Screenskills Screenwriting Mentorship Scheme
We want to be the most creative production company in the industry and believe that a vibrant creative culture helps produce extraordinary projects and that the key to that lies in mentoring. So we’re thrilled to have ITV, the BBC and Screenskills as partners and funders for our new writer and new director schemes.
| Year | Mentees | Mentors |
|---|---|---|
| 2018/2019 | Nicole Lecky, Tony Schumacher, Daniel Brierley, Rose Cartwright, Grace Knight, Scott Mather, Temi Wilkey, Yero Timi-Biu, Sharma Walfall | Levi David Addai, Jimmy McGovern, Jed Mercurio, Amanda Coe, Kay Mellor, Sally Wainwright, Lucy Prebble, Paul Abbott, Jack Thorne |
| 2020/2021 | Abraham Adeyemi, Alex Clarke, Alex Straker, Emma Dennis-Edwards, Nessa Wrafter, Tina Pasotra, Victoria Ibitoye, Kirsty Smith, Lucy Dwyer | Jesse Armstrong, Paula Milne, Lydia Adetunji, Sarah Phelps, Lisa McGee, Charlie Covell, Abby Ajayi, Chris Chibnall |
| 2021 (BBC Directors Scheme) | Candice Onyeama, Nichola Wong, Asia Anthony | Tom Shankland, Tessa Hoffe, Richard Laxton |
| 2022 | Abigail Rolling, Larissa Hope, Jess Jackson, Olivia Hannah, Karim Khan | Chris Lang, Camilla Blackett, Sarah Williams, Joe Barton, Mike Bartlett |
| 2023 | Alannah Olivia, William Gillies, Lucy Burke, Bindu de Stoppani, Florence Espeut-Nickless, Shani Akilah, Nathan Queely Dennis, Izzy Radford | Simon Vincent, Jonathan Brackley, Namsi Khan, Emilia di Girolamo, Julie Geary, Camilla Blackett, Nathaniel Price, Oli Lyttleton |
| 2024 | Paul Rigby, Kenneth Murray, Tes Asfaw, Temi Oh, Alice Burden, Julia Grogan, Rachel Causer, Karl Jackson | Helen Black, Danny Brocklehurst, Perrie Balthazar, Emillia di Girolamo, Peter McKenna, Victoria Asare-Archer, Tom Edge, Maya Sondhi |
In 2018, we launched a Screenwriting Mentorship Scheme with ScreenSkills, funded by the ScreenSkills High-end TV Skills Fund, to discover and support emerging TV screenwriters. Over the years, we have paired new voices with established industry mentors, helping mentees develop their original TV scripts with expert guidance.
In the first year (2018/2019), nine emerging writers, including Nicole Lecky, Tony Schumacher, and Daniel Brierley, were mentored by leading screenwriters such as Levi David Addai, Jimmy McGovern, and Jed Mercurio. Several projects from this cohort have since been greenlit, including Tony Schumacher’s The Responder, Daniel Brierley’s Trigger Point, and Nicole Lecky’s Superhoe (now Mood). Many other mentees have gone on to write for major TV shows like Sex Education, Wedding Season, and Noughts and Crosses.
The second cohort (2020/2021) expanded the program to include masterclasses and networking events, pairing writers like Abraham Adeyemi and Emma Dennis-Edwards with mentors such as Jesse Armstrong and Sarah Phelps. Subsequent years have continued to connect talented emerging writers with top industry professionals.
In 2021, we partnered with the BBC to launch a Directors Mentoring Scheme, providing up-and-coming TV directors with mentorship opportunities on high-end BBC productions. Notable pairings include Candice Onyeama with Tom Shankland on SAS: Rogue Heroes, and Nichola Wong with Tessa Hoffe on Crossfire.