Emma Roxburgh, Meng Han Hsieh and Owen Tooth have been selected to take part in ScreenSkills High-end TV Regional New Directors Champion Programme, in association with Directors UK. This programme is supported by the ScreenSkills’ High-end TV Skills Fund with contributions from UK high-end TV productions.
As part of the scheme Emma, Meng and Owen have been paired with experienced high-end TV (HETV) directors to help support them progress their careers and break into the format. Emma is partnered with John Alexander (Sense and Sensibility, Small Island), Meng with Claire Tailyour (The Wives, Beyond Paradise) and Owen with Khurrum Sultan (McDonald & Dodds, Shakespeare & Hathaway).
Directors UK Head of Career Development and Skills Andrea Corbett says:
“We know that mid-level directors moving into HETV need focused support and professional guidance, and it’s important that they get that within the regions where they live and work. We are delighted to be collaborating again with our partners and funders, the ScreenSkills High-end TV Skills Fund, and we look forward to watching these directors progress this year and beyond.”
ScreenSkills’ Senior HETV Training Liaison Manager Jacqui Taunton Fenton says:
“Ensuring the next generation of directing talent has the support, guidance and opportunity to take that vital next step is at the heart of this programme. It’s specifically designed to provide those key ingredients and offer these three new directors with the tools they need to progress. We’re thrilled to welcome them onto the programme and to be working with Directors UK who share the Fund’s commitment to creating opportunities to those across the whole of the UK."
Meet the participants
Emma Roxburgh (mentee, based in the North East)
Emma is a stage and screen director from Newcastle. She has recently completed WBD Access x Waterloo Road Directors Scheme, and shadowing on ITV’s Transaction, by Jordan Gray starring Nick Frost.
Emma has directed comedy shorts for C4, BBC and BFI; and development produced for indies including Fulwell73. She has directed new writing for regional theatre; and The Young Vic Directors Program, commissioning Sabrina Mahfouz to write for Tamara Lawrance. She’s showrunner/director on comedy drama Georgian Shore for Edinburgh 2026.
She’s a BAFTA Connect director, and selectee of the BFI Weekender 2021 for working class talent.
John Alexander (Champion to Emma Roxburgh)
Based in the North East, John Alexander is a British TV director with a passion for telling compelling, character-driven stories. Growing up in the East Durham Coal Field, he started his career at the BBC as a post-graduate trainee, initially working in documentaries before making the leap into drama.
John has directed a range of acclaimed dramas, from the classic period adaptation Sense and Sensibility to the Emmy-winning Small Island and gripping contemporary series like Exile and Trust Me.
His work has earned multiple awards and nominations, including a BAFTA nod for Best Director for Exile and an International Emmy win for Small Island.
Meng Han Hsieh (mentee, based in the North West)
Meng Han Hsieh is an award-winning Taiwanese writer-director based in Manchester. Her work focuses on amplifying the voices of women and minority groups, exploring the complexities of human nature.
A fellow of Warner Bros. x Waterloo Road Directors Program, and Finalist in the 2020 IMDB New Filmmaker Awards, her films have screened at festivals worldwide.
Her latest BFI-funded short THE TEST was selected as a finalist from over 11,750 entries at Sony Future Filmmaker Awards in Los Angeles. Combining creativity and precision in her storytelling, she now directs commercials for clients including Disney and DFS while developing her own films.
Claire Tailyour (Champion to Meng Han Hsieh)
Proud to be living and working in the North West, Claire Tailyour trained at USC in LA before moving to the UK to direct international dramas and documentaries.
She recently lead directed the first series of The Wives, a C5 drama set in Malta that follows the unravelling of one family written by Helen Black and starring Jo Joyner, Angela Griffin and Tamzin Outwaite. Previously, she lead directed the first series of Phoenix Rise and a reboot of Get Even.
Her work has screened at Sundance, AFI and Underwire. As a writer her feature script Mother Wild won BAFTA Rocliffe and PAGE Awards and Turnpike was a semi-finalist in the Academy's Nicholl Fellowship Awards.
Owen Tooth (mentee, based in the Midlands)
In 2025, Derbyshire director Owen Tooth made history as the first disabled director of EastEnders in its 40-year run. His debut block culminated in the VE-Day special which trended on X and garnered headlines calling it “Perfect”, “Beautiful”, and that it “Left fans gasping for breath”.
Enjoying a dose of comedy with his drama, his films have won festivals and earned Best Film, Audience Choice, Best Director, Best Comedy, and Best Documentary awards, and screened in competition at Oscar, BAFTA, and BIFA qualifiers. As a wheelchair user and an ally, Owen pushes for collaborative change in the industry.
Khurrum Sultan (Champion to Owen Tooth)
Based in the West Midlands Khurrum M Sultan has directed across a wide range of formats, including; adverts for major brands like FIFA, documentaries for the BBC, ITV, and Sky, and continuing drama Hollyoaks.
He recently directed a standalone two-hour episode of ITV’s Vera, which went on to win the Royal Television Society Midlands Directors Award in 2023. His recent credits include lead directing ITV’s McDonald & Dodds, as well as the BBC’s Waterloo Road and Shakespeare & Hathaway.
Sultan was named a Broadcast ‘Hot Shot’ and one of the Edinburgh TV Festival’s Ones to Watch. He was also nominated for a Debut Director Award at the 2020 festival.
More about the programme
ScreenSkills High-end TV Regional New Directors Champion Programme, in association with Directors UK, aims to support and grow the careers of three emerging directors living in the regions of England.
This opportunity is supported by the ScreenSkills’ High-end TV Skills Fund, with contributions from UK High-end TV productions following a successful tender application from Directors UK.
Further Information
For over a decade, The Screen Skills High- End TV (HETV) Skills Fund has been working hand in hand with the industry to support and develop the TV workforce. The fund directs investment where it is most needed and these decisions are shaped by the senior HETV industry professionals who make up the Fund’s Skills Council and Working Groups. This initiative is a priority for the ScreenSkills Regional Working Group.
