Screenwriting Weekender

Speakers

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  Alex Cameron

  Alex Cameron brings over 15 years of experience in the TV industry to his current role at Parrot Analytics. His background includes serving most recently, as head of entertainment analytics at Hasbro, where he focused on data-driven strategies for content. At Endemol Shine, as head of brands and insights, Cameron led audience research, contributing to the success of the group’s extensive network of production companies. His expertise has also been shared on international platforms, with recent participation in panels and discussions at events like Cartoon Next, C21’s Content Budapest and the Edinburgh TV Festival. 

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  Ashley Storrie

  Comedian, writer and actress Ashley Storrie most recently co-created and co-wrote Dinosaur, which she also stars in, produced by Fleabag producers Two Brothers Pictures, released on Hulu in the US and BBC1/iPlayer in the UK in 2024. She currently has scripts in development with Expectation and Merman Scotland for major broadcasters, amongst other projects. Her radio series What’s The Story Ashley Storrie? will return to BBC Radio 4 this year with a further series having been commissioned for 2025. 

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  Benjamin Bee

  Benjamin Bee is a multi-award-winning writer and director, whose short-form work has been long-listed twice for the BAFTA film awards and screened at over 500 festivals worldwide. In 2019 he was selected as a Screen International Star of Tomorrow, and is currently in development on his first feature, Marwell, a touching, time-travel comedy-drama, without any time travel. Marwell was selected for Venice Biennale College–Cinema, EIFF Talent Lab Connects, and is in development with the BFI Film Fund. Ben is also developing a number of projects for TV. He was recently selected from thousands for the BBC Comedy Collective – designed to nurture the next generation of comedy talent.

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  Cara McVean

  Cara McVean is a Script Development Executive at award winning Red Production Company in Manchester (part of the StudioCanal group.) Recent company credits include It’s A Sin, Years and Years and Ridley Road. Prior to working in development, Cara cut her teeth in production, where she worked as a drama coordinator on shows such as Scott and Bailey, Butterfly and Mount Pleasant. Cara is passionate about working with underrepresented and unrepresented writing talent, particularly in the North of England, and demystifying the pitching and development process. 

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  Ellen Gallagher

  Ellen Gallagher is an agent representing writers and directors at Casarotto Ramsay & Associates Ltd, with clients working on feature films, television, video games and more. Originally hailing from Lancashire, she began her career working for transatlantic production companies including Exclusive Media/Hammer Films and Scott Free, as well as producing fringe theatre and providing freelance script reading services to clients including NBC Universal. She then joined literary agency Blake Friedmann’s media department, where she gained extensive experience of book-to-film dealmaking, before landing at Casarotto and building her client list there. 

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  Emilie Robson

  Emilie is a North East based freelance screenwriter who commenced her career after participating in 4Screenwriting’s 2021 course. Since then she has worked with Home Team Content, DNA Films, Bonafide, Firebird, Kudos, New Pictures and Witchery Pictures. Emilie currently has a book adaptation in development with the BBC and Heyday TV and has recently commenced a North East set project with Range Media UK and a new pilot with New Pictures. 

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  Emma Millions

  Emma has worked in the industry since the early 90’s. She has been a Development Producer for broadcasters and independent production companies alongside writing for the likes of Ant and Dec, The Chucklebrothers and the director Ken Russell. She teaches screenwriting at film schools and is passionate about finding the perfect format for every story. In her work as Head of Development for a boutique production company she has created 100’s of pitch decks and sizzle tapes. As a script consultant and mentor, she has helped many clients to improve their stories and find the best visual way to pitch them to industry. 

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  Jackie Okwera

  Jackie is a screenwriter who has several projects in development. She has worked in writers’ rooms for Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, Apple TV+, Sky, and Channel 4. She previously wrote an episode and was a supervising producer for the DC Comics reboot of Constantine with Bad Robot for HBO Max. Jackie also wrote an episode of the latest series of The Mallorca Files for Amazon Prime and was a core writer on ITV’s Emmerdale for several years. Before her screenwriting career took off, Jackie spent over a decade in TV/film development. Jackie was named one of Edinburgh TV festival’s ‘Ones to Watch’ in 2021. 

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  Jason Cook

  Jason Cook, an award-winning stand up, actor, screenwriter and executive producer, Jason’s writing and production credits include UK Gold’s highest rated show to date Murder on the Blackpool Express, Death on the Tyne, Dial M for Middlesbrough and two series of Murder They Hope. He began his journey in television with Hebburn his autobiographical series for BBC2, since then he has written for BBC’s Miranda, his own Radio4 series Jason Cook’s School of Hard Knocks and was the Head Writer for The Chris Ramsey Show on Comedy Central. 

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  Jess Loveland

  Jess Loveland is Head of New Writing working across the BBC Writers and Drama Commissioning teams. Jess oversees all new writing talent development initiatives and works closely with the BBC Writers team to ensure the BBC creates a vibrant and inspiring home for new writers across the UK. Previously, Jess was Head of BFI NETWORK, the BFI’s UK-wide programme of talent development support for early career writers, directors and producers. She has also worked as a Development and Production Exec for screen agency, Creative England and as a Development Exec for Dublin-based production company, Blinder Films amongst other editorial roles. 

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  Jo Schofield

  Jo Schofield has a 20-year career in the screen industry. She was a storyline writer and script editor for many years across some of the UK’s biggest storylines in continuing drama, including shaping the demise of beloved Hayley in Coronation Street. Jo was based in Dublin for a number of years working for Irish broadcaster RTE as the Commissioning Executive for Drama. Whilst there, she launched the broadcaster’s first online commissioning platform, Storyland. Since 2021, Jo has overseen Screen Yorkshire’s talent department both as director of its talent programmes and also shaping its aims to nurture and support emerging above the line talent in the region.

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  John Higgs

  John Higgs is a British writer who specialises in finding previously unsuspected narratives, hidden in obscure corners of our history and culture, which can change the way we see the world. His previous books include Love And Let Die: James Bond, The Beatles and the British Psyche, William Blake Vs The World, Watling Street, The KLF and Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century. 
   

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  Josh Buckingham

  Joshua Buckingham is the Head of Merman Scotland, developing and producing scripted and non-scripted TV, digital and audio programs with a focus on breaking new voices and stories from Scotland and the region; expanding on the award-winning Comedy and Comedy Drama Merman is known for. Joshua was previously Managing Director of Mermade (Merman’s digital sister company) and prior to that was a Commissioning Editor at Channel 4 working across All4 and Comedy Entertainment.

   

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  Kema Sikazwe

  Kema Sikazwe also known as Kema Kay, was brought up in the west end of Newcastle. Kema came from a musical background with a passion for rap, singing, and songwriting which he developed in a local youth project where he spent most of his time as a teen. He’s gone on to perform at the biggest venues around Newcastle, Headlining his show at the O2 Academy. During his career, he got interested in acting and landed a main role in BAFTA, Palme D’or award-winning film I Daniel Blake and lady Macbeth. He wrote and performed his one-man show Shine which played at Live Theatre in Newcastle. 

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  Kirstie MacDonald

  Kirstie Macdonald started her television career at World Productions where she script edited many shows including BAFTA-winning The Cops, Outlaws, The Fear, Line of Duty and Save Me before exec producing the true crime dramas, In Plain Sight and Dark Angel for ITV. As Creative Director at FilmNation she oversees a diverse slate of writer-driven series which are bold and entertaining. Coming from the North East, she has a particular focus on stories from the area and is currently working with a broad range of local writers and production companies, as well as North East Screen and the BBC to find multiple series that originate and can be filmed in the region. 

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  Lisa Laws

  Lisa is Talent and Business Development Director for North East Screen. She oversees the development and delivery of North East Comedy Hot House and works alongside industry partners to champion and provide opportunities for Northern comedic talent that aims to reach and entertain global audiences with outstanding content.

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  Lucie Brownlee

  Lucie is a multi-award-winning writer based in County Durham. Her memoir Life After You was published in 2014 by Penguin Random House. Based on her award-winning blog Wife After Death. It is a Sunday Times best seller and was a Richard and Judy Autumn Book Club pick 2015. Her pilot TV script Wife After Death was announced as winner of the Best New Comedy Script in the All3Media New Voice Awards 2021 and is in development with Objective Fiction. She has recently been awarded Arts Council Project Grant funding for R & D on her debut theatre show, working title Late Check Out. 

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  Lucy Maxwell

  As the Film and TV Charity’s Community Development Manager, Lucy manages initiatives that build social connections and peer support for industry freelancers. This work also involves research into the common experiences of loneliness in film and TV to help inform the Charity’s wellbeing support offer. Lucy has over 15 years’ experience in the film and TV industry, primarily in film distribution with roles at Momentum Pictures, STUDIOCANAL and Netflix. She has also worked as a consultant for the community and peer support initiative RED January, in partnership with the UK’s leading mental health charity Mind.   

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  Malak El-Gonemy

  Malak El-Gonemy is a British-Egyptian TV Producer and Freelance Journalist from Manchester. After graduating from the University of Leeds, she entered the TV industry in 2016 as a member of the production team on Blue Peter. After a four year stint in children’s television, Malak worked on flagship BBC One and Channel 4 factual entertainment shows, before moving fulltime into scripted TV development and production in 2020. She currently works in the scripted comedy team at Tiger Aspect. Malak started her newsletter Broadcasting Marginalised Voices in February 2024 with the aim to amplify underrepresented perspectives and address the lack of equality in the British TV & Film industry, through conversations with actors, writers, producers and broadcasters. 

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  Mark Brotherhood

  Mark Brotherhood’s first original BBC1 Comedy 60’ series, Ludwig, for Big Talk starring David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin TX’d in September 2024.  Mark wrote all six scripts. He wrote The Trouble with Maggie Cole for ITV Comedy/Genial Productions starring Dawn French and Mark Heap.  Mark was lead writer (and sole writer in the case of S5) for S4 – S6 of Mount Pleasant for Tiger Aspect/Sky.  He also wrote the last 90’ film for the series.  He has written episodes for Shameless, Benidorm and Cold Feet, and his episode ‘A Royal Visit’ for Father Brown TX’d in January 2023. 

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  Mark Starling

  Mark joined Curtis Brown in 2019 and is an Associate Agent there, working alongside Head of Department Lily Williams. Together they represent a growing list of both emerging and established writers and directors, in theatre, film and TV. Prior to Curtis Brown, Mark worked in TV & Film development at Working Title Films, and he has an MFA in Writing for Stage and Screen from the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. 

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  Nicole Davis

  Nicole Davis is a freelance creative producer, podcaster and writer. She is currently producing audio drama for London-based film, TV & audio production company Brock Media, and has previously commissioned short films for BFI NETWORK and moderated panels and talks for Sundance London, BAFTA and the BFI London Film Festival. 

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  Peter Straughan

  Peter Straughan is a critically acclaimed screenwriter of BAFTA award-winning, Academy nominated film, Tinker, Tailor, Solider Spy, (co-written by Bridget O’Connor). He adapted Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall (BAFTA and Golden Globe winning) for BBC television, and its forthcoming sequel, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. Straughan recently wrote Edward Berger’s upcoming thriller, Conclave, which stars Ralph Fiennes. Peter became a sought-after screenwriter when he adapted Jon Ronson’s book The Men Who Stare at Goats for BBC Films; directed by Grant Heslov and starring George Clooney. 

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  Philip Dodds

  Philip Dodds has worked in a variety of Development and Script Editing roles, piloting MTV’s first Sitcom Top Buzzer and working with the likes of Johnny Vaughn, Jilly Cooper and Simon Cowell. Phil went on to work as a Screenwriter on the award winning BBC1 school drama Waterloo Road. He then spent six years working as a Script and Story Editor on ITV’s flagship soap Emmerdale before joining the team at Lime Pictures to work as a Producer, Assistant Series Producer and then Series Producer on Channel 4’s hit teen soap Hollyoaks. 

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  Rachelle Constant

  Rachelle Constant is an executive producer at Clerkenwell Films, home of Baby Reindeer, The End of The F***ing World and Misfits. She started her career at ITV Studios before joining the BBC where she worked as a development producer across drama. Rachelle was also one of the producers to receive a BFI Vision Award. 

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  Roya Eslami

  Roya Eslami started her career in television at BBC Comedy where she was a development assistant. She then transitioned into drama beginning as a script intern and working her way up to in-house Script Editor at Tiger Aspect; there, she worked across multiple developments and productions, including the C4 series, Adult Material, written by Lucy Kirkwood. As a producer, she worked at both Hat Trick and HTM Television, developing comedy and drama where she produced DI Ray series 2. She’s currently head of development for BBC Comedy commissioning.  

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  Rupert Jones-Lee

  Rupert Jones-Lee is Head of Research and Impact at the Film and TV Charity. As part of this work he is overseeing the 2024 iteration of the Charity’s landmark Looking Glass survey and report on the mental health and wellbeing of the film, TV and cinema industry workforce, which is due for publication in early 2025. Before joining the Film and TV Charity Rupert spent ten years at Northern Film and Media, the screen agency for the Northeast of England (now North East Screen). His earlier career was in social policy and political communications. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice at Bournemouth University. 

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  Sarah Morgan

  Sarah Morgan is a TV writer and script editor who began her career in comedy, writing on shows including Not Going Out, Dave Gorman’s Modern Life is Goodish, Horrible Histories, Crackanory and The Agency. Sarah’s recent work includes episodes of Geek Girl for Ruby Rock & Netflix and Romesh Ranganathan’s Romantic Getaway for Ranga Bee & Sky. She is currently adapting the supernatural horror graphic novel series Redlands for UCP & NBC Universal, developing a supernatural comedy feature with TM Instruments in the US, a folk horror feature with Imaginarium in the UK, and a queer heist series for Expectation & Sky, as well as a video game project with Rockstar. 

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  Siobhan Morgan

  Siobhan is currently Head of Development at Warp Films. Warp have been making award-winning drama for film and television for over 20 years. From BIFA-winning feature films Submarine, Four Lions and Tyrannosaur, to multi BAFTA-winning returning series This Is England and critically-acclaimed Southcliffe. Prior to Warp, Siobhan most recently worked in BBC Drama as an Assistant Commissioner, where she worked across the BBC drama slate with a key focus on Northern writers and programmes, including Waterloo Road and The Jetty. .  

   

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  Tina Gharavi

  Born in Tehran, Gharavi is a BAFTA-nominated filmmaker. Gharavi has made films from unique perspectives on subjects as diverse as Muhammad Ali, teenage sexuality, Yemeni-British sailors, The Lackawanna 6, death row exonerees, refugees and lighthouses. Her critically acclaimed debut, I Am Nasrine, was nominated for a BAFTA. She recently directed Queen Cleopatra for Netflix and her third feature, Virginia Woolf’s Night & Day is currently starting production starring Tim Spall, Lily Allen and Haley Bennett. Gharavi is also an academic, teaching filmmaking around the world, and was awarded an MIT Fellowship. She was elected to the BAFTA Academy in 2017.

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  Tony Schumacher

  Tony Schumacher had one dream when he was a kid, and that was to be a writer. Instead of becoming a writer he bombed out of school aged 16 with no qualifications and a sigh of relief. He worked his way around the world as a roofer, a jeweller, a bouncer, a barman, a binman, and on-board cruise ships selling underpants, before eventually returning to Liverpool to become a response policeman dealing with 999 jobs morning, noon and nights. Eleven years later, after a breakdown and a period of homelessness, he found himself driving a taxi around the night-time streets of Liverpool. That was when he remembered his dream and finally started to write. His first three novels were published by HarperCollins in the USA, and he is the Creator, Writer and Executive Producer of BBC/ Dancing Ledge original series The Responder. 

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  Will Sadler

  Will is a filmmaker and radio/podcast producer who has made several radio programmes for BBC World Service, helps organisations start their own podcasts and is co-host of Lively Minds, a podcast about mental health challenges that go beyond the ebb and flow of the everyday human experience. Will is also co-founder and Development Director of Beacon Films CIC, a production company based in Newcastle upon Tyne that supports the talents of disabled and neurodivergent filmmakers and exhibitors.