Episode 213: Why comedian Ryan Beil set out to make an unfunny sci-fi pilot

Let’s Make A Sci-Fi is audacious. The new CBC podcast follows three Vancouver comedians – Ryan Beil, Maddy Kelly and Mark Chavez – as they set out to write a successful, non-comedy sci-fi pilot with help from scientific experts and Hollywood screenwriting pros, including actor Rainn Wilson, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, District 9 filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, showrunners Jem Garrard and Simon Barry, and Catherine Winder, CEO of Wind Sun Sky. Over the course of eight episodes, the comedians overcome challenges such as developing their story-world, plot, characters, and the science, as they prepare their pilot script for the ultimate test: a performance by professional actors, for better or worse. If it sounds bonkers and awesome, that’s because it is. It’s a study of writer’s rooms, how sci-fi is put together, and what works and what doesn’t. And even though the comedians are adamant that they’re not writing a comedy, Let’s Make a Sci-Fi is funny. Because the audacity of inventing universes and characters and ships is hilarious, especially when comedians set out to do it. Ryan Beil joins Sabrina to talk about the audacity of Let’s Make a Sci-Fi, and the practical lessons he learned along the way about writing science fiction. Episode Sponsor: YVR Screen Scene For Ukraine