Sky Studios companions with The Birmingham Rep for the return of writing programme ‘Sky Comedy Rep’

– Returning for a second 12 months, the partnership goals to find and nurture new comedy writing expertise from throughout the UK


– Comedy legend, Dame Julie Walters is the scheme’s Patron and award-winning Comedy writers might be among the many scheme’s mentors


– Final name for entries on Friday twelfth August

WEBWIRE – Friday, August 5, 2022

Sky Studios and Birmingham Rep have introduced the return of ‘Sky Comedy Rep,’ a joint partnership that goals to find and nurture rising comedy writing expertise from throughout the UK, significantly from communities which have historically been under-represented within the Arts.

Now in its second 12 months, the scheme, which is open for entries till Friday twelfth August, will see eight writers chosen to develop a one-act stage play. This 12 months, all performs will deal with a easy premise: a proposal within the park.

Every of the eight performs will characteristic up and coming performing and directing expertise, carried out as a part of a three-day competition at The Rep in early 2023.

Final 12 months, twins and writing duo Mari and Lowri Izzard had been chosen to participate and following the efficiency of their play Spoffin, the pair have been commissioned by Sky Studios to put in writing additional scripts that are in lively improvement.

“Sky Comedy Rep gave us the chance to be in a room we by no means would have had entry to earlier than. We learnt a lot and had a extremely nice time working with the groups from The Birmingham Rep and Sky Studios. Because of the scheme, we’re presently creating Spoffin for display. We owe loads to Sky Comedy Rep and encourage everybody and anybody to use. Go on; give it a go!”, the duo mentioned.

All through the six-month programme, writers might be paid for his or her work and obtain one-to-one mentoring from among the Greats from British Comedy. Final 12 months, mentors included: Meera Syal (Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars), Simon Blackwell (The Thick of It, Veep) Danny Brocklehurst (award-winning collection Brassic, Shameless) and Guz Khan (Man Like Mobeen), with this 12 months’s mentors set to be introduced in autumn. There may also be a collection of workshops and masterclasses at The Rep, to supply insights into all elements of writing and manufacturing.

The initiative might be overseen by The Rep’s Creative Director, Olivier Award-winning Sean Foley (The Play What I Wrote) and Sky Studios Inventive Director of Comedy, BAFTA Award-winning Anil Gupta (Goodness Gracious Me, The Workplace).

Anil Gupta, Inventive Director of Comedy at Sky Studios, mentioned: “We had been thrilled with the primary version of Sky Comedy Rep; nurturing, mentoring, and backing the following era of Comedy expertise aligns completely with our ambition to change into the house of British TV comedy. Working with the writers was a pleasure and the performs had been a triumph. This 12 months goes to be even greater and higher. Like all sequels.”

Sean Foley, Birmingham Rep Creative Director mentioned: “The primary 12 months of Sky Comedy Rep was such an exhilarating and hilarious success that we determined to do it once more. The Rep is worked up to associate with our associates at Sky Studios for the return of our distinctive and impressive expertise improvement programme for Comedy Writing within the UK”

“Creating new expertise is deep in The Rep’s pioneering DNA, and final 12 months’s writers and performances had been a testomony to how uncooked expertise can blossom when nurtured and given area to develop. I can’t wait to do it once more”

The initiative fuels Sky Studios’ ambition to be on the forefront of UK Comedy and The Rep because the unofficial ‘Nationwide Theatre of Comedy’. Working collectively, the scheme will function a coaching floor for a brand new era of narrative comedy writers, administrators, and actors.

Entries are open NOW. To be eligible, writers should not have had their writing broadcast on tv or carried out in any theatre above 200 seats in dimension. For additional info on tips on how to submit entries writers can go to: https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/get-involved/creative-development/sky-comedy-rep.html.

The deadline for submissions is August twelfth, 2022.

Notes to Editors

About Sky Studios

Sky Studios is Sky’s authentic programming arm throughout Europe.

We develop, produce, fee and fund authentic drama and scripted comedy for Sky’s 24m clients and past. Constructing on the success of critically-acclaimed Sky Originals together with Emmy-winning “Chernobyl”, Bafta-winning “Patrick Melrose” and worldwide hits “Das Boot”, “Riviera” and “Britannia”, Sky Studios is the brand new inventive dwelling of must-see Sky Originals, resembling “The Rising”, “Blocco 181” and “Souls”.

We’re an agile Studio, looking for out the most effective untold tales from new voices whereas working in inventive partnership with as we speak’s finest writers, producers and on-screen expertise to deliver viewers tales they wouldn’t discover anyplace else.

With commissioning expertise and manufacturing functionality throughout the UK, Germany and Italy, we perceive native tastes throughout Europe higher than anybody else and have plans to greater than double our funding in authentic content material by 2024, absolutely supported and backed by Comcast NBCUniversal.

We’re additionally creating a brand new TV and film studio, Sky Studios Elstree, which is anticipated to result in the creation of over 2,000 new jobs and generate a further £3 billion of manufacturing funding within the UK inventive sector within the first 5 years alone.

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