The Royal Exchange Theatre, Wall to Wall North and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) Access have announced the four writers who have been selected for the 2024 WBD Access Northern Writers Programme.
Joe McNally, Kamal Kaan, Katie Mulgrew and Natalie Beech will each embark on a six-month bespoke scheme, developed to hone and elevate their skills for stage and screen:
- Joe McNally: A writer from Liverpool and graduate of 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 and he was the recipient of the 2023 New Writing North Channel 4 Writing for Television award. He was recently a member of the North/Midlands BBC Voices group for 2024 and currently has a script commission from Channel 4 and Bonafide Films, as well as a project in development with Firebird Pictures.
- Kamal Kaan: A Bradford-based, British-Bangladeshi working-class writer who read Architecture at The University of Cambridge and holds an 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. Story and development consultant on Channel 4 drama ‘Dance School’ (broadcasting 2024). His work for BBC Radio 4 include: ‘Breaking Up With Bradford’, ‘Father’s Land In Mother Tongue’, ‘Bangla Bantams’ and three-part series ‘BatGirls’ – currently available on BBC Sounds. Also various theatre and short film work.
- Katie Mulgrew: A writer and comedian from Manchester. She was shortlisted for the Tobacco theatre prize and won the Liverpool Hope Playwriting Prize for her play ‘Omnibus’. She won the BBC Writersroom Kudos North award and has been shortlisted for the Channel 4 Screenwriting course. Mulgrew has written and appeared on radio and TV shows for BBC Radio 4, CBBC, Channel 4 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.
- Natalie Beech: 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 various theatres and 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 part of the 2024 BBC Northern & Midlands cohort after making the top 1% of submissions to the BBC Writers Open Call.
Returning for a third year, building on the success of a newly designed partnership launched in 2023 between Wall to Wall North and the Royal Exchange Theatre, the programme was developed to create unique opportunities for talented writers from underrepresented backgrounds from the North of England. The scheme is specifically tailored to writers who are new to television drama but already writing for theatre, empowering them to carve out successful careers across both stage and screen.
Over the duration of the scheme, each writer will have access to specially curated workshops and sessions, all delivered under the guidance of expert mentors and industry professionals. This year’s guest speakers will include the likes of multi-award-winning writer Mike Bartlett (Doctor Foster, King Charles III), agent Matt Connell (Berlin Associates), as well as the editorial team from Waterloo Road and commissioners from Channel 4 and ITV.
The tailored sessions will explore various disciplines demonstrated in the industry including sustaining a multi-disciplinary career, working with agents and a mock writers’ room. Past masterclasses included conversations with guests such as Doctor Who showrunner and head writer Russell T. Davies OBE, senior vice president for HBO drama programming Nora Skinner, playwright and Succession Season 1 screenwriter Anna Jordan, and celebrated playwright and screenwriter Chloe Moss.
The scheme will culminate in all four participants writing their own one-hour TV pilot spec script with guidance and support from a professional script editor and Wall to Wall North executive producer, Sian Palfrey. Participants will also be offered two one-to-one meetings with award-winning dramaturg, Suzanne Bell from the Royal Exchange Theatre, providing them the opportunity to discuss their stage work and receive feedback to further nurture their skills as a playwright.
Sian Palfrey, Executive Producer at Wall to Wall North said: “I am thrilled to be building on the success of last year’s programme and welcoming Natalie, Kamal, Joe and Katie as our 2024 cohort. 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.”
Suzanne Bell, dramaturg, Royal Exchange Theatre said: “It is vital that writers are supported to forge a sustainable career across stage and screen, and this bespoke programme gives them the insight and skills to navigate both successfully. The programme connects Kamal, Katie, Joe and Natalie with established writers who have been there, as well as major companies who engage with writers in multiple ways, arming them for the future. I am incredibly excited to work with them over the next six months.”
Jennifer Sobol, director diversity equity and inclusion programmes, WBD Access added: “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.”
