About me
Writer, Producer and Actor - Co-Creative director Hot Coals Productions
Jo is a dyspraxic writer/producer, performer and designer who has been in the industry professionally since she was 12 years old. She has always had a passion for storytelling and creating worlds, and a talent for making things happen . Graduating with a BA in Drama from University Winchester, and an MA from RADAs prestigious MA Theatre Lab, Jo founded Hot Coals Productions in 2012 with fellow RADA graduate Clare-Louise English and is one of BAFTAs inaugural BAFTA Connect members.
In 2020 Jo co-wrote, produced and designed Hot Coals' first short film, My Darling Christopher in which she also played the role of Dorothy. A role which gained her the award for best voice actress at the (Overcome Awards 2020). My Darling Christopher went on to tour film festivals around the world and won 7 awards including Best International Short (Idyllwild Festival 2021) and Best Sound design at the (Music + Sound Awards 2021), and gained an additional 10 nominations.
Since then she has co-produced an animated educational film A New Kind of Normal with Kathy Haywood and produced and designed two further short films with Hot Coals, We Care and Indefinitely, which have both already been selected for film festivals with Indefinitely having won its first award, the Vanguard Award for Cinematic excellence at Idyllwild 2023.
Jo is passionate about breaking down barriers and levelling the playing field for DDN Talent both in front of and behind the camera and has many projects in the pipeline ready to do exactly that!