This might be the only CV you read from a dev who's written script for React, MongoDB and Graham Norton. I am a recent graduate of the mighty Makers Academy software development bootcamp but my background is working in the TV and Radio industry as a comedy writer and programme development producer.

I have written gags for many high-profile TV series, sketches for big name performers and have created original TV programmes, radio shows and podcasts. Wanting a new challenge, I am now applying my creative thinking, problem-solving and obsession with syntax to software development.

I've put 'Full Stack Software Developer' rather grandly at the top there ⬆️ and, sure, I have learned a huge amount during 16 weeks of bootcamp but I can't pretend to be a seasoned engineer. I can say though, without any hesitation, that I love coding, learning new skills and working in teams of smart people building machines out of words.

Writer & Producer

• Freelance scriptwriting for narrative comedy, sketch shows and entertainment series with credits including Would I Lie To You, Psychobitches, Urban Myths, Harry & Paul, Armstrong & Miller, The Weakest Link, Jon & Lucy's Odd Couples, Celebrity Juice, Horrible Histories, Big Train, Mitchell & Webb.
• Freelance gag-writing for performers with voices as different as Graham Norton, Anne Robinson, Alexander Armstrong, John Bishop and Matt Lucas.
• Creating successful radio, television and podcast formats including Genius (Radio 4 & BBC2) Would You Rather with Graham Norton (BBC America), Delete, Delete, Delete (BBC NI) and The Imitation Game (ITV).
• Developing TV formats in partnership with creative teams at outside production companies.
• Pitching ideas to channel commissioners, articulating complex ideas in a compelling and persuasive manner.
• Collaborating with other production companies' creative teams and developing ideas in partnership.
• Scripting commercials for big brands including Ford, Fiat and Barclaycard.
• Working as part of a production team on many shows in both office and studio.

Archive Assistant (voluntary role)

• Working in a small team lead by the Museum's Keeper of Library & Archive on a yearlong project cataloguing and researching 44 boxes of documents collected as evidence for the 1882 Royal Commission on Technical Instruction.
• Learned how to handle 150-year-old documents and catalogue the collection according to strict archival standards.
• Helped present documents from the RCTI collection at an end of project conference.

Various freelance roles

• Assisting in the creation and broadcast of many TV entertainment shows including The Big Breakfast, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Room 101, Jack Dee’s Happy Hour and many more.
• This involved general admin as a runner; searching video archives, finding contributors as a researcher; setting up VTs and contributing to creative meetings as a producer.

• Creative Thinker - That's half an hour of my life I'll never get back. It's a well-worn phrase, and it went through my head right after being cut off while on hold to the bank. But it made me think; what if you could get a temporal refund on all the time-sucks in your life? Jump to a year later, and it is now the premise of a podcast I've created for Audible. Between that first thought and the recording, however, there has been a lot of creative heavy-lifting - fleshing out the format, writing up and designing a pitch deck, making changes after feedback. Keeping you mind open to ideas is one thing but getting down to the nitty-gritty creative work of writing and rewriting is something I'm very comfortable with.

• Communicator - I write scripts and devise television show formats for a living but I also have to sell, or pitch, these ideas face-to-face with producers and commissioners. With this experience I feel confident in saying that not only do I have good written and verbal skills I also know how to read the room and articulate often complex ideas in a persuasive manner.

• Teamwork - There's a famous tenet in improv comedy, that when a performer begins building a premise on stage their fellow performers should react with a 'yes, and' response - 'yes' meaning 'I'm going to run with this' and the 'and' adds to that idea. Whenever I've worked on a show in a writers' room or with a development team from another production company it can be a bit of a creative scrum, lots of thoughts get pitched in and often there'll be ideas which seem to conflict logically with the project. It's in these situations I've always tried to adopt a 'yes, and' mindset. It doesn't mean, at the end of a session, each idea is equal in strength, but you don't know how strong an idea might be until you've given it some 'yes, and' as a group.

• Attention To Detail - Part of working as a writer is problem solving, being able to look at an idea analytically and figure out why it’s not working or how it can be improved. I have written scripts, rewritten them and rewritten them, that is the process - constant improvement. It builds a habit of meticulousness and attention to detail; a word in the wrong place and a joke loses its punch, a typo in some dialogue and a scene doesn’t make sense.

• Working To A Brief - It's often the case I'll turn up in the morning to work on a new show, be given a brief by the producer and be expected to hand over many pages of material by the end of the day. It's high-pressure stuff. Briefs for shows, however, can range from very detailed outlines to vague, hand-wavy thoughts, and for each case, in order to deliver work that's on target, I am very experienced at asking the right questions, taking the temperature, and getting a feel for what a client really wants.

• A 16-week intensive software development course focusing on:
• Object Oriented Design (Ruby, JavaScript, HTML, React, Node.js)
• Test Driven Development (RSpec, Jest)
• Pairing Programming
• Agile and Sprint working practices
• SQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB
• Version control Git, GitHub

• BA (Hons) History 2:1

• GCSEs & A Levels

• 📝 Writing: I still have a hand in ongoing projects including a podcast with a well-known comedian being released Summer 2023.
• 📻 Hacking Electronics: Making guitar pedals and amplifiers out of vintage radios.
• 🎸 Guitar: Making music with friends.
• 🌑 Sport: Squash, running, swimming.
• 🎲 Gaming: video-, board-, card- and roleplay-.