Irish drama indie Deadpan Pictures creates three development roles in growth drive

L-R: Aisling Kiely, Eleanor White and Sam Atwell

Irish independent prodco Deadpan Pictures has made three new executive appointments as part of a drive to grow its development slate.

Sam Atwell, Aisling Kiely and Eleanor White are taking up newly created roles as heads of development, development producer and development executive respectively.

All three will be based at Deadpan’s Dublin headquarters and report to co-founders Paul Donovan and Ailish McElmeel. They have been tasked with growing the development slate, with a focus on drama with an Irish comedic twist.

“It’s a really exciting time for Deadpan Pictures as our team expands to support the growth of our business,” said Donovan and McElmeel. “This talented development team share – and will also challenge and broaden – our taste, as we bring more Deadpan drama to market.”

Atwell is joining from Irish pubcaster RTÉ, where he helped develop scripted projects such as Hidden Assets and North Sea Connection, as well as serving as series consultant and director on long-running soap opera Fair City.

Kiely has previously worked for prodcos including Rough Cut TV and Working Title Television, with series credits on shows including Midsomer Murders for ITV and BBC medical drama Casualty.

White’s career has taken her to New York, the UK and Ireland, where she has worked as a script consultant on various theatrical productions.

Deadpan was formed in 2014 and has developed series such as Can’t Cope Won’t Cope for Netflix and the BBC, and Women on the Verge for UKTV. Its next project is Northern Lights, a copro with Belgian prodco Potemkino, about two grieving strangers who meet on a rainy night in Dublin, which will air on TG4 in Ireland and join Flemish SVoD service Streamz.