via David Singleton, Broadcast.co.uk
Waterloo Road editorial team mentors for successful Manchester, Liverpool and Bradford-based scribes
Warner Bros Discovery has selected scribes from Manchester, Liverpool and Bradford as the latest cohort of its Northern Writers programme.
The initiative is returning for a third year and is backed by WBD-owned Wall to Wall, which boarded the programme set up by its parent company and The Royal Exchange Theatre last year.
The four writers who have been selected for the 2024 programme are Kamal Kaan from Bradford, Manchester-based Katie Mulgrew and Natalie Beech, and Liverpool-based Joe McNally.
The programme aims to create opportunities for talented writers from underrepresented backgrounds in the North of England and is specifically tailored to writers who are new to television drama but already writing for theatre.
Each will embark on a six-month bespoke scheme, developed to hone and elevate their skills for stage and screen. The scheme will culminate in all four participants writing their own one-hour TV pilot spec script.
They will have access to specially curated workshops and sessions and this year’s speakers will include multi-award-winning writer Mike Bartlett (Doctor Foster, King Charles III) as well as the editorial team from Rope Lader Fiction and Wall to Wall-produced Waterloo Road and commissioners from Channel 4 and ITV.
Jennifer Sobol, director of diversity equity and inclusion programmes at WBD Access, said: “We are so proud of the fantastic writers we have supported via the WBD Access Northern Writers Programme. It is only via cross industry collaboration that we can create best in class experiences, mentoring and training for emerging and underrepresented talent looking to break into the industry.
“Each year we have been blown away but the quality of submissions, and cannot want to see more from Natalie, Kamal, Joe and Katie.”
Sian Palfrey, executive producer at Wall to Wall North, said: “These talented writers are proof of the abundance of exciting voices we have in the North and of stories and perspectives that demand to be heard. In these turbulent times, it has never been more important to support writers with funded opportunities that will help to hone their skills and arm them with the tools, knowledge, and crucial connections they need to forge sustainable careers. I am delighted to get the chance to be a part of their journey.”
Northern Writers Programme 2024 cohort:
Natalie Beech
Natalie Beech is a scriptwriter based in Manchester. Her debut play Collegiate had sold out runs in London and Leicester and she has received commissions from organisations such as the international HeforShe campaign to create documentary and site-specific theatre. Her work has been staged at theatres including Arcola, Pleasance, The Bread & Roses, Attenborough Arts Centre and more. In 2022 she won the Channel 4 Writing for Television Award with New Writing North, and in 2023 she was chosen for the BFI Script Lab and the LOOP Audio Drama Fund with Free Turn and Screen Yorkshire, where she has been developing an audio drama pilot. She was also part of the 2024 BBC Northern & Midlands cohort after making the top 1% of submissions to the BBC Writers Open Call.
Kamal Kaan
Bradford-based, British-Bangladeshi working-class writer Kamal Kaan read Architecture at The University of Cambridge and MA in TV Fiction Writing. He worked as Story, Location and Script Consultant on double Bafta-nominated film Ali and Ava, written and directed by Clio Barnard. He is a story and development consultant on Duck Soup’s upcoming C4 drama Dance School. His work for BBC Radio 4 includes: Breaking Up With Bradford, Father’s Land In Mother Tongue, Bangla Bantams and 3-part series BatGirls – currently available on BBC Sounds. His work for theatre includes: Amma for Tara Theatre London, Aaliyah: After Antigone Freedom Studios, Bradford and Decades Leeds Playhouse. His BFI short film All The Lights Still Burning, directed by Dominic Leclerc (Sex Education S4) and exec produced by Clio Barnard premiered at the London Film Festival 2023 and BFI Flare 2024. He is currently developing his first feature film with BFI.
Joe McNally
Joe McNally is a writer from Liverpool. He is a graduate of both the Liverpool Everyman YEP Writers Programme and Liverpool’s Royal Court Stage Write programme. His debut play Cosmic was commissioned and staged at Liverpool’s Royal Court in 2023. He was also the recipient of the 2023 New Writing North C4 Writing for Television award. He was recently a member of the North/Midlands BBC Voices group for 2024. Joe currently has a script commission from C4 and Bonafide Films, as well as a project in development with Firebird Pictures.
Katie Mulgrew
Katie Mulgrew is an award-winning writer and comedian. She was shortlisted for the Tobacco Theatre prize and won the Liverpool Hope Playwriting Prize for her work Omnibus. She won the BBC Writersroom Kudos North award and has been shortlisted for the C4 Screenwriting course. Katie has written and appeared on radio and TV shows for BBC Radio 4, CBBC, C4 and she co-presented the ITV2 broadcast pilot, Lovefix. She was part of the BFI’s Film Hub North Scriptlab in 2020 and her short film Kiss premiered at the Manchester International Short Film Festival this year. She’s also written the book for a musical currently in development with a major theatre.
