Exclusive: At the 2021 Edinburgh TV Festival, the BBC and Netflix unveiled what the pair described as a landmark five-year disability partnership that would unearth a new generation of shows helmed by disabled talent.
But more than half of the partnership’s five-year time period has now elapsed and not one show has been revealed.
In recent months, sources from the UK drama and disabled TV communities have begun questioning the partnership, getting in touch with Deadline unprompted to query why a tie-up that was unveiled with such fanfare has so far failed to bear fruit.
“It’s slightly bizarre,” said one professional connected with disability programs. “I’ve heard nothing from anyone to be honest. No one can get a definitive answer.”
The partnership came in the wake of a blistering Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart broadside from Help writer Jack Thorne, who slammed the UK TV industry for “totally and utterly” failing disabled people.
But more than half of the partnership’s five-year time period has now elapsed and not one show has been revealed.
In recent months, sources from the UK drama and disabled TV communities have begun questioning the partnership, getting in touch with Deadline unprompted to query why a tie-up that was unveiled with such fanfare has so far failed to bear fruit.
“It’s slightly bizarre,” said one professional connected with disability programs. “I’ve heard nothing from anyone to be honest. No one can get a definitive answer.”
The partnership came in the wake of a blistering Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart broadside from Help writer Jack Thorne, who slammed the UK TV industry for “totally and utterly” failing disabled people.
- 3/14/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Ella Glendining is both the director and subject of documentary “Is There Anybody Out There?,” a global search for someone with a body that looks like hers.
The film debuted at Sundance this year and went on to achieve global acclaim, winning a slew of awards along the way. Recent accolades include winning the BFI and Chanel Filmmaker Award and being named as one of the U.K. talents in the BAFTA Breakthrough 2023 cohort.
“A big thing for me making a personal film was that I was insecure and worried that people would think that I was just the subject of a documentary, but to be recognized on this level is an incredible confidence boost in terms of me as a filmmaker, because that’s who I am. What I am first and foremost is a filmmaker and a storyteller,” Glendining, who was born with a rare leg disability, told Variety.
The film debuted at Sundance this year and went on to achieve global acclaim, winning a slew of awards along the way. Recent accolades include winning the BFI and Chanel Filmmaker Award and being named as one of the U.K. talents in the BAFTA Breakthrough 2023 cohort.
“A big thing for me making a personal film was that I was insecure and worried that people would think that I was just the subject of a documentary, but to be recognized on this level is an incredible confidence boost in terms of me as a filmmaker, because that’s who I am. What I am first and foremost is a filmmaker and a storyteller,” Glendining, who was born with a rare leg disability, told Variety.
- 12/22/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The exec producer behind BBC comedy-drama We Might Regret This has said his ambition was for a show starring and written by a disabled performer to be “at the very top table of creativity.”
The Office and People Just Do Nothing producer Ash Atalla, whose Roughcut TV outfit is making We Might Regret This in association with Village Roadshow Television, said there has been a tendency for British broadcasters to “use the dry slopes of smaller budget shows or ancillary channels as training progams” when it comes to projects led by disabled people.
Penned by Kyla Harris and Lee Getty, We Might Regret This, on the other hand, is being positioned as a bigger-budget primetime offering for the UK’s national broadcaster, which its backers feel could be a potential awards winner.
“There was always an ambition to make a show that stars a disabled performer sat at the very top table of creativity,...
The Office and People Just Do Nothing producer Ash Atalla, whose Roughcut TV outfit is making We Might Regret This in association with Village Roadshow Television, said there has been a tendency for British broadcasters to “use the dry slopes of smaller budget shows or ancillary channels as training progams” when it comes to projects led by disabled people.
Penned by Kyla Harris and Lee Getty, We Might Regret This, on the other hand, is being positioned as a bigger-budget primetime offering for the UK’s national broadcaster, which its backers feel could be a potential awards winner.
“There was always an ambition to make a show that stars a disabled performer sat at the very top table of creativity,...
- 11/29/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
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