The British Invade the New York Television Festival

Between this year’s summer Olympics in London and last year’s royal wedding, British culture has been slipping into American vernacular. Streaming websites are to blame as well. No matter the country, Internet users can watch shows like “Skins,” “Doctor Who” and “Coupling” with the click of a mouse.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts – or BAFTA – took advantage of that desire at this year’s New York Television Festival, held at 92Y Tribeca. The convention held a forum, entitled “Importing the Funny: Catch the Future of British Comedy,” last Friday.

Following a question-and-answer session with “Girls” executive producer Jenni Konner, a group of actors performed scenes from three original scripts written by budding British comedy writers, Sarah Courtauld, Nicolas Small and writing partners Kayleigh Llewellyn and Matthew Barry. Courtauld’s “The Slush Pile” describes the laborious struggles of a hapless editor; Small’s “Happy As Larry” tells the story of a suicidal self-help guru; and Llewellyn’s and Barry’s “Grey” portrays five aging women who embrace life following the death of a close friend. Each script – and their characters – follow themes of love, work, family and death. But they utilize a British wit and charm not always found in American television.

After the actors performed the scenes, Konner lent the writers advice on their scripts.

“Try not to be sensitive,” she said. “Don’t get attached to one work; don’t take it personally. And just keep writing.”

The translation from British to American television is not always easy. Critics have panned recent MTV Americanizations of “Skins” and “The Inbetweeners.”

But the switch is not always impossible, as seen with the nine-season run of NBC’s “The Office,” a reworking of the 2001 BBC series of the same name. Some across-the-pond shows require no adaptation at all. PBS purchased American broadcasting rights to BBC’s “Downton Abbey.” Once it hit United States airwaves, it became a nationwide hit.

British television’s cross-Atlantic influence has become so commonplace, said Small, that he has begun writing scripts with both British and American audiences in mind.

“I’ve always had American voices in my head,” he said.