Screen Yorkshire has recruited a former top executive from Irish broadcaster RTE to spearhead a new campaign to develop local talent in Yorkshire to work as writers, directors and producers in the region’s burgeoning TV and film industry.

Jo Schofield, a one-time drama development executive at RTE who has also worked as a script editor on Emmerdale and Coronation Street, will head up a new talent development programme in Yorkshire in her role as Screen Yorkshire’s Talent Development Manager.

Full details of what Screen Yorkshire descriobes as a ‘new groundbreaking talent development programme’ are yet to be revealed. But the programme is expected to kick off later this spring.

Screen Yorkshire’s Rachel Mcwatt said it would aim to target potential writers, producers and developers in the region. "We have already done a lot of work recruiting for ‘behind the scenes’ staff. But we’ve not really developed writers, directors and producers,” she said.

Rather than trying to recruit from local schools, the programme will be aimed at older people – from teenagers to those in their mid-40s – who already had some experience or interest in the world of film and TV, she added.

“They will be people who already have an existing interest – maybe someone with their own YouTube channel, for example.”

The aim to is develop a pool of Yorkshire talent that makes the region the UK’s main go-to centre for film and TV production outside of London, Rachel said.

For Jo Schofield herself, the move marks a 'return to my Yorkshire roots'. 

"I'm thrilled," she said. "It's a fantastic opportunity to work with the incredible array of talent we have in the region."

Screen Yorkshire’s ‘Head of Creative’ Caroline Cooper Charles added: “I’m so excited that Jo has joined Screen Yorkshire. Together we’re looking forward to working with writers, directors and producers who can hop nimbly between platforms and formats, creating strongly authored and ambitious narratives and helping to future-proof the screen industries in Yorkshire and the Humber.”

Screen Yorkshire has invested in or helped to produce a string of film and TV hits, including All Creatures Great and Small, Ackley Bridge, Dark River, Yardie, Ghost Stories, Dad’s Army, Swallows and Amazons, Testament of Youth, Peaky Blinders and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.

As well as producing and investing in productions, it scouts Yorkshire locations, recruits local talent, and markets the region as a film centre.