Hot Shots 2026: Liv Taylor

Tall Story Pictures has snapped up Manchester-based Liv Taylor for the new series of its ITV drama The Bay – and according to her former boss, Quay Street Productions producer Claire Burgess, it’s easy to see why.

“When budgets are tight, Liv is the woman I would want in my corner, and she does it all with a smile on her face,” she says. “She’s got bags of solutions and regularly draws on her amazing experience and connections to get things over the line.”

Liv has been working in TV since she was 16, having entered the industry through a BBC apprenticeship. She spent six years in children’s, working as a production co-ordinator on shows such as Dengineers, Hacker Time, Blue Peter and Celebrity Mash-Up, taking a brief sojourn into reality with The Circle before moving into mainstream drama.

She established herself as an integral part of Wall to Wall and Rope Ladder Fiction’s reboot of Waterloo Road before stepping up to production manager on Magical Society’s BBC1 crime drama Virdee and now line producer on The Bay.

Having come from an underprivileged background, Liv has fought hard to encourage more accessible pathways into TV and has got involved in mentoring with the University of Salford, Film London Connect and Arts Emergency. She’s also undertaken a string of Skillset qualifications to sharpen her knowledge of everything from sustainability to mental health and deaf awareness.

“Liv takes a keen interest in hiring a diverse cast and crew and her open, inclusive approach is a breath of fresh air,” says Burgess. “She’s a go-to person for crewing up in the north – you’ve only got to see her at a networking event to see why.

“She makes it her business to champion the talent in our industry – particularly in the most underrepresented groups. We are lucky to have someone with Liv’s level of passion and creative ideas in our next generation of talent.”