The BBC Comedy Festival is back for a third time and in May 2024 the host city will be Glasgow.
The BBC Comedy Festival is a chance for producers, both established and new, and those taking their first steps in the TV industry, to come and reflect, celebrate, and explore comedy in the UK. The Festival will kick start a year of development and production opportunities in the region supported by Screen Scotland.
The festival will build on the success of the last two years in Cardiff and Newcastle, bringing together the component parts of the comedy industry for a series of talent-led talks, panels, screenings, a short film night and live comedy shows.
Jon Petrie (pictured), Director of Comedy at the BBC says: “We’re delighted to be bringing the BBC Comedy Festival 2024, to Glasgow; a city steeped in a rich comedy history. We look forward to continuing to build the Festival’s reputation for celebrating our unique industry by showcasing some of the finest comedy minds working in the UK today and shining a spotlight on Scottish talent.”
David Smith, Director of Screen at Screen Scotland says: “We are thrilled to see the BBC Comedy Festival coming to Glasgow. Over the past couple of years, we have been delighted to partner with BBC Comedy to offer additional opportunities for comedy talent through character sketches, comedy shorts and a high-end pilot. This festival offers another chance for Scottish writers and performers to showcase their talent as well gaining valuable insight into building successful careers in TV.”
The BBC Comedy Festival 2023 was held in Cardiff and across two days there were 19 sold out panels and masterclasses, with over 70 comedy names on stage including Jesse Armstrong, Sharon Horgan, Rob Brydon, Diane Morgan, Guz Khan, Kayleigh Llewellyn, Jamie Demetriou and Peter Baynham. The event was supported by Creative Wales and over 5700 tickets were available for those in the industry with over 2500 tickets made available to those taking their first steps in the industry or students as well as the public.
Since the first BBC Comedy Festival in Newcastle in May 2022 there has been a wealth of development in the region including two Small Indie Fund production companies, a pilot shot in Middlesborough, a short film developed and shot in Newcastle, two funded character developments, seven script developments across the region and a script development for Radio 4.
As part of the programming in Wales, BBC Comedy partnered with Expectation and Creative Wales on a Regional Partnership Scheme, an opportunity for an emerging indie based in Wales to co-develop a slate of original comedy projects with established comedy producer Expectation over a six-month period. Further details of that partnership will be released soon.
The dates and venue for the 2024 BBC Comedy Festival will be announced in due course.
Picture credit: Patrick Olner
