Jessica Karamjeet

Jessica Karamjeet is a television Writer from the UK with industry experience on internationally renowned shows, COLD FEET, NEIGHBOURS and most recently SHORTLAND STREET – New Zealand’s longest running serial drama.

With an MA in scriptwriting, Jessica started out in storylining workshops for CORONATION STREET and EMMERDALE, before landing a job as Script Secretary on Series Seven of COLD FEET. She helped to storyline the hit series alongside Writer/Creator Mike Bullen (BAFTA), then travelled the world, through Asia and Oceania. Her goal was to reach Australia, and the story room of the renowned soap opera she’d watched religiously for twenty years.

As Storyliner for NEIGHBOURS, Jessica used her fresh perspective to input into key story points such as Chloe Brennan’s life-changing medical diagnosis and unrequited love for Elly Conway. Following Australia’s legalisation of gay marriage, she was also Script Editor for the landmark same sex marriage proposal and wedding.

As SHORTLAND STREET Storyliner, she helped to introduce the King family and conclude the long-running murder mystery with golden girl Kylie Brown. She is Story Producer for CONSTANCE, an original four-part family crime drama set in Central Otago, based on the highly celebrated TV NZ New Blood web series pilot of the same name.

In a previous life, Jessica trained as a jazz singer before working as a union activist. Her work with LGBT, mixed ability and ethnic minority voices has shaped her writing, and Jessica is a firm advocate of the power of inclusion and representation – in writers’ rooms and beyond.