Making it in comedy isn't easy. Honing your craft, meeting the right people, booking the best gigs and getting noticed by the entertainment gatekeepers is a challenge to say the least. But a new startup in Chicago wants to make a career in comedy a reality for more comedians and help eliminate the barrier to entry for up-and-coming talent across the US.
Satira--founded by Chicagoan Victoria Elena Nones, the founder of nonprofit Women in Comedy--is an online community for all comedians at any stage of their career. The startup wants to do three things: be an online social network for comedians (think LinkedIn for comedy), provide online business education for comedians, and be a site for comedians to book gigs.
The startup, which is in a "soft launch" phase, is currently just focusing on the social networking component, Nones said. Satira has added a couple hundred users so far from across the US and Canada, and as far reaching as the Middle East. The goal, Nones said, is to help comedians connect, get jobs, and make money doing what they love.
"(Comedians) don’t have a hub," she said. "We don’t have an online place where you can find everything that you need for comedy. And it's kind of crazy to me that in 2017 we don’t have something like that.
"I’m hoping we can be the international hub for comedy."
Satira, currently a member of 1871 and the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's joint Hispanic-focused tech incubator, says it plans to eventually offer a host of resources to comedians. Comedians can create a free profile and search other artists by city, how many years they’ve been in comedy, and the type of comedy they do. Comedians can take online classes and webinars on the best business practices, and it even plans to include a "comedy classifieds" feature that helps comedians find housing or couch surfing with other comedians while on the road.
But the biggest feature is the job tool that helps comedians get booked, which Satira plans to roll out down the road, Nones said. Whether it's an ad agency project, television pilot, corporate party or cruise ship, Satira says it wants to connect businesses with a more diverse group of comedians, and give comedians another way to break into the industry.
The idea, Nones said, is to eventually have Satira take the place of a traditional booking agent.
"We want the platform to become the agent so you no longer have to look to somebody to help you make a career," she said. "You can put your talent up on the site and find your own job through Satira."
Screengrab via Satira
