Little Door Productions brings in Pulse and See-Saw creatives

Under Salt Marsh outfit Little Door Productions has bolstered its creative team as part of its expansion plans beyond its Wales heartland, according to chief executive Elwen Rowlands.

Joining the company are Abigail Dennis and Emily Precious as development producer and head of production, respectively.

Dennis was formerly senior development producer at Pulse Films, where she co-led its scripted development slate and designed and managed the department’s new writing initiative for its two cohorts. Prior to Pulse, she served as acting head of development at Eleven Film and was a script editor at Euston Films.

Precious joins following a stint at See-Saw Films, where she served as senior production executive and production consultant, with her credits including two series of Sweetpea (Sky), the adaptation of Marian Keyes’ novel Grown-Ups and Heartstopper, both for Netflix.

Rowlands said the hires play a “big part” in Little Door’s ambitions.

“Abigail and Emily bring a huge amount of experience across development and production, but they also bring the kind of taste, curiosity and care that is so important to us as a company,” she continued.

“As we continue to grow, we want to keep building Little Door around brilliant people who share our belief in backing creatives properly and giving projects the attention they deserve.”

Beyond Wales

Rowlands has set bold growth ambitions for Little Door, underpinned by the recently opening of a London office to complement its Cardiff headquarters. Rowlands says the move is about practicality, noting the importance of having a physical presence near where most key industry gatekeepers are based.

The indie, which also produced BBC1 drama The Pact, was founded in 2020 by Rowlands and Little Door’s chief operating officer Hayley Manning, who is based in Newcastle. Rowlands splits her week between Cardiff and London, with staff deployed between the two locations.

“The day-to-day of our industry happens in London: commissioners, agents, distributors, international partners [are there]. It’s vital to have a foothold here, so that we can build those relationships,” she explained.

Pointedly, Rowlands railed against the assumption that she says exists among commissioner that nations and regions-based indies can only tell stories from their respective localities, and with a small budget. There is no such assumption, Rowlands notes, that London-based indies can’t make regionally focused dramas.

“The company was founded in the nations and regions, and we will always develop and make shows about Wales, but only a small part of our slate has been local projects. We want to send the message we’re not just making shows about Wales,” she stated.

Indeed, Little Door is in pre-production on its first project set outside Wales, though details are heavily under-wraps.

The success of Sky original crime thriller Under Salt Marsh has also helped dispel presumptions around Little Door’s capabilities. Rowlands acknowledged that it is a Welsh story, based in Wales, but it was not a cheap show. The climate change-infused murder mystery notched up 1.8m viewer in its first week of release, becoming Sky’s biggest original drama since The Day of the Jackal launched in 2024.

She praised the broadcaster for commissioning the drama – which aired on the pay-TV giant’s premium channel Sky Atlantic – from a small indie which doesn’t’ have “a huge track record”, as well as backing the vision of emerging talent Claire Oakley, who created, wrote and directed.

“It wasn’t a low-budget show, and it was quite logistically and technically challenging, but they believed in us,” she said.

“If we want a healthy ecosystem in 10 years’ time, more people need to support emerging producers, there’s a lot of support for new writers and new directors, but I think new producers are really important as well.”

Development slate offers up varied trio 

The indie has a healthy development slate spanning TV and film, with similarly emerging storytellers.

Darkly comic thriller Meat Raffle, set in Yorkshire, is the debut series for writer and director Dylan Southern, who is behind 2025 feature The Thing With Feathers, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and is also co-helming the forthcoming Oasis documentary for Disney+. Feature Romeo and Julie. theatre director Rachel O’Riordan’s first screen project, is adapted from writer Gary Owen’s National Theatre play of the same name. It is a contemporary take on Shakespeare’s classic love story, looking at class inequality.

Directed by Prano Bailey-Bond and written with Andrew Fletcher, The Memory is centred on two teenage sisters who flee into the woods, where one of them mysteriously disappears. However, when she is found she insists she is someone else entirely and is haunted by memories of a past life. Bailey-Bond and Fletcher also co-wrote the former’s debut feature Censor, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and earned her Bafta Breakthrough recognition as well as being named one of Broadcast sibling Screen’s Stars of Tomorrow.

“The cross pollination between film and TV is of real interest to us. We love working with writer directors, taking someone who’s very established in their own field and helping them to make that leap into somewhere different,” she elaborated.

“It’s important to create a protected space for writers to find the best version of their idea before a lot of voices weigh in, and that’s particularly important with newer or mid-level talent.”

With the arrival of Dennis and Precious, a new project going into production, and still riding the wave of Under Salt Marsh’s success, Rowlands admitted it’s a “good moment” for Little Door.

“We need to capitalise on it, so it makes sense to bring in a team that can help us build the slate and get everything market ready as soon as possible.”