Commissioning screen drama for global audiences

The OU Contemporary Cultures of Writing research group is holding a series of seminars which looks at the ways in which the commissioner of drama for screen, radio, and theatre occupies the role of co-creator in the development process.

The seminar series features leading commissioners and producers in the fields of British screen drama, broadcast drama, and theatre, in conversation with writer-academics. It will explore the role of the commissioner and producer in terms of relationships with audiences, and investigate the extent to which they can be regarded as co-creators.

Register your interest via Eventbrite.

About the speakers

Paul Gilbert (Sky Drama)

Paul Gilbert is a Commissioning Editor for Sky Drama, executive producing a range of shows such as Tin Star, Intergalactic, Bulletproof, Strike Back and the recent hit series The Fear Index and Extinction. He was previously Head of Drama Development at Big Talk Productions where he oversaw E4 comedy-drama Youngers and the BBC1 family drama Our Zoo.

For many years he was an in-house Development Producer and Script Editor at BBC Drama Production, developing series, serials, and single dramas, including One Child, The Paradise, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Money, The Interceptor, The Last Days of Lehman Brothers and Messiah.

Dr Mark Fryers (The Open University)

Dr Mark Fryers is a lecturer in in Film and Media at The Open University. He received his PhD from the University of East Anglia in 2016, and has lectured at the University of East Anglia, New York University, and the University of Greenwich. He has written for peer-reviewed publications in screen media, including in the Journal of Popular Television and numerous edited collections. Mark specialises in British and American popular film and television, global screen cultures, and convergent screen medias. Mark has also worked in several capacities as a freelance worker within the film and television industries.