Nicola ShindlerOBE (born 8 October 1968) is a British television producer and executive,[2] and founder of the independent television drama production company Quay Street Productions,[3] having founded and run Red Production Company[4] from 1998 to 2020. She has won eleven BAFTA TV Awards.[5][6][7]
Shindler first started out working as a sales manager in the sales department at Royal Court Theatre, which she chose because it was the home of new writing. She eventually started working as a script reader there but realised after a couple of years that she was more interested in the process of writing and working with writers in television versus theatre.[6][13][14]
Shindler then got a job at the BBC as a trainee script editor.[14][15] Part of the responsibilities of that job in the early days was reading scripts that had been accumulating in the basement of the BBC for over 10 years. Shindler says that it was educational and she got a reputation as a hard worker from clearing this huge backlog.[6]
In 1998, Shindler formed Red Production Company – named after the nickname of Shindler's favourite football team, Manchester United – in Manchester.[12] Its first project, with Shindler producing, was writer Russell T Davies' gay drama serial Queer as Folk. Queer as Folk gave Red a reputation as producers of noteworthy drama, and they followed this up with subsequent series for Channel 4 such as Love in the 21st Century (1999) and Queer as Folk 2 (2000).[16]
Red has since produced dramas for BBC One, BBC Two, and ITV including Clocking Off (2000–03), Flesh and Blood (2002), Bob and Rose (2001) and The Second Coming (2003).[17]
Further new dramas produced by executive produced by Shindler due in 2021 include Finding Alice, It’s a Sin, Ridley Road, No Return, Traces Series 2 and Stay Close.
In 2021, Shindler launched new scripted production company Quay Street Productions.[22] Sited within ITV Studios, the label is based in Central Manchester and focuses on producing premium drama for the UK and international market.[23]
2005: Royal Television Society, RTS Television Award, Best Drama Serial for Conviction (nomination) – with Marc Munden, Bill Gallagher, Ann Harrison-Baxter, David Richards
2008: BAFTA TV Award, Best Single Drama for The Mark of Cain – with Tony Marchant, Lynn Horsford, Marc Munden
2008: Broadcasting Press Guild Award, Best Single Drama for The Mark of Cain (nomination) – with Tony Marchant, Marc Munden, Lynn Horsford
2008: Monte-Carlo TV Festival, Golden Nymph for Best Television Film for The Mark of Cain – with Marc Munden, Lynn Horsford, Tony Marchant
2010: BAFTA TV Award, Best Drama Serial for Unforgiven (nomination) – with Sally Wainwright, Karen Lewis, David Evans
2013: BAFTA TV Award, Best Mini-Series for Last Tango in Halifax – with Sally Wainwright, Euros Lyn, Karen Lewis
2015: BAFTA TV Award, Best Mini-Series for Prey (nomination) – with Nick Murphy, Tom Sherry, Chris Lunt
2017: BAFTA Television Craft Award, Best Drama Series for Happy Valley (nomination) – with Sally Wainwright, Juliet Charlesworth, Neasa Hardiman
2017: Banff Rockie Award, Best Mini-Series for Happy Valley (nomination) – with Sally Wainwright, Neasa Hardiman, Juliet Charlesworth
2017: Royal Television Society, RTS Television Award, Best Single Drama for The Mark of Cain (nominated) – with Marc Munden, Lynn Horsford, Tony Marchant
2021 (pre-production): No Return (TV mini-series) – executive producer
2021 (pre-production): Stay Close (TV mini-series) – executive producer
2022: Queer as Folk (TV series) - executive producer (8 episodes)
Referencesedit
^ ab"Nicola Shindler: England and Wales Birth Registration Index". FamilySearch. 1968.
^ abcDay-Lewis, Sean (1998). Talk of Drama: Views of the Television Dramatist Now and Then. Luton: University of Luton Press/John Libbey Media. ISBN 978-1-860-20512-5. OCLC 474283192.
^Elmes, John (14 January 2021). "Shindler: Quay St is a step into the unknown". Broadcast. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
^"Red Production Company | About Us | Red Production Company". www.redproductioncompany.com. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
^Shindler, Nicola; Whitehead, Dan (20 June 2014). "K7 Media talks to Red Production Company's Nicola Shindler" (Video interview). K7 Media.
^ abcShindler, Nicola (4 December 2012). "Production Theatre, 'Writers' Focus: Developing Successful Scripts for TV' Nicola Shindler, Chief Executive, Red Production Company" (Video interview). BVE North.
^ abcPerraudin, Frances (24 July 2016). "Happy Valley producer: Gritty north? 'I get very cross about that phrase'". The Guardian.
^Jury, Louise (30 October 2001). "Enter the new drama queen". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022.
^ abc"Media top 100 2003: 48. Nicola Shindler". The Guardian. 6 July 2003.
^"Nicola Shindler: 'I was able to fight for a writer's vision'" (Audio radio program clip). Woman's Hour. BBC Radio 4. 22 February 2013.
^Thomas, Liz (29 March 2005). "Scarlet woman – Red Productions and Nicola Shindler". The Stage.
^Shindler, Nicola; Feller, Emily (9 April 2008). "TV Forum North – A focus on Red Production Company" (Video interview). Screen Yorkshire.
^Shindler, Nicola (9 February 2015). "BBC Writersroom Nicola Shindler interview" (Video interview). BBC Writersroom. BBC.
^Sweney, Mark (5 December 2013). "Last Tango in Halifax producer sells majority stake to French company". The Guardian.
^Barraclough, Leo; Keslassy, Elsa (5 December 2013). "Studiocanal Ramps Up TV Series Biz with RED Acquisition". Variety.
^Pickard, Michael (15 September 2017). "Red hot TV". Drama Quarterly.
^"Nicola Shindler Launching ITV Studios Banner". The Hollywood Reporter. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
^"ABOUT". Quay Street Productions. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
^Dams, Tim (3 December 2013). "Interview: Nicola Shindler, Red Production". Televisual.
^Billen, Andrew (November 2016). "Discovering Nicola Shindler: the UK's most secretive TV exec". Royal Television Society.
^"Manchester's drama queen". Manchester School of Art. 21 July 2009.
^"The Power List 2013". Woman's Hour. BBC Radio 4. 2013.
^Anderson, Ariston; Blair, Gavin J.; Caspi, David; Coonan, Clifford; Hecht, John; Ritman, Alex; Roxborough, Scott; Hyo-won, Lee; Szalai, Georg; Vlessing, Etan (11 October 2014). "Hollywood Reporter Names the 25 Most Powerful Women in Global TV". The Hollywood Reporter.
^"Happy Valley – Nicola Shindler: 2016 Peabody Award Acceptance Speech". Peabody Award. 28 September 2017.
^"Meet the 2017 Women in Film and Television Award Winners – Women in Film & TV". Women in Film & TV. 2017.