Ed Cripps and theatre exec Will Mortimer join Call the Midwife indie

Call the Midwife indie Neal Street has added former Left Bank Pictures development head Ed Cripps and theatrical exec Will Mortimer to the newly created roles of development producer and theatre and TV executive, respectively.

As development producer, Cripps will be tasked with growing the indie’s pipeline of scripted TV projects, working with executive producers Harriet Spencer and Julie Pastor and head of development Lola Oliyide to contribute to the creative strategy, existing shows, as well as developing his own projects.

He most recently served as head of development at Left Bank, departing in November. He had joined the Sony Picture Television label as development producer in 2024, having been a script editor at Neal Street’s All3Media stablemate New Pictures, where his credits included Dalgliesh (5/Acorn), No Escape (Parmaount+) and Des (ITV). Other career credits include Episodes (BBC/Showtime). Fresh Meat (Channel 4), Succession (HBO) and Made in Chelsea (E4).

Mortimer joins Neal Street to work across the indie’s theatre and TV development teams. He will support the development of stage projects alongside theatre producer Georgia Gatti, drawing on his expertise in the theatre industry, as well as identifying new talent, plays and ideas which could transition onto the indie’s TV slate.

He was most recently development consultant for Hot Sauce Pictures, helping to developing their slate, and was the dramaturg – theatre literary advisor – on James Graham’s play Make It Happen.

He was previously head of development for the Bridge Theatre, where he developed new plays for the venue. Prior to that he was the literary manager at Hampstead Theatre. He also serves as the chair of playwrights ’73, an organisation that funds writers to develop new scripts for stage.

Neal Street is currently prepping a stage version of The Traitors, and its previous theatrical works include Hamnet and The Lehman Trilogy.

Both Cripps and Mortimer assume their roles with immediate effect.

Nicolas Brown, director of Neal Street, said: “Both Ed and Will have impeccable taste and terrific relationships with writing talent.

“We are thrilled to welcome them to Neal Street to grow our slate and deepen the links across our screen and stage work.”