EXCLUSIVE: Gina Lyons, a producer on Dreaming Whilst Black and Amazon Freevee’s upcoming Dinner with the Parents, has launched a comedy indie to amplify working class, female voices.
Gobby Girl Productions recently closed finance on a £1.3M ($1.6M) British feature film starring big talent that will roll cameras in June. The company is also nearing greenlight on two shows for UK broadcasters.
Lyons has been a freelance producer for several years and launched the outfit as a vehicle for her shows after seeing the inequality faced by working-class women in the industry. The indie’s website points to recent research which found that 40% of Brits nominated for key awards at the Oscars, BAFTAs and Mercury prize over the past decade went to private school, while only 6% of the British population are privately educated.
Gina Lyons
Gobby Girl will therefore focus on amplifying these voices and has already got the ball rolling.
“The goals and aspirations of the company became clear when Gina looked at the inequality of TV and film production and realised that she was in a minority as a working-class female and mother in producing, specifically in comedy,” the company’s website says. “Gobby Girl wants to celebrate the underdog and promote their voices.”
Lyons’ past credits include buzzy comedy series Dreaming Whilst Black and Sky’s Martin Freeman-starrer Breeders. She is also a producer on Freevee’s upcoming Dinner with the Parents, the U.S. remake of hit Channel 4 comedy Friday Night Dinner, which premieres in two weeks.
Lyons has produced several short films which were selected to play at film festivals including Encounters, Rhode Island and Raindance.
She launches in a tricky market that is being hit by the ad recession, inflation and the hangover from the U.S. strikes. Lyons joked on X that this is the “worst time in TV for 30 years to set up shop.”