Richard Ackerman is the non-scripted entertainment commissioner at Sky.
Here he explains that when you have an idea for a show, it is best to be attached with a production company as they will have greater knowledge on the process and what Sky is looking for.
Sky Arts was formed from the merger of Sky Arts 1 and 2, launching as a “super channel” in June. “It’s an on-demand service with 10,000 hours of content so far. It’s updated all the time and means customers can watch our back catalogue whenever they wish,” Edgar-Jones told an audience at a Bristol Centre event held at the Arnolfini in late September.
Edgar-Jones was joined on stage by Sky commissioner Siobhan Mulholland as he outlined the opportunities for all arts genres, including comedy, opera, ballet, drama and music.
Ben Boyer is the new commissioning editor of comedy at Sky. He is in charge of seeking out fresh talent for all their entertainment channels. He has previously worked on Sky Arts’ one-off programme The Dog Thrower.
Here he explains how to pitch for comedy at Sky
Earlier this year, Sky Arts merged Sky Arts 1 and 2 and relaunched as a ‘super channel’ accompanied by an on-demand website housing 1,000 hours of specialist programmes. Phil Edgar-Jones, its Controller, is on a mission to change people’s perceptions about what the arts can be.
As the Director of Sky Arts, Phil has a busy schedule. In this video, he talks about the details of his job and offers advice on how to get to where he is.
The RTS Student Television Awards nominated films will be broadcast on Sky Arts in the next few months.
The award ceremony was held at BFI Southbank on Friday 5 June and celebrated the very best talent in student production.
Sunday Dinner with the Morgans will be the first shown on air on 17th July.
The rest will be broadcast during August and September and will all be featured on the on-demand collection boxset once broadcast.
Below is the schedule for RTS finalists on Sky Arts:
The best of student television making was celebrated at the RTS Student Television Awards earlier this month.
Adam Buxton will present highlights of the awards, RTS Student Awards, tonight (Friday 19th June) at 7pm on Sky Arts.
A selection of the nominated films will also be broadcast in full on Sky Arts later this summer.
Many of the nominated films can be viewed on the RTS YouTube channel, or below
The move will see a 10% increase in programming investment for the channel, which moves up the EPG to channel 121.
New one-off drama Birthday, adapted from Joe Penhall’s sell-out play, will air on Tuesday evening.
Stephen Mangan stars as Ed, a pregnant man waiting to give birth on an NHS maternity ward, accompanied by his high-flying executive wife (Anna Maxwell Martin).
The broadcaster has made a commitment to increasing high-quality arts programming across Europe.
