In a world where creative women are often freelance, networking events have become an essential part of life. But, before attending, I am always thinking, will it be a comfortable friendly space? Will the atmosphere feel safe and inclusive?
Case in point: The BGC Pro Big Comedy Conference is an annual London event, geared towards emerging writers, directors and performers. It promises the usual menu of expert panels and practical workshops that aims to have something for everyone. This year saw Black Friday sales on tickets to entice attendees and a last minute venue change to the London School of Economics.
As Saturday’s first panel discussion started, I noticed the conference attendees were roughly 50/50 men and women. The first panel focused on comedy commissioning for the big terrestrial broadcasters, followed by a panel discussion on career building, then a writers workshop for creating strong narrative comedy.
It was, however, Sunday that was the day I related to and enjoyed the most. An astoundingly insightful talk by writer, podcaster and tutor Sarah Morgan on writing comedy characters and a masterclass about the writing mistakes to avoid by writer and script editor, Amanda Graham.
The diversifying comedy panel discussion was almost all women, featuring comedian and neurodivergent author – Shappi Khorsandi, producer and Gobby Girl founder Gina Lyons, neurodiversity access campaigner Lorelei Mathias, Tiger Aspect comedy producer and marginalised voices commentator Malak El-Gonemy and working-class writer and producer Ian Jarvis.
The panel acknowledged the encouraging numbers of women writers and performers, but highlighted the serious lack of representation in the higher echelons of the industry. An example given was, trying to pitch a show about the menopause to an exec panel of all men. Neurodiversity was also discussed, with panel members being incredibly brave and vulnerable, sharing their struggles in life and work.
Throughout out the weekend I noticed something interesting, that the male attendees didn’t seem to be interacting with each other quite as much as the women attendees were. Perhaps that’s an unsung superpower in this industry? The ease with which women are able to chat and connect to one another is a feature of this kind of event. Networking is second nature.
For me as a writer/director looking to connect and collaborate. BGC Pro hit it out of the park with the Big Comedy Conference. Perhaps the last minute change of venue had an accidental positive effect. The smaller intimate space felt inclusive, warm and refreshingly gender equal.
