C4 confirms Generation Next lineup

Channel 4 has confirmed details of a month-long season of programming aimed at supporting and encouraging new creative talent.

In comedy, new series Tonightly, featuring stand-up and sketches from little-known performers, will begin on August 1, while the long-running Comedy Lab strand will also return.

Seven films from emerging directors and writers will be shown across the final week of August in drama strand Coming Up, and a Hollyoaks episode written by a competition winner will air on August 29.

Documentary strand First Cut will also return, with 12 instalments from up-and-coming filmmakers airing on Channel 4 and an additional eight on More4.

Film4 is also planning a season of films from new directors, particularly those from the "mumblecore movement" who have made "fast, low-budget films, often on digital cameras and arranging their own distribution".

Channel 4 announced the "new talent month" earlier this year as part of its Next On 4 plan to remain a valuable public service broadcaster.

"Channel 4 has introduced a vast range of outstanding talent to TV by offering them their first break and supporting their early careers," said channel head Julian Bellamy.

"We thought it would be tremendously exciting and creatively refreshing to provide this opportunity on a major scale to a wide range of inspired newcomers. It’s an enormous risk for a major TV channel and one that only Channel 4 would take."