Hot Shots 2022: Adam Bouabda

North-East Screen chief executive Alison Gwynn remembers being struck by Adam Bouabda’s “beaming smile, infectious enthusiasm and bold ambitions” when she first met the comedy producer four years ago. “He really stood out then, and still does.”

Gwynn credits Bouabda as one of the key players in driving TV production in the north-east, which made just 1% of film and TV content at the time.

Since Bouabda founded the Hartlepool-based indie in 2020, Sea & Sky Pictures has staffed up, with support from both a Tees Valley Screen grant and the Channel 4 Emerging Indie Fund.

The company has employed local crew and teams on productions including Sparks shorts for C4 and two BFI-funded short films.

His efforts to put the north-east on the map were rewarded this summer when Sea & Sky became the region’s indie partner for the BBC’s inaugural Regional Partnership Scheme.

The initiative granted the company £15,000 to fund the co-development of four original projects with Hat Trick Productions for BBC Comedy.

Aside from a brief spell as a runner for Shine TV in 2013, Bouabda’s background is largely in the restaurant business and he cut his teeth in production and editing corporate and explainer videos with his company, Couch Potato Films.

As part of a small group of creatives with “little to no access to the industry”, Gwynn says, Bouabda’s strength lies in his unwavering self-belief. “No matter the challenges, he got up, smiled, networked and pushed onwards and upwards and he’s now working on some outstanding projects. I’m super proud of him.”