this is the news in arts and culture

[mimicucumber]

Firstly!

'BBC launches an initiative to find sitcoms that are not just white and middle-class'

The Stage reports on this as positive evidence of our openminded Auntie, whilst ignoring the facts that she perhaps wouldn't need to take such high profile action if the commissioners were doing their jobs properly, and secondly not really noticing the

Comments

[springheel_jack]

What was up with those giant mechanical elephant puppets

that was so tacky

[mimicucumber]

Oh the sultan's elephant, I'm such a snob, it's the only arts council thing the general public has ever liked, and it was pure spectacle, nothing else.

[geshmally]

I liked it, so there.

[mimicucumber]

I know. :) <3

[_cherryvanilla_]

"I don't know what the BBC's commissioning budget is and I don't know how much a writer gets for submitting a substantial concept"

They don't get anything, unless the show is commissioned. I suppose the BBC are justifying taking the rights to the 2 winning shows for such a crappy cash prize because they intend to put time & money into workshopping them. But you're absolutely right; commissioners aren't doing their jobs right if they're not already workshopping these projects. Having said that, they can only review and commission the projects that come across their desks, and it's probably fair to say that the vast majority of it will be white & middle class. So they need to do something to encourage a broader range of submissions. But making it into a competition is just tacky.

[mimicucumber]

Ah ok fair enough - at least it's the same as what any other writer would get. But yeah, tacky: don't address the problem at its roots, BBC, just solve it overnight with a token competition!

[standard_human]

Holy shit that is an ugly blue puppet and yes I am just sitting on my arse surfing the web all day.

[mimicucumber]

The ugly blue puppet is walking... walking through YOUR TOWN... SOON... like a wondrous... LARGE BLUE MAN

it's the stuff dreams are made of, also education workshops and audience quotas.