Comedy Central Expands Investment in Local Comedy

Comedy Central Expands
New Zealand Presence & Investment in Local Comedy

A RESULT OF COMEDY CENTRAL ON-AIR & DIGITAL SUCCESS

www.comedycentral.co.nz

Comedy Central New Zealand is calling out to comedians, producers, YouTubers and animators to submit pitches for the brand’s first local New Zealand series. Following the success of Comedy Central’s New Zealand ratings on SKY, increased traffic to the new Comedy Central New Zealand website and growth in key Comedy Central properties, such as The Daily Show driven by interest in the US election, Comedy Central is now increasing investment in local production.

The original New Zealand commissions will air on Comedy Central on SKY, as well as on the brand new Comedy Central New Zealand website at comedycentral.co.nz.

In addition to local video content, Comedy Central is also commissioning Kiwi comedians to produce local editorial exclusively for the new Comedy Central website. Guy Montgomery, will be the first New Zealand-based writer to add to the catalogue of parody, satirical articles available on the site. Guy is an award-winning comedian, improviser and screenwriter, who is best known as co-host of the international smash podcast 'The Worst Idea of All Time'. Guy has also featured in Just For Laughs Sydney (2016), the New Zealand Comedy Gala (2015, 2016), the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Sydney Comedy Fringe.

“Comedy Central is the biggest comedy brand in the world and has witnessed a huge increase in ratings on the Comedy Central SKY TV channel, with the overall monthly average audience up by 68% from 2015, so we’re very excited to have the opportunity to now expand the brand in New Zealand with home-grown Kiwi commissions, ” said Simon Bates, Vice President, Head of MTV Asia Pacific, & Comedy Central & Spike ANZ.

“We’re very impressed with the existing level of comedic talent in New Zealand and we’re super excited to be able to start working with Kiwi acts to produce local video and editorial content for Comedy Central.”

In addition to locally created and curated content, the new Comedy Central website will also host highlights from Comedy Central smash hits such as Inside Amy Schumer,The Daily Show, Broad City, South Park, Key & Peele, Workaholics, and more. The website also contains pages dedicated to stand-up comedy and the world famous Comedy Central Roast, where fans catch up on the most hilarious and brutal moments from the roasting of celebrities such as Donald Trump, Justin Bieber, Charlie Sheen and David Hasselhoff.

The site also showcases exclusive full episodes of Comedy Central web-series straight from the U.S. These digital only productions are part of Comedy Central’s development pipeline known as ‘Not For TV’, which has resulted in shows such as the highly successful series Broad City.

To submit proposals, budding comedians, writers and filmmakers should head to www.comedycentral.com.au/pitches for more information.

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