UKTV and TriForce Creativity Network have unveiled a shortlist of diverse writers who will develop their comedy ideas for an anthology for Dave.
The broadcaster boarded the TCN’s WriterSlam initiative for the first time earlier this year as part of a drive in which it ringfenced 25% of its development budget for diverse-led indies and on-screen talent.
The organisations whittled down 1,600 entries into a shortlist of six. The creators of these comedies will each receive development funding and training, with a commitment to four them of being filmed for an anthology series on Dave, to air in 2022. UKTV has the option to develop any of them into full series. The writers will be paired with TCN production arm TriForce Productions and emerging indies.
UKTV and TCN have selected ideas from:
Prithu Banerjee & Sruti Banerjee, a brother-and-sister pairing
Kate Reid & Zak Ghazi-Torbati, a London-based writer and a half-Iranian/half-Welsh writer respectively, who have contributed to Courtney Act’s Christmas Extravaganza (Channel 4) and Age of Outrage (BBC1 Wales)
Leon Mayne, a writer and producer whose work includes London Live’s Brothers with no Game
Misha Ade, a Manchester-based actor and writer
Naomi Sumner Chan, a Manchester-based playwright and script reader who is on the readers panel for the National Theatre
Anna Costello, a Co. Durham-born writer and senior creative for Electric Noir Studio, the Bafta games-nominated company behind Dead Man's Phone
