Moving Up without Selling Out: DéPFLIES Enters Next Round in Comedy Coup
DÉPFLIES CBC Comedy Coup 2014
DéPFLIES, a Montreal-set project made it to the top 55 finalists in CBC’s Comedy Coup!
For a quick recap, you can read our introduction to DéPFLIES and the Comedy Coup HERE. To recap, the team who wins this competition gets $500 000 in production financing for a half-hour comedy special to air during CBC’s 2015 prime time schedule. DéPFLIES has made it to the top 55 and we want to give them all the support we can.
DÉPFLIES CBC Comedy Coup 2014
The voting period fro the top 15 projects will start on November 6 and finish on November 9 2014. As the “power-trio” behind DÉPFLIES, Alain Mercieca (Writer/Actor), Danny Belair (Director, Film-maker) and Erin Hall (Communications and Marketing) say “Canada needs a bilingual sitcom on prime time”, so don’t forget to go check them out and support your city’s comedy scene.
We chatted with Alain who gave us some insignts about behind the scenes.
DÉPFLIES photo by CBC – GROUP
Victoria Shinkaruk (VS): How was DéPFLIES idea born?
Alain Mercieca (AM): In the ashes of CAFé CAFé (a hit, Montréal-set theatrical series by myself, Alain Mercieca), DéPFLIES filled the void of making a live show that was distinctly Montréal, and in this case, distinctly St-Henri, where the I had just moved. And so, three years later, here we are.
VS:How do all three of you know each other?
AM:Danny and myself have been making short films for three years together, most notably THE CONCH, HANK and ONE MORE STEP. Erin saw OGOKI NIGHTS the play and knew that she had to be part of le Nouveau International, so she became our communications director!
DÉPFLIES CBC – Powertrio
VS:Who is responsible for what?
AM:I write and produce, Danny directs and produces, Erin promotes and produces. Le Nouveau International, the arts organization behind Theatre Sainte-Catherine, is also the spiritual and financial backbone of the project.
VS:What are the next steps in the voting process?
AM: Thursday the second round opens up again, which means people need to register on Comedy Coup’s website and vote. They can earn more voting power by commenting and interacting with all the other troupes and videos available. Think: join the community!
DéPFLIES 8: Deprazent.
VS:If you get to the first place what should we expect?
AM:A poetic comic opera of a 22-minute masterwork or in other words an artsy comedy about a dép and St-Henri.
VS:How can we help getting DéPFLIES noticed?
AM:Tell everyone you know who like bilingualism and thinks CBC needs an edgy, awesome sitcom to reinvigorate network airwaves.
The Voting for the top 15 on CBC ComedyCoup is happening from November 6 – 9 2014. For more information click HERE.
For more information on the voting process click HERE
