We have a shiny, ‘nearly new’, set of judges confirmed for this year’s final of the Funny Women Awards on Monday 24th September. We’ve got some familiar faces and some new blood to ensure that we pick the best of the newest crop of female talent after our four month search. As ever we’ve invited some of the biggest names from management, broadcasting, media and the arts to help us find a winner.
We’re delighted to welcome Caroline Raphael back onto the panel after a two year break. Caroline is a much respected industry figure as the commissioning editor comedy & fiction for BBC Radio 4 and she also looks after the editorial for BBC Radio 4 Extra. Her role on the panel is particularly relevant as Caroline has commissioned many series from women including work from Sarah Millican, The Boom Jennies, Alice Lowe and Katy Wix. BBC Radio 4 is the home of radio comedy and broadcasts at least one comedy a day every day of the week.
Also back in the fold is Louise Court, the editor of leading women’s glossy Cosmopolitan who’s long list of credentials prior to joining Cosmo in 2007 includes editorial director of ACP-Natmag, overseeing Best, Reveal and Real People, editor of Best Magazine for seven years, deputy editor of Prima, deputy editor of Best and assistant editor of Woman’s Own. Louise swapped newspapers for magazines, moving from the Daily Express where she was show business writer covering news and features, and writing her own column. She has previously worked at the Sunday Express, Daily Mail and Mail On Sunday having trained in local papers in Sussex and Surrey. We’re thrilled to have her on the panel for the second year running.
Lucy Ansbro joins us for the third time with a mind boggling comedy CV having worked at Phil Mcintyre Entertainment for nearly 14 years. She is the agent for Ben Elton, Victoria Wood, Peter Kay, John Cleese, Craig Cash, Caroline Aherne and Adrian Edmondson. As well as looking after some of the biggest names in comedy, Lucy has either produced/associate produced/executive produced a number of television programmes/series; Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights (C4 – two series), Peter Kay’s Max and Paddy (C4); Craig Cash’s Early Doors (BBC2- two series); two Victoria Wood Christmas Specials and Live From the Albert Hall (BBC1 and ITV1). More recently she has produced Peter Kay’s Britain’s Got the Pop Factor and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice (C4) and was the executive producer of three series of Dave’s One Night Stand (Dave channel) and the series Dynamo: Magician Impossible for Watch.
The real ‘new boy’ on our panel, Leo Benedictus, has been writing fornewspapers and magazines, mostly the Guardian, since 2000. At various times he has been a TV critic, a reporter, a comedy critic, an interviewer, a feature writer, a humourist, and a ghost writer. Leo came to our attention because of his insightful ‘Comedy Gold’ series of articles in the Guardian- he interviewed Funny Women founder, Lynne Parker, for an article about female comedy back in March, which you can still read HERE.
Leo’s award-winning special immigration issue of the Guardian’s G2 section was reprinted around the world and his work has also appeared in Prospect, the Observer, the New Statesman, the London Review of Books and the Literary Review. He occasionally pops up on the radio and TV. His first novel, ‘The Afterparty’ was published in March and we hope that this Awards final leaves him inspired ready for his next one!
Katherine Ryan combines talent, beauty and skill which is why she is one of the most exciting female comedy talents making a name for herself since winning the Funny Women Awards in 2008. As seen on Channel 4's Campus, BBC2's Episodes, E4's Dirty Digest and fresh from her acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe show ‘Nature’s Candy’, Katherine knows what it takes to be a success in the world of comedy. so her insight will be much valued on the panel to find a worthy winner in our 10th Anniversary Year.
Gavin Smith is the creative director of Business and Development for The Comedy Unit. In his time with the company Gavin first worked with the creative team to win a number of commissions before going on to manage the development department and secure various comedy pilots and series from UK broadcasters. Gavin has also used the company’s expertise to diversify in to other genres including Entertainment, Children’s and Digital. Like many of the staff in the company Gavin is also a comedy writer and currently writes Radio 4’s comedy series – Mordrin MacDonald: 21stCentury Wizard.
Jonathan Grant joins the panel for a second year bringing his experience of managing comedians and producing live comedy events at Red 24 Management since the department's launch two and a half years ago. He currently manages 10 acts and runs a monthly comedy night at the Hospital Club in Covent Garden. His background is as a stand-up performer – which he did for three years – and aside from working as an agent he has released an audiobook on modern comedy.
Heading up all this expertise as chair of our judging panel is Shane Allen who has recently been appoirnted as controller, comedy commissioning for the BBC. Since October 2009, Shane has been head of comedy at Channel 4, where his commissions have included: Black Mirror; Derek; Facejacker; the BAFTA-nominated Friday Night Dinner & Comic Strip Presents; The Hunt For Tony Blair; Cardinal Burns. He has also overseen the continued runs of the BAFTA-winning IT Crowd and Peep Show. Prior to this he was commissioning editor, Comedy, at Channel 4 where he commissioned Star Stories; Fonejacker; Dead Set; series two and three of The Inbetweeners; and PhoneShop. Shane was also executive producer on The Inbetweeners Movie, the biggest UK funded comedy film of all time.
Pictured top to bottom: Caroline Raphael, Leo Benedictus, Katherine Ryan, Jonathan Grant and Shane Allen.
