The ABC Wants To Pay You To Be Funny
The ABC has just launched 'Fresh Blood', in which they throw wads of cash at digital content creators and viral video makers. Get off your butt and do a thing.
Are you funny? I mean, are you actually funny, in such a way that your friends laugh at your jokes, rather than politely saying ‘That’s so funny’? Do you have an idea for a YouTube series that skewers politics or pop culture through the medium of MS Paint? Do you roll your eyes at the viral videos your co-workers share on Facebook, thinking, ‘I could have done something so much better than this pile of crap’?
Could you have made a promo video that’s better than this one?
ABC TV and Screen Australia have just launched Fresh Blood, a new digital initiative that aims to find and nurture the next generation of Australian comedy talent — with a focus on finding the best new short form content to stream online. And there could be $10,000 in it for you.
Fresh Blood is open to individuals or groups (just like your mum! Boom tish. Did I win?). But seriously: there are 24 commissions available, with budgets of $10,000 each. Submission guidelines can be found here: you need to send in a video of your previous work, and a proposal outlining three to five episodes or sketches. Existing social media profiles are a plus, so now would be the ideal time to bust out that hilarious Alf Stewart parody account.
The ABC have been pushing into the online space pretty hard of late. Their new comedy series #7DaysLater, for instance, is written on the fly each week from suggestions made by viewers on social media, and performed by an ensemble made up of local YouTube stars. Fresh Blood, however, is the ABC’s first wholly digital commission — it will be streamed only on iView.
Of course, whether you actually want to hitch your wagon to the ABC is another matter. If the past few years have proved anything, it’s that the new generation of creative and funny people have found success online while bypassing traditional media entirely. Not to rain on Aunty’s parade, but if you’re a genuinely talented person in the online environment, then the networks need you more than you need them.
On the other hand, $10,000. Click here for more information.