Welcome to TeamAkers Productions LTD, the joint venture of the actor Suranne Jones and writer/producer Laurence Akers.
We’re dedicated to making content that is relevant to the world today and resonates with the viewing public.
Suranne Jones
Suranne Jones, is a BAFTA winning English actress and producer. She rose to prominence as Karen McDonald in Coronation Street before leaving in 2004. She starred in numerous drama series in the years thereafter, including Vincent alongside Ray Winston – but it was her portrayal of convicted murderer Ruth Slater in the mini-series Unforgiven in 2009 that was seen as her break-out role, receiving acclaim from both the public and industry alike.
Between 2011 and 2016, Jones starred as Detective Rachel Bailey in the police procedural Scott & Bailey. Jones and fellow Coronation Street alumni Sally Lindsay came up with the original idea and the initial two series were written by Sally Wainwright. For the final series in 2016 Jones also acted as Producer.
She garnered further accolades for her roles in Doctor Who, The Secret of Crickley Hall and The Crimson Field and in the comedies A Touch of Cloth, Stage Door Johnnies (as herself) and Brian Pern 45 Years of Prog & Roll.
For her portrayal of Gemma Foster in Doctor Foster, a successful GP who suffers personal betrayal, Jones won several awards including the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress. Following the second season of Doctor Foster, (which she also produced) Jones starred in the Save Me series for Sky Atlantic and took on the role of the formidable Anne Lister in Gentleman Jack, for which she received a Best Actress nomination at the 2020 BAFTA’s. In 2021, Jones starred as DCI Amy Silva opposite Rose Leslie in Vigil for the BBC. The first episode of the tense, submarine based murder-mystery, attracted an audience of 10.2 million viewers across its first seven days, making Vigil the BBC’s most watched new drama of the year. Jones then worked with Dominic Savage on a very personal story for the Channel 4, female-led anthology series I Am.
Jones’ story, I Am Victoria is a powerful meditation on the anxieties that often lie beneath a veneer of happiness and success. It portrays a woman weighed down by life’s pressures and in need of help, but unable to seek it I AM Victoria received universal critical acclaim and won The Best TV movie at C21’s International Drama Awards.
Jones’ stage career has included roles in productions of A Few Good Men (2005), Blithe Spirit (2009), Top Girls (2011), Beautiful Thing (2013), Orlando (2014) and Frozen (2018).
Later in 2022, Jones will produce and star in Maryland, the first green-lit drama production for TeamAkers Productions, co-produced with Monumental Television. Maryland is an original drama series created by Jones and Anne-Marie O’Connor for ITV.
Laurence Akers
Laurence Akers is a writer and producer with a media career spanning over 30 years. He started his writing career at age 19 working on the hugely popular teenage title, Just Seventeen going on to work on the development and launch of the first teen, film,TV and music magazine, BIG!
After three years on magazines, Akers moved into television, booking music bands for the Sunday morning show Disney Club and the live Saturday morning show, What’s Up Doc? At the BBC he devised and produced the music programme Inside Tracks for BBC3, produced Popzone for BBC1 and developed and produced the live show Wogan’s Web for daytime BBC1. For IMG, Akers developed and produced several shows including the computer game magazine show Gamer.TV, technology show Evolver and alternative lifestyle show, The Other Side for the Asian television market.
In 2016, Akers turned his attention to screenwriting and producing full time, writing and directing his first short film, Gone in 2017.
Gone won the Award of Merit at the Best Shorts Competition in Detroit and was officially selected by The Oxford Film Festival, The Brighton Rocks Festival, The Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner and The International Filmmaker Festival in Nice where it received four nominations, including Best Screenplay.
Laurence is currently developing numerous projects for TeamAkers Productions, including The Jane Couch Story, writing a psychological comedy/drama based on D.C. Thompson characters with Emanata studios, producing a major documentary series with Ricochet for Ch4 and the Kieron Barry play, SpyforSpy at The Riverside Theatre in London.
If you’d like to get in touch, contact info@teamakersprod.com or you can always follow us on Twitter for our latest news.