Hot Shots 2024: Shiva Talwar

Duty of care is fundamental on most projects, but not often does a production manager’s commitment forge a path for the whole industry.

As production manager on BBC2 series Inside Our Autistic Minds, Shiva Talwar redesigned the production paperwork to make it fully accessible to neurodivergent people, and collaborated with series producer Joe Myerscough and advocacy groups to implement inclusive measures. This included rewriting the forms in plain English, adding images where needed, ensuring the document colours and typography were accessible to those with dyslexia, and sending out the forms in advance to reduce anxiety.

This ‘Easy Read’ format has already earned Talwar multiple accolades, including an Outstanding Contribution Award from the BBC and a nomination for Best Production Management at the RTS Craft Awards in 2023.

But Talwar’s talents as a production manager extend beyond this initiative. BBC Studios head of specialist factual Alan Holland explains that in development, “he revolutionised the way the team operates, reconfiguring workflows and bringing a rigour and discipline to proceedings that was severely lacking before”.

From Southall in London, Talwar started his TV career as an assistant director in drama and feature films, and sidestepped to production in specialist factual when he moved to BBC Studios in August 2020.