The WonderHub: innovating development for creative leads

• Do you lead or manage a development team within an unscripted indie?
• Do you want to rethink your approach to development but aren’t sure where to start?
• Are you looking to identify sustainable and diverse revenue streams to futureproof your indie?

If this sounds like you then The WonderHub is the event for you.

This two-day symposium for developers in unscripted TV casts creative and commercial eyes on the development process of the future. Winning business remains tougher than ever and demands an inexhaustible level of resilience and entrepreneurial agility. The WonderHub provides a space to explore and unlock innovative working practices, make new contacts and be re-inspired for the new pathways ahead.

Hosted in both Birmingham and Glasgow, The WonderHub focuses on how senior creative leaders can extend and develop their own skills, successfully diversify revenue streams and innovate their development strategies in order to build resilient and sustainable production companies that can respond positively to market uncertainties and disruption. 

This event is funded by the ScreenSkills Unscripted TV Skills Fund which invests in training for the unscripted workforce thanks to contributions from broadcasters, SVoDs and production companies. 

Who it's for

We’re looking to host 40 attendees from across the UK at each event.

It is aimed at senior unscripted development professionals who work for an unscripted TV production company and/or are senior broadcast unscripted development freelancers. You’ll like be a development producer, development executive, head of department, or creative director.

Each event will take place across 2-days in-person.

Please only book for the one closest to where you live or work:

• Birmingham – 21st & 22nd January 2026
• Glasgow – 3rd & 4th February 2026

We always welcome those from under-represented groups, including, but not limited to: those from minority ethnic groups; disabled people; people from the LGBT community and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

The event is heavily funded by ScreenSkills, with an additional fee for attending.

An early-bird price of £200+VAT is available for those who book by 1st December 2025.

After that the price will be £350+VAT.

Places will be limited to a maximum of 2 attendees from the same company to ensure that as many indies are able to participate as possible.

There are bursaries available for those who require support with travel & accommodation. Please contact training@mission.guru for any enquiries about these bursaries before or at the same time as booking your place at the event.

What it covers

Structured around three key areas: Money, Innovation and People, The WonderHub is an exciting symposium for unscripted development professionals informed by the latest research and featuring sector experts, thought leaders and new-tech practitioners.

With additional breakouts offering live demos, one-to-one surgeries as well as informal networking and collaboration opportunities, attendees will leave The WonderHub feeling creatively recharged and ready to apply fresh, innovative thinking across all areas of their development.

Why The WonderHub?

As the dust begins to settle and a new normal takes shape across TV, several key takeouts have emerged: 

• Re-thinking business strategy is essential.  Having a plurality of revenue streams is what will keep your business afloat. Smaller companies with lower overheads can move quicker and embrace change faster, but a solid business strategy is what will convert short-term wins into long-term success.
• The way development professionals generate ideas needs to innovate in order to survive. Audience viewing is changing, buyers’ needs are changing, collaboration is more commonplace and there are a variety of tools, technologies and working practices available that can make development more effective.  The companies who succeed are the ones who are adapting their approach to development in order to meet these changes.
• Innovative leadership is vital. To keep pace with the changing shape of development and maximise the full potential of our teams and freelancers, the way leaders conceive and devolve their leadership is vital - as is looking after ourselves and making sure we are as effective as we possibly can be.  

Join us for The WonderHub and challenge yourself to innovate your development practices.

Trainer

Alison Grade founded and runs Mission Accomplished. The company regularly delivers training courses for ScreenSkills. Alison is an experienced line producer and production manager as well as a Nesta Accredited Creative Enterprise Trainer. She regularly delivers training that enables creatives to take their careers to the next level. Alison is the author of Penguin published book, The Freelance Bible and offers many workshops and training programmes to support freelancers.

Sophie Morgan is an experienced TV and multi-platform content creator, screenwriter and development consultant with over twenty-years working as award-winning creative director, commissioning editor and BAFTA-nominated producer. Working in the UK and US, she has developed, and exec produced hundreds of hours of TV content including Britain’s Next Top Model, RuPaul’s Drag Race, London Ink and Jade.

In 2021 she founded multi-platform ideation and development consultancy Pontariva Media with the aim of adding value to production companies, multiplatform content studios and broadcasters like Channel 4 and Sky. They do this by helping them devise more ambitious, omni platform content and find innovative ways to exploit IP, use emerging technology and design new funding models. 

She also devises and delivers industry training on topics including Gen AI, agile leadership, industry diversification and best creative practice and runs regular workshops for ScreenSkills and Creative Enterprise as well as the NFTS and Warwick University. She chairs several industry panels for Broadcast’s AI summits and is a neurodiversity advocate and mentor. She has written two novels and two screenplays for Sky and the BBC.

Perjit Aujla has 13+ years’ experience in factual TV as an RTS award-winning series producer, an edit producer and a former head of development. She has won commissions from Channel 4, Channel 5 and worked on programming as diverse as a Joe Wicks series for 4OD to the Bafta-nominated Cbeebies series Maddie’s Do You Know.
Based in Leamington Spa, Perjit is a champion of the regions, producing and chairing local events on behalf of Women in Film and Television and RTS Midlands, where she is also on the committee. She has supported diverse off-screen talent via. Creative Access and the Channel 4 Trainee Scheme.

How to apply

Click ‘book now’ at the top of the page and you’ll be redirected to the Mission Accomplished website to complete your booking. You will need to be registered with ScreenSkills to do so.

The Mission Accomplished team will just need to confirm a few details with you too regarding you experience level. You will be able to book for yourself and colleagues.

Key dates:

Birmingham:

• The WonderHub: 21st & 22nd January 2026
• Earlybird deadline: 1st December 2025

Glasgow:

• The WonderHub: 3rd & 4th February 2026
• Earlybird deadline: 1st December 2025