Fictionhouse appoints Emily McLaughlin as head of development
EMILY MCLAUGHLIN APPOINTED HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT AT FICTIONHOUSE - THE INDEPENDENT PRODUCING COMPANY DEVELOPING AND MAKING DRAMA FOR TELEVISION, FILM AND THEATRE
Fictionhouse are pleased to announce the appointment of Emily McLaughlin as Head of Development. Emily will be joining the company in June working closely with Dominic Cooke and Kate Horton to develop new work across television, film and theatre for the company in the UK and internationally. Fictionhouse is the newly formed commercial producing partnership of Dominic Cooke and Kate Horton. Central to the idea of Fictionhouse is the Directors’ relationships with top writing, acting and directing talent and their skill in developing and producing distinctive drama.
Emily is currently Director of the New Work Department at the National Theatre. She has developed many of the new plays seen at the NT over the last six years, including Death of England and Death of England: Delroy by Clint Dyer and Roy Williams, Nine Night by Natasha Gordon and Downstate by Bruce Norris. She leads a team of dramaturgs working across the NT programme as well as programming the NT Studio. Prior to working at the NT, Emily was the Artistic Associate at the Royal Court between 2006-2015 where she developed and creatively produced a diverse range of ground breaking work with new writers including the Rough Cuts seasons (2007-2010), Open Court (2013), Off the Page, six short films made with the Guardian (2014) and Who Cares by Michael Wynne (2015). Emily produced the Royal Court 50th Anniversary year in 2006 and co-edited the book The Royal Court Theatre Inside Out. She started her career at the Royal Court in the Young Writers Programme team.
Emily McLaughlin said:
“I'm thrilled to be joining Dominic and Kate at Fictionhouse to develop their theatre, film and TV slate. They are two of the most brilliant and dynamic forces for generating and producing new work I have worked with. I'm beyond excited for this opportunity to join them in building on the strong foundations for Fictionhouse they have put in place. I'm very proud of the contribution to new work I've been able to make over the last six years at the National Theatre thanks to Rufus and Lisa's progressive agenda, and leave a wonderful team there committed to bringing the National back stronger than ever for its audiences.”
Speaking about Emily’s appointment, Dominic Cooke said:
"I first worked with Emily McLaughlin twenty years ago when I was Associate Director at the Royal Court Theatre. She was then a key member the literary team when Kate Horton and I ran the theatre for seven years from 2007. She has since made a remarkable contrition at the NT. Emily has an exceptional talent for working with writers. She combines a sharp dramaturgical eye and a profound insight into the creative process with an empathetic approach in all her dealings with artists. Kate and I couldn’t be happier that she will soon join us at Fictionhouse leading on the development of our theatre, tv and film slate”.
Dominic and Kate’s long and fruitful working relationship began at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and then developed into a celebrated partnership at the Royal Court Theatre. Whilst at the Royal Court they produced over 100 new plays, including the world premieres of Jerusalem, Constellations, Posh and UK premier of Clybourne Park all of which they transferred to the West End. Their productions have been nominated for 210 major awards, winning 59 and their partnership saw the development and launch of an exciting new generation of playwrights including Mike Bartlett, Polly Stenham, Bola Agbaje, Nick Payne, Lucy Kirkwood and Tarell Alvin McCraney.
This appointment comes a month after the announcement that Newen and Gub Neal’s production company Ringside Studios had taken a stake in Fictionhouse. The deal with Fictionhouse was made through Ringside Media, the newly launched investment arm of Ringside Studios, which is actively seeking and assessing more television opportunities in the scripted space to join Ringside’s growing portfolio.