Writer + Director
Lauren-Nicole
Mayes
Blackpool born and bred, Lauren is a writer and actress whose work champions bold, working-class female voices. She was one of five selected writers for the inaugural Sky Studios & Box of Tricks ScreenPlay Award.
In 2022, her one-woman play Dear Little Loz was developed and commissioned by Izzy Parriss Productions and performed for a full run at Surgeons’ Hall at the Edinburgh Fringe, where it received rave reviews. In 2023, Lauren was selected for BBC Writersroom: Northern Voices.
For screen, her TV drama BABYNUN XO placed in the top five projects at Sky Studios and is now in development with It’s All Made Up Productions (Philip Barantini), with a broadcaster attached. Her short film LADS, LADS, LADS was picked up by La De La Studios and Hotel Football UK in partnership with men’s mental health charities. The film went viral, leading to a significant outpouring of public support for the organisations involved.
In theatre, Lauren’s play Shit. God. Shit. was shortlisted via Royal Exchange Theatre for the English Touring Theatre’s Nationwide Voices Scheme. She is also a recipient of the Arvon Poetry Scholarship and was an Associate Artist at Oldham Coliseum Theatre for 2022–23.
In 2025, she was a writer-on-attachment at the Royal Exchange Theatre for The Den project, working with young children to create two plays rooted in regional voices and storytelling.
In 2026, her play Birds Don’t Run. They Fly. was selected in the top 10% of submissions for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting. In February, Lauren was awarded the Kit de Waal Scholarship for a six-month residency at Gladstone’s Library, where she will begin work on her first novel. In March 2026, she will join Netflix UK as one of four writers developing an original series for the broadcaster.
As an actress, Lauren is best known for playing Chantelle Wilder in Coronation Street, Gina King in The Bay, and Lauren in the BFI-backed film Another Side of Valerie Hope, alongside Kate Robbins. In April, she will play Cassie in Alice Christina-Corrigan’s world debut of FADE at The Lowry and Leeds Playhouse.
Lauren began writing after recognising a lack of stories that reflected the working-class women who raised her - a perspective that continues to sit at the heart of all her work.
Producer
Oli Carr
Oli is an award-winning director and producer from Essex.
His background spans short films, comedy series, commercials and music videos as a producer and as part of directing duo Do Not Entry. His work has been featured in international festivals including Toronto, Leeds, and Aesthetica, accumulated over 7 million views online, and earned him a nomination for the BFI Patrons’ New Talent Award.
He now runs independent audio drama production company, Bad State. Its debut release, On His Majesty’s Secret and Superb Spy Services, kicks off a growing slate of projects championing the next generation of audio storytellers - encompassing both drama and comedy.
Current projects include Savage Frontier, a gritty sci-fi series, currently in post-production - and Padeder, a drama series about love, loss, and derelict cinemas on the outskirts of Brussels, currently in pre-production.