Jo Ho is a British-Chinese screenwriter, director and author, best known for creating the BBC series '' Spirit Warriors''. She has been credited as the first

East Asian East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea a ...

person in the UK to have successfully created an original television drama series. '' Spirit Warriors'' is also the UK's first TV drama series to star a predominantly

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

n cast.

Early life

Ho was born in

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and studied Mixed Media Arts at the

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

Career

Ho taught herself

screenwriting Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession. Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, devel ...

by studying ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...

'' and ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

''. She went on to work as a production manager on several projects, before writing and directing her first short film ''

Isolation 9 Isolation is the near or complete lack of social contact by an individual. Isolation or isolated may also refer to: Sociology and psychology *Isolation (health care), various measures taken to prevent contagious diseases from being spread **Is ...

'' in 2006. The film won the Audience Festival award at the Buffalo-san Short Film Festival. Her next short film '' Monkey Nut Tales'', shot just two months later, was funded by the UK Film Council and Film London as part of the 2006 Digital Shorts Pulse Scheme. In 2008, Ho was a judge on the BBC Bites Scheme, created to find and encourage British born Chinese writers.Jo Ho
at VisibleChinese.com After three years in development, '' Spirit Warriors'' began filming in 2009. The series aired in 2010, on

BBC HD BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

, and

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

, and was nominated for "Best Children's Programme" at the 2011 Broadcast Awards. Ho herself won the Women in Film and Television's "New Talent Award" and was nominated for the Cultural Diversity Network Award for "Best Breakthrough Production Talent". Known for her high concept work, following '' Spirit Warriors'', Ho has worked as a storyline consultant on a supernatural BBC drama series ''

Bishaash ''Bishaash'' ( bn, বিশ্বাস; ''Belief'') is a Bangladeshi supernatural television series produced by BBC World Service Trust which was first broadcast on Bangladesh Television from 16 October 2010 until 18 March 2011. The series s ...

'' and has been engaged to write three feature films: an action film, a teen supernatural romance and a dark fairytale. In 2012 she was working on scripts for on several original feature films and several TV series including a big budget medieval series for acclaimed producers Morgan O'Sullivan and James Flynn (producers of The Borgias,

The Tudors ''The Tudors'' is a historical fiction television series set primarily in 16th-century England, created and written by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime. The series was a collaboration among ...

and

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

). In addition to screenwriting, Ho is also an author. WANTED, Book 1 of The Chase Ryder Series is Ho's first novel. With over 150 five-star reviews, it has been a best-seller in over 15 Young Adult categories on Amazon and recently won the YA Sci-fi category for the Readers' Favorite International Book Awards (2018). Her second YA book series, TWISTED, an urban fantasy serial about four troubled girls who discover they now command some super dark powers was published in 2018. Ho is a voting member of BAFTA and repped by The Dench Arnold Agency. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' noted her among "five to watch" in the context of

ethnic minority The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

writers for British television and film.

Awards

* ''Wanted'', Book 1 of The Chase Ryder Series - winner of the Readers' Favorite Young Adult Sci-Fi Book Award (2018) * Winner of the

's 'Contribution to the Creative Industries' Award (2018) * Winner of the

Women in Film and Television Women in Film & Television International (WIFTI) is a global network of non-profit membership chapters. Established in 1997, it is dedicated to advancing professional development and achievement for women working in all areas of film, video, and ot ...

's 'New Talent' Award (2010) * Spirit Warriors nominated for 'Best Children's Programme' at the Broadcast Awards (2011) * Nominated for CDN's 'Best Breakthrough Production Talent' Award (2010) * Big Ben Award for 'Outstanding Achievement by a Chinese Woman in the UK Film and Television Industry' (2009) * Selected for the acclaimed " Film London PULSE" short film funding scheme to shoot " Monkey Nut Tales" (2006) * Winner 'Best Film' for her short film ''

'' at the Buffalo-san Short Film Festival (2007)

Books

Filmography

Writing

Directing

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Jo 1977 births Living people English screenwriters British women screenwriters English film directors People from Dagenham Alumni of the University of Westminster WFTV Award winners