The art of improv is being used in film and TV now more than ever before.

SNL isn’t the only place looking for people with an improv background. Other parts of the entertainment business are also recognizing improv’s strengths and at a rapidly growing rate.

Filmmakers Judd Apatow, Adam McKay and Paul Feig are known to rely on the form. Commercials are taking a look in that direction too, with Adweek calling AT&T’s Milana Vayntrub “advertising’s ‘it’ girl.” Christopher Guest directed a series of largely improvised spots for Petsmart starring Anna Faris and Jennifer Coolidge.

Several performers, filmmakers and advertisers say that they use improv as a way to signal authenticity with the brand or with the story – even legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese uses improvisation constantly in order to capture a genuine connection with a character onscreen.

More and more comedians are emerging from that scene – heading into careers as actors, directors, screenwriters, and some even as marketers.

Aside from the obvious formats like Whose Line is it Anyway?, TV is dipping its toe in the form. Last year, Showtime hosted House of Lies Live, a long-form improv set at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCB) with the cast of the show, hosted by House of Lies’ Ben Schwartz, who got his start there.

The team and YouTube channel Improv Everywhere recently signed on for a series with Collective Digital Studio at the NewFronts called Fake Company Incorporated. Stars of Silicon Valley, The League and Portlandia, to name a few, largely come from the training grounds of improv: The Groundlings, Second City and UCB.

So why not bring the art form to the creative space used specifically to promote these film and TV brands?

At PromaxBDA: The Conference, National Geographic Channels Creative Director, Tyler Korba, hopes to examine how best to do that in his session “If It Feels Weird, Do It More: Using the Tools of Improv to Unleash Your Promo Potential.”

This can be as obvious as improv comics using the form in network spots like this:

Or as subtle as spots like this with seasoned improvisers:

Or can come from such improv legends as this:

Korba began improv in a college troupe, and when he moved to Washington, D.C., helped re-establish Washington Improv Theater (WIT), a group he was involved with for 13 years.

The No. 1 lesson of improv comedy is learning to follow “Yes, and…” which Korba says naturally translates to a workplace environment. The aim isn’t to be funny onstage – it’s to create a story that resonates within a team that you learn to trust.

“Onstage, my goal is to make my scene partner look as good as I can,” he said, “and if his goal is the same thing, we can come up with some amazing things, and explore those ideas together.”

That stress on creative collaboration was a natural fit for his early work at small networks with small budgets that needed big imagination.

“I saw a lot of similarities between the improv world and the promo world – telling simple stories for an audience and building them one step at a time,” said Korba. “The technique felt familiar. And on a smaller channel without a lot of resources, you have to be inventive. Just like on stage, you have to look for the ways to have fun with your assignments. That sense of play is really important.”

Learn more at Korba’s session “If It Feels Weird, Do It More: Using the Tools of Improv to Unleash Your Promo Potential” at PromaxBDA: The Conference 2015 on Wednesday, June 10 at 3:30 p.m. as part of The Craft track.

Tags:


  Save as PDF