Meet the WINNERS from this year's ComedyPRO
Just For Laughs celebrates the comedy voices of tomorrow with their live pitch programs! Stand Up & Pitch, presented by Project 10 Productions, is JFL ComedyPRO’s signature program showcasing writers, creators, performers, and producers on the cutting edge of comedy, as they pitch their series ideas to a panel of high-level industry experts in three sessions live, on stage. The CBC returned this year as host of the ever-popular CBC Comedy Pitch Program, presenting a homegrown selection of scripted, animated and unscripted work to CBC Executives as pitched by an exciting new crop of Canadian comedy creators.
Winners were selected by a prestigious panel of executives from ABC, Adult Swim, Amazon Studios, Avalon Entertainment, Bell Media, BET +, CBC Comedy, Fox, Funny or Die, HBO, Hulu, Reform Media Group, Roku, Paramount Television Studios and Warner Animation. The winners of each program are invited back to JFL ComedyPRO 2023.
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The 2022 winners of Stand Up & Pitch are:
ANTONY HALL and JASON SPEIR for The Great Escape - A con artist and liar extraordinaire, Liberty escapes prison only to end up trapped in a different sort of cell: a Hollywood escape room.
MILLEN BAIRD and NTHENYA NDUNDA for Naki Blues - A burned out Californian policewoman moves to New Zealand for love, but her peaceful ambitions are railroaded by her overbearing in-laws and a ludicrous murder investigation.
ANISH BHALLA, KYLE RADKE and MATT KELLY for Bhalla - Set in the mid-90's, a basketball-loving Indian teen living in a racially diverse suburb, struggles to hide his taboo hobbies from his overbearing, conservative family.
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The 2022 winners of the CBC Comedy Pitch Program are:
CHAD NOONAN and TYLER EAMES for Nine Months to Die - A government employee with little life ambition has his world of leisure implode after his girlfriend unexpectedly breaks up with him. When he can’t pull himself from his tailspin, he encounters a strange figure with an even stranger offer.
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ANTONY HALL & JASON SPEIR
ANTONY HALL is an actor, writer, and improv comedian from Lethbridge, Alberta. After graduating from MacEwan University’s Theatre Arts Program, he moved to Toronto to pursue a career in film. A graduate of the Second City Conservatory, Antony performs with the improv teams Gentleman Frog and Darth Vader Ginsburg, hip-hop, comedy duo Whyte Wyne and Young Riesling, and co-hosts the wrestling podcast Book It Vince! Antony was the co-creator and co-writer of the web series MING’S DYNASTY (2019, CBC GEM), nominated for Best Web Program or Series (Fiction) at the Canadian Screen Awards (2020). He played the lead in the comedy short film I’M NOT A ROBOT, premiering at Just For Laughs Eat My Shorts (2022). Antony’s experience working as an actor at an immersive escape room inspired his current, in-development sitcom series, THE GREAT ESCAPE (co-created with Jason Speir).
JASON SPEIR is a Toronto-based writer and director with a passion for fusing genres to tell unique, meaningful stories. After graduating from Western University, he worked as a professional engineer before pursuing a career as a writer. Jason’s writing and directorial debut came with his comedy short film I’M NOT A ROBOT, premiering at Just For Laughs Eat My Shorts (2022). His work has been selected as a Semifinalist and awarded Top 25 Thriller & Horror Category at the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards (2020, LIE MAROON), and Quarterfinalist in ScreenCraft’s TV Pilot Script Competition (2021, THE GREAT ESCAPE). Jason is a partner at the independent production company HYST Films, where he works as a writer, director, and producer, leading the creative development of original, narrative content.
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NTHENYA NDUNDA and MILLEN BAIRD
NTHENYA NDUNDA is a standup comedian, actress, writer and producer born in Kenya. Yup, nthenya from Kenya! To keep it simple, she spent the first half of her life in Vancouver, BC and at the age of 11, her family moved to Charleston, SC. And that’s when she realized she was black, y’all! An actress based out of Los Angeles you may have seen her on Shameless, Loosely, Exactly Nicole or in a few Lifetime movies. She is the 2019 JFL CBC Standup and Pitch winner and one of NBC’s Writers on the Verge nominees (2021). She owns and operates The Comedy Nook; an intimate indie comedy venue in the heart of Melrose. In conclusion, what you should know is that she loves people watching, oversharing and trying new snacks.
MILLEN BAIRD stopped watching TV in 2007 and created his sketch comedy series The Millen Baird Show for TV3, which was nominated Best Comedy at the 2009 NZ Film & TV Awards. In 2011, he co-created the comedy series Auckland Daze for TVNZ about 4 losers trying to ‘make it’ in NZ’s tiny entertainment industry. The semi-autobiographical series won Best Comedy Script at the 2012 and 2014 NZ Writers Guild Awards. In 2017, Mills released Darryl. An Outward Bound Story for TVNZ, which the NZ Herald called “a rare comedy gem.” Millen and John won Best Comedy Script at the NZ Writers Guild Awards and the 2017 NZTV Awards.
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MATT KELLY, ANISH BHALLA and KYLE RADKE
ANISH BHALLA is an accomplished basketball writer and producer whose work with Canada Basketball and the Toronto Raptors has earned him a seat at the table among the top creatives in Canadian basketball content. An all-star in high school, Anish played professional for the KL Vipers in Malaysia after playing at Wilfrid Laurier University.
KYLE RADKE won first place in the Homegrown Comedy Championship at the Just For Laughs Festival in 2005 and has since performed at every major comedy festival in Canada. Kyle’s had 3 televised galas for Just For Laughs and his very own comedy special Kyle Radke Live. Kyle was a finalist at JFL ComedyPRO 2014 where he sold his series The Uncomfort Zone to Big Beach Films.
MATT KELLY has produced and directed for Canadian icons like rock band Rush and Wayne Gretzky. His original series Hookin’ Up ran for 4 seasons on the World Fishing Network. Matt has had 3 television projects reach the finals of Just For Laughs ComedyPRO and in 2016 Matt’s project Inhuman Resources was selected by comedy superstar Kevin Hart.
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CHAD NOONAN and TYLER EAMES
CHAD NOONAN is a Stand Up Comedian, Producer and Podcast host. He currently hosts and produces the Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame Podcast which has featured the cast of Kids in The Hall, Kim’s Convenience and many other Canadian stand ups, sketch and tv actors. Chad uses his platform with the Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame to promote diversity and inclusion across Canadian Comedy. Chad has produced and written many commercials and PSA’s for tech companies and Nonprofits. His stand up credits include performing at Absolute Comedy and The Yuk Yuks Mike MacDonald Comedy Competition. He is a single father living in Ontario.
TYLER EAMES is the younger, unfamous brother of Canadian Fantasy icon Nicholas Eames (Kings of the Wyld/Bloody Rose). An english literature major from UBC, this barb-wire-armband tattoo’d 42 year old has thrice traveled the world, twice qualified for the Boston Marathon and once lived in a ‘92 Nissan Pathfinder with a Grim Reaper seat-cover.
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