Davina Earl is head of development and an executive producer at Quay Street Productions.
The Manchester-based indie production company, part of ITV Studios, was founded by award-winning producer Nicola Shindler in 2021 and was recently named as one of the best places to work and the best employer for women in TV, according to a 2024 Broadcast Magazine survey.
The news comes after the production company’s success with Netflix’s Fool Me Once and the announcement of two additional Harlan Coben adaptation commissions for Netflix – Missing You and Run Away.
Prior to joining Quay Street, Davina Earl headed up development for Red Production Company and was previously a script executive working on series such as Safe (Netflix) and Come Home (BBC One).
Earl was also an assistant producer on Danny Brocklehurst’s In the Dark for BBC One and has previously worked as a script editor for BBC’s in-house dramas on shows such as the BAFTA winning In the Flesh.
From how she first entered the industry to the biggest challenges about her job, Earl shares all the lessons she’s learnt across her life and career so far…
How did you first get into your industry?
A job working on the Hollyoaks website! I did music journalism while I was at university and has some rudimentary web editing skills, which came in handy.
What do you love about your job?
So many things! For one, it’s a job that I didn’t know existed when I was younger. At school, when I said I liked English and storytelling, the only job my careers advisor could recommend was being an English teacher. I’m not a writer myself, but to have a job where I can help generate and develop stories every day is a huge privilege and feels like a bit of a dream.
In addition to this, no two days are the same. It’s a really busy and varied job where I get to work on projects right from inception all the way through production and post production. I also get to meet and work with a huge bunch of talented people, with different expertise but all with a shared passion for great TV. There’s nothing more gratifying than being on the tram, or at the hairdressers, and hearing people chatting about one of our shows. That’s what we get out of bed for!
Who – or what – has inspired you in your career?
I’ve been lucky enough to work with some great people in my career. Far too many to mention but some really inspirational, convention defying female bosses spring to mind – such as Cheryl Taylor the former BBC Controller of Comedy Commissioning, Hilary Martin who I worked with in BBC Drama and of course my current boss Nicola Shindler, who founded both Red Production Company and Quay Street Productions. These women are brilliantly talented and hard working but also kind and generous.
What are the biggest challenges about your job?
Lots of challenges! One is juggling many different projects and priorities; our workloads often change in a matter of minutes when something unexpected becomes urgent. It’s a job that requires us to be both very proactive and reactive! Also, timing is not always our friend… I think anyone who works in TV will identify with that!
Sometimes you have the right project at the wrong time – timing and other commissions can conspire against you. Also, as most people know, we’re working within a difficult context at the moment. There’s a commissioning slowdown affecting all areas of TV production which is casting a lot of uncertainty in the short term. Not to mention that getting a greenlight for a TV series doesn’t mean getting enough money to make it. And don’t get me started on the future of AI…
What skills have been the most crucial to you succeeding in your career so far?
It sounds very basic but I’d say stamina and an ability to get on with people. I’ve worked hard to develop my development and production skills over the years, and of course these are important, but TV is a massive collaboration so the ability to communicate well and develop trusting relationships is essential. We all need a decent reserve of resilience too, because by its very nature, much more things get turned down than green lit in development!
What was your first salary and what could someone getting into the industry expect to earn nowadays?
My starting salary was 11k p/a if I remember rightly! An entry level role would be paying approx £23- £27k p/a now.
What education or training would be most useful for someone looking to follow your career path?
Our development team is made up of people from all sorts of backgrounds. Some of our development team have held completely different jobs within TV and some have always worked on the scripted side. There’s no one route into this job but I’d say a very good level of written English is necessary.
We’re not writers but we write numerous documents every day; notes, pitches, research docs, character biogs, episode synopses. So the ability to write fast and fluently is really key. Aside from that, I’d say a genuine love of TV and storytelling, a positive attitude, tons of energy and great communication skills are more important than any one qualification or training course.
What advice would you have for someone looking to follow your path?
Keep heart! It can be tough finding your first opportunity in TV but on the whole it’s a very welcoming industry and we’ve all been where you are looking for a break. People will very often find time to have a chat and offer some advice if you ask them.
When you’re starting out it’s important to grab any opportunity and not be too rigid about what you want to do. Any related job or work experience will teach you something valuable and help you meet like minded people and valuable contacts. This is a very relationship driven industry so working hard and being a positive presence will get you far. It’s not always a nice straight line from where you are to where you want to be, but an ability to embrace the bumps in the road and the unexpected tangents is important too.
