Roughcut, Fifty Fifty and Picture Shop supporting two placements to redress lack of representation in comedy post-production
BBC Comedy has launched a pilot scheme supported by Roughcut, Fifty Fifty and Picture Shop to tackle the lack of disability representation in scripted comedy editing.
The Editors Access Scheme, which is paving the way for editors to be incorporated into the £150,000 Comedy Collective bursary scheme from next year, will offer shadowing opportunities to two candidates who are deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent.
One will be one a London-based mid-level role for an assistant editor supported by Fifty Fifty and Roughcut TV, and the other an entry level role for an edit assistant supported by Picture Shop based in London, Cardiff, Bristol or Manchester. They will each receive mentoring and a £5,000 grant to help develop their careers.
People Just Do Nothing, Peacock, and Horrible Histories editor Gareth Heal is the formal mentor and ambassador for the scheme.
“While society has made progress on inclusion my profession is way behind,” said Heal, announcing the launch at the BBC Comedy Festival in Cardiff.
“I can’t remember ever meeting anyone working in post-production with a disability. I can be working on a production where diversity is on the screen, but when I look round the room, at the people making these shows, the disparity is crystal clear.
“Change is long overdue. That change won’t come overnight but I know that Jon [Petrie] and his team are intent on shifting the dial.”
Director of comedy commissioning Jon Petrie said: “Our BBC Comedy Editors Access Scheme is just the start of a wider conversation about how we improve representation within the comedy editing community.”
Fifty Fifty’s commercial managing director JP Dash said: “We recently opened a second facility site which has been purpose-built with accessibility in mind, the perfect home for our participation in this initiative.
“We hope to play our part in raising further awareness and inspiration to the Post Production industry to encourage increased representation on all sides of the screen.’’
Applications will open on 12 June and close on 10 July, with full details on how to apply on the BBC comedy commissioning website.
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