COMEDY AND ENTERTAINMENT COMMISSIONING ROUND AUTUMN 2015 Proteus round: 2016 2017 – 2 Welcome to the Radio 4 comedy commissioning round. This commissioning process is open to all BBC departments and registered independent companies with the necessary expertise, as indicated in the briefs (section 4). Please only offer a proposal if you can demonstrate that you have this expertise. 1 THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS 2 TIMETABLE 2 HOW TO SUBMIT AN IDEA TO RADIO 4 3 HOW THE COMMISSIONING BRIEFS WORK 5 FAQ ON THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS 6 RESPONSES TO PROPOSALS 8 BBC EDITORIAL GUIDELINES & COMPLIANCE 9 2 SUPPORTING MATERIALS FORM 10 3 THE BBC RADIO 4 AUDIENCE 12 4 COMEDY AND ENTERTAINMENT COMMISSIONING BRIEFS 14 5 WORKING WITH RADIO 4 31 1 1 THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS TIMETABLE Guidelines published 18th September Pre-offers deadline 8th October at 1200 noon Pre-offers results 16th October Final offers deadline 10th November at 1200 noon Results released Early December 2 HOW TO SUBMIT AN IDEA TO RADIO 4 Pre-offers submissions This first stage of the round invites you to submit brief outlines of your ideas. These will be sifted by commissioning editors who will shortlist those they think worth developing for the final offers stage. All ideas must be entered in the Proteus website by the stated deadline. We do not require hard copies of any proposal. Enter comedy proposals, selecting: 2016 2017 – 2 Each commissioning brief indicates the track record we require in suppliers to that slot. Please do not offer proposals unless you have the necessary expertise. For pre-offers we require only the minimum information to enable short-listing. The following must be entered for each proposal: title (of your proposal, not the slot) commissioning brief number Enter each proposal in one schedule slot only. If we consider it suitable for another slot, we will transfer it. delivery date Enter a nominal date e.g. 01/01/2020 number of episodes duration short synopsis: maximum 200 words Price per episode This information is managed by us. The guide prices quoted in these guidelines is – with only the rarest exceptions – the maximum we will pay. Long synopsis Do not enter anything in this field at this stage. It will not be read. When commissioning editors have read all pre-offers and selected those they consider worth further development, we release the results to you in Proteus. Proposals will show as either ‘rejected’ or ‘re-requested’. If your offer is ‘re-requested’, this means we want to consider it in the final submission stage. A re-requested proposal does not have to be set up from scratch when entered as a final offer, so please do not create a new proposal. It will of course need to be edited to reflect the requirements for the final offers stage (see below). Owing to the large number of submissions at this stage we are unable to provide feedback on rejected pre-offers. 3 Final submissions You are invited to discuss short-listed ideas with the commissioning editor. Time pressures may require this to be by phone rather than face to face. After your conversations with commissioning editors, the ideas you develop for final submission should be entered in Proteus. Generally, final submissions will be those which we “re-requested” at the pre-offers stage. It is also possible to submit fresh offers which have not been discussed. All proposals must be submitted in Proteus by the deadline. Enter comedy proposals in: 2016 2017 – 2 Each commissioning brief indicates the track record we require in suppliers to that slot. Please do not offer proposals unless you have the necessary expertise. Be realistic in the number of proposals you submit, in view of the number of programmes available, and observe the cap where this has been applied. If the cap says a maximum 10 proposals per supplier, we will only read your first 10. Fewer, better ideas are more likely to get through. In slots where each commission is for multiple episodes, the number of commissions will be far fewer than the number of individual programmes available. The following must be submitted for each proposal: title If your idea is commissioned you must not subsequently change this title without written agreement of the commissioning editor. brief number Submit each proposal in one slot only. If we think it suitable for another slot, we will transfer it. achievable delivery date Linked to anniversary / event dates where relevant. price per episode Radio 4 has a set price it expects to pay for the majority of programmes. This is entered automatically. If your idea requires a budget significantly above or below the guide, make this clear in the long synopsis and explain your reasoning. Only by very rare exception will we agree to commission a programme above the guide price. producer executive producer Include CV in long synopsis field, if the exec is new to R4. number of episodes duration The short synopsis for the final proposal must be under 50 words. It should convey the essence of the programme. The long synopsis must not exceed 2 x A4 pages of size 11 type. key talent Any intended presenter/writer/abridger/performer etc should be shown in the long synopsis. You do not have to secure talent agreement before submitting an idea but you should let us know the degree to which named talent have expressed an interest in the project or have intellectual ownership of it. 4 Proteus style guide Don’t use the Notes field. Anything in this field will be deleted. Don’t insert a space or dots or asterisks before beginning the title. Don’t put double spaces in the title. Don’t put quotation marks around the title. Don’t start the title with a slot name, e.g. 1130 Comedy. Do begin titles in Proteus with The or A as appropriate, e.g. A Short History of… If you are preparing proposals offline to cut and paste into Proteus, keep the formatting simple: bold, underline and italics only. Proteus will remove other formatting, including bulleted and numbered points, as well as converting your font to the equivalent of Arial size 11. Supporting material (audio, books, scripts etc) must be delivered to the Radio 4 commissioning office by the closing date of the round. Complete the pro-forma in section 2 of this document to provide us an inventory of what is sent. HOW THE COMMISSIONING BRIEFS WORK Section 4 contains the commissioning briefs with the following information: Programme type The name of the commissioning brief. Brief number This 5-digit number appears alongside the name of the brief in a drop-down menu when you enter your proposal in Proteus. NB: Proteus gives each proposal a proposal number unrelated to this one. Also, neither of these numbers is related to programme or tape numbers! Slot Day/s and time of broadcast. Eligibility Radio 4 always requires producers and executive producers to have a considerable track-record in the relevant type of programme making. Independent companies must have registered on the BBC Radio Independent Production Company database (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/radio/articles/pitching- to-radio). Duration Programme length, including opening and closing announcements. Estimated number of programmes Remember this is the number of individual programmes, not of individual commissions. In the 1830 Comedy slot 16 programmes available might result in just 3 or 4 commissions, each being for between 1 and 6 episodes. Transmission period The period when your programme is likely to be broadcast. Please flag clearly if your idea needs to be transmitted outside this period. 5 Guide price Radio 4 expects to pay no more than the guide price for commissions so please budget at this level. If the cost is expected to be significantly above or below the guide price you must note this in the long synopsis of your proposal, explaining the reason. Only in rare cases will prices above the guide be agreed. If you have queries about budgeting or prices, speak to your business manager or to Githa Weerasinghe, our Finance Partner. Independent producers should contact Lesley Eaton, Legal and Business Affairs. Editorial guidance Details of the kind of programme needed for this slot. Programmes commissioned in the last round This is to help you avoid offering ideas too close to what has already been commissioned. The list might not be complete. Often, if contract or budget negotiations are outstanding, commissions cannot be listed, so you may also wish to check with the commissioning co-ordinator. Proposal to include This cannot be a definitive list, as only you can fully know what your idea needs for it to be properly assessed. Make your own judgement but if in doubt put something in rather than leave it out. However, your long synopsis should not be longer than two A4 pages. FAQ ON THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS Q: What’s the role of the commissioning editor? The commissioning editor’s job is primarily to commission and review programmes, not to be the executive producer or series editor. Commissioning editors work as editorial deputies to the controller, BBC Radio 4. In line with her strategy for the station, they support the development of proposals by commissioning and reviewing them. They will not normally intervene in a production unless this has been specified at the commissioning stage, or compliance matters arise, e.g. language referrals and editorial policy issues. However, they are available to provide guidance, if necessary. They may, at their discretion, feel it appropriate to be more closely involved in development, casting, scripting and editing. Q: Do I need to have an agreement from talent before I put forward names? If you name a presenter, please say whether you hope to be able to interest them, whether they have already expressed an interest, or whether they have any intellectual ownership of the proposal.