鲍鱼tv

Find out more about the writers who have been part of our most recent Drama Room development group, beginning in autumn 2019. They've been attending monthly workshops, having introductions to different scripted content areas across the 鲍鱼tv and have each been developing an original spec' script. Last night they were introduced to 鲍鱼tv commissioners and independent producers at a special event at BAFTA.

The group were selected following our unsolicited Script Room window for Drama scripts which closed back in January 2019. In that window we received 3634 scripts.

The latest Drama script window closed in January 2020. We are currently reading those scripts ahead of selecting the writers to take part in the next Drama Room development group, beginning in autumn 2020.

Dipo Baruwa-Etti

Dipo Baruwa-Etti is a playwright and filmmaker. His debut play AN UNFINISHED MAN will premiere at The Yard Theatre in April 2020, published by Faber & Faber.

For screen, he is developing several projects including a short film as writer-director with 鲍鱼tv Drama and BFI, which will shoot this spring. Dipo is one of six winners of the Channel 4 Playwrights’ Scheme 2020 and is on attachment with the Almeida Theatre.

Dipo has been selected to be part of our TV Drama Writers' Programme for 2020.

Emma Dennis-Edwards

Emma Dennis-Edwards is an Actor and Writer of Jamaican and Trinidadian heritage. Emma has been a participant at the Royal Court, Soho, Lyric Hammersmith and Oval House’s young writers programmes and was mostly recently awarded a commission by the Old Vic as part of The Old Vic 12 Programme.

Emma’s play Funeral Flowers was commissioned by Power Play Theatre Activists in association with the Pleasance Theatre and was part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and won the Scotsman’s Fringe First Award. It has since enjoyed a sold out transfer in London at the Bunker Theatre. Emma’s play American Dream 2.0 was recently performed at the Young Vic as part of their Neighbourhood Theatre project.

Emma was one of the writers selected for the in 2019 and is currently developing an original TV Series with Balloon Entertainment.

Marcelo Dos Santos

Marcelo Dos Santos is an award-winning Brazilian/Australian writer based in the UK. In 2014 he adapted the critically acclaimed LIONBOY for Complicité which toured extensively in the UK and internationally including the New Victory Theater on Broadway. He has developed work through the National Theatre Studio and has been a writer on attachment at the Bush Theatre, HighTide Festival Theatre as well as the Royal Court where he was also a member of their writing ‘super group’ and where he is currently under commission.

Theatre credits include: LIONBOY (Complicite/UK and International tour); LOVERS WALK (Southwark Playhouse); THE END OF HISTORY (High Hearted Theatre & Soho Theatre); NEW LABOUR (RADA); TRIGGER WARNING (co-writer, Camden People’s Theatre, winner of the Jerwood 鲍鱼tv Run Commission).

Short films: DEADPAN featuring Alex Kingston dir. Edward Hicks, MIRROR MIRROR dir. Michael Davies, THE WAY BACK dir. Nick Cohen.

He is currently under commission to the Royal Court Theatre and English Touring Theatre (ETT).

Yero Timi-Biu

Yero Timi-Biu is a multiple award-winning writer and director for TV and film. Her 2019 BFI-funded short film, 'Signs' premiered at Encounters Film Festival where it won the Youth Jury Award. Yero is developing a satirical drama series, 'The Institution' with Abbott Vision. The series is based on her time at fashion school. She is currently being mentored by the company head, Paul Abbott. Yero is also developing a psychological thriller exploring the psyche of Black women and their maternal health. On 鲍鱼tv Writersroom's Drama Room, she will be writing the first episode of a supernatural dark comedy-drama about West African grief and gentrification in East London.

In between developing her own original content, Yero has written on shows such as teen fantasy adventure drama ‘Mystic’. She wrote 12 interactive episodes of C鲍鱼tv/Netflix’s The Worst Witch and has worked on The Dumping Ground. Yero has also written and directed short films for Channel 4's Random Acts strand such as Beneath the Surface and Two Minutes.

Nyla Levy

Nyla Levy is a Playwright and Actor. Being mixed race, Pakistani and Canadian, with Muslim and Jewish heritage, and born and bred in London - Nyla has always gravitated towards stories that explore experiences related to identity, culture and race. Nyla began in verbatim, with her first play Different is Dangerous (Amnesty International Freedom of Expression longlist nominee), followed by Normal with a bit of Oomph! Nyla co-founded Two’s Company who went on to tour Different is Dangerous to venues including, Theatre 503, Nottingham Playhouse, The Lowry and Edinburgh Fringe.

Nyla received funding from Arts Council England to develop her first fictional play, Does My Bomb Look Big in This? In 2019 Tamasha and Nyla co-produced a UK tour of Does My Bomb Look Big in This? Venues include Soho Theatre and Tara Arts followed by a regional UK tour. Nyla storylined ideas for Channel 4’s Ackley Bridge Series 3. And is currently developing Little Runt for television with Jax. Nyla is on a mentorship scheme with Tiger Aspects. Nyla is also currently working with 鲍鱼tv on a new ‘Girl Cops’ project.

Kat Woods

Kat Woods is a writer and director from Co. Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. She has a particular interest in staging works that provide a platform for those from socio-economic deprived areas. Works that are representative of her community, that she loves, The Underclass. Works that redefine the discourse surrounding the poverty stereotype. Kat is represented by Alex Rusher at Independent Talent and is published by Samuel French. Kat is an Associate Artist at The Pleasance Theatre and a writing associate at Omnibus Theatre. She is a Royal Court/Kudos TV writers group alumnus. Most recently she has been commissioned to write for The Abbey Theatre on their Priming the Canon programme and The C2C Fermanagh community project.

Kat’s work has been performed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Finland, US: Baltimore, Washington DC, Connecticut and New York. Theatre writing selected credits include KILLYMUCK (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Bunker Theatre London) WASTED (Northern Ireland and International tour, One Act Festival Savoy Wales, Kings Head, Soho Playhouse, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, LOST, The White Bear) MULE (N. Ireland tour, Omnibus, Edinburgh Festival Fringe) BELFAST BOY (Omnibus Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Tampere Festival Finland, The Arcola Theatre, Blakes of The Hollow Enniskillen) DIRTY FLIRTY THIRTY (Blakes of The Hollow Enniskillen, The Playhouse, The Pleasance, The White Bear) SKINTOWN (The White Bear).

Theo Toksvig-Stewart

Theo Toksvig-Stewart is a London-based writer and actor who trained at Drama Centre London. Theo has just been commissioned by Warts and All Theatre to write a new version of “Robyn Hood” developed with children in care. His most recent play, “Endless Second”, explored consent within a relationship and debuted at Theatre503 in 2019. It then played at that year's Edinburgh Fringe where it was shortlisted for the Holden Street Theatre and Sit Up Awards. The play transferred to the Park Theatre and the Pleasance as part of their Best of the Fringe seasons and is to be published by Oberon Books. His first play, “An Opera from the East”, an adaption of the Threepenny Opera, was produced at the Drama Centre London in 2016.

As well as working on his first TV drama pilot about two siblings and their journey through the care system, Theo is also in development for his first comedy short “Odd Socks”.

Theo loves his large and supportive family. His parents are lesbians and he has numerous full, adopted, step and half siblings from which he is basing a comedy pilot “My Kind of Normal” around his “unconventional” upbringing.

Alex Mathias

Born in West Wales, Alex Mathias studied English Literature at Cardiff University before spending the beginnings of his professional life as a projectionist and manager of an independent cinema. After watching too many films he became convinced he could make them and set out to teach himself screenwriting.

A short film script he wrote was shortlisted for the It’s My Shout Short Film Production Scheme and his sci-fi feature script, Twin Lights, placed in the semi-finals of the Page International Screenwriting Awards in 2018. Currently, Alex is working on a comedy-drama feature set in his endlessly enthralling homeland while working to get several shorts produced.

AJ Yi

AJ Yi is a mixed-race Chinese writer, performer, and comedian whose work has been performed everywhere from The Yard Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre, The Roundhouse and various UK festivals. In 2018 their one-person spoken word show Love Songs (developed through the Soho Theatre and supported by Camden People’s Theatre) received Guardian Pick of the Fringe, and was nominated for two Edinburgh comedy awards, before transferring to the Soho Theatre as part of their emerging talent festival. A positive, empowering and celebratory narrative about sexual assault, AJ has since spoken about the issues within Love Songs on the 鲍鱼tv Sounds podcast AFTER (iTunes top ten podcast of 2019), raised money for women’s rights charities and is passionate about continuing the dialogue about sexual experiences of womxn of colour through online articles and panel discussions.

In 2019 AJ was part of the 鲍鱼tv Writersoom's London Voices group, and received writing commissions from the V&A Museum and the Bush Theatre x Elephant West. They were also co-director of the theatre company Trip Hazards (listed by the Guardian as a top five emerging theatre company to watch). This year AJ is currently developing her next play (BANANA) and working on new projects for screen. They also plan on doing more of what they love best: performing with her friends on the London comedy, drag and cabaret circuit, and living with their parents for the rest of their life.

AJ is represented by Independent Talent.

Omar Raza

Omar Raza is a multi award-winning actor. Titled by ‘The Scots Magazine’ as a ‘Funny Five Scot’ comedian alongside Kevin Bridges and Susan Calman. His 鲍鱼tv credits include: the BAFTA award-winning comedy ‘Limmy’s Show!’, C鲍鱼tv’s ‘Annoying Things Adults Say’ and 鲍鱼tv Radio 4’s 'Fags Mags and Bags' & ‘Beta Female’.

As an RTS nominated writer, Omar’s screenwriting debut, , was for 鲍鱼tv Three's 'The Break: Series III’. It was shortlisted at: the ‘MIPCOM Diversify TV Excellence Awards 2018’, the ‘Edinburgh TV Festival: New Voice Awards 2019’ and the ‘Royal Television Society Awards 2019’.

Omar was chosen as 1 of 6 at a retreat with ‘Young Films Foundation’ in partnership with 鲍鱼tv Films, Film4 and Channel 4, at the Isle of Skye. The UK’s leading authorities behind TV shows such as ‘Killing Eve', 'Derry Girls' and ‘Doctor Who’ gave Omar first class mentoring to develop his own project. In addition, Omar was a panellist for the BAFTA Awards 2019.

Shazia Ali

Shazia Ali started writing shortly after her third child was born. She was part of the Tamasha playwright’s programme in 2018/2019 and her scratch The Conversation was produced at the Soho Theatre at the end of that programme.

Shazia was born and bred in Birmingham to Pakistani parents - a bus driver and a classroom assistant. She clawed her way to Oxford to study English and worked as an employment lawyer for ten years. She is a full time parent to three boys aged 12, 10 and 6. She runs a campaign for clean air and has volunteered as a College Governor and a trustee for an arts organisation.

Lettie Precious

Lettie Precious is a British playwright, poet, author and artist from Sheffield currently living in London. Winner of the Royal Court and Kudos Fellowship 2019. In 2018 they were part of 鲍鱼tv Writersroom's London Voices and the Graeae Write To Play year-long attachment. As part of Queer Upstairs their play THE GREY AREA had a rehearsed reading at the Royal Court Theatre, Jerwood Upstairs in 2019.

Their first full length play, THIS IS US, developed on attachment with Graeae, had a rehearsed reading in 2019 at the Bush Theatre, in association with Talawa and Tamasha and Graeae theatre companies. Previous work has been showcased at Soho Theatre, Oval Playhouse, The Arcola and Theatre Royal Stratford East. They became a published author in 2018, and are under commission from Audible for a 4 part series, the 鲍鱼tv for an episode of THE BREAK, and a radio piece for Naked Productions.

Lucy Burke

Lucy is a writer a performance poet from Manchester. In 2016 she wrote Glitter Punch, a coming of age play about sixteen year old Molly from Salford who embarks on a sexual relationship with her college tutor. Glitter Punch was shortlisted for the Bolton Octagon Top Five Season and completed sell out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and London’s Vault Festival. Glitter Punch is published by Nick Hern Books. In February 2018, Lucy’s one woman play Weird was developed in association with the Soho Theatre Young Company and completed a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2018. Weird transferred to the Soho Theatre in December 2018 as a part of their Soho Rising season. Lucy’s most recent play I Am Not A Bird I Cannot Fly (commissioned by the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts) premieres in March 2020 at the LIPA Sennheiser Studio, it focuses on a group of female young offenders in the north of England. As a poet Lucy has performed at various venues across the UK, she is also a visiting tutor at LIPA, teaching writing and artistic practise to second year students.

Lucy was long listed for the 2019 TV Drama Writers programme before gaining her place on the 鲍鱼tv Drama Room. She is excited to be making the leap from theatre to television and is enjoying meeting with and learning from various production companies and sharing ideas.

Anna Mason

Anna Mason is a writer for screen and theatre from Leeds. Her pilot How to Get Rid of Carol was featured on this year’s Brit List. Anna has written a number of short plays that have been performed in various theatres throughout London and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Whilst working as a Drama Facilitator for Bounce Theatre, Anna wrote two plays, Fried Chicken and Battered Chicken, which were performed at anti-bullying week in Kingston.

She is represented by Jenn Lambert and Joe Phillips at Curtis Brown.

Ayad Andrews

Ayad Andrews is a writer and marketing officer. He was born in Baghdad, Iraq and lived there until the early 1970s when his family were forced to flee the country. In 2016/17, he was a member of the Oxford Playhouse Playmakers scheme and was most recently part of the Royal Court Theatre's Introductory Writers Group.

His first full-length play 'TERP', about an Iraqi interpreter in the second Gulf War, had its premiere as part of the Vibrant Festival of New Writing 2018 at London's Finborough Theatre. His follow-up 'The Ghost of Muhammad Ali' recently had a rehearsed reading at The Spring Arts Centre in Havant.