Quay Street Productions Development Mentorship

Date: Apply by 16 March

Type: Screen

Image: The Red King by Quay Street Productions

New Writing North have teamed up with Quay Street Productions to offer one North East based screenwriter a unique paid opportunity to develop an original TV idea, hone their craft and build their networks over a 6 month period with leading production company Quay Street.

Quay Street Productions was founded by award-winning producer Nicola Shindler in 2021 to make contemporary, provocative, entertaining, and engaging drama for U.K. and global audiences. Based in Manchester, Quay Street puts the writers and talent at the heart of the process. Welcoming voices from all different backgrounds they promote a diversity of storytelling working with new and established writers to create compelling and original drama.

The writer selected will be assigned a mentor from the Quay Street Productions development team who will oversee the development of the idea or script as well as offer adhoc opportunities, advice, signposting and introductions as and when they arise within Quay Street. New Writing North will oversee the mentorship providing logistical support and regular check-ins as well as continued support post-mentorship to signpost opportunities.

About Quay Street Productions

Quay Street’s body of work includes Russell T Davies’ drama Nolly, starring Helena Bonham Carter, feature-length BBC One drama Men Up, written by BAFTA Wales winner Matthew Barry, After The Flood, written by BAFTA-nominated Mick Ford, Harlan Coben’s Netflix series Fool Me Once written by BAFTA-winner Danny Brocklehurst, starring Michelle Keegan, Adeel Akhtar, Richard Armitage and Joanna Lumley, which premiered globally last January, and became the most-watched series in the US in 2024, on any platform, and joined Netflix’s global chart of its top 10 most popular English-language shows of all time. Quay Street have also made The Red King for UKTV, Lazarus for Amazon Prime, The Stolen Girl for Disney+ and Harlan Coben’s Missing You and Run Away for Netflix, amongst other productions.

Who is the mentorship aimed at?

This mentorship is aimed at early career screenwriters based in the North East of England.

In this context our definition of early career is writers who have not yet had an original piece of their own writing produced for television. This opportunity is open to writers based in the North East of England (Northumberland, County Durham, Tees Valley, Tyne and Wear) and who are over 18 years of age.

What will you need to submit?

You will need to complete an application form that will ask:

Why you want to work with Quay Street Productions.
Why now is the right time to take part in a mentorship.
What type of stories you like to tell and who your influences are.
What your strengths are and what areas you feel you need more support.
What story you want to develop with Quay St and what stage your idea is at (idea, outline or script)

You will also need to provide a writing sample and your CV

The sample must be a full script of 30 pages or more with no page limit on length. This can be a script in any genre and can be TV, feature film, stage play, radio play or short film but must be your own original and complete work and not a script based on an existing television series.

Access and Fees

This project has been made possible by funding from the North East Combined Authority. The writer selected by Quay St will be paid a mentorship bursary of £2,500 administered by New Writing North to support their time writing and attending development meetings. There will also be additional support to cover any travel, childcare and access requirements.

You will be assigned a mentor from Quay Street Productions who will oversee the development of the idea or script as well as offer adhoc opportunities, advice, signposting and introductions as and when they arise within Quay Street. New Writing North will oversee the mentorship providing logistical support and regular check-ins as well as continued support post-mentorship to signpost opportunities.

The expected time commitment is 2-3 days per month, to be spent working on your script, attending online sessions, and attending occasional in person sessions.

The IP will remain with the writer throughout the programme.