We had the pleasure of talking to the 2014 Funny Women Comedy Writing Award winners Sophie Fletcher and Megan Heffernan about their win, working as a team and what's in store for the pair…
Funny Women: How does it feel to win the Funny Women Comedy Writing Award for your script 'In These Shoes?'
Heffernan & Fletcher: Absolutely brilliant! It's a massive confidence boost to know that someone other than us thinks it's funny!
FW: How long have you two been collaborating?
H&F: We first started working together about five years ago when we formed a sketch group called The History Girls. We've been performing as double-act for about two years. 'In These Shoes?' is our first attempt at writing a sitcom.
FW: Do you find it easier to write as a pair?
H&F: We think it's a good way to write comedy because it means you always have an audience of one – if we can make each other laugh, that's a good start. But coming from a background of writing for the stage, it's taken us a while to figure out our writing dynamic for the screen. Life is so busy, what with families and trying to make ends meet, it's sometimes hard to carve out the time and prioritise sitting down in front of the computer to write, especially when it's speculative and you have to set your own deadlines. Actually that's one of the reasons the Funny Women Comedy Writing Award is so good – there's nothing like a competition deadline to get the creative juices flowing! It's also difficult because we live in different cities (Sophie's in London, Megan's in Brighton.) We spend a lot of time on Skype. We find it important to drink at least two cups of tea, eat half a packet of Digestives and have a good gossip before we even get started on writing. It's all part of the process, ahem.
FW: Tell us a little bit about your winning script 'In These Shoes?'
H&F: It's the story of two friends, Rose and Val, whose lives have gone in different directions. When party-girl Rose returns home from a stint in jail, she is horrified to discover that her best mate Val has settled down with her boyfriend and had twins. It's basically an exaggerated lens through which to explore our own lives – although neither of us has been in jail.
FW: What's next for you two, post Awards?
H&F: We plan to keep writing and working on our sitcom, 'In These Shoes?' and develop other sitcom and sketch ideas. We are hoping that our sitcom or sketch ideas will make it on to TV, that would be the ultimate prize for us.
FW: Do you have a dream cast for your script?
H&F: Us, of course! Plus a rolling cast of handsome young men.
FW: Any advice for those thinking about entering next year?
H&F: Start writing now, it always takes longer than you think to get a good idea and then put a script together, at least it did for us!
Best get started then! Find out more about the Funny Women Writing Award here!
