ITV Teams Up With EAST

ITV has teamed up with EAST, a non-profit Community Interest Company dedicated to supporting British East and South East Asians (BESEAs) in scripted television.

Supported by ITV's Diversity Development Fund in collaboration with ITV's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion team, EAST will run a dedicated writers room, bringing a selection of talented writers together to develop the next big, propulsive, thrilling drama series ideas. 

Under the banner EAST on Screen: ITV Writers' Room, four BESEA writers will each develop a distinct mainstream series idea, with a focus on ITV Drama. These writers, selected competitively based on the strength of their project ideas and candidacy, have equal opportunity to own, develop, and pitch their ideas.  ITV will have the first right of refusal to develop any of the series ideas. The writers will be supported by EAST network members Producer, Alex Finlay (formerly UKTV, Shaftesbury, A&E Global Media) and Story Editor, David Cheung (Doctor Who, Renegade Nell, Silent Witness).

The writers will also receive a masterclass from Betrayal writer David Eldridge, receive support from ITV Drama Commissioner Callum Dziedzic and meet with ITV Studios labels.
This partnership underscores EAST's commitment to improving the representation of BESEA creatives and narratives, and is a key example of ITV's work to drive diversity, equity and inclusion in its mainstream content.

The participating writers include:
• Alvin Yu is a screenwriter and director, selected for BBC’s 2024-2025 Pilot Scheme and the 2023-2024 BBC Studios Talentworks Creator-in-Residence. His Disney/Star-funded short film Lionhead premiered at the 67th BFI London Film Festival. He has projects in development with New Pictures, Clerkenwell Films, and Fremantle Media (Euston Films), and was previously selected for BBC Drama Room and London Voices.


• Jenny Takahashi Stark is a London-based writer of English-Japanese ancestry, represented by Curtis Brown. She is currently developing original TV projects with Fable Pictures, Merman, Tiger Aspect, and Double Dutch. Her Audible Originals audio drama is set for release in 2026, and her original feature film Sunny Side Up is in development with Erebus Pictures. Jenny was selected for BBC Scripted 2025 and The Brit List 2024, and is a winner of the All3Media New Voices Drama Award 2022. She is a member of BAFTA Connect.


• Jingan Young is a Hong Kong-British writer known for her work on the hit thriller Red Eye (ITV/Bad Wolf), where she wrote Episode 4 and served as a story consultant, and is currently writing Episode 3 for the second series. In 2025, Jingan joined the writing team for the upcoming BBC One legal drama Counsels (BBC) and recently worked as a story consultant for the 29th series of Silent Witness (BBC). Her debut feature film, Number 2 Daughter, is in development with the British Film Institute (BFI). Young was named a Broadcast Now Hotshot in 2024 and is a member of the EAST TV Network.


• Joanne Lau is a British-Canadian-Chinese writer with credits including East Mode (Comedy Central), Theodosia (HBO Max), Big Tree City (Netflix), and Silverpoint (CBBC). She has written for BBC Radio 4 and her own original comedy series Misguided Meditations. Her plays have been staged at various theatres and published by Methuen Drama. Joanne is an alumna of several prestigious writing programmes and has been a finalist for BAFTA Rocliffe (TV Drama) and the Royal Court Theatre/Kudos Writing Fellowship. Prior to writing full-time, Joanne was an award-winning comedian and neuroscientist.


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