The Salisbury Poisonings indie, Dancing Ledge Productions and ITV have announced the eight A-list writers who will mentor eight new rising stars in their mentoring scheme.
The writers confirmed as mentors for this year’s scheme are Abby Ajayi (How To Get Away With Murder, Four Weddings and a Funeral), Jesse Armstrong (Succession, Peep Show), Chris Chibnall (Dr Who, Broadchurch), Noel Clarke (Bullet Proof, Kidulthood), Charlie Covell (The End of the F***ing World), Lisa McGee (Derry Girls, The Deceived), Paula Milne (The Politician’s Wife, Small Island) and Sarah Phelps (Agatha Christie adaptation quintet, Dublin Murders).
The initiative, born out of a scheme setup in 2017 by ScreenSkills and Dancing Ledge, is to discover and nurture a new generation of TV writers, providing them with a career changing opportunity.
Laurence Bowen, CEO Dancing Ledge Productions says, “Nurturing emerging talent is absolutely at the core of what we do at Dancing Ledge. So with Polly, Chloe and ITV’s support, matching eight brilliant new voices with the most established writing talent in the industry as mentors is a wonderful celebration of everything we believe in as a company. It keeps us and the industry relevant and provides vital funds for new writing talent at a current crisis point for many.”
All eight are invited to choose and mentor a new writer whose work they have been impressed by. The new writer will be given a non-refundable bursary and write a pilot episode for their own original TV series. The mentor will give feedback through the writing process, provide the benefit of their expertise, offer encouragement, and then also help place the project with a production company and/or broadcaster. The timeframe is flexible for each partnership owing to mentorship availability, but will take place throughout 2021, managed by Dancing Ledge Development Executive, Beth Warin. Dancing Ledge Productions will also run regular workshops with the mentees and organise Mentor and Broadcaster masterclasses.
The mentees chosen so far are: Abraham Adeyemi (mentored by Jesse Armstrong), Alex Straker (mentored by Noel Clarke), Nessa Wrafter (mentored by Lisa McGee), Tina Pasotra (mentored by Charlie Covell), Victoria Ibitoye (mentored by Abby Ajayi) with the remainder to be chosen and announced throughout the year.
Jon Creamer
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