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Nicola Shindler is this year’s recipient of the WOMAN IN SERIES AWARD

Alexia Muiños Ruiz
Alexia Muiños Ruiz

SERIES MANIA FORUM WITH EUROPEAN WOMEN’S AUDIOVISUAL NETWORK and POUR LES FEMMES DANS LES MEDIAS (PFDM) ANNOUNCE THIS YEAR’S RECIPIENT OF ITS “WOMAN IN SERIES AWARD

 

Nicola Shindler, Executive Producer and Chief Executive of Quay Street Productions, recipient of Third Annual “Woman in Series Award”

 

LILLE & PARIS, FRANCE – March 8, 2023 – Having launched as a new initiative in 2021, coupled with today being International Women's Day, Laurence Herszberg, Founder and General Director of Series Mania, and Francesco Capurro, Director of Series Mania Forum, announce the recipient for its Third Annual “Woman in Series Award.”

This award, in association with European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA Network) and Pour Les Femmes Dans Les Médias (PFDM), is given to a remarkable woman from the audiovisual industry to honor her vision and leadership. The recipient of this year’s award is Nicola Shindler, Executive Producer and Chief Executive of Quay Street Productions. Nicola Shindler will be presented with her award on March 21 in Lille. In addition, she will be speaking about her career that will look at the relationships she builds with writers, as well as her vision for producing engaging drama for a global audience.

“When we launched the ‘Woman in Series’ Award in 2021, our mission was to highlight and value the work of women within our industry as this is something that is incredibly important to me and close to my heart. I am incredibly honored to present Nicola with our award this year. As the founder of Quay Street Productions, coupled with her 25 years’ experience as a multi award-winning British television producer, Nicola is a true leader in every sense of the word and is certainly worthy of this wonderful award,” comments Laurence Herszberg.

Nicola Shindler says: “I’m really honoured to receive Series Mania’s Woman in Series Award. I love making drama, and to be recognised for my body of work is a privilege. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some of the most incredibly talented people – writers, producers, directors and so many more, who have enabled me to do so, and I have to thank them for their commitment and support. I’m excited for the next chapter with my new production company Quay Street Productions, having just launched our first drama, Nolly, and we’re in production on more exciting dramas.”

Laurence Bachman, President of the association Pour les Femmes dans les Médias comments: “Today, more than ever, we wish to salute, encourage, and reward inspiring women in business and media, with a recognized and remarkable career in the audiovisual industry. Still under-represented in the top leading functions (around 10%), this prize must value the place of women in the media industry and demonstrate that women must feel legitimate and dare. Celebrating those women is one of PFDM’s missions. We are thrilled to give this award to Nicola Shindler. She explores innovative stories working with new and established writers demonstrating her talent as a great producer.

Anamaria Antoci, Executive Director of EWA says: “As a pan-European network for women working in the screen industries, we believe it is vital to highlight the creative and commercial successes of female producers and executives in an industry where women are still under-represented at all levels. In a career spanning over 25 years, Nicola Shindler has produced ground-breaking, entertaining, award-winning drama, from Queer as Folk, Last Tango in Halifax, and Happy Valley, to It’s a Sin, Harlan Coben’s Stay Close, and Nolly.”

Edel Brosnan, EWA’s Director of Strategy said: ‘Rightly celebrated for her relationships with writers, Nicola Schindler has proven, time and again, that there is a wide audience for stories exploring the lives of female characters, LGBTQ characters and communities on the margins. We are delighted that she is receiving the Woman in Series award for her stellar achievements in widening the definition of “bankable” TV drama.’"

Nicola Shindler’s inaugural drama under the Quay Street Productions, Nolly, will be presented as an out of competition screening at Series Mania. Quay Street Productions is part of ITV Studios.

Created in 2021, Woman in Series Award went to Christina Sulebakk, GM of HBO Max EMEA, for its first edition and in 2022 to Mo Abudu, CEO, The EbonyLife Group.

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ABOUT NICOLA SHINDLER

Nicola Shindler OBE is a prolific, multi award-winning British television producer, who has worked with some of the most lauded names in television and created some of its most memorable series. With over 25 years’ experience in television, Nicola has produced some of the UK’s most successful and award-winning dramas, including It’s A Sin (Ch4/ HBO), Harlan Coben’s The Stranger (Netflix), Years and Years (BBC/HBO), Happy Valley (BBC), Queer As Folk (Channel 4), Ridley Road (BBC/ Masterpiece), Traces (UKTV), Last Tango in Halifax (BBC), Butterfly (ITV), Finding Alice (ITV) and most recently Harlan Coben’s Stay Close for Netflix, No Return for ITV, and Traces series 2 for UKTV.

Her latest drama series, the first Quay Street Productions drama, is Nolly. Written by Russell T Davies and starring Helena Bonham Carter, the series launched on ITVX in the UK on 3rd February. Forthcoming series include the comedic-drama Significant Other, starring Katherine Parkinson and Youssef Kerkour, also for ITVX. After the Flood for ITV, Harlan Coben’s Fool Me Once for Netflix and Men Up, a feature-length drama for BBC.

Renowned for her relationships with writers, Nicola has worked with an array of the UK’s most prolific and exciting writing talent including Russell T Davies, Sally Wainwright, Lenny Henry, Paul Abbot, Dan Sefton, Tony Marchant, Amelia Bullmore, Danny Brocklehurst, Matt Greenhalgh and Sarah Solemani, on series starring some of the world’s leading on-screen names.

In 2019, Nicola was awarded an OBE and took home one of BAFTA’s highest honours, the Special Award, for her services to British Broadcasting. Prior to launching Quay Street Productions in 2021, Nicola founded RED Production Company in 1998, where she was Chief Executive for over twenty years, and she also previously served as chief executive and chief creative officer at StudioCanal UK.