Hot Shots 2025: Sarah Simmonds

In February, Sarah Simmonds took her place alongside the likes of Cynthia Erivo and Nicola Coughlan on Elle UK’s 40 for 40: Women in Film and Television Power List, which spotlights the women who will define the next four decades in the screen industry.

The reason? Her stratospheric first years as a writer – with credits including Killing Eve – suggest big, brave things to come.

Ron O’Berst, executive producer at Hera Pictures, says: “Sarah is brilliant. She’s a gorgeous writer with a beautifully unique tone, and her work is shaping up to sit among the greats – full of heart, humour, specificity and big things to say about the world.”

Simmonds was initially invited to write one episode of What It Feels Like For A Girl. Impressing with the first draft, she was asked to write the show’s finale. Impressing once again, she was given an associate producer credit for those two episodes. “She has a remarkable ability to keep things fun even under the toughest production pressures, always coming up with smart, creative solutions to any writing challenge,” O’Berst adds.

She’s got a raft of development projects underway, and her future points towards showrunning and original scripts.

As she rises, Simmonds says, it’s her unique perspective that brings out her creative vision. “As a female, neurodivergent and queer writer, it’s often easy to feel that the odds are stacked against you – but it’s these colourful points of difference that have instilled in me a drive to tell bold, original stories,” she says.