{"id":1660,"date":"2025-05-29T15:23:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T14:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/studioinsider\/?p=1660"},"modified":"2025-06-06T12:20:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T11:20:46","slug":"from-classroom-to-writers-room-jen-wakefields-screenwriting-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/studioinsider\/2025\/05\/29\/from-classroom-to-writers-room-jen-wakefields-screenwriting-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"From classroom to writer\u2019s room: Jen Wakefield\u2019s screenwriting journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Jen Wakefield working at the BBC (Credit: https:\/\/www.jenwakefield.co.uk\/)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Starting out as a primary school teacher, or making it through the national BBC writer\u2019s room competition to the dozen, writing for the Cbeebies\/CBBC classics like Horrible Histories probably wasn\u2019t on the list when Jen Wakefield<\/a> first realised that she wanted to work in screenwriting.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jen initially worked as a primary teacher, a job she still thoroughly enjoys to this day. However, knowing that she wanted to go into drama and how much she enjoyed organising the productions and the school plays, she eventually found herself working in the drama department at a school in London. From then on, Jen\u2019s path started to branch out<\/em>.
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I started to meet people in the media and people who were doing comedy and sort of using that to perform themselves. I thought, oh, do you know what? I’ll give that a go. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

“I did some improv, did some courses. Then I decided to do stand up and sketch comedy and basically do Edinburgh Fringe. I did that for like three or four years, and that was really good fun.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Basically, someone came up to me and asked – do you want to be in a production? That’s kind of what happened for my first TV show that’s been on Channel 4. After that, I kind of got TV experience and acting experience there, and got my agent.\u00a0 In COVID, I took a teaching job again, which was lucky because performing was kind of\u00a0 not as fruitful. Afterwards I got my first job in Horrible Histories. Once I got that, writing opportunities came from there.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating a collaborative approach<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Jen now works in children\u2019s television, across various shows, and appreciates the environment created by her fellow colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s great about animation is that you get to meet people who’ve been in it for like, 30 years. As writers it means you can learn from each other, and some of them have been on legendary shows that you used to watch when you were young, which is really cool. I love the mixture of ages, like with the staff in primary school, it\u2019s a nice range of people that you can bounce ideas off of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The writing process for Jen depends on the show – but it always comes back to the world they have already created and sticking by those principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor a series that is already in their second or third series, and has a whole world that’s been built. That\u2019s the writer’s bible –  even on  a new show,  they\u2019ll have it, but it might be less developed. So they share that beginning, they share the writer’s Bible, what the world looks like, and who the characters are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With the best shows I\u2019ve worked on that had really good head writers, they usually pair you up or put you in groups to come up with ideas. So you take it in turns to work out what you\u2019d call a story spring. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A story spring is a top line sentence of an idea that you had before you came into the room. Then they’ll develop it, you sort of work in pairs to develop it and then come back and share it. After that, you use those to pick the episodes, and it goes from there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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