The Just For Laughs Group (aka JFL) is a 30-something year old comedic institution with a fantastic URL (you can find it online at hahahah.com) a singular goal: make people happy. To acheive it, JFL has focused on four major initiatives, including 1) comically-oriented television production; 2) live shows and Canadian tour dates for some of the biggest comics around (e.g. Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan, Kevin Hart); 3) talent management; and 4) festivals.
That last one is perhaps for what JFL is most well known. This year marks the 36th iteration of the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, an event which brings roughly 1.35 million visitors to the city each summer to consume high-quality comedy programming, see nascent and established acts, congregate with industry executives and insiders, get some business done, and have a few laughs.
It’s a great event and you can be part of it by way of Stand Up & Pitch: The Comedy Content Search. (Do you see what they did there with the “Stand Up” title? Kinda clever.)
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The program draws submissions from across the English-speaking world and offers five finalists the opportunity to pitch their digital and/or TV concepts to a panel of senior development and production executives in a room filled with over 100 comedy decision makers and accredited observers. It’s worked, too. Finalists from previous years have received deals on both traditional and digital platforms, a sampling of which include Fatal Murder Mystery (Shaftesbury/Just For Laughs), That’s My Bus (FOX), My 90-Year-Old Roommate (CBC Comedy), Newborn Moms (CBC Comedy), and Epic Studios (Maker Studios).
To follow in the footsteps of those programs, you just need follow a relatively simple process. Submit your work here for consideration by Monday, May 7, 2018. Note that submissions for this particular Stand Up & Pitch event are intended for digital-first shows with episode lengths no greater than 15 minutes. These pitches can include a variety of formats – scripted, animation, factual, variety and sketch – but all should be shorter form series ideas aimed at YouTube, or other digital platforms. Finalists will then be selected from the submissions by a group of panelists, which in previous years has included executives from Above Average, Adult Swim, Bell Media, CollegeHumor/Big Breakfast, Funny or Die, New Form, YouTube, Warner Bros., and more.
You can check out more details on JFL, its Montreal Festival, and the pitch event right here. Be happy and good luck!
