#102: Henrietta & Jessica Ashworth, screenwriters & directors

This week's guests are Henrietta and Jessica Ashworth! 

Hen and Jess are screenwriters, directors and twin sisters. Having penned their first script at 15, they went onto write OLIVIA AND JIM which came third on the Brit List in 2011. In 2012, at the age of 24 they were featured on ScreenDaily’s prestigious Stars of Tomorrow list and began writing on TV shows such as FRESH MEAT, DIXI and KILLING EVE..

In 2018 their BFI-backed debut feature as screenwriters - TELL IT TO THE BEES, starring Holliday Grainger and Anna Paquin - premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and they currently have two other adaptations in the works, alongside a TV series for Amazon.

Meanwhile Hen and Jess have branched out into directing and their short film NIGHT BUS, a supernatural horror starring Susan Wokoma is now available to watch on Short of the Week. They are also working with Helen Gladders (who produced NIGHT BUS) on developing their directorial debut.

I had a blast chatting with Hen and Jess who are both very smart and funny and have lots of wise things to share about their experiences as screenwriters since arriving in the industry almost a decade ago. I think the thing that struck me most about our conversation was not only how willing they were to talk about some of the difficulties or disappointments inherent to being a writer, but also how they could frame that in a way that is helpful to other aspiring writers and filmmakers and so I think this conversation is fully of really good nuggets about breaking stories and figuring out characters and moving between or on from projects, as well as what it’s like to write in service of another person’s vision as opposed to being in service of your own imagination.  

I highly recommend that you check out NIGHT BUS and also watch this space for many more exciting projects penned and or helmed by Hen and Jess.