The Comedy Collective are our past and future bursary winners and the representatives involved in guiding them through their time on the schemes. Previous bursary winners have benefited from cash awards to develop scripts and pilots, guidance and mentoring from industry professionals including the ±«Óãtv Comedy commissioning team, placements on ±«Óãtv Comedy productions and masterclasses and workshops to help hone their craft. Our bursary winners have gone on to make award-winning TV series, win TV and radio commissions and gain agents. Find out more about our collective below.
Comedy Collective ambassadors
Ash Atalla
Producers ambassador. .
Christine Gernon
Directors ambassador. .
Gareth Heal
Editors ambassador. .
Tessa La Bars and Lisa Galton
The Galton and Simpson estate ambassadors. .
Geoff Schuman and Paul Whitehouse
The Felix Dexter estate ambassadors. and .
Lucy Ansbro
Caroline Aherne estate ambassador. .
Comedy Collective bursary winners 2024
Caitlin Magnall-Kearns
Caitlin Magnall-Kearns is a writer from East Belfast who is passionate about telling new Northern Irish stories from underrepresented and unheard perspectives, with comedy always at the heart of her work. Having written two short commissions for ±«Óãtv Radio 4 she is currently writing her first 44’ Commission for them with FABEL Productions, based in part on her own ongoing battle with agoraphobia. A New Playwright with the Lyric Theatre, Belfast in 2021, she has since had various short plays and monologues performed across the UK and Ireland in venues such as The Lowry, Camden People’s Theatre and Theatre 503. She is also currently a BAFTA Connect member and part of the Percolate development programme with Bewley’s Cafe Theatre, Dublin.
Donya Majidi-Maguire
Donya Majidi-Maguire is a British-Iranian editor based in London. She has over eight years of editing experience in short films, independent features, and broadcast factual. Her work has gained recognition at festivals worldwide, including the BFI Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand, RTS Awards, Student Academy Awards and the BAFTAs. She recently edited the short film Crab Day, which won Best Short Animation at the BAFTA Film Awards in 2024. Later this year she is editing The Department of They, a dark comedy short funded by ±«Óãtv Film that will feature on ±«Óãtv iPlayer. Donya excels in collaborative storytelling and builds strong partnerships within the teams she works with. She is an editing graduate of the National Film and Television School.
Ethan Harvey
Ethan is a London-based comedy and comedy-drama screenwriter originally from Northampton. His work is often inspired by his own life: queer, mixed ethnic background, single-parent/dysfunctional families, people with no indoor voice. Ethan developed his first spec script Rock Bottom with the support of former Two Brothers Pictures executive producer Daniel Walker and is now developing several original TV and Film projects. He wrote episode five of Netflix’s Sex Education season four, and has worked in writers' rooms including Tell Me Everything season two for ITVX. Ethan was selected for the ITV Comedy Writers Initiative, is a BAFTA Connect member and a Soho Theatre Comedy Labs alum. He also trained as an actor, which obviously went really well!
James Button
James Button is a BAFTA Cymru nominated writer and comedy director who’s had a LOT of fun making fun films for fun. An excitable indie filmmaker always seeking to spread silliness (as we’ll all be dead soon anyway). The latest three (of his 20) short films The Foul (dog poo), RoButler (naughty AI) and Road Rage! (inconvenient time-travel) have amassed awards and 70+ official selections, including at BAFTA/BIFA-recognised festivals. In 2024 he’s directing three new comedy shorts: The Quackening (a duck curse), 1 In 5 Sheep (why do sheep baa?) and Time’s Up, I’m Afraid (multiverse-hopping therapist). James is also developing his debut feature script and a comedy series based in a fantastical Welsh town of crazy characters (Screbs).
Laura Ferguson
Laura is a Scottish producer with hundreds of hours of content spanning a myriad of genres under her belt. She was the producer on A Better Place, one of the 2023 ±«Óãtv Comedy Shorts and has produced two feature length documentaries - including Sea of Thieves: Voyage of a Lifetime for Xbox. Laura has also written and produced emotive and impactful films including The First Day for the Scottish Cot Death Trust, which won Charity Film of the Year in 2021, and the Football Saved My Life series for the Scottish FA. Laura was previously Head of Production for Production Attic and is currently developing an exciting slate for North Bridge Media. She is passionate about Scottish comedy, championing new talent and empowering women to pursue their career ambitions, regardless of age. She’s also a single mum to a 12 year-old son, her biggest supporter in life.
Leah Draws
Raised in the North West and now based in London, Leah is a producer with short-form beginnings. Having collaborated with some of the UK’s most prominent comedy performers and exciting writer-directors at the very forefront of their career, she was awarded Broadcast Digital’s Best Short-Form Scripted Series for Jordan Grays Transaction in 2020. After spending time in-house working on a multitude of formats including Inside No 9’s first animated episode, she has since gone on to produce BAFTA winner Siobhan McSweeny’s directorial debut Spud and founded her own production company Runt Films. Their first production Meat Puppet recently received SXSW’s prestigious Special Jury Award and publicly voted Audience Award. With a continued focus on developing distinct and tonally ambitious scripted comedy, Leah is excited to further expand her slate while continuing to collaborate with industry peers, coming on board to produce ±«Óãtv Three series Funboys this summer.
Rian Lennon
Rian is a writer/director based in Belfast. He works as part of sketch comedy troupe Super Lemon and co-wrote and directed the ±«Óãtv short film pilot Funboys which is now filming its first series in the summer. Rian co-wrote and directed his debut feature film Housejackers in 2023 as part of the NI Screen New Talent Focus Scheme and is excited to continue developing more feature film and comedy series ideas in the future.
Sophie Worger
Sophie is a comedy director from London who is driven to tell stories that surprise, intrigue and use humour to unlock conversations. She is passionate about female-centred narratives, though as long as a script makes her cackle, she’s up for it! Blue, Sophie’s latest short film, landed over 30 film festival selections alongside seven nominations and three awards for Best Short Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. The film also earned Sophie a Silver Award at the Young Director’s Award 2023 in Cannes. For the past ten years Sophie has worked as an assistant director alongside some hugely talented directors on shows such as Ted Lasso, Catastrophe, The End of the F***ing World and many others. All of which have given her insight into her directorial work.
Zahra Zomorrodian
Zahra is an award-winning producer who started her career as a stage manager in various theatres in her home town of Newcastle. After getting tired of carrying heavy things, she started producing comedy shorts, then three micro budget features including the raucous comedy The Stagg Do - which featured Lost Voice Guy in his first screen role. In 2019, after a detour in documentary with the RTS award-winning feature doc We Are The Geordies, she moved into producing comedy sketches for Channel 4’s Sparks. One of which - If Boobs Were Like Balls - won a commendation at the RTS Awards (February 2020), and to date has amassed over three million views online. She currently heads up the comedy slate for Candle & Bell and has projects in development with ±«Óãtv Comedy and ±«Óãtv Studios, and she’s producing their first ±«Óãtv Radio 4 commission Tom and Lauren Are Going OOT! (TX Aug 2024).
Zak Ghazi-Torbati and Kate Reid
Zak is a Welsh-Iranian writer, actor and songwriter. He co-wrote and performed the award-winning comedy musical Hot Gay Time Machine alongside Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. He is now developing HGTM into a musical TV series with Left Bank Pictures. He is working on a number of commissions and is currently on the BAFTA x BFI Flare mentorship programme. Kate is a Northern Irish-English writer-performer who trained at Bristol Old Vic and Soho Theatre Writers’ Lab. Her theatre credits include A Girl, Standing (Theatre503), The Cleaner (Traverse Theatre), The 4th Country (Park Theatre). She was a finalist for the Royal Court’s Lynne Gagliano Award and Sister and South of The River’s Screenshot Award. She’s currently working on several commissions, whilst on Channel 4’s Screenwriting course and Left Bank’s Diverse Writers’ Development Programme.
Together, Kate and Zak have written sketches for ±«Óãtv One’s Age of Outrage and were shortlisted for World Productions’ Writers’ Award. They were runners-up for the David Nobbs Comedy Competition and their sitcom pilot The Other Half won TCN’s WriterSlam. It was produced by Ranga Bee for DAVE in 2022. They were nominated for Best New Sitcom at the British Comedy Guide Awards and as Debut Writers at Edinburgh TV Festival New Voice Awards. They’re currently working with Baby Cow Productions on their next sitcom, whilst on the ±«Óãtv Writers’ Studio: Casualty Scheme - which has made them especially highly skilled at inventing bullshit medical terms.
Comedy Collective bursary winners 2023
Atlanta Green, writer
Atlanta is a Black British screenwriter of Jamaican ancestry from South London who was part of the 20/21 ±«Óãtv Comedy Writersroom Cohort. Atlanta has a particular interest in diverse stories and finding the humour (no matter how dark it is) and silver lining in the mundane realities around us. Previous original commissions include Is This Camera On?, an original comedy monologue for C±«Óãtv and ±«Óãtv iPlayer and Oi Pussy, an original three-part comedy show for ±«Óãtv Three. Atlanta has an original comedy pilot in development with DLT Entertainment and recently has written for JoJo and Gran Gran, Superato and Nova Jones on the ±«Óãtv.
Benjamin Bee, writer
Benjamin was born in Newcastle, where he currently lives and works. A troubled childhood meant he left school aged 14 without any qualifications. Since then he’s gone on to become a multi award-winning writer, whose short-form work has been longlisted for BAFTA awards twice and screened at over 400 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 timetravel comedy drama without any time travel. Ben is also developing a number of projects for TV. He proudly identifies as neurodivergent and disabled.
Chloe Brown, producer
Chloe is an up and coming producer from the West Midlands. The first in her family to go to university, she graduated from the prestigious Bournemouth Film School in 2017. Chloe started producing shorts when an autoimmune disease diagnosis derailed her postgraduate plans. During the pandemic she produced a series of online comedies to raise money for the NHS, starring actors such as Mathew Horne and Iwan Rheon. Collaborating with many different writers and directors throughout this process led to the production of Save Luna, a £250k budget interactive film. Following successes producing smaller indie projects, Chloe decided to deepen her understanding of larger scale projects by working as a TV production coordinator, stepping up to be a production manager on Alice Lowe’s Timestalker. She currently has several comedy shorts, a series and a feature film in development.
Eleri Morgan, writer
Eleri is a Welsh, female comedian and writer. She has worked across multiple comedy shows for radio and TV in both Welsh and English including The News Quiz, The Now Show, Welcome Strangers, The Leak, DM's are Open and Have I Got News For You and was a series regular in the improvised sitcom Tourist Trap on ±«Óãtv One Wales. She was semi finalist on both Funny Women and ±«Óãtv New Comedian of the year 2201 and 2022. She has written two plays and three half-hour sitcom pilots, one of which was a semi-finalist for the Sitcom Mission and optioned for Sky Comedy and the other two are currently being pitched to channels by production companies. She is currently working on a comedy sketch pilot for S4C.
Laith Elzubaidi, writer
Laith is a British-Iraqi comedy and drama screenwriter, director, producer and arts facilitator based in London. He is also the founder of the British-Arab Writers Group, the biggest collective of British-Arab writers in the UK. His script An Impossible ±«Óãtvcoming won a special commendation at the Edinburgh TV Festival All3Media New Drama Script Awards, amongst other accolades. He has a sitcom in development called The Weekly Wembley and has recently written and directed a short film called Panic! exploring ideas of mental health in relation to the children of refugees. He is a producer at Counterpoints Arts - spearheading their Pop Culture and Social Change programme. He works part time in a development capacity at Bassel Ghandour's newly launched UK-based production company.
Michael Patrick and Oisin Kearney, writers
Michael (actor/writer) and OisÃn Kearney (writer/director) are an award-winning creative partnership based between Belfast and Edinburgh making work that sits on the knife-edge between comedy and drama. The pair were a part of the ±«Óãtv Writersroom Belfast Voices group 2018, through which they pitched television ideas to Rollem Productions. This led to them creating My Left Nut, a three-part comedy drama series for ±«Óãtv Three based on Michael's teenage years. This won the RTS Northern Ireland Best Drama Award and the RTS Yorkshire Best Drama and Best Writers awards. Their theatre credits include the stage version of My Left Nut, The Alternative and The Border Game. They were awarded the Traverse Theatre and IASH fellowship 2022/23 to develop a new comedic play about Scottish and Irish Nationalism. On radio they created the six-part comedy series This One Time on the Border for ±«Óãtv Radio Ulster, wrote the radio play The 100-Year Old Backstop for ±«Óãtv Radio 4, contributed to the sketch show Quick Comedies for ±«Óãtv Radio Ulster, and a five-part sci-fi series Bitter Pill on ±«Óãtv Radio Four.
Miranda Holms, writer
Miranda is a comedy writer-director from London. Binned Off, her debut short film as writer-director has been screened at film nights across the UK and she is currently in production on two more short films. Miranda has written live-action and animated comedy scripts ranging from the dark to the ridiculous with a focus on dysfunctional relationships. She has been widely praised for her ability to combine sharp storytelling with bold, imaginative visuals. Her eye for physical comedy was developed during her time studying at Gaulier in France, and her ear for snappy dialogue by her improv training with the Free Association. She co-wrote the critic’s choice ±«Óãtv Radio 4 sitcom The Dream Factory with Joz Norris and was a co-writer/director on the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe show Blink, one of the Evening Standard’s top comedy shows of the year.
Nosa Eke, director
Nosa is a platform agnostic director-writer working in the cross section between technology and storytelling. She has been named Britain’s Next Level Gaming Talent by the Apple app store, a future creative leader by Google Creative Labs Creative Director Tea Uglow, as well as a Trailblazer by Accenture. She is an alumnus of the National Film and Television School and the Soho Theatre Writers Lab. She has written an episodic interactive digital experience on mobile for a FutureBook award winning start-up, has been in the writers room for an EA game and written an episodic narrative on the Amazon Alexa for the ±«Óãtv. She was also picked for the 2018 BFI Flare/BAFTA mentorship programme. Her short film Something In The Closet played the BFI Flare Festival 2020 and BFI London Film Festival 2019. Named a Film London Lodestar 2020, Nosa recently directed episodes of Big Age for Channel 4, Six Foot Something for Sky and Still So Awkward for the ±«Óãtv. She was also chosen as one of Edinburgh TV Festivals Ones To Watch for 2022.
Rachel Wilson, producer
Rachel is a queer film and theatre producer based in the West Midlands. Particular areas of interest include queer stories, mental health and using comedy to explore complex social issues. Rachel is always looking to champion bold and original projects particularly those rooted in forgotten or overlooked places. A BAFTA Connect Member, BFI Producers Programme alum and co-founder of Panad Productions, their recent screen projects include short film Jelly (Ffilm Cymru, ±«Óãtv Wales, Mad as Birds), winner of the 2022 Chapter Queer Prize, Iris Prize Best of British selection and commissioned for ±«Óãtv Two Wales and Channel 4. Rachel's next project The Girl with the Haunted Vagina (BFI Network) starring Sophie Duker is about to begin its festival run. Rachel has several shorts in development, including a queer period horror supported by Ffilm Cymru.
Sarah Grant, director
Sarah is a writer, director and performer based in Glasgow. Her first short film was nominated for a BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award and her most recent two shorts are both BAFTA qualifying. Sarah has created short-form work for ±«Óãtv The Social and ±«Óãtv Short Stuff gaining tens of millions of views across digital and social media. She is currently taking steps towards writing and directing longform for film and television as part of programmes including BAFTA Flare, the EIFF Talent Lab and UKTV Comedy 50:50 pilot initiative. She has longform work in development with ±«Óãtv Studios, Short Circuit, Happy Tramp and Northbridge Media. Sarah is committed to creating body positive, sex positive and inclusive female-led stories that are honest, feminist and fearless.
Comedy Collective alumni
Leah Chillery, writer
Recipient of the 2017 Felix Dexter Bursary
Leah is a graduate of the ±«Óãtv’s College of Comedy where she story lined on Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Grown Ups and her own sitcom pilot Ebony's Yard. She has written four ±«Óãtv Radio 4 Afternoon Plays.
Leah co-wrote the Bush Theatre hit 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, which returned for a second season as 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover at Christmas. Her play Earl of Mo'Bay was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award.
During her time on the Felix Dexter Bursary she developed her own sitcom White Washed. Her new short film Samuels Trousers is in post-production with director Dawn Walton and Leah is now under commission to write a radio play for She Wants A Dog Productions Birmingham. Leah is one of The National Theatre’s Playwright Dramaturgs for the New Views Young Writers Scheme.
Amy Gledhill, writer
Recipient of the 2019 Caroline Aherne Bursary
Amy is a comedian, actor and writer from Hull. Her authentic, comic voice won her the prestigious Caroline Aherne Bursary which has led to her starting development on her own sitcom. In 2019, she landed a leading role in Radio 4’s Phil Ellis is Trying and plays Susie in Mike Barlett’s drama Life on ±«Óãtv One. She has written for C±«Óãtv’s BAFTA award-winning series Class Dismissed and is one half of Edinburgh Award nominated and Chortle Award winners The Delightful Sausage.
As a stand up, she has won multiple national competitions with her unique blend of confessional stories, intelligent observations and ridiculous, off-beat daftness.
Athena Kugblenu, writer
Recipient of the 2020 Felix Dexter Bursary
Athena is a stand-up comedian and writer. She was a member of the ±«Óãtv Comedy Room 2019/20 and 2020’s recipient of the Felix Dexter Bursary. A ±«Óãtv New Comedian of the Year finalist, she has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe with solo shows KMT and Follow The Leader and her new show Shaking Her Class had a one week run at Soho Theater in 2022 and featured on ±«Óãtv Radio 4.
She has appeared on Richard Osman's House of Games and Mock the Week on ±«Óãtv Two and co-presented Yesterday, Today and the Day Before on Comedy Central.
She has written for Horrible Histories, The Russell Howard Hour, The Lenny Henry show, Dead Ringers amongst many others, and is a lead writer on Sketchtopia. She is also co-host on ±«Óãtv Radio 4 Extra’s DM’s are Open.
Tiwa Lade, writer
Recipient of the 2021 Felix Dexter Bursary
Tiwa is a British Nigerian actor, writer and voice over artist. After graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, Tiwa wrote two critically acclaimed plays which had rehearsed readings in theatres across New York, Lagos and London.
In late 2019 she adapted one of her plays, Rush, into her first screenplay which was shortlisted for the Neal Street Productions Screenwriting Bursary (Top 10), ±«Óãtv’s Writersroom Script Room 2021 (Top 2%), UKTV Commissioning Comedy 50:50. It won her the ±«Óãtv Felix Dexter Award in 2021 and got her onto the 2022 cohort for Channel 4 Screenwriting.
She has just written an episode for the new ±«Óãtv show, Phoenix Rise coming out in 2023.
Grace Mulvey, writer
Recipient of the 2020 Galton and Simpson Bursary
Grace is an Irish writer, stand-up comedian and actor.
Grace honed her stand-up skills on the Irish circuit before moving to London and making a name for herself on the UK comedy scene. Performing the Harold weekly at the improv MOB theatre, Grace is also the creator of the hit anti-diet comedy podcast Fad Camp. A finalist in the Vodafone Irish Comedian of the Year 2017, highlighted in Funny Women’s Ones to Watch 2019, Grace continues to make a name for herself as a finalist in the ISA TV Pitch 2022.
Kiri Pritchard-McLean, writer
Recipient of the 2020 Caroline Aherne Bursary
Welsh comedian Kiri is a multi award-winning comedian, satirist and writer. Credits include hosting Live at the Apollo and appearing on Have I Got News For You, 8 out of 10 Cats and Frankie Boyle's New World Order.
A regular on the Radio including her own show on ±«Óãtv Radio Wales, Kiri was the host of Newsjack and has since graduated as the host of new panel show Best Medicine on Radio 4.
She is an offstage member of the critically acclaimed Tarot and one half of the cult hit podcast, All Killa no Filla.
Nathan Roberts, writer
Recipient of the 2018 Felix Dexter Bursary
Nathan is an award-winning comedian and screenwriter. He has written for Horrible Histories, The Emily Atack Show, The Lenny Henry Show, Apple TV’s Trying, C±«Óãtv’s Lagging, The Now Show and The News Quiz. He has recently completed production on two short films developed by Sky Arts/CPL and the BFI respectively. Nathan is now developing his second stand-up show, a film-based panel show, and scripted comedy projects.
Phoebe Roy, writer
Recipient of the 2018 Felix Dexter Bursary
Phoebe is a writer and podcaster from London.
Sophie Willan, writer
Recipient of the 2018 Caroline Aherne Bursary
Sophie is a writer, actor, comedian, producer and activist, who is best-known for her ±«Óãtv/Expectation TV series Alma's Not Normal, which won Sophie a BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performance, a BAFTA Craft Award for Best Writer: Comedy and an RTS Programme Award for Best Scripted Comedy.
Sophie is also well-known for her voiceover and radio work, notably The Circle on Channel 4, and her hugely acclaimed ±«Óãtv Radio 4 series Sophie Willan's Guide to Normality.
Jonny Wright, writer
Recipient of the 2017 Felix Dexter Bursary
Jonny is a writer and actor who co-wrote and co-created Little Darlings for Sky Kids/Sky Cinema.
He was awarded the Felix Dexter Bursary in 2017 following which his sitcom pilot Sick Leave was commissioned by the ±«Óãtv. Previously, he was selected for ±«Óãtv Comedy’s Funny on Three initiative which resulted in ±«Óãtv Three optioning his sitcom Oh Brother. He also won the Brian Glover Award for his short film Soldier Boy and, among others, appeared in the Mike Leigh film A Running Jump.
Jonny was a guest writer on Bulletproof season 4 (Vertigo/Sky) and wrote on an episode of The Amazing World of Gumball for Cartoon Network. Jonny is a graduate of the 2019 4Screenwriting course and was also shortlisted for 4Stories and has since been in various writersrooms.
Jonny is also a hip-hop artist and has currently been commissioned by the Royal & Derngate to write a musical, Mamacoosa.
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