Hot Shots 2024: Jess Leech

Wild Mercury Productions’ and True Vision’s Bafta-winning BBC1 drama The Sixth Commandment was a script editing and development challenge. Working through Covid with two indies – one factual, one scripted – and balancing responsibility to the real-life people involved, ensuring that it was doing their story justice and avoiding sensationalism while preserving Sarah Phelps’ extraordinary writing, is not a job for the faint-hearted.

Jess Leech “demonstrated excellent creative instincts alongside the ability to calmly solve problems under pressure, making her one of the very best that I have ever worked with,” says Wild Mercury head of development Frances Flannery. “She worked with both the drama and factual production companies to help craft a sensitive and thought-provoking show.”

Leech worked on Amazon Prime Video’s The Rig, and has since worked with writer Mick Ford on his upcoming thriller for the streamer, Fear.

“Jess’s contributions to Fear – both in terms of her story instincts and her ability to problem solve and communicate effectively between departments – have been invaluable,” says Flannery, who also praises Leech’s passion for building up Wild Mercury’s slate by finding and championing new writers.

Leech joined the company in 2021, having spent more than two years at Left Bank Pictures. She was promoted to development executive at Wild Mercury last year.

“Jess has consistently demonstrated her ability to generate original ideas, identify new writing talent, seek out exciting pieces of IP, pitch confidently to broadcasters, and help in guiding projects through each stage of development,” says Flannery. “To have expanded and honed her skillset so well, in a relatively short space of time, makes Jess an asset to the company.”