Coogan's Run directors beat the bootleggers with official YouTube comedy channel
Harry
Pozzitive, the multi-award winning comedy production company,
consisting of Geoff Posner and David Tyler, whose credits include
French & Saunders, Not The Nine O'Clock News, Harry Enfield & Chums,
The Paul & Pauline Calf Video Diaries, Spitting Image, Victoria Wood
As Seen On TV, The Young Ones, Coogan's Run, dinnerladies, Little
Britain, Armando Iannucci’s Charm Offensive and The Comic Side of 7
Days, have decided to launch an official YouTube channel at
www.youtube.com/PozzitiveComedy which will let viewers watch clips
from some of their best shows, spanning 20 years, for free.
Pozzitive’s directors Geoff Posner and David Tyler said they were
tired of people watching grainy, low-quality clips of their shows
online and wanted to launch their own channel straight from their
private vault as a way of beating the bootleggers and driving revenue
back to their comedians via the sale of official shows.
Pozzitive’s Geoff Posner, whose many credits include Little Britain,
French & Saunders and Victoria Wood - As Seen On TV, said: “Over the
past few years, we’ve seen the widespread uploading of our copyright-
protected clips from some of our biggest shows on media sharing sites
like YouTube. Rather than sue fans or having all the clips removed, we
decided to take matters into our own hands and fight free videos with
free videos by putting up our own versions, in higher quality, from
our official vault. Our YouTube channel will allow viewers to watch
higher-quality clips from some of our best sketch shows, sitcoms and
programmes for free as well as showcasing new and exclusive material.
The channel will also help to drive revenue back to the talented
comedians we work with as it links to our main site www.pozzitive.co.uk
where people will be able to buy official DVDs and Download-To-Own
audio from Amazon & Audible.co.uk.”
Pozzitive’s YouTube channel currently features videos from shows like
Coogan’s Run and The Comic Side of 7 Days as well as an exclusive
behind the scenes look at the making of tlc, the black comedy set in
the NHS, featuring Reece Shearsmith and Alexander Armstrong. More
clips are promised in the future.
Pozzitive recently launched an encyclopaedia of British comedy at
www.pozzitive.co.uk spanning 20 years of material from their vaults
which includes:
• Over 570 rare photos including never-before-seen shots of comedians
• Exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage from shows
• Over 70 different audio clips, including exclusive specially-edited
highlights
• Extracts from untransmitted pilots
• Specially-made trailers and extracts from shows never released on
CD
• Over 50 video clips including material from shows never released on
DVD
• Publicity material from shows, trailers, publicity postcards,
scripts and over 76 series written up in full, including full casts
and crew list sourced from the original tapes and paperwork