Netflix And BBC Developing Shows From Disabled Creatives

The BBC and Netflix are announcing a new partnership to develop and fund “new, ambitious dramas” featuring disabled creatives both in front of and behind the camera.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the five-year collaboration is meant “to increase representation of disabled talent both on-screen and off-screen, to widen the range of stories produced and give disabled writers and creatives greater choice when it comes to the sort of stories they wish to tell.”

The streaming giant and U.K. public service broadcaster say they would consider projects from British producers that have been created or co-created by writers who identify as neurodivergent, deaf or disabled.

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“Pitches can draw imaginatively on any genre, precinct or world,” they said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “We are looking for ideas which feel ambitious and elevated and which challenge the limits that the industry might unconsciously put on disability. The intention of the partnership is to firmly place the shows alongside our most talked about and original dramas already being developed.”

Anne Mensah, Netflix’s VP, series, U.K., also added, “Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent creators are some of the least well-represented groups on television in the U.K. Put simply, we want to change that fact. Together with the BBC, we hope to help these creators to tell the biggest and boldest stories and speak to the broadest possible British and global audience.”