By Adam Wakefield

For the uninitiated, Funny or Die is the Emmy-winning online comedy platform and production company founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and Chris Henry. Launched in January 2007, Funny or Die today has over 70 million followers across all platforms, and is the most followed comedy brand on Twitter and Facebook.

Sarit Tomlinson, the founder and CEO of reputation management firm Capacity Relations, conceptualised the collaboration between Funny or Die and Samsung following a trip to Los Angeles last year.

Tomlinson says there are two parts to the road show.

The first is the workshops where Funny or Die senior social content producer Dashiell Driscoll, Funny or Die digital department head producer, Chris Heuer, and Samsung director of integrated mobility, Craig Fleischer, among other speakers, will be speaking on topics including global trends, content creation, the best forms of distribution, and what’s next in social media.

For local comics and writers, it will be a treasure trove of information they can apply to their work.

Tomlinson says both Driscoll and Heuer have been with Funny or Die since its founding, with both men intimately involved in the day-to-day shoots, script writing, editing, and posting online. 

The second part of the roadshow is the competition, with R50 000, a new Samsung S7 Galaxy with 360 degree camera, and an opportunity to be broadcast on Funny or Die being the prize waiting the winner.

To enter, local creatives will need to create a script that is three minutes or less in length, has four characters, uses only three locations and is between three to five pages to enter.
Those interested have until Saturday, 20 August to enter, with the top six finalists, chosen by a panel, to be announced on Thursday, 1 September.

The final six will each be given, after training, a Samsung S7 or S7 Edge, the Gear VR device and a 360 degree camera to shoot their short film based on the script they submitted.

This second phase of the competition will run from Friday, 2 September to Monday, 19 September, with the winner to be announced in Johannesburg on Tuesday, 27 September.

Tomilson says with VR technology being at the forefront of media today, it made perfect sense for Samsung to get involved to present the six finalists with a bit of a challenge.

“We have a lot of creative people in this country. Let’s try get filmmakers, students and creatives to write with new technology in mind. If we were to give you a handset and challenge you to make a movie, just a short movie, with just the handset, could you do it? That’s how the roadshow came about,” she says. 

“It’s collaborating and partnering with two major industry titans and waiting to see what South Africa can do.”

The competition criteria was not chosen at random, as it is an exact criteria Funny or Die use when commissioning new work. The criteria also takes into account that those who enter the competition will not be working with large budgets.

Tomlinson, the team at Funny or Die, and Samsung hope the competition will give a talented South African an opportunity to have their work seen by millions of people, and who knows, a new comedy star could be born.

“The opportunity is there and the platform will be set up, so it will be up to the finalists to decide what they do with the many opportunities that will undoubtedly arise from the experience. It’s very exciting,” Tomlinson says.

To enter the competition, those interested must email their scripts to [email protected].

Tickets, at R650 for adults and R300 for students, for the Funny or Die roadshow are available from Ticketpro.

The roadshow will take place in Johannesburg on Tuesday, 27 September and in Cape Town on Thursday, 29 September.

For more information, visit www.capacityrelations.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or find them on YouTube.