The countdown to CBC comedy supremacy is into its final phase, with television sitcom projects from coast to coast vying for a shot at prime time TV.
What started out as hundreds has now been whittled to the final 15 proposals. Prince George creators were among two of those initial teams competing for their shot at the ComedyCoup title. After several rounds of fan voting and organizer obstacles used to cut the field down, both P.G. entries are still standing.
One of the two is Geoff And The Ninja, a proposal carried out by the team of Jon Chuby, Jeremy Abbott and Dan Stark.
The other is Welcome To Tulip, a show concept fronted by the team of Giovanni Mocibob, Holly Pillsbury and Aaron Krogman.
"For us it means that we now have to consider what we want to do if our show is optioned, as well as go over contract deals with ComedyCoup [in case] our show ends up being one of the shows optioned for development," said Chuby. "We also have to make sure not to let up and keep pushing ourselves to create the best content possible to hopefully push us to the Top 5 at which point we would be flying to Toronto to pitch the idea live on TV. If that goes well, you might just be watching Geoff And The Ninja on prime time in a year."
"It means we have a lot of hard but rewarding work until the 'big reveal,'" said Macibob. "There are still weekly missions, option negotiations, and a live event where we will have to pitch the project to a panel of industry professionals. We're obviously still gunning hard for the CBC prime time special."
The amount of online activity at the ComedyCoup official website can still influence the judging, like clicks and views on each project's link.
At this stage, all the ideas are bona fide good ideas, in the eyes of the CBC organizers, so even those that don't win the top prize might also be approached for future development into a real show.
"At this point we will continue forward as we always have with the weekly missions," Macibob said. "We will lean on our work ethic, we will play and take risks but we will stay true to our vision and our voices. A common theme we've seen in our fan comments is that they enjoy our project because it stands out. It pops out like a bright light. We're proud of that and if we stay true to that voice we will continue to stand out. Welcome To Tulip is a perfect project for CBC. We're confident they will see that."
Chuby said the affirmation of making the Top 15 made him and the team believe even more in their instincts that their idea had strength. "We are in it to win it and we didn't struggle through all of the sleepless nights, working around the clock to get to where we are and then simply soak in the glory. We fully intend on pulling out all the stops, trying our best to nail what ever missions or tasks we get assigned en route to the top. Either way we are committed to making Geoff And The Ninja a reality."
The process is only a couple of weeks from finished. The organizers have a Big Deal Event coming on Dec. 6 as part of the Whistler Film Festival where the Final 5 will be announced.
