Regional companies including Waterloo Road co-producer Rope Ladder Films and the Bristol offshoot of Killing Eve indie Sid Gentle are pairing with emerging writers on a new scheme.
In an expansion of its original plan to work with six indies, nine companies will now take part in the inaugural Regional Breakthrough Writers programme, set up by Dandi and ScreenSkills’ High-end TV Fund.
Sid Gentle label Sid Wild, Liverpool’s LA Productions and Sheffield’s Warp Films have all joined since the scheme was announced.
Each indie will pay their writer £15,000 for a six-month initial option fee and will work with them to hone their craft and develop their identity and voice, with the HEtV skills fund and Dandi providing training and support.
After that, the production company can choose to continue to develop the project with the writer or return the rights to them to take it elsewhere.
ItV Studios’ Cardiff label is taking on three writers, bringing the total number of individuals to 11.
The indies and paired writers are:
5 Acts Productions (Cardiff)
Lydia Rynne, Emma Pritchard and Azuka Oforka
Hill 5.14 Media (Bedford)
Mariama Ives-Mobiba
LA Productions (Liverpool)
Jodie Ashdown
Northern Sister (Manchester)
Sufiyaan Salam
Rope Ladder Fiction (Manchester)
Lorna Riley
Saffron Cherry Productions (Manchester)
Rachel Clark
Sid Wild (Bristol)
Tamsyn Kelly
TriForce Productions (Midlands)
Katrina Smith-Jackson
Warp Films (Sheffield)
Steph Lacey
