“I’m delighted to be working in TV development in Scotland and owe a lot to ScreenSkills.” So says development producer Maddie Beautyman. The Glasgow local has already crammed a wealth of training into her burgeoning screen career and it’s ScreenSkills who she credits with giving it the kickstart she needed.
In 2024, Maddie successfully applied for a ScreenSkills bursary to take part in a script development course, run by John Yorke. ScreenSkills bursaries are cash grants that remove financial obstacles from entering or progressing within the screen industries. They can be used for training fees, accommodation, care, access costs, equipment, software, travel and are open to everyone.
Through the awarding of the bursary, Maddie was able to make the most of her time on the course. She said: “The course not only inspired me but gave me the skills and knowledge to secure work in development in Scotland. It allowed me to learn from top tutors while living and working in Scotland. The weekly structure of the course created really digestible learning. Each week you tackled another big component of scripted drama and had the time to unpack the structure underneath scripts that help audiences engage with them.”
In the short time since completing the course, she has also taken part in a script editor training programme and started her new role with Merman Scotland. It represents the culmination of an interest she’s been nurturing for a considerable period. “I initially trained as a writer at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School where I started building connections with writers. I realised I loved chatting to my fellow writers about their work and giving notes (more than I felt an undying need to write myself). I completed the NFTS Script Reading and Reporting course which kick started my desire to become knowledgeable on the structure behind stories. I knew to support the writers I was working with, I needed to learn in more detail about structure and the John Yorke course was the perfect place for me to be able to build my knowledge while working and living in Scotland, as the course is all remote!”
Her current position working as a development producer allows her to marry her interests and her knowledge, built up over a number of years, courses and experiences. “I always knew I wanted to work with scripts but it’s difficult to walk straight into your first TV role.” She explained. “My first job in the industry was as a celebrity driver (much drama to be found here). I then worked as a runner, junior researcher and researcher in factual before managing to make the jump to scripted where I worked as a production assistant, writers’ PA and writers’ assistant on Outlander.
“I realised working in TV development would allow me to pull sides of my career together where I could work with writers in the early stages of developing an idea, as well as taking those ideas into filming and being able to support the writer through the challenges presented during production.”
It’s a role that allows her to “draw on things I learnt on the course everyday”, a position she puts down to the early support she received. “It all began with the course. And without the bursary I wouldn’t have been able to do the course itself. It has had a huge impact on my career trajectory through the professional development opportunities it opened up for me.”
The whole experience has left Maddie feeling passionate about the help available and the impact that a ScreenSkills bursary can have on a screen career. She said: “Bursaries provide people equal opportunity for learning. Whether you are starting out in the screen industries or building towards stepping up a level, a bursary allows you to get a seat in the classroom! That’s what the bursary did for me. It gave me the opportunity to become as much of an expert in structure as I could — which I had pinpointed as the thing I needed in my toolkit to be able to take the next step in my career.”
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