Whenever the three us that make up Arkatim go to a meeting the question will be asked about "Why on earth do you write together'? Sorry I meant to say "How on earth do you write together"? People seem genuinely amazed by the fact that we are a team of three writers, "How does it work"? "Aren't you always just arguing"? "Who does the typing or have you rigged up some sort of Heath Robinson type contraption that means you all type at the same time"? There's also a plethora of sayings out there that would indicate that two is the ideal number, ie two heads are better than one, threes a crowd, comedy threesome ended my marriage. Alright, that last one's not as well known as the first two but ignore it at your peril.
So how do we write as a threesome and how did we get together in the first place?
Claire and I met in 1992. The early 90's were a more innocent time, full of floppy fringes and circus skills workshops and into this world we brought creative arts company Round Midnight. Round Midnight writes and performs original material with an educational element. The stuff we wrote for Round Midnight could be about anything from youth homelessness to teenage mental health, but no matter how serious the subject matter, we always managed to imbue it with a humourous edge. The company still thrives and now works globally with the same ethos it began with 21 years ago 'You don't need to be serious to make a serious point'. In 1996 we formed Raw Talent Youth Theatre, a youth theatre that still performs original comedy material, I believe its the only youth theatre of its kind, a youth theatre that focusses on comedy. Amongst the members of Raw Talent Youth Theatre was Ian Jarvis, a 15 year old with a precocious flair for comedy. Ian graduated from appearing in the shows to writing and directing them and when he moved to London he continued to commute to Birmingham to direct the shows every weekend.
In 2008 whilst working in a school in Walsall we hit upon an idea that we thought would be great for TV, the perfect vehicle for Martin Clunes. So the three of us wrote up a 30 page synopsis and eventually secured a development grant from Screen West Midlands (R.I.P). This came to the attention of Ash Atalla at Roughcut TV who helped to develop it into a sitcom for BBC 3 and a taster tape was made. BBC 3 eventually decided it wasn't for them but while we waited for them to make up their minds about whether they would make a series or not we wrote the pilot episode of the The Job Lot.So, somewhere between having that initial idea in a Walsall school and ITV commissioning a six part comedy series about a West Midlands Jobcentre we became script writers.
So is 3 the magic number?Well, we certainly think so.
The beauty of the three of us working togther is an abundance of ideas, sometimes those ideas jostle for attention, occasionally they dovetail perfectly together, most of the time it's a matter of chipping away them with a comedy chisel until the joke slots into place. The secret is about spending as much time togther in a room as possible, working an idea until its as funny as we think we're capable of making it. Yes there are arguments, sometimes over a scene, sometimes over a single word.
So, who does do the typing? Well, whoever's nearest the keyboard, oh, and we still haven't worked with Martin Clunes.
So how do we write as a threesome and how did we get together in the first place?
Claire and I met in 1992. The early 90's were a more innocent time, full of floppy fringes and circus skills workshops and into this world we brought creative arts company Round Midnight. Round Midnight writes and performs original material with an educational element. The stuff we wrote for Round Midnight could be about anything from youth homelessness to teenage mental health, but no matter how serious the subject matter, we always managed to imbue it with a humourous edge. The company still thrives and now works globally with the same ethos it began with 21 years ago 'You don't need to be serious to make a serious point'. In 1996 we formed Raw Talent Youth Theatre, a youth theatre that still performs original comedy material, I believe its the only youth theatre of its kind, a youth theatre that focusses on comedy. Amongst the members of Raw Talent Youth Theatre was Ian Jarvis, a 15 year old with a precocious flair for comedy. Ian graduated from appearing in the shows to writing and directing them and when he moved to London he continued to commute to Birmingham to direct the shows every weekend.
In 2008 whilst working in a school in Walsall we hit upon an idea that we thought would be great for TV, the perfect vehicle for Martin Clunes. So the three of us wrote up a 30 page synopsis and eventually secured a development grant from Screen West Midlands (R.I.P). This came to the attention of Ash Atalla at Roughcut TV who helped to develop it into a sitcom for BBC 3 and a taster tape was made. BBC 3 eventually decided it wasn't for them but while we waited for them to make up their minds about whether they would make a series or not we wrote the pilot episode of the The Job Lot.So, somewhere between having that initial idea in a Walsall school and ITV commissioning a six part comedy series about a West Midlands Jobcentre we became script writers.
So is 3 the magic number?Well, we certainly think so.
The beauty of the three of us working togther is an abundance of ideas, sometimes those ideas jostle for attention, occasionally they dovetail perfectly together, most of the time it's a matter of chipping away them with a comedy chisel until the joke slots into place. The secret is about spending as much time togther in a room as possible, working an idea until its as funny as we think we're capable of making it. Yes there are arguments, sometimes over a scene, sometimes over a single word.
So, who does do the typing? Well, whoever's nearest the keyboard, oh, and we still haven't worked with Martin Clunes.
The Job Lot
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