Paul Urges TV Makers to be Shameless

TOP TV writer, Paul Abbott, opened the doors to his Hale-based writers’ studio to more than 50 Northwest programme makers, sharing some of the secrets of his success, and urging them to aim high and think big if they want to follow his lead.

Addressing members of the Indie Club, a networking group representing all of Manchester’s independent production companies, and many from Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham, Paul urged indies not to undersell themselves, or they’d miss out on commissions.

Cat Lewis, a successful Manchester-based Executive Producer and Joint Managing Director of independent production company, Nine Lives, helped organise the event at Paul’s Voice Box studio.

“Paul noticed some northern indies lacked the confidence that London indies seem to have,” explains Cat, chair of the Indie Club. “By sharing his own success and simply reminding us of what he’s achieved here in the north, Paul certainly helped build our own self-belief.

“Many people who attended the event have told me how inspiring and empowering they found it,” adds Cat, who has had three TV series commissioned in the last six months, since setting up Nine Lives with fellow MD, Dave Stanford.

The Indie Club, which was established in September 2006, meets on the first Monday of each month, with a selection of speakers offering advice and inspiration to its 120-members.

“Most of those running the indie sector in the north have been working in television here for at least twenty years. Many of us have worked alongside each other, socialised together and consequently know each other really well, but we thought it would very useful to set up a club which offered regular, informal networking sessions,” explains Cat.

“We share the latest commissioning info and exchange information about the availability of freelancers to help keep key talent working in the north. But perhaps most importantly, we inspire and support each other in what can feel at times like a relentless up-hill struggle!” she adds.

There are now plans to expand the Indie Club to include freelance programme makers. “We were recently awarded funding from Northwest Vision and Media, the regional screen agency, which will help us update our mailing lists and increase membership,” says Cat.

That’s what the Indie Club is all about, its members, with several people in particular working hard to ensure the group continues to grow. These include Natalie Boulton of Lion Eyes Television, Peter Baker from Peter Baker Media, Dawn Thompson from Diplomat, Charlie Rodger from Unique, Jackie McKinney from MoneySaving Productions, Jan Morton from Objective North, freelance producer/director Ged Clarke, Pete Terry of Pete & Me, and media PR guru, Lisa Hill.

Ed Pugh, Talent Base Manager at Northwest Vision and Media, which works on behalf of the region’s film, TV and digital content industries, hopes the recent Vision and Media funding will allow even more networking events in the future.

"I was privileged to have worked alongside Paul on Children's Ward at Granada, so it’s been terrific to see his career blossom and perhaps more importantly prove that the North has many leading writers,” says Ed.

“Paul is showing that you can be ambitious and ground breaking in the Northwest. It might be disadvantageous not being in London near the Commissioners, but the best ideas will come to the fore and Paul's rallying cry of thinking big and aiming high hit the right note."

Speaking at the event, Paul explained he’d set up his writers’ studio, Voice Box, just over a year ago, as a way of fighting back against TV execs with set, commercially-focussed ideas. “I got fed-up of the way people got in the way of making TV,” he says. “There are so many people who think they can do it, but in reality they simply stop the writers getting on with what they do best.

“It was a really hard thing to pull off, but I knew we had to give writers control and ownership of their own work. Voice Box is my way of trying to do that.”