New BBC drama, The Responder, has been praised for promoting regional talent.
Starring Martin Freeman, the Liverpool-based drama was written by former police officer, Tony Schumacher, in his first original series for television.
Schumacher is the creator, writer and executive producer of the series and explained that he originally wrote 30 pages of a “speculative script” before he was introduced to Jimmy McGovern, who told him to “forget about the unfinished script” and instead write about his own story.
“That was brilliant advice,” he said.
“I then got involved with an amazing organisation called ScreenSkills who mentored me and introduced me to Laurence Bowen at Dancing Ledge Productions. Laurence read the first episode and fell in love with the story right away.
“For the last 20 years or so he’d had a great working relationship with Martin Freeman and wanted to give the script to Martin to read. What Laurence didn’t know was that I had written the script with Martin in mind. I knew there was something in Martin that I wanted to bring to the fore, and so I wrote The Responder by dipping my pen into the inkwell of my own darkness but painting Martin’s face on the pages when I was writing.”
The mentorship from McGovern came under ScreenSkills’ New Writers Programme, which was supported by the High-end TV (HETV) Skills Fund.
“Those few months working with Jimmy and ScreenSkills changed my life,” continued Schumacher.
“The bursary meant that I could focus fully on the script that became The Responder, while the advice and encouragement from Jimmy meant that I could polish a rough idea into a piece of high-end TV. That wasn’t all though. In addition to all the above, ScreenSkills, Dancing Ledge, and Jimmy, were like a magic key when it came to opening doors at the BBC, where The Responder finally found its home. I’ll be forever grateful.”
The same initiative saw Daniel Brierley, the writer of Trigger Point, be mentored by Jed Mercurio.
ScreenSkills explained that The Responder was a “masterclass” in providing training opportunities to support the local HETV industry.
Co-producer, Barrington Robinson, from Liverpool, was in its HETV Co-producer programme.
“ScreenSkills has given me a route into something I may not have had access to if I hadn’t been part of this programme,” said Robinson.
“I wouldn’t have known where to go. I looked at TV like the castle beyond the moat, but the drawbridge was up! The co-producer programme provides direct access. TV is booming and there’s not enough crew. I have found out that the skills I developed producing short form content are very transferable to working in HETV.”
Charlotte Manifold, from Cheshire, was part of its Make a Move programme and stepped up to become Assistant Production Coordinator on the production.
Its first assistant editor, Jay Kishan Patel was on the programme in 2017.
“Working with industry to offer training for individuals on productions is at the core of what we do. The Responder is a masterclass in the breadth of opportunities we can support and, in particular, for homegrown talent from Liverpool and the broader North West. The fact that we were able to help both first time HETV writer and co- producer on this show is a real testament to the value of the HETV Skills Fund,” said Kaye Elliott, ScreenSkills’ Director of High-end Television.
“With more filming than ever taking place outside of London and the South East, it is really exciting when we can help build the skills base to support that.”
Dancing Ledge, the production company which made The Responder for the BBC, also delivered the ScreenSkills HETV New Writers Programme which matched Tony Schumacher with Jimmy McGovern.
