Rope Ladder Fiction, the Manchester based indie led by ex-Sky Drama head Cameron Roach, has expanded its development portfolio by promoting Hannah Lee to head of development and Yasmin Ali as development editor.
Victoria Wharton, formerly head of Sky’s Scripted Innovation Hub in Leeds, is also now attached to a number of development titles at Rope Ladder, as consultant executive producer.
Lee previously collaborated with Roach on the successful reboot of Waterloo Road, which Rope Ladder co-produces with Wall to Wall. The show is currently transmitting its latest series on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, where it remains especially popular with younger viewers and is the BBC’s second biggest drama title with 16-34 year olds of the year so far, behind only Happy Valley. A third season of Waterloo Road is now in post-production
Lee has also previously worked in development for Fifty Fathoms on Fortitude (Sky), and in-house at the BBC, in both development and production, script editing series including Musketeers, Frankie and The Crimson Field.
New development editor Ali was appointed story researcher by Roach on the Waterloo Road reboot, and went on to work as a storyliner across Series 12 and Series 13. Ali has a background in Factual TV, having worked on a range of titles including Tan France, Beauty & The Bleach, Celebrity – A 21st Century Story and A New Life In The Sun. She has also worked for CBBC and directed her own short films Guri, Four Walls, and This is Me, This is Us, This is You.
Rope Ladder has a number of projects in funded developments with UK broadcasters and streamers, and has previously announced a partnership with EOne on the adaptation of The Twyford Code, written by Janice Hallett, with Paul Andrew Williams attached to direct.
Also tying with the label, Wharton will work with talent that she and Roach nurtured together at Sky Studios, notably Naqqash Khalid, Caroline Alderson and Kellie Smith, who now writes on Waterloo Road.
Roach said: “The combined energy, passion and commitment of Hannah, Yasmin and Vicky is a thrilling proposition, and we’re incredibly excited by the depth and range of our slate; combined with an ambitious outreach programme, the future is bright at Rope Ladder.”
