursday 10th October at 6pm UK Time, I’m going to look at good reasons to take the trouble to produce something yourself.
We need to be clear on the reasons for doing what you’re doing. Time is a zero-sum game. Time spent lovingly crafting a project is time not spent loving your loved ones, or making money. And some of the ideas require some financial investment in terms of kit or software or paying actors or crew, if that’s the kind of project you have in mind.
You might just be wanting to shoot something on your phone and putting it on Instagram. That’s completely fine. But you will be constantly checking your stats and getting sucked in. You need to be prepared for that – so you need to know what you’re doing it for.
If you’re not clear on your reasons, you may be disappointed later when it doesn’t get noticed and go viral – when that was never the intention. Or it secretly was but you hadn’t acknowledged that. Or maybe it doesn’t produce an income, when it was all about getting noticed.
Be honest about your desired outcomes at the start and avoid unnecessary frustration later on. So what’s the first reason for making your own entertainment?
#1 Professional Calling Card
You want to write or make something that will demonstrate that you can write and that you are funny – with the aim of getting paid work on other projects. This is a good aim. This is why I did the Edinburgh Fringe in 1996, ‘97 and ‘99. In 1999, I co-wrote a sketch show called Infinite Number of Monkeys with two guys I’d been at uni with. (One is still knocking around by the name of Tim Fitzhigham).
If I’d wanted to make money, I would have been both deluded and disappointed. Fringe shows don’t make money. At best, they cover their costs. In the end, the show probably broke even (assuming my time was worth practically nothing). But the show had the desired effect of being seen by producers which led to meetings, opportunities and paid work. The Edinburgh Fringe is a bit different now – although I’m not sure how – but it’s an example of doing something early in my career to show intent and talent.
If your intention is to alert the industry to your presence, your talent or your voice, think hard about it. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Make sure you choose a medium that makes you look good.
If you’re a really good writer, but not good in front of the camera, don’t write yourself something that relies on performance. Or find an actor who performs your writing well.
If you’ve got access to a really good venue that will look amazing, go for it. Write something for that – but don’t lean on it. Make sure the writing is good and that you’re delivering on your intention to impress industry people and agents.
And take your time with that one-person show, or YouTube video, or blog. Get advice. Work at it. Draft it and redraft it. Show it to people. Get help shooting it – especially ensuring the sound is good. That’s often the hard bit. You can pull in some favours – but only once. If it’s a one-off, people may well help you, especially if you make it fun, buy pizza, say thank you and give credit. They may also help you improve it.
And once you’re sure this is the best you can do, put it out there.
Ahead of time, you might want to work out to whom you will send it. When your work goes live, email or contact these producers and agents. If it’s a fringe show, try and get reviews. Give them a few weeks, and then follow up. Your video may only get dozens of views. Your fringe show might only have a small audience. That’s okay. Remember why you’re doing this.
On Monday, we’ll look at a few more reasons to make your own entertainment. In the meantime, why not book in for my pay-what-you-like webinar, Make Your Own Entertainment on Thursday at 6pm next week? You can do that here: