Judges
Alison’s career has covered theatre, television and film. Her theatre work includes The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband at the Ambassadors, Entertaining Mr Sloane at the Arts Theatre, When We Are Married (Chichester Festival Theatre and Savoy Theatre), The Rise and Fall of Little Voice - for which she received an Olivier Award for Best Actress (National Theatre and Aldwych Theatre), Abigail’s Party at Hampstead Theatre (Evening Standard Award) and Losing Louis (Hampstead Theatre and the Trafalgar Studios).
Her films include Shirley Valentine, Life Is Sweet, A Private Function, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and Confetti. Televison includes Nuts in May, Abigail’s Party, Dennis Potter’s Singing Detective (Bafta nominee), Pride and Prejudice, Fat Friends, Marple, Fanny Hill, and most recently the BBC comedy series The Worst Week of My Life and the award winning Gavin & Stacey. Alison received an OBE in 2000 for her services to drama.
One of the most respected British screenwriters of his generation, Frank has been praised as one of the few truly inventive modern screenwriters. Frank is an advocate for encouraging and developing the imagination of young people through creativity.
Screenplays include: Grow Your Own, 24 Hour Party People, Butterfly Kiss, Hilary and Jackie, Millions, Code 46, A Cock and Bull Story, God on Trial, The Claim and Welcome to Sarajevo. The stageplay, Proper Clever, opens next month at the Liverpool Playhouse.
Carolyn Reynolds joined Lime Pictures as Chief Executive in 2005 after a lengthy association with Granada Television and ITV.
Carolyn produced and executive produced Coronation Street between 1990 and 2005 and was also Controller of Drama at Yorkshire Television, where she produced At Home with the Braithwaites. Carolyn’s other programme successes include some of ITV’s biggest dramas over the past few years, including Reckless, Blue Murder, Cold Blood and The Stepfather. Creating Lime Pictures in 2006, Carolyn has exec-produced Bonkers, The Outsiders, Living on the Edge, Hollyoaks and the forthcoming Apparitions.
Hilary is the first woman to chair BAFTA in its 60 year history. She did not enter the television industry until the age of twenty-seven when she gained a job as an Assistant Floor Manager at BBC Television Centre. Previously she had worked as a teacher in Essex.
She has her own production company Tightrope Pictures which she runs with Paul Abbott.
Hilary has produced a string of award winning television favourites including State of Play, Cracker, Dad, Far from the Madding Crowd, The Secret World of Michael Fry, Butterfly Collectors, May 33rd, Instinct, Red Dwarf, Black Adder and The Girl in the Café.
Paul Abbott became story editor on Coronation Street in 1983 graduating to the script team four years later. He went on to co-create the drama series Children's Ward with Kay Mellor in 1988, which ran for more than ten years.
He produced the second series of Jimmy McGovern's Cracker (ITV) in 1994, for which he won a BAFTA for Best Drama, then went on to write two stories for the third series in 1995, which also won a BAFTA. He spent the next year working on three serials, all screened in 1997. The first of these Reckless (ITV), then the four-part Springhill (BSkyB), and Touching Evil (ITV, 1997-99), followed by Butterfly Collectors (ITV) in 1999.
In 1998 he created the series that established him as a leading writer of contemporary television drama, Clocking Off (BBC, 2000). The award winning series of Clocking Off was followed by The Secret World of Michael Fry (C4,2000) then Linda Green (BBC 2001-02), Alibi (ITV 2002) and in 2003, to a rapturous critical reception the political thriller State of Play and the semi-autobiographical Shameless, now in its sixth series.
Paul Abbott has won various awards for writing and producing, including the BAFTA Dennis Potter Award for Outstanding Writing in Television, International Emmys and the Peabody Award. He is a Visiting professor at Salford University, and Honorary Professor at Manchester Metropolitan University, and is a passionate supporter and mentor of new writing. In 2008 Paul established ‘Abbot Vision’ incorporating his Manchester based Writers’ Studio, and Abbott Productions (formerly Tightrope Pictures).
Christopher Eccleston was born in Salford. Television work includes: Cracker, Hearts And Minds, Our Friends In The North, Hillsborough, Flesh And Blood, Second Coming, Doctor Who.
Film work includes: Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Jude, Elizabeth. Theatre work includes: Miss Julie, Hamlet.
Craig made his debut in the world of TV writing for the hugely successful Fast Show. He then went on to co-write the award winning Mrs Merton with Caroline Aherne. Then after four series on the BBC Craig starred alongside Caroline in the spin off Mrs Merton and Malcolm in 1999.
In early 1999 Craig travelled to India with Caroline to shoot a Documentary in conjunction with Sightsavers. Back Passage to India, screened on BBC in April 2000, examined the Sightsavers charity projects in India.
Craig’s most successful project to date, The Royle Family, which he co-wrote, co-starred and produced with Caroline Aherne, ran for three series and became one of BBC’s most successful comedy programmes of all time, scooping two BAFTA’s and numerous other industry awards.
Craig then started work on his successful six-part sitcom written with long time friend Phil Mealey. Early Doors, transmitted on BBC2 in May 2003, focuses on the everyday lives of a disparate group of working class Northerners set in a small pub in Manchester.
Craig and Phil went on to write the second series of Early Doors, broadcast on BBC2 in September 2004.
In April 2006 Craig and Caroline developed a one off special of The Royle Family: The Queen of Sheba which was broadcast in October and had nearly 8 million viewers and won BAFTA’s and RTS Awards. A further one-off Royle Family episode was produced as a Christmas Special in 2008 entitled The New Sofa.
Craig was also the face of Norwich Union’s ‘Quote Me Happy’ advertising campaign.
Nicola Shindler set up Red Production Company in January 1998 to work with writers on modern, innovative and entertaining dramas.
Red first went into production during Spring 1998 on Russell T Davies 8 part serial, Queer As Folk, for Channel 4, which Nicola executive produced. Between 1999 and 2006 Nicola executive produced many hugely successful TV dramas including Clocking Off, Linda Green, Bob and Rose, The Second Coming , Casanova, Burn It, Sparkhouse and Conviction, winning numerous awards. Nicola’s other successes include the film Mark of Cain which won ‘Best Single Drama’ BAFTA. She also executive produced Sunshine for Jellylegs Productions. Most recently Nicola made the widely acclaimed three part drama, Unforgiven, for ITV.