BBC Establishes Comedy Writing Apprenticeships

 New comedies on BBC Television are each to have a trainee writing position in future, with a £150,000 apprenticeship fund set up by the Corporation. Writers are being selected for the new opportunity by BBC Head of Comedy Jon Plowman.

Chosen comedy apprentices taking part in the scheme will be paid to learn the trade  working on the job. These emerging talents will shadow the main writers on programmes from the early development to the end of production. They can put forward ideas and contribute to script conferences and they will have regular mentoring and briefing sessions with BBC comedy executives.

Jon Plowman, head of comedy, said: "There are some good writers around who have sent us scripts, who have worked in radio, or who we've met through initiatives such as New Writing and BBC Talent. Allowing promising newcomers to experience production will, we hope, give them knowledge which will feed into their work. And we hope that their contribution will make a difference to the shows they are shadowing."

Writers are being selected for the initiative by Plowman and BBC comedy executive Micheal Jacob and those chosen  will be expected to produce a script which the BBC will consider for production, either for a subsequent series of the show they have worked on, or as an original idea.