Directing the Comedy Film: Application Form

Directing the Comedy Film

Date:         Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th June 2018 (2 days)
Location:  BBC Scotland, 40 Pacific Quay, Glasgow G51 1DA

Description
“Dying is easy; comedy is hard.”

Comedy is a serious business. It’s easy to get it wrong and hard to get it right. As Ricky Gervais once said about the state of comedy filmmaking in the UK, “We have a good TV comedy track record but it doesn’t usually translate to the big screen.”

 

Course Content 
Day One looks at the first things you need to do as a director; working on the script, finding the theme of your film (and subtext of your scenes), discovering who your characters are, and knowing what sort of film you are making.

Day Two looks at the final stages for you as a director; from casting, to rehearsing, to planning the shoot, to deciding the shots, to editing.

Subjects covered include:

•  Writing your logline
•  What do you have to say as a director?
•  The difficulty of writing a comedy script
•  The difficulty of reading a comedy script
•  Directing the romantic comedy
•  Casting your film
•  The difficulty of finding a great leading comedy actor
•  To storyboard or not to storyboard?
•  Finding your appropriate visual style

Col Spector is an award-winning documentary and feature film director whose credits include Honeymooner (launched at the Edinburgh Film Festival) and Someone Else, the Variety Critics Choice at  Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, widely released in the UK and USA through IFC Films and the Sundance Channel. He wrote and directed the comedy short New Year’s Eve (starring Stephen Mangan & Keira Knightley) which won several prizes including Best British Short at the UK’s largest short film festival. He is currently developing his latest comedy feature I’m Not In Love.

Fees
Freelance rate: £335
Corporate rate: £675

Once you have been accepted on the course we will invoice you, by email, for the full amount of the fees. We must receive your payment 5 working days before the course at the latest. Your place on the course is not confirmed until we have received full payment from you, or you have received written confirmation that you have been awarded a bursary. 

Application and deadlines
This course is currently open for applications. 
If you are intending to apply for a bursary the deadline is 5.30pm on Friday 1st June 2018.

Bursaries
Thanks to funding from the Scottish Government, discretionary bursaries may be available to those who are eligible. Bursary information is available from www.nfts.co.uk/scotland and on each course information page. Please contact scotland@nfts.co.uk if you have a bursary query.

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