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ComedyCoup

FAQ FOR FANS

Questions, frequently asked by FANS!

Have a questions? Please review the FAQ below BEFORE contacting us directly. We’ll publish updates regularly. Our About Fans page also provides a good overview of the fan experience. If your question is not covered below Email us at: faq@comedycoup.com

General Introduction

What is CBC ComedyCoup?

Do you love comedies that go beyond the ordinary? Shows that have a different voice. New forms of funny that are, personal, edgy, uncompromising and maybe even outrageous? So do we. That's why we created ComedyCoup: a disruptive new studio designed to connect filmmakers with fans to help us discover the best ideas, support the strongest talent and give audiences a stake in shows you want to watch.

  • Over 10 weeks beginning October 2, 2014, ComedyCoup unfolds here on our innovative web platform and across the social web. Each week, comedy creators from across Canada will create hundreds of hilarious videos, images and artwork to develop and package their show concepts. They advance with social support and votes from their fans.
  • Ultimately ComedyCoup will option a minimum of five projects for development and greenlight one project with $500K financing to create a half-hour comedy special for CBC prime time, set for broadcast in Fall 2015.

Who Can Participate As A Fan?

  • Everyone over the age of 18 is invited to become ComedyCoup fan.
  • ComedyCoup features Canadian comedy creators, but fans across the Internet are welcome.
  • Invite your friends! Share the love and support your favourite comedy concepts and talent...

Benefits: Why Participate?

  • Support Canadian talent in a direct and hands on way that's never been done before. Use your own voice to tell Canada what you want to see!
  • Support a brave new studio for Canadian comedy creators and their fans.
  • Connect with comedy creators and share your feedback.
  • Flex your fan influence! Earn votes to help your favourite projects advance towards development and production opportunities.
  • Compete to become the ComedyCoup Uberfan who travels to the Final 5 event sit on our advisory panel for The Big Deal.

Who Are The Comedy Creators?

  • In our 2014 pilot season, 285 original comedy projects (with a total of 843 creators) applied to ComedyCoup from across Canada.
  • Each team is made up of three Canadians who can create, execute and market original screen-based comedy. Teams are a mix of emerging talent and established professionals.

About the Fan Experience

10-week Snapshot

The CBC ComedyCoup fan experience starts when ComedyCoup publishes all eligible project applications (and teaser videos) on Thursday, October 2, 2014 at 9PM EDT. For creators, this same period is called the “Advancement Phase”, as they work to advance through the Top 110, Top 50, Top 15 and Final 5 with fan support and votes. The fan experience runs for 10 weeks, through the Final 5 event when ComedyCoup will greenlight one project for production.


The fan experience combines the following elements:

  • Every week, comedy teams execute a weekly “mission” assignment designed to develop and package their project. ComedyCoup publishes the mission content -- and a related fan badge -- on the ComedyCoup website on Mondays at 9PM EDT.
  • On the ComedyCoup website, fans watch mission videos, give teams feedback on their work and earn votes to help their favourite projects advance.
  • Across the social web, creators and their fans promote projects and share mission content to gain further exposure and support.
  • On Fridays at 9PM EDT, the highest performing mission (based on performance indicators) is awarded the weekly “Fan Fave” and one mission is selected by ComedyCoup as the weekly “Pro's Pick”.
  • Beginning Week 3, the most active fans are recognized on the ComedyCoup Superfan Leaderboard. In Week 5, the Top 50 Superfans can opt-in to be eligible to compete for the “Uberfan Award”. The Uberfan will be selected in Week 7.
  • To advance through the Top 50 and Top 15, teams and their fans rally social voting support.
  • The Top 15 teams negotiate a legal Option Agreement and ComedyCoup options a minimum of five projects for development.
  • The Final 5 teams -- and the “Uberfan” -- travel to a live event where the teams pitch their projects to an advisory panel and one project is selected for The Big Deal.

What Are Fan Badges?

  • Fans can complete badges to earn votes and compete to become a Superfan.
  • Badges are designed to reward interaction with mission content and help teams get feedback on their work.
  • Four badges are active when the fan experience launches on October 2, 2014.
  • New badges are released on Mondays at 9PM EDT.
  • You can do all, some or none - it’s up to you. The more you do, the more votes you’ll earn to help your favourite projects advance.
  • Each badge is worth 1-5 votes depending on the time or commitment it takes to complete. You will earn those votes when you complete all the badge’s requirements.
  • To track your badge progress, login to ComedyCoup, navigate to HOME and then toggle to the BADGES tab.

What Is Social Voting?

Social voting allows fans to flex their influence and support your favourite projects for advancement. Voting results are one of four criteria that contribute to a project’s advancement. The voting system is designed to reward fans who sign up early, participate often and spend all their votes during each voting period.

  • You earn 5 votes when you sign up as a ComedyCoup fan.
  • You earn additional votes by completing fan badges (see previous FAQ).
  • You can cast all your votes for one project or distribute them amongst different projects.
  • Earned votes aggregate over time and are carried over into each social voting period.
  • Fans can track their total earned votes on their personal homepage. Login to ComedyCoup and navigate to HOME to view your current earned votes.


WHEN TO VOTE There will be two scheduled social votes when registered ComedyCoup fans can login to the website and cast votes to help their favourite projects advance. Voting periods are 4 days, scheduled as follows:

  • Top 50 Voting Period: October 23 at 9AM EDT - October 26, 2014 by 11:59:59PM EDT.
  • Top 15 Voting Period: November 6 at 9AM EDT - November 9, 2014 by 11:59:59PM EDT.
  • All votes will be audited and verified algorithmically to identify and rectify any incidents of gaming.

What's My Follow List?

All fans who sign up are encouraged to follow projects to support your favourite teams and personalize your ComedyCoup experience.

  • Fans can earn 3 additional votes by completing the “Follow 5” fan badge.
  • Following projects is the easiest way to track a project’s progress on ComedyCoup. It works like the subscribe function on YouTube. When you follow projects, you will get weekly content updates from those projects on your personal fan homepage.
  • To follow a project, navigate to its project page on ComedyCoup and click the blue FOLLOW button located top right. That project will now appear on your personal Homepage and also on your HOME / FOLLOW tab.
  • To remove a project from your Follow List, navigate to HOME and toggle to the FOLLOW LIST tab. When you Hover over the project image and click REMOVE.

What Are Favourites?

  • Your personal faves are videos and images you discover and like on the ComedyCoup website.
  • Tag content to your faves to give creators positive feedback on their work and track the content you like.
  • All your favourite videos and images are collected on your personal homepage on the FAVES tab.
  • To add content to your FAVES, navigate to any project’s mission pages and click the heart located beside the videos and images. Click the heart again to remove it.
  • Teams create new videos and images every week. They’re published on Mondays at 9PM EDT.

How Do I Comment?

  • All registered fans can make comments on the ComedyCoup website.
  • Comments can provide teams valuable feedback on their work while helping fans earn more votes.
  • To make a comment, navigate to a project’s mission page and scroll down to the comments section.
  • You can like other people’s comments and / or reply to their comments.
  • While fans are encouraged to share their honest opinions, you’re also cautioned to BE CONSTRUCTIVE and RESPECTFUL. The community will moderate itself and inappropriate comments will be reported and removed. Fans who make repeated inappropriate comments may be suspended from the website.

Rate & Review Projects

  • All registered fans can rate and review projects on the ComedyCoup website.
  • Ratings and reviews can provide teams valuable feedback on their work while helping fans earn more votes.
  • While comments (previous FAQ) are made about mission content, ratings and reviews are meant to provide feedback on the overall show concept and project package.
  • When you rate and review projects, keep in mind that most videos were shot without budgets, casts or even scripts. It’s simply a concept for an original comedy show.
  • To rate and review a project, navigate to any project page and click the blue RATE button (located top right). Use the 10-point rating tool and, optionally, add a short review about the project concept.
  • To edit your rating and/or view other ratings and reviews for any given project, navigate to its project page and toggle to its RATINGS tab.

Upload Your Fan Avatar

  • When you upload a personal profile image to your ComedyCoup fan account, it distinguishes you in comment threads and leaderboards and helps you earn 2 additional votes.
  • To upload your fan avatar, login to ComedyCoup and navigate to your account settings, located on the top right of the website beside the LOGOUT button. Follow the onscreen instructions to select and upload an image file.
  • Minimum size: 500x500
  • Supported formats: PNG, JPEG, JPG, GIF

Who Are Superfans?

Superfans are the most active Canadian fans on the ComedyCoup website and they may be recognized on the Superfan Leaderboard. The Top 50 Superfans can compete to become the ComedyCoup “Uberfan” (see next FAQ).


SUPERFAN LEADERBOARD

  • The Superfan Leaderboard recognizes the most active Canadian ComedyCoup fans on any given day.
  • ComedyCoup creators cannot appear on the Superfan Leaderboard.
  • Top 50 Superfan Leaderboard is revealed Thursday, October 23 at 9PM EDT. The Leaderboard will be updated daily and any Canadian ComedyCoup fans can enter or exit the leaderboard based on their influence ranking relative to all other fans.
  • Top 10 Superfan Leaderboard is revealed Thursday, November 20 at 9PM EDT. The Leaderboard will be updated daily but only the eligible Top 10 Superfans can move up and down the rankings as they compete to become the Uberfan.


Activity that contributes to your Superfan ranking include:

  • Sign up / Login
  • Complete fan badges
  • Watch videos / view new content weekly
  • Rate and review projects
  • Comment on project missions

Who Is The Uberfan?

  • The Uberfan will travel to a live Final 5 event and sit on the industry panel that helps advise ComedyCoup on its decision to greenlight one project for production financing.
  • The Top 10 Superfans will compete to become the ComedyCoup Uberfan.
  • To be eligible for the Top 10 Superfan Leaderboard, the Top 50 Superfans will have the opportunity to agree to Rules & Regulations for Superfans. ComedyCoup will contact the Top 50 Superfans in contention for the Top 10 Superfan Leaderboard directly via email by Monday, Monday November 10 to present them the Rules & Regulations for Superfans. The Top 10 Superfans who have agreed to the Rules by the deadline, will compete to become the Uberfan.
  • ComedyCoup will select the Uberfan from the Top 10 Superfan Leaderboard.
  • The Uberfan will be revealed on Thursday, November 27, 2014 at 9PM EDT.

How Projects Advance

Application Requirements

To apply to ComedyCoup, comedy teams worked to complete their online applications including:

  • TEAM:A team of three Canadians who can create, execute and market original screen-based comedy.
  • TEASER VIDEO:A 90-second teaser video that captures their concept for an original comedy show.
  • PROJECT PROFILE: A logline, written synopsis and image.
  • SOCIAL ACCOUNTS: A Facebook page and Twitter account for their project.

ComedyCoup publishes all eligible project applications on Thursday, October 2, 2014 at 9PM EDT. Each project gets a custom microsite on the ComedyCoup website that showcases their content, team and social marketing efforts and allows teams to add new content to their project packages throughout the fan experience.

What Are Weekly Missions?

Each week, ComedyCoup gives creators a mandatory “mission” assignment designed to develop and package their show concepts while showcasing their talent and creativity. Fans can watch, comment and share mission content to earn votes and help support their favourite projects.
To explore mission content:

  • Navigate to PROJECTS (top level).
  • Toggle between week tabs to view different missions.
  • View all projects or filter them by province.
  • Sort content by trending, popular, random or A-Z.
  • WEEK 1: Teams have applied to ComedyCoup with a short teaser video that captures their concept for an original comedy show. ComedyCoup is looking for “new forms of funny” -- fresh ideas that push form and content conventions.
  • WEEKS 2 - 10: New mission content is published on Mondays at 9PM EDT beginning October 6, 2014.

Marketing & Social Promo

Social media provides powerful low cost marketing channels to engage fans who will evangelize projects and help teams advance. During the 10-week advancement phase that begins October 2, 2014, creators can share links to their ComedyCoup content on social media to get valuable feedback and build audience support for their projects.

  • Teams are expected to promote their project and share links to their ComedyCoup content on their project’s Facebook page and Twitter account. 
  • The team’s social performance indicators will contribute to its advancement (as described below in “Top 50 and Top 15 Advancement”)
  • During the Top 50 phase, teams will also have the opportunity to submit other relevant content that demonstrates their marketing efforts such as event collateral, voting campaigns, earned media coverage and blog posts. The content will be aggregated on each Project’s “Press & Promo” page and will be considered during the Final 5 and The Big Deal evaluation (as described below).
  • Finally, teams are encouraged to leverage their real-life social networks. When ComedyCoup launches to fans, we expect teams to bootstrap support for their projects through friends, family and the communities they live in.

What Are Wildcards?

ComedyCoup reserves the right to consider any project for wildcard advancement, regardless of its performance indicators and voting results. If ComedyCoup wants to advance a project as a wildcard, the eligible project(s) with the lowest combined performance indicators and voting results will be eliminated in place of the wildcard project(s).

  • Top 50 gateway: up to 10 wildcards may be advanced in lieu of the Top 41 through Top 50.
  • Top 15 gateway: up to 5 wildcards may be advanced in lieu of the Top 11 through Top 15

If a project misses the Top 110 or Top 50 cut, it can continue submitting content to its project on the website to be considered for wildcard advancement.

The Top 110

All teams that meet the application requirements by the deadline will have their projects published on the ComedyCoup website when the fan experience launches on on Thursday, October 2, 2014 at 9PM EDT.

If there are more than 100 eligible applications, ComedyCoup will select a minimum of 100 projects for Top 110 advancement. ComedyCoup will announce the Top 110 on Monday, October 6, 2014 at 9PM EDT.

Teams that do not advance to the Top 110 can continue submitting content to their project on the website to be considered for wildcard advancement.

Top 50 and Top 15

Teams will advance based on the strength of their project package and their efforts to engage fan support. At the Top 50 and Top 15 gateways, teams will advance based on a weighted calculation of the following criteria:

  • Performance indicators on mission content
  • Performance indicators on social networks
  • Social voting results
  • Gateway-specific criteria such as meeting the script and bible requirement for eligibility to advance to the Top 15.

Eligible teams with the highest performance indicators, and wildcards (as defined above), will advance to the Top 50 and Top 15.

While audience support is a key element to success, ComedyCoup is not a popularity contest. Our performance algorithms are designed to reward qualitative over quantitative engagement by measuring factors such as sentiment, trends, reach and retention within the website and on your project’s social networks. To prevent unfair gaming, ComedyCoup is unable to publish specific data points and weight allocations for any given criteria.

Selecting The Final 5

ComedyCoup will evaluate the Top 15 projects using the criteria below to select five teams for advancement to the Final 5 event. The Final 5 Projects will be announced on Monday, November 24, 2014 at 9PM EST.

  • Cumulative performance indicators and voting results from October 2 at 9PM EST through November 9 at 11:59:59PM EST.
  • The strength of their overall project including their mission content and marketing efforts.
  • Quality and feasibility of the draft script and show bible treatment.
  • Originality of show concept and strength of scriptwriting
  • Viability to attach talent to the project
  • Viability to meet $500,000 production budget
  • Viability to meet accelerated production schedule

“The Big Deal” Event

The Final 5 teams and the ComedyCoup Uberfan will travel to a live event (the “The Big Deal”), at the expense of ComedyCoup in the period between Friday, December 5 and Wednesday, December 10 2014. The date and location of the event will published when the Final 5 projects are announced on Monday, November 24 2014 at 9PM EDT.


LIVE PROJECT PITCH
During the event, each team will pitch their project to before panel of industry professionals from television and creative cultural industries, ComedyCoup producers, one advisory “Uberfan” and a live audience. Each project pitch will combine the following elements:

  • Live on-stage intro
  • Video highlight reel
  • Live on-stage close
  • Live Q&A with the panel


PROJECT EVALUATION
The panel and ComedyCoup will consider the following factors in their evaluation of each project:
  • The strength of the live project pitch
  • Cumulative performance indicators and voting results from October 2 at 9PM EDT through November 9 at 11:59:59PM EST.
  • The strength of their overall project including their mission content and marketing efforts.
  • Quality and feasibility of the draft script and show bible treatment
  • Originality of show concept and strength of scriptwriting
  • Viability to attach talent to the project
  • Viability to meet accelerated production schedule
  • Viability to meet $500,000 production budget


The ComedyCoup panel will be announced in advance of the Top 15. The panel will be made up of esteemed recognized professionals from both the business and creative sides of the Canadian Television community.One ComedyCoup Superfan will also sit on the panel.