Exclusive: At the 2021 Edinburgh TV Festival, the BBC and Netflix unveiled what the pair described as a landmark five-year disability partnership that would unearth a new generation of shows helmed by disabled talent.
But more than half of the partnership’s five-year time period has now elapsed and not one show has been revealed.
In recent months, sources from the UK drama and disabled TV communities have begun questioning the partnership, getting in touch with Deadline unprompted to query why a tie-up that was unveiled with such fanfare has so far failed to bear fruit.
“It’s slightly bizarre,” said one professional connected with disability programs. “I’ve heard nothing from anyone to be honest. No one can get a definitive answer.”
The partnership came in the wake of a blistering Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart broadside from Help writer Jack Thorne, who slammed the UK TV industry for “totally and utterly” failing disabled people.
But more than half of the partnership’s five-year time period has now elapsed and not one show has been revealed.
In recent months, sources from the UK drama and disabled TV communities have begun questioning the partnership, getting in touch with Deadline unprompted to query why a tie-up that was unveiled with such fanfare has so far failed to bear fruit.
“It’s slightly bizarre,” said one professional connected with disability programs. “I’ve heard nothing from anyone to be honest. No one can get a definitive answer.”
The partnership came in the wake of a blistering Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart broadside from Help writer Jack Thorne, who slammed the UK TV industry for “totally and utterly” failing disabled people.
- 3/14/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Bridge06 is an agency and consultancy that supports access coordinators and disabled, d/Deaf and neurodiverse talent.
UK film, TV and theatre talent agency Casarotto Ramsay & Associates has appointed access advocates Sara Johnson and Julie Fernandez, co-founders of Bridge06, to expand the agency’s committment to improve disability representation for the media and entertainment Industries.
Bridge06 is an agency and consultancy that supports access coordinators and disabled, d/Deaf and neurodiverse talent, as well as offering training to all areas of the film and TV industry on bringing accessibility into day-to-day business.
Johnson and Fernandez will be working full-time...
UK film, TV and theatre talent agency Casarotto Ramsay & Associates has appointed access advocates Sara Johnson and Julie Fernandez, co-founders of Bridge06, to expand the agency’s committment to improve disability representation for the media and entertainment Industries.
Bridge06 is an agency and consultancy that supports access coordinators and disabled, d/Deaf and neurodiverse talent, as well as offering training to all areas of the film and TV industry on bringing accessibility into day-to-day business.
Johnson and Fernandez will be working full-time...
- 11/28/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
ITV Studios is upping its commitment to making the TV industry more accessible with the hiring of its first in-house disability access coordinator, alongside becoming an associate member of the TV Access Project.
The British multinational TV production and distribution company announced Wednesday that it has appointed Bethany Matthews to serve as its first-ever in-house coordinator. In the role, Matthews will ensure accessibility requirements and solutions are available across all seven in-house ITV Studios’ drama labels to those who are Deaf, disabled, neurodivergent or have long-term health conditions.
“We’re really proud to support the TV Access Project and to be an active part of tangible change. The underrepresentation of Disabled people in our industry continues to be an urgent issue and something we’re working on at ITV Studios,” said Julie Clark, director of production, drama, ITV Studios. “Bethany is an incredible addition to the team and will be...
The British multinational TV production and distribution company announced Wednesday that it has appointed Bethany Matthews to serve as its first-ever in-house coordinator. In the role, Matthews will ensure accessibility requirements and solutions are available across all seven in-house ITV Studios’ drama labels to those who are Deaf, disabled, neurodivergent or have long-term health conditions.
“We’re really proud to support the TV Access Project and to be an active part of tangible change. The underrepresentation of Disabled people in our industry continues to be an urgent issue and something we’re working on at ITV Studios,” said Julie Clark, director of production, drama, ITV Studios. “Bethany is an incredible addition to the team and will be...
- 8/17/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Michelle Stein and Jennifer Monks are producers of Moin Hussain’s Venice Critics’ Week entry Sky Peals.
Michelle Stein and Jennifer Monks, producers of Moin Hussain’s Venice Critics’ Week entry Sky Peals, are launching UK production company The Fold.
Stein was named a Screen Star of Tomorrow in 2009 (as Michelle Eastwood); she has produced features including Brian Welsh’s Bifa-winning In Our Name in 2010, and Hussain’s shorts Naptha and Real Gods Require Blood.
Monks was recently a co-producer on Charlotte Regan’s Sundance premiere Scrapper, and Naqqash Khalid’s Karlovy Vary title In Camera.
The Fold banner aims...
Michelle Stein and Jennifer Monks, producers of Moin Hussain’s Venice Critics’ Week entry Sky Peals, are launching UK production company The Fold.
Stein was named a Screen Star of Tomorrow in 2009 (as Michelle Eastwood); she has produced features including Brian Welsh’s Bifa-winning In Our Name in 2010, and Hussain’s shorts Naptha and Real Gods Require Blood.
Monks was recently a co-producer on Charlotte Regan’s Sundance premiere Scrapper, and Naqqash Khalid’s Karlovy Vary title In Camera.
The Fold banner aims...
- 7/26/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Click here to read the full article.
Diversity and how to best ensure it in the British TV industry was a topic of debate on Wednesday, the opening day of the Edinburgh TV Festival.
During a panel entitled “Insert (Diversity) Here,” for which The Hollywood Reporter served as media partner, writer-director and actor Adjani Salmon (Dreaming Whilst Black) signaled there aren’t enough diverse people in positions of power yet. He recalled pitching the BBC without success before starting to work with production firm Big Deal Films, which focuses on inclusive storytelling.
Then fellow panelist Sarah Asante, back then a commissioner at the BBC but now UKTV commissioning editor, saw it and gave it a chance on BBC Three. “I would ask myself ‘why is it that it just so happened that the only Black woman who read it is the person who saw the potential in it,” Salmon said.
Diversity and how to best ensure it in the British TV industry was a topic of debate on Wednesday, the opening day of the Edinburgh TV Festival.
During a panel entitled “Insert (Diversity) Here,” for which The Hollywood Reporter served as media partner, writer-director and actor Adjani Salmon (Dreaming Whilst Black) signaled there aren’t enough diverse people in positions of power yet. He recalled pitching the BBC without success before starting to work with production firm Big Deal Films, which focuses on inclusive storytelling.
Then fellow panelist Sarah Asante, back then a commissioner at the BBC but now UKTV commissioning editor, saw it and gave it a chance on BBC Three. “I would ask myself ‘why is it that it just so happened that the only Black woman who read it is the person who saw the potential in it,” Salmon said.
- 8/24/2022
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Sex Education” producer Eleven has set a new thriller series titled “I.D.” at Channel 4 written by Genevieve Barr (“The Silence”).
The eight-part mystery tells the story of a young deaf woman called Emily who spies her neighbor photographing her, which soon leads her on a journey into her own past. “This leads her to explore what she might have done to warrant this unwanted attention, while simultaneously beginning a dance with a stranger that is as exhilarating as it is dangerous,” reads the logline.
“I.D.” is described as a “love letter to being deaf.”
“’I.D.’ is a journey into who we are and how people view us,” said Barr in a statement. “Eleven gave it a home when I was starting out and I’m delighted we’ve found it a broadcaster with Channel 4 who are pathfinders in fearless and inclusive storytelling. It is a privilege to be living...
The eight-part mystery tells the story of a young deaf woman called Emily who spies her neighbor photographing her, which soon leads her on a journey into her own past. “This leads her to explore what she might have done to warrant this unwanted attention, while simultaneously beginning a dance with a stranger that is as exhilarating as it is dangerous,” reads the logline.
“I.D.” is described as a “love letter to being deaf.”
“’I.D.’ is a journey into who we are and how people view us,” said Barr in a statement. “Eleven gave it a home when I was starting out and I’m delighted we’ve found it a broadcaster with Channel 4 who are pathfinders in fearless and inclusive storytelling. It is a privilege to be living...
- 8/23/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Leading U.K.-based broadcasters have created the TV Access Project (Tap), a response to pressure group Underlying Health Condition’s (Uhc) campaign to address disabled access across the TV industry in the U.K.
Tap has been created by the BBC, Channel 4, Britbox International, Disney+ U.K., ITV, Paramount, Prime Video, Sky and UKTV, with support from industry body Creative Diversity Network and Pact, representing the indie sector.
Uhc which was set up by disabled creatives Genevieve Barr, Katie Player and Holly Lubran along with screenwriter Jack Thorne, following his coruscating MacTaggart Lecture at Edinburgh TV Festival in 2021. Tap is supported by TripleC Danc (Disabled Artists Networking Community) and Ddptv (Deaf & Disabled People in TV).
All these organisations aim to ensure an inclusive television production sector for disabled talent, looking at solutions that are across both scripted and unscripted.
The project started in April, when Charlotte Moore, chief content officer at the BBC,...
Tap has been created by the BBC, Channel 4, Britbox International, Disney+ U.K., ITV, Paramount, Prime Video, Sky and UKTV, with support from industry body Creative Diversity Network and Pact, representing the indie sector.
Uhc which was set up by disabled creatives Genevieve Barr, Katie Player and Holly Lubran along with screenwriter Jack Thorne, following his coruscating MacTaggart Lecture at Edinburgh TV Festival in 2021. Tap is supported by TripleC Danc (Disabled Artists Networking Community) and Ddptv (Deaf & Disabled People in TV).
All these organisations aim to ensure an inclusive television production sector for disabled talent, looking at solutions that are across both scripted and unscripted.
The project started in April, when Charlotte Moore, chief content officer at the BBC,...
- 8/23/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
When His Dark Materials writer Jack Thorne stepped up to the Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart podium last year in an audience-less room, he wanted to address an issue that had felt hopelessly ignored in the mainstream through past decades.
The prolific British scribe’s proclamation that UK TV had “utterly and totally” failed disabled people drew headlines across the country and moved the industry up a gear in solving deep-seated legacy issues both behind and in-front of the camera that impact a minority which makes up around 20 of the population.
“What Jack did so brilliantly was contextualize how the industry can conduct itself within a wider conversation around the country’s attitudes toward disability and treatment during the pandemic,” says Peter Bowker, acclaimed British TV writer of the BBC’s influential autism drama The A Word. “Presenting the wider context is smart as you challenge the industry by saying ‘Don...
The prolific British scribe’s proclamation that UK TV had “utterly and totally” failed disabled people drew headlines across the country and moved the industry up a gear in solving deep-seated legacy issues both behind and in-front of the camera that impact a minority which makes up around 20 of the population.
“What Jack did so brilliantly was contextualize how the industry can conduct itself within a wider conversation around the country’s attitudes toward disability and treatment during the pandemic,” says Peter Bowker, acclaimed British TV writer of the BBC’s influential autism drama The A Word. “Presenting the wider context is smart as you challenge the industry by saying ‘Don...
- 8/23/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Some of the U.K.’s biggest TV and streaming stars are set to appear at the 2022 Edinburgh TV Festival. Among those who will be present at the in-person event in Edinburgh are “Succession” patriarch Brian Cox, “Heartstopper” star Kit Connor and “Strictly Come Dancing’s” Rose Ayling-Ellis, who will give this year’s Alternative Mactaggart speech.
Actor Ayling-Ellis, who was “Strictly’s” first deaf contestant and is a British Sign Language (Bsl) campaigner, is set to discuss her experiences in the industry in what is sure to be a no-holds barred speech that follows on from last year’s Alternative Mactaggart lecture by “His Dark Materials” writer and disability campaigner Jack Thorne.
Cox will appear in conversation to discuss his career, his scene-stealing role as Logan Roy and his working-class Scottish roots while the cast and creative team from Netflix hit “Heartstopper” will also be on hand to discuss the coming-of-age romantic drama,...
Actor Ayling-Ellis, who was “Strictly’s” first deaf contestant and is a British Sign Language (Bsl) campaigner, is set to discuss her experiences in the industry in what is sure to be a no-holds barred speech that follows on from last year’s Alternative Mactaggart lecture by “His Dark Materials” writer and disability campaigner Jack Thorne.
Cox will appear in conversation to discuss his career, his scene-stealing role as Logan Roy and his working-class Scottish roots while the cast and creative team from Netflix hit “Heartstopper” will also be on hand to discuss the coming-of-age romantic drama,...
- 6/8/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
The creative team behind Jack Thorne’s BBC/Netflix drama Then Barbara Met Alan has rewritten the rules on disability representation for the Crip Camp-esque drama about two UK trailblazers whose campaigning led to the passing of the Disability Discrimination Act.
Producer Dragonfly TV compiled a report that has been passed to the BBC and super-indie Banijay after setting best practice standards in disability representation, with the production comprised of 17 disabled actors, 55 disabled supporting actors and 50% senior editorial team representation including in the key roles of co-writer (Genevieve Barr), producer (Bryony Arnold) and co-director (Amit Sharma). Arnold worked closely with disabled talent groups to fill other posts.
Thorne refused to do the show unless he could co-write with talented deaf actor-turned-scribe Genevieve Barr, who starred in his Channel 4 drama The Accident. Barr is now “so busy she is turning down commissions,” according to Thorne.
Airing on the BBC...
Producer Dragonfly TV compiled a report that has been passed to the BBC and super-indie Banijay after setting best practice standards in disability representation, with the production comprised of 17 disabled actors, 55 disabled supporting actors and 50% senior editorial team representation including in the key roles of co-writer (Genevieve Barr), producer (Bryony Arnold) and co-director (Amit Sharma). Arnold worked closely with disabled talent groups to fill other posts.
Thorne refused to do the show unless he could co-write with talented deaf actor-turned-scribe Genevieve Barr, who starred in his Channel 4 drama The Accident. Barr is now “so busy she is turning down commissions,” according to Thorne.
Airing on the BBC...
- 3/17/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Up to 12 accessibility coordinators to be trained this year following Underlying Health Condition report.
Working conditions for disabled talent are set to improve with ScreenSkills offering to fund training for accessibility coordinators, following advice from pressure group Underlying Health Condition (Uhc).
The individuals who are trained will go on to ensure that actors and crew are provided with the support and facilities required to carry out their jobs safely and with dignity.
Funded via ScreenSkills’ High-end TV Skills Fund, up to 12 trained individuals will be available for producers to employ by the end of the year, after the need...
Working conditions for disabled talent are set to improve with ScreenSkills offering to fund training for accessibility coordinators, following advice from pressure group Underlying Health Condition (Uhc).
The individuals who are trained will go on to ensure that actors and crew are provided with the support and facilities required to carry out their jobs safely and with dignity.
Funded via ScreenSkills’ High-end TV Skills Fund, up to 12 trained individuals will be available for producers to employ by the end of the year, after the need...
- 3/11/2022
- by Ellie Kahn Broadcast
- ScreenDaily
BBC One’s The A Word spin-off Ralph & Katie, which was created by a group of disabled writers overseen by Peter Bowker, has entered production in Manchester and the Lake District.
The six-parter from ITV Studios, Keshet Productions and Tiger Aspect, which follows the two beloved A-Word characters played by Leon Harrop and Sarah Gordy, has also unveiled cast including Gogglebox narrator Craig Cash, Dylan Brady (Get Even), Jamie Marie Leary (Traces), Sam Retford (Screw) and Daniel Cerqueira (Pennyworth). Returning actors from Bowker’s The A Word include Pooky Quesnel, Nigel Betts and Matt Greenwood.
The groundbreaking show is the UK’s first to feature an all-disabled writers’ room, with five writers overseen by World On Fire creator Bowker.
A program to give disabled people in the North West of England access to the show’s production will run...
The six-parter from ITV Studios, Keshet Productions and Tiger Aspect, which follows the two beloved A-Word characters played by Leon Harrop and Sarah Gordy, has also unveiled cast including Gogglebox narrator Craig Cash, Dylan Brady (Get Even), Jamie Marie Leary (Traces), Sam Retford (Screw) and Daniel Cerqueira (Pennyworth). Returning actors from Bowker’s The A Word include Pooky Quesnel, Nigel Betts and Matt Greenwood.
The groundbreaking show is the UK’s first to feature an all-disabled writers’ room, with five writers overseen by World On Fire creator Bowker.
A program to give disabled people in the North West of England access to the show’s production will run...
- 2/22/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Channel 4 have issued best practice recommendations on working with disabled talent, adopting a number of recommendations set out by newly-formed pressure group Underlying Health Condition (Uhc).
The group, founded by “His Dark Materials” scribe Jack Thorne, actor Genevieve Barr (“The Silence”), production manager Katie Player (“Churchill) and producer Holly Luban, launched last week.
Now Channel 4 has issued a number of guides, which apply both off-screen and on-screen, in a bid to improve accessibility and inclusion for disabled creatives working in television.
On-screen, the broadcaster has issued three template documents to ensure disabled talent, presenters and contributors can focus on delivering great content, including an access rider for talent, an access statement for sets and an access plan to record any adjustments that may be needed.
Off-screen, three booklets have been issued to help production companies be more inclusive of deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people, create more accessible working environments...
The group, founded by “His Dark Materials” scribe Jack Thorne, actor Genevieve Barr (“The Silence”), production manager Katie Player (“Churchill) and producer Holly Luban, launched last week.
Now Channel 4 has issued a number of guides, which apply both off-screen and on-screen, in a bid to improve accessibility and inclusion for disabled creatives working in television.
On-screen, the broadcaster has issued three template documents to ensure disabled talent, presenters and contributors can focus on delivering great content, including an access rider for talent, an access statement for sets and an access plan to record any adjustments that may be needed.
Off-screen, three booklets have been issued to help production companies be more inclusive of deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people, create more accessible working environments...
- 12/6/2021
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Writer Jack Thorne (“His Dark Materials”) today launched the pressure group Underlying Health Conditions (Uhc) alongside “The Silence” star Genevieve Barr, production manager Katie Player (“Churchill) and producer Holly Luban.
To coincide with the launch, which took place at the Tate Gallery in London on International Day of Disabled Persons, the group also published a damning report into accessibility – or lack thereof – for disabled professionals both in front of and behind the camera.
Among the findings in the report, which was based on surveys completed over the past six months by people working for or on behalf of studios and facilities companies, were that:
There is only one facilities company in the whole of the U.K. (that responded) with an accessible toilet facility – meaning that only one production in the U.K. taking place at any time can provide disabled professionals with access to a toilet; 78.8% of U.K.
To coincide with the launch, which took place at the Tate Gallery in London on International Day of Disabled Persons, the group also published a damning report into accessibility – or lack thereof – for disabled professionals both in front of and behind the camera.
Among the findings in the report, which was based on surveys completed over the past six months by people working for or on behalf of studios and facilities companies, were that:
There is only one facilities company in the whole of the U.K. (that responded) with an accessible toilet facility – meaning that only one production in the U.K. taking place at any time can provide disabled professionals with access to a toilet; 78.8% of U.K.
- 12/3/2021
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Jack Thorne has said the British TV and film industry could be a “world leader” on disability if “radical thinking” is implemented, while the Help writer has raised concerns over the death of social realist drama.
Ahead of the unveiling of a landmark report into disability in TV compiled by his Underlying Health Condition lobbying group, the 2021 Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart lecturer told Deadline that broadcasters are “well aware” of the problem but solving it will be “really really complicated.” The report will be unveiled later today at an event to mark International Day of People With Disabilities.
Thorne lit a fuse in August with a blistering MacTaggart address that slammed the sector for “utterly and totally failing disabled people.”
Underlying Health Condition has since surveyed industry stakeholders on how best to improve accessibility and representation, finding, for example, that there is only one accessible honey wagon in the whole country.
Ahead of the unveiling of a landmark report into disability in TV compiled by his Underlying Health Condition lobbying group, the 2021 Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart lecturer told Deadline that broadcasters are “well aware” of the problem but solving it will be “really really complicated.” The report will be unveiled later today at an event to mark International Day of People With Disabilities.
Thorne lit a fuse in August with a blistering MacTaggart address that slammed the sector for “utterly and totally failing disabled people.”
Underlying Health Condition has since surveyed industry stakeholders on how best to improve accessibility and representation, finding, for example, that there is only one accessible honey wagon in the whole country.
- 12/3/2021
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
The most exciting new actors, writers, directors, producers, and heads of department emerging across the UK and Ireland.
Screen International has unveiled the 2021 edition of Stars of Tomorrow, the annual, eagerly anticipated talent showcase of the most exciting new actors, writers, directors, producers, and heads of department emerging across the UK and Ireland.
Take part in Screen’s Stars of Tomorrow 2021 virtual event
Since it was launched in 2004, Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow showcase has demonstrated an unparalleled track record for spotting talented new actors and filmmakers at the early stages of their careers. This year’s Stars follow...
Screen International has unveiled the 2021 edition of Stars of Tomorrow, the annual, eagerly anticipated talent showcase of the most exciting new actors, writers, directors, producers, and heads of department emerging across the UK and Ireland.
Take part in Screen’s Stars of Tomorrow 2021 virtual event
Since it was launched in 2004, Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow showcase has demonstrated an unparalleled track record for spotting talented new actors and filmmakers at the early stages of their careers. This year’s Stars follow...
- 10/4/2021
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Thorne was delivering the 46th MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
UK TV has “utterly and totally” failed disabled people, according to MacTaggart lecturer Jack Thorne, as he unveiled an accessibility pressure group designed to improve the situation.
The Virtues and The Accident writer pulled no punches when referring to disability as “the forgotten diversity”, as he became the 46th MacTaggart speaker and first to have had a disability.
“Disability is the issue everyone leaves out of speeches,” he said.
“Gender, race, sexuality all rightly get discussed at length but disability gets relegated out. In conversations about representation, it is confined to the corner,...
UK TV has “utterly and totally” failed disabled people, according to MacTaggart lecturer Jack Thorne, as he unveiled an accessibility pressure group designed to improve the situation.
The Virtues and The Accident writer pulled no punches when referring to disability as “the forgotten diversity”, as he became the 46th MacTaggart speaker and first to have had a disability.
“Disability is the issue everyone leaves out of speeches,” he said.
“Gender, race, sexuality all rightly get discussed at length but disability gets relegated out. In conversations about representation, it is confined to the corner,...
- 8/24/2021
- by Max Goldbart Broadcast
- ScreenDaily
Acclaimed screenwriter Jack Thorne has slammed the industry for its treatment of disabled people both on and off screen, saying, “TV has failed disabled people. Utterly and totally.”
Thorne used his invitation to give the prestigious MacTaggart Lecture at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival to announce the creation of a new pressure group named Underlying Health Condition, which will push to make TV’s working environments more easily accessible to all and create a cross-industry fund to pay for it.
During his speech, prolific scribe Thorne, known for series such as His Dark Materials and This Is England, and movies such as Wonder and Enola Holmes, revealed a disturbing story about a disabled friend working on a project based in an old factory, “who had to crawl up the steps and along the floor to get to her desk, while her electric wheelchair was outside getting soaked by the rain.
Thorne used his invitation to give the prestigious MacTaggart Lecture at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival to announce the creation of a new pressure group named Underlying Health Condition, which will push to make TV’s working environments more easily accessible to all and create a cross-industry fund to pay for it.
During his speech, prolific scribe Thorne, known for series such as His Dark Materials and This Is England, and movies such as Wonder and Enola Holmes, revealed a disturbing story about a disabled friend working on a project based in an old factory, “who had to crawl up the steps and along the floor to get to her desk, while her electric wheelchair was outside getting soaked by the rain.
- 8/23/2021
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
Jack Thorne, the prolific British writer behind His Dark Materials and Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, is to deliver the prestigious James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival next month.
Thorne, who has been diagnosed with a condition called cholinergic urticaria, which means he is allergic to heat and his own body movement, will spotlight the representation of disability on British TV during his address.
He said: “I am ridiculously honoured to be asked to deliver this year’s MacTaggart lecture. It’s an opportunity I never anticipated, but an opportunity I am determined to use. This country has a glaring problem at the moment and it’s in its treatment of disabled people.
“In the last two years people have died who didn’t need to, and those that survived were treated appallingly, ignored and shut out. We lived and live in a two-tier society, those...
Thorne, who has been diagnosed with a condition called cholinergic urticaria, which means he is allergic to heat and his own body movement, will spotlight the representation of disability on British TV during his address.
He said: “I am ridiculously honoured to be asked to deliver this year’s MacTaggart lecture. It’s an opportunity I never anticipated, but an opportunity I am determined to use. This country has a glaring problem at the moment and it’s in its treatment of disabled people.
“In the last two years people have died who didn’t need to, and those that survived were treated appallingly, ignored and shut out. We lived and live in a two-tier society, those...
- 7/8/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Acclaimed dramatist and playwright Jack Thorne will deliver this year’s James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
Thorne’s credits include the West End play “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child,” Netflix film “Enola Holmes” and TV series “His Dark Materials.” As a disabled professional, Thorne is a vocal champion, campaigner and ally of other disabled creatives both in front of and behind the camera.
Thorne has co-written with Genevieve Barr an upcoming BBC factual drama called “Independence Day? How Disabled Rights Were Won,” starring Ruth Madeley, based on the true story of the people behind a campaign that led to the winning of disabled civil rights in Britain.
Thorne’s lecture will focus on the need for greater representation, platforming the voices of disabled professionals — both visible and invisible — and the role the TV industry has to play in defining a more accessible future, underpinned by...
Thorne’s credits include the West End play “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child,” Netflix film “Enola Holmes” and TV series “His Dark Materials.” As a disabled professional, Thorne is a vocal champion, campaigner and ally of other disabled creatives both in front of and behind the camera.
Thorne has co-written with Genevieve Barr an upcoming BBC factual drama called “Independence Day? How Disabled Rights Were Won,” starring Ruth Madeley, based on the true story of the people behind a campaign that led to the winning of disabled civil rights in Britain.
Thorne’s lecture will focus on the need for greater representation, platforming the voices of disabled professionals — both visible and invisible — and the role the TV industry has to play in defining a more accessible future, underpinned by...
- 7/8/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
BBC America is set to premiere “CripTales,” a collection of short films from creatives with disabilities, on Oct. 1 at 10 p.m., Variety has learned exclusively.
For National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the six-part series will be available to stream across the digital platforms of BBC America, AMC, IFC, Sundance TV and AMC Plus.
“’CripTales’ brings to our screens a beautiful collection of short films, curated by the incredibly talented Mat Fraser, shining a light on stories that don’t often make it to primetime,” said Courtney Thomasma, executive director of BBC America. “At times hilarious and at others heart-breaking, these monologues exemplify both the diversity of experience among people living with disabilities and the thoroughly relatable dilemmas we all face in life.”
Curated by Fraser, the 15-minute monologues follow life-changing moments for people with disabilities. Based on research on communities with disabilities in British history, the collection features a range...
For National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the six-part series will be available to stream across the digital platforms of BBC America, AMC, IFC, Sundance TV and AMC Plus.
“’CripTales’ brings to our screens a beautiful collection of short films, curated by the incredibly talented Mat Fraser, shining a light on stories that don’t often make it to primetime,” said Courtney Thomasma, executive director of BBC America. “At times hilarious and at others heart-breaking, these monologues exemplify both the diversity of experience among people living with disabilities and the thoroughly relatable dilemmas we all face in life.”
Curated by Fraser, the 15-minute monologues follow life-changing moments for people with disabilities. Based on research on communities with disabilities in British history, the collection features a range...
- 9/14/2020
- by Janet W. Lee
- Variety Film + TV
“His Dark Materials” writer Jack Thorne has partnered with actor-turned-writer Genevieve Barr to create a factual drama for BBC Two based on the true story about the campaign for disabled civil rights in Britain.
With a working title of “Independence Day? How Disabled Rights Were Won,” the 60-minute film centres on the people behind a campaign of direct action for disability rights.
The film enters the story through the eyes of Barbara Lisicki and Alan Holdsworth (pictured), two disabled cabaret performers who met in 1989 and went on to become the driving force behind Dan (Direct Action Network).
Their incendiary ‘Piss on Pity’ protest slogan helped to re-frame the debate around disability rights in the U.K., while their spontaneous pickets shut down cinemas, restaurants, stations and even the London underground, until their rights were enshrined into law.
The one-off drama is being made by Endemol Shine Group-backed Dragonfly Film...
With a working title of “Independence Day? How Disabled Rights Were Won,” the 60-minute film centres on the people behind a campaign of direct action for disability rights.
The film enters the story through the eyes of Barbara Lisicki and Alan Holdsworth (pictured), two disabled cabaret performers who met in 1989 and went on to become the driving force behind Dan (Direct Action Network).
Their incendiary ‘Piss on Pity’ protest slogan helped to re-frame the debate around disability rights in the U.K., while their spontaneous pickets shut down cinemas, restaurants, stations and even the London underground, until their rights were enshrined into law.
The one-off drama is being made by Endemol Shine Group-backed Dragonfly Film...
- 5/19/2020
- by Tim Dams
- Variety Film + TV
His Dark Materials scribe Jack Thorne is teaming with actress-turned writer Genevieve Barr to create a BBC Two drama based on the true story of the campaign for disabled civil rights in Britain.
The pair have written Independence Day? How Disabled Rights Were Won (working title), which will be co-produced by Thorne’s One Shoe Films and Dragonfly Film and TV, marking the Endemol Shine Group indie’s first foray into scripted.
The 60-minute story centers on Barbara Lisicki and Alan Holdsworth, two disabled cabaret performers who met in 1989 and became the driving force behind the disability activist group, Direct Action Network.
Thorne said: “I can’t tell you how exciting it’s been working with the brilliant Genevieve Barr and Dragonfly on this script. Dan changed the world through their actions, and they have never been properly celebrated for it, in this film we want to do that in...
The pair have written Independence Day? How Disabled Rights Were Won (working title), which will be co-produced by Thorne’s One Shoe Films and Dragonfly Film and TV, marking the Endemol Shine Group indie’s first foray into scripted.
The 60-minute story centers on Barbara Lisicki and Alan Holdsworth, two disabled cabaret performers who met in 1989 and became the driving force behind the disability activist group, Direct Action Network.
Thorne said: “I can’t tell you how exciting it’s been working with the brilliant Genevieve Barr and Dragonfly on this script. Dan changed the world through their actions, and they have never been properly celebrated for it, in this film we want to do that in...
- 5/19/2020
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
BBC America has ordered a series of short films that aim to change the perception of disability. The cable network has ordered Disability Monologues (w/t), curated by Mat Fraser, who has starred in His Dark Materials and American Horror Story.
Fraser, who has thalidomide-induced phocomelia, will star in the films alongside poet and playwright Jackie Hagan, Ruth Madeley (The Watch), Robert Softley Gale (My Left/Right Foot) and Liz Carr (Silent Witness). The films will premiere in 2020.
Through fictional monologues, Disability Monologues will portray the very real experiences of people with disabilities over the last 50 years in Britain. From the ignominy of discrimination and incarceration to the liberation of the electric wheelchair, there have been both great steps forward and terrible setbacks. These short films seek to challenge the world view that somehow, having a disability is a problem, or “not normal.”
Disability Monologues is produced in association with...
Fraser, who has thalidomide-induced phocomelia, will star in the films alongside poet and playwright Jackie Hagan, Ruth Madeley (The Watch), Robert Softley Gale (My Left/Right Foot) and Liz Carr (Silent Witness). The films will premiere in 2020.
Through fictional monologues, Disability Monologues will portray the very real experiences of people with disabilities over the last 50 years in Britain. From the ignominy of discrimination and incarceration to the liberation of the electric wheelchair, there have been both great steps forward and terrible setbacks. These short films seek to challenge the world view that somehow, having a disability is a problem, or “not normal.”
Disability Monologues is produced in association with...
- 1/16/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s not that anyone is especially happy in the opening chapter of “The Accident,” but as the new four-part series progresses into a morass of dehumanizing corporate nightmares and horrific tales of physical and emotional trauma, it’s enough to make you appreciate the brighter prologue of this tale set in the fictional coastal Welsh town of Glyngolau.
As with many aspects of creator Jack Thorne’s latest gutting TV drama, premiering Friday on Hulu after airing on Channel 4 last month, longing for any sort of relief and finding precious little is largely the point. To tell a community-wide story of tragedy and malfeasance, Thorne and director Sandra Goldbacher offer a relentless portrait of crisis that’s oppressive by design. That emotional vice grip is extremely affecting at times, but the more the show relies on recreating a feeling of emptiness, the more it gets what it’s going for.
As with many aspects of creator Jack Thorne’s latest gutting TV drama, premiering Friday on Hulu after airing on Channel 4 last month, longing for any sort of relief and finding precious little is largely the point. To tell a community-wide story of tragedy and malfeasance, Thorne and director Sandra Goldbacher offer a relentless portrait of crisis that’s oppressive by design. That emotional vice grip is extremely affecting at times, but the more the show relies on recreating a feeling of emptiness, the more it gets what it’s going for.
- 11/22/2019
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Industry is doing an ‘incredibly bad’ job in on-screen representation, says The Accident writer.
A lack of understanding about the capabilities of disabled actors and concerns over their requirements has erased disability from the diversity conversation, according to writer Jack Thorne.
Thorne, whose Channel 4 drama The Accident starts this week, told Screen’s sister publication Broadcast that the industry is doing an “incredibly bad” job of representing people with disabilities on-screen.
He expressed disappointment that Genevieve Barr has been largely overlooked since appearing in his Bafta-winning BBC3 series The Fades in 2012. He specifically wrote roles for Barr, who is deaf,...
A lack of understanding about the capabilities of disabled actors and concerns over their requirements has erased disability from the diversity conversation, according to writer Jack Thorne.
Thorne, whose Channel 4 drama The Accident starts this week, told Screen’s sister publication Broadcast that the industry is doing an “incredibly bad” job of representing people with disabilities on-screen.
He expressed disappointment that Genevieve Barr has been largely overlooked since appearing in his Bafta-winning BBC3 series The Fades in 2012. He specifically wrote roles for Barr, who is deaf,...
- 10/22/2019
- by ¬0¦Joanna Tilley, Broadcast¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Westworld and Borgen star Sidse Babett Knudsen has joined Channel 4 and Hulu drama The Light (w/t).
Babett Knudsen, who plays Theresa Cullen in the HBO sci-fi thriller, is joining Happy Valley star Sarah Lancashire in the four-part series, which is the follow-up to National Treasure and Kiri.
The cast also includes Nabhaan Rizwan (Informer), Mark Lewis Jones (National Treasure), Jade Croot (Casualty), Shaun Parkes (Line of Duty), Ruth Madeley (Years and Years), Joanna Scanlan (No Offence), Adrian Scarborough (Gosford Park), Genevieve Barr (Press) and Eiry Thomas (Rillington Place).
Written by Jack Thorne and produced by The Forge, it is currently in production in Wales with Anne with an E’s Sandra Goldbacher directing and Killing Eve’s Morenike Williams producing. George Ormond and George Faber are Executive Producers.
The Light is set in the fictional town of Glyngolau and explores a forgotten community devastated by disaster. An explosion...
Babett Knudsen, who plays Theresa Cullen in the HBO sci-fi thriller, is joining Happy Valley star Sarah Lancashire in the four-part series, which is the follow-up to National Treasure and Kiri.
The cast also includes Nabhaan Rizwan (Informer), Mark Lewis Jones (National Treasure), Jade Croot (Casualty), Shaun Parkes (Line of Duty), Ruth Madeley (Years and Years), Joanna Scanlan (No Offence), Adrian Scarborough (Gosford Park), Genevieve Barr (Press) and Eiry Thomas (Rillington Place).
Written by Jack Thorne and produced by The Forge, it is currently in production in Wales with Anne with an E’s Sandra Goldbacher directing and Killing Eve’s Morenike Williams producing. George Ormond and George Faber are Executive Producers.
The Light is set in the fictional town of Glyngolau and explores a forgotten community devastated by disaster. An explosion...
- 6/21/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
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