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Jul 23, 2012 · 6.67K subscribers. Subscribed. 0. 355 views 11 years ago. BSkyB Head of Comedy Lucy Lumsden talks about her career in sitcoms, working with television executives and the future of television...
796 subscribers. 5. 249 views 3 years ago. Lucy Lumsden (@lucylumsden) is the founder of Yellow Door Productions (@yellowdoorprods). A former TV commissioner at both the BBC and Sky Lucy gives...
Danielle Krage interviews Lucy Lumsden about commissioning and producing comedy. Lucy was the first Controller of Comedy Commissioning for the BBC and was th...
Lucy Lumsden. Brilliantman! E2 - Acco! Former BBC and Sky Head of Comedy, Lucy launched her own label Yellow Door Productions and has made The Cockfields written by Joe Wilkinson and David Earl, The Mysterious Case of Agatha Christie starring Anna Maxwell Martin and Late Bloomer starring Jonny Pelham, Beattie Edmondson and Miles Jupp.
- What Makes A Good Commissioning Editor?
- How Do You Pitch A Comedy Programme?
- How Do You Get Your Script read?
- Where Should I Take My Comedy Pitch?
- Do The Same Rules For Making Comedy Apply to Shorts?
- What Are The Elements of A Good Comedy?
- Are There Any Taboos Left in Comedy?
- Has It Been Hard as A Woman Working in A Male-Dominated World?
Lucy Lumsden: “You are spending a broadcaster’s money on something [you hope] the audience might like, not what you like. You have to put your personal taste slightly to one side … but you can’t lose your gut feel. It’s a tricky balance … I was taught early on by [then BBC Controller of Entertainment Commissioning] Danielle Lux, who was my boss for...
Lumsden: “Pitches for comedy are scripts … scripts are everything. How do you choose? The first thing is, ‘Does it make me laugh?’ But not just me. I always work with a team – if I chuckle, we pass it around … Does the writer … know how to construct a joke, know how to [write] a scene, know how many characters can hold your attention? There are bas...
Lumsden: “If you’ve got a script and it’s ready, the key thing is to make sure your producer is known to the broadcaster … Commissioners always have a pile of scripts. I know it’s frustrating because a good idea should shine above all others, but you’re dealing with human beings who get bogged down in things … Your producer’s track record is key.”
Lumsden: “As a commissioner you’re still reliant on big, independent companies in comedy and there are specialists too … Do your homework on who’s getting the most commissions. What sort of shows are they making? Do you like their shows? If you don’t like their shows, do not go to that company because at the first meeting you have you’ll need to fl...
Lumsden: “I did a short film myself last year and all the same rules apply … story structure, characters that we fall in love with – you just have much, much shorter time. Short films are a brilliant way of honing skills.”
Lumsden: “A delicious combination of characters, setting, something that’s fresh … with jokes that build over time to a sitcom that rewards you by the end, [and] resets itself so you can’t wait to see it next week.”
Lumsden: “Comedy is the genre to [tackle taboos] where we can, but judiciously. Taboos are always changing. You have to find humour in something and do it sensitively but cleverly [because] it’s a really important thing for us culturally to makes things that are unsayable sayable. As a commissioner, it annoyed me when there was a blunt use of langu...
Lumsden: “It’s bloody hard in the TV industry to juggle [work and having a family] and I was grateful to be working for a broadcaster [the BBC] that looked after me very well … Comedy is a very male world … I learned to be a good diplomat and articulate notes very early on, Is that a female thing? I’ve no idea, but working with [male] producers, di...
Mar 26, 2015 · Iannucci was interviewed by Sky's comedy chief Lucy Lumsden. “I was about 25 when I joined the BBC as a radio producer,” he remembered. He worked on shows like Radio 4’s Just A Minute and, crucially, Week Ending, the much-lamented sketch show that lampooned politicians and their peccadillos.
LUCY LUMSDEN - MD. Lucy started her career at The Comic Strip in the early 90s. She worked at the BBC for 11 years becoming the first Controller of Comedy Commissioning for the BBC and then Head of Comedy for Sky for 6 years.
