The GOBBY AND GILDED partnership brings together the complementary strengths of Gobby Girl Productions and Gilded Balloon to support bold new voices and female storytellers, with a minimum three-year commitment to nurturing female talent and those from marginalised genders and backgrounds for the future in Comedy directing and writing for stage and screen.
We will identify and develop new writers to support through both companies’ networks and Gilded Balloon’s annual Fringe submissions, with a focus on supporting women and creatives who might otherwise be unable to bring their work to Edinburgh. The long-term ambition is to create original IP with a life beyond the stage, championing new female working class voices into television and film.
All shows applying for our Fringe programme next year will be given the option to opt-in for consideration for the the GOBBY AND GILDED partnership.
Selected projects will enter the unique co-production which will provide:
- Prime Fringe slot
- Cover upfront production costs and the financial risk for the live production for the performer/ writer
- A pathway to a future screen development
- Priority consideration for the Show Support Fund
The joint venture pioneers a model that rethinks traditional Fringe economics, with any future screen development contributing back towards the original financing of the stage production, ensuring a fair and sustainable pathway for all collaborators.
Supported Productions
SLAY by Lois-Amber Toole
A darkly funny and urgent new solo show exploring trauma, identity and survival in the age of performative healing. SLAY follows a twenty-something waitress Kit who moves to London with a fresh diagnosis, PTSD and is directed by Fringe First winner Anna Morris (Son of A Bitch).
Testimonials
Writer and performer Lois-Amber Toole said:
“SLAY is a deeply personal piece and was born out of being told by a casting director that all I’d ever play was a scummy Geordie. After wolfing down two chicken bakes, I wrote it on the shop floor of my retail job, and the show now exists because of people believing in the work.
Being the first artist backed by GOBBY AND GILDED feels surreal. It’s given me the chance to realise the work at the scale it deserves and think beyond the Fringe, which is rare for emerging writers. There’s still so little authentic North East representation in our industry, so this kind of support is life-changing – and proves not all Geordies steal in audition rooms.”
