Meet our third Writers' Access Group

We are delighted that our Writers Access Group has returned with a group of 10 new talented deaf, disabled and neurodivergent writers. For the first time this cohort were selected via an open call out back in early 2023. The group were formed in the autumn of 2023 and since then have been taking part in workshops and masterclasses focussed on developing craft skills and industry knowledge across TV, radio, film and theatre with industry professionals from inside and outside of the BBC.

The Writers Access Group are now working towards writing their own original spec scripts. The process includes working directly with a professional Script Editor across a year and finally sharing their scripts ahead of meetings with production companies.

We’re excited to see this talented bunch embark on their next steps as writers! Find out more about them all below.

Benjamin Bee is a multi-award-winning writer and director from Newcastle, where he currently lives and works. After leaving school at 14 without any qualifications due to a difficult childhood, he forged his own path in filmmaking. His short-form work has been long-listed twice for a BAFTA and screened at over 400 festivals worldwide. In 2019, he was named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow.

He is currently developing his first feature film, MARWELL, a touching time-travel drama/comedy (without any time travel). The project was selected for Venice Biennale College – Cinema and EIFF Talent Lab Connects and received development funding from the BFI Film Fund.

In television, Ben is in funded development on multiple projects including a series with the BBC. He has contributed to several writers’ rooms and was recently selected for both the BBC Comedy Collective, which nurtures emerging comedy talent, and the BBC Writers' Access Group, an initiative supporting disabled drama writers. He is currently the only person ever to have been chosen for both programmes and was also nominated for the BBC Alfred Bradley Bursary Award.

Proudly identifying as neurodivergent and disabled,  Ben brings a unique perspective to his storytelling, crafting original narratives with heart, humour, and humanity.

For more information, visit www.benjaminbee.com. 

Ben is represented by Ben Cavey at 42 Management in the UK and US.

Neil Ben

Neil is a BAFTA-nominated writer and director with an extensive career in television and video production. Early in his career he specialised in children's and educational programming, working with major broadcasters, including the BBC, Nickelodeon, Discovery, Amazon Prime and Channel 5.

In 2011, Neil stepped away from television to raise his children as a single dad. During this time, he applied his broadcast expertise to writing and directing comedy and drama-based training films.

After the pandemic, Neil returned to the industry he loves, now focusing on adult narrative comedy and drama. Passionate about authentic representation, he specialises in working with disabled talent, telling stories that challenge perceptions and opening audiences' eyes to new ways of thinking.

Since returning to broadcasting, Neil has:

• Written and directed several comedy shorts for Channel 4
• Worked as Second Unit Director on MURDER, THEY HOPE with Johnny Vegas
• Served as a gallery director for Channel 4’s coverage of the Paralympics
• Created two sitcoms SMALL PEOPLE and THE RETREAT
• Developed a comedy heist thriller THE ROSE AND CROWN AFFAIR
• And through the BBC’s Writer’s Access Group, written a 1-hour drama pilot script THE DARLING HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN.

Now dedicating more time to writing than directing, Neil’s scripts have been gaining interest from the BBC, Channel 4, Sky, and UKTV.

Neil is represented for both writing and directing by Louisa Minghella at Revolution Talent.

Hollie-Jay Bowes

Hollie-Jay Bowes is a writer and actor. She wrote and starred in her latest short film TWO NIGHT STAND which was recently featured in two film festivals at Edinburgh Fringe. She can currently be seen in the BBC's WATERLOO ROAD as suffering young mum Debs Rafferty. 

Hollie-Jay grew up working class, in Oldham and Ashton, Greater Manchester, and started in the TV industry as a child actor, age 14 on GRANGE HILL before moving to HOLLYOAKS as the unforgettable Michaela McQueen, leading to a long adult career acting on stage, screen and audio spanning over 20 years. 

Hollie-Jay was diagnosed in her 30s as autistic and ADHD. These unique perspectives inform all her work. Hollie-Jay is developing a number of different TV comedy drama projects.

Lou Burns

Lou is an award winning writer from the North East. With a background in social work, social care, and teaching, and having worked, and lived, in some of the most socially and economically deprived areas in the north, Lou draws on this lived experience to create working class drama that explores social realist themes such as poverty, injustice, inequality, corruption, and community.

In 2022 Lou’s pilot RIOT reached the top 3% of scripts received by the BBC Writersroom. She subsequently went on to be selected for the BBC Writers' Voices development programme, and following this, the BBC Writers’ Access Group. Previous to this Lou was a finalist for both a Northern Writers Award, and Channel 4’s 4stories talent scheme.

In 2024 Lou wrote and co-directed short film BRUISED which has been screened at many festivals and gone on to win multiple awards. This film touches on themes such as domestic abuse, generational difference, and childhood trauma. She is currently working with a couple of independent production companies on feature film ideas and, supported by the BBC Writers, is working on a television pilot for a precinct-drama about the men and women who work the doors of competing inner city night clubs in the north.

Angela Franklyn

New Zealand born, now London based, Angela began her career training as an opera singer and actor, and worked for 25 years in opera, musical theatre, film and TV throughout New Zealand, Australia and the UK. In between performing work, an eclectic series of day jobs left her with endless material for future screenplays – she has worked everywhere from Buckingham Palace to Air New Zealand to cleaning toilets in a police station! In 2016, she was diagnosed with a rare health condition and knew her life had changed overnight when a doctor handed her a pamphlet saying, ‘professional actors and singers usually have to abandon their careers…’

Thankfully she had another passion to fall back on, the slightly less physical pursuit of writing. She went back to school and proudly graduated from London Film School in 2018 with an MA in Screenwriting. Since then, her screenplays have been gaining attention, placing highly in several screenwriting competitions including the Academy Nicholl Fellowship, Sundance Screenwriters Lab and Austin Film Festival. She is an alumni of the Writers’ Lab UK 2021, her place funded by Cate Blanchett, where she developed a feature screenplay inspired by her operatic past under the mentorship of actress Ruth Wilson, producers Dee Ryder and Julia Berg, and head of development at See-Saw films, Katherine Bridle. She is a current BAFTA Connect member and was one of six writers chosen from throughout the UK to speak at Fade In: Emerging Writers in Conversation at BFI London Film Festival 2024. In 2024 she was also selected to take part in the BBC Studios Drama Productions TalentWorks Writers’ Studio on the BAFTA-winning BBC medical drama CASUALTY.

As well as developing several original spec scripts, from contemporary comedy/dramas to historical adaptations, Angela is currently developing an original TV pilot with the BBC Writers’ Access Group, a NZ/UK based crime drama, KAWAU COP. As a policeman’s daughter, she has challenged herself to write a story that would keep even her Dad guessing!

Kathryn Golding

Kathryn Golding is a disabled writer and performer of British and Chinese Malaysian heritage who writes for stage, screen and audio. Their work looks at what it means to be from the British Isles; hopeful and humorous observations of the joy, sadness and  rage of life; particularly around relationships, identity, and belonging.

Inaugural BEATS Fellow, Kathryn was on a year-long attachment with Graeae, a leading disabled-led theatre company, where they developed their first full-length play A PERPETUAL STATE OF HAPPINESS. They have been part of writers' groups at the Royal Court and Soho Theatre, and written for Royal Court Theatre, Paines Plough and Tamasha.

Their audio drama MY TIME was part of a series entitled Connections which won a Commendation at the Audio Drama Awards in 2021, while their BBC Radio Four Afternoon Drama DRAGONS OF THE POOL, inspired by the forcible repatriation of Chinese Merchant Seamen after WWII, was top pick in both Radio Times and The Times.

Kathryn has been part of The Network at the TV Foundation, worked on shorts for BBC Comedy, and their short film PARASITE won praise from Jack Thorne as a “deceptively destructive account … that looks right into the storm of [the] epidemic”. Since joining the BBC Writers' Access Group in 2024, they have taken part in writers' rooms and read throughs for various projects and are excited to be developing their first spec script with support from the BBC.

First published in 2018, Kathryn has a monologue 'Whitewash' due for publication in 'Mixed', an anthology by English Touring Theatre Company, and will be joining the Bush Theatre's Writers Group in April 2025.

Mared Jarman

Mared Jarman is an actor and writer from Cardiff. She graduated from RWCMD with an MA in acting in 2020. During lockdown she started writing and is currently working on a couple of projects.

Steph Lacey

Steph Lacey is a disabled and neurodivergent writer and actor. Steph was a contributing writer on BBC’s PHOENIX RISE for series one and two, and currently has some of her original works in development. She has also been given a place on ScreenSkills’ Regional Writers programme where she has paired up with Warp Films to develop an original drama. Her recent writing credits also include: TO BE A SLUT at 53two Theatre, LOVE LEFTOVER at Hope Mill Theatre and WE CARE for Hot Coals Productions. She also worked as a script consultant for Netflix show SEX EDUCATION and BBC's THE CLEANER.

As an actor Steph has recently finished shooting on RED EYE for Bad Wolf/ITV and MEET THE RICHARDSONS for Dave. Other recent credits include: Harlan Coben’s STAY CLOSE and BRIDGERTON on Netflix, ANANSI BOYS for Red Productions/Amazon, DOCTORS for BBC and DEAD CANNY for Dave, amongst others.

Outside of writing and acting, Steph is nearing the end of her PhD at the University of Sheffield. Having been homeless for quite some time herself, Steph’s PhD focuses on maternal homelessness and the effects of homelessness on children’s education. Steph also works as part of the creative team at TripleC, a BAFTA award winning community interest company that drives up the role of disabled people in the arts and the role of the arts in disabled people’s lives, and leads on the Access Coordinator programme.

Sai Karan Talwar

Sai Karan Talwar is an award-winning writer and director. Sai is currently a BAFTA Connect Member, participating in the BBC Writers' Access Group, and a 2023 Alumni of the Disability Belongs Entertainment Lab. Sai has over forty accolades as a writer in some of the most esteemed screenwriting competitions. His Debut GHANIMAH is a BAFTA & BIFA Qualified Short Film that has been selected at just over 60 film festivals, including OSCAR-accredited festivals, with over a dozen wins and nominations; the film is about Islamic enrolment into the British Military. His upcoming short WHAT MEN DO FOR LOVE is a 15-minute single-take film about the masculine ego at breaking point; the film is currently BIFA Qualified and has been selected by BAFTA and OSCAR accredited festivals, and more recently to be OSCAR Longlisted for 2026.

Film has always been a passion for Sai since growing up in his late Grandfather’s video shop. Initially working with MADE in 2016, a charitable organisation with a vision to reduce discrimination against BAME & LGBTQ+ Londoners. With MADE, he ran filmmaking workshops and screening events, held exhibitions at BFI Southbank and co-produced over 30 short films with 100,000+ online views. He worked in production companies such as Origin Pictures and 42 Management and Production within the development departments. He studied Economics and Finance at Durham University, which led to his undergraduate dissertation: ‘What are the key determinants of success for the box office within the UK motion picture industry?’, which received a first. 

Nina Thomson

Liverpool-born Nina is a graduate from LJMU with a Masters in Screenwriting. Starting out in animation, visual storytelling has always been her passion. After a career detour into finance, she found her way back onto the creative road when she had several short stories published and played on BBC Radio Merseyside Upload. 

In 2021, she was shortlisted for the BAFTA Rocliffe TV Drama Award with her TV pilot HAPPIMESS and was a participant on the BBC Write Across Liverpool programme 2022. She went on to work at LA Productions as a Development Assistant as part of Channel 4’s Scripted Production Training Scheme 23/24 where she creatively contributed to several HETV dramas including BBC’s GRANITE HARBOUR Series 2. As well as project managing the production company’s mammoth unsolicited scripts slate, she also provided meticulous, constructive feedback to encourage and support emerging new talent plus award-winning writers. 

A BAFTA Connect member, Nina is committed to contributing towards a more diverse and inclusive creative industry. Using her unique insight for inspiration, she tells stories which explore relatable, universal themes through the prism of disability to celebrate and naturalise difference with heart, humour and honesty. By combining lived experience with the craft of storytelling, she aspires to push boundaries, challenge attitudes and subvert preconceptions creating fresh, bold, authentic material rich in emotional truth.