Joe grew up in Devon, southwest England. He studied drama at the University of Exeter, where he co-founded Worklight Theatre. His first solo show Labels, which explores displacement, migration and his dual British and Indian heritage, won a Scotsman Fringe First: awarded for innovation and outstanding new writing at Edinburgh Festival Fringe (previous winners include Phoebe Waller Bridge’s Fleabag). Labels went on to win four more international awards, and has toured across four continents since 2015.
Joe’s second play, Monster, premiered at Edinburgh and toured nationally, to critical acclaim, winning Show of the Week at London’s VAULT Festival; a short films adaptation of Monster was optioned by Ashley Walters’ production company SLNda.
Joe’s most recent shows – Fanboy and It’s The Economy, Stupid! – premiered at Pleasance, Edinburgh, winning several DarkChat Edinburgh Awards and receiving many four-star and five-star reviews, from publications including Playbill, Starburst and The Stage. Both shows transferred to London’s prestigious Soho Theatre as part of their UK tours.
Joe was part of the writing and world-building team for The Spores of Manitari – a new fantasy IP – with Julian Simpson’s production company, Storypunk. In this role, Joe co-wrote a graphic novel (now in production) and helped develop the pitch for a television series, currently in development.
Joe has also written over 50 episodes for a multitude of animated series, including Pip and Posy, Pip and Posy: Let’s Learn (Magic Light Productions), The Adventures of Paddington (Heyday Films), Lu and the Bally Bunch (Lubird Productions), The Very Small Creatures (Aardman/Sky Kids) and Nikhil & Jay (King Banana/CBeebies).
Joe Sellman-Leava is represented by Frances Arnold