Dan Winch: Following your heart and instincts
For TV/film producer Dan Winch, a career behind the camera began following a work experience placement at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre Royal. Whilst on placement Dan learned of the National Youth Theatre’s upcoming technical department interviews, and recalls being asked if he was interested. “Absolutely!” he remembers replying.
Dan has an infectious enthusiasm in the way he talks, the kind that makes you smile as you listen.
Growing up near Glastonbury, Dan was introduced to theatre by his parents from an early age. “I’m indebted to my parents for the fact they found ways to afford taking me, my brother and sister to the theatre regularly. Often this would involve restricted view-seats or standing at the back of the auditorium in Bath, but we were there experiencing it, loving it”, he explains.
Joining the NYT’s design department in the late 1990s was a dream come true for Dan. Suddenly, he wasn’t just watching theatre, he was helping make it. Dan animatedly recalls the distinctive smell of the construction workshop, in particular the metal cutting he was tasked with and wonderful experiences of scenic painting. Most memorably, he was so warmly embraced in a team environment. “It was all new. Being away from home, working closely with so many new people, learning new skills and techniques. It was super exciting,” he says. “Being part of putting a show on and treated like a member of a professional company was simply brilliant.”
Dan’s NYT experience became particularly important when he received rejections from every university he’d applied to for media degree courses.“ I remember the initial embarrassment of it,” he admits. “On reflection, it was undoubtedly a blessing and encouraged me to follow my heart and instincts”. His experiences with the NYT and Bristol Old Vic encouraged him to explore a different route – the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Dan was accepted onto the BOVTS stage management and technical theatre course. It was here that the likes of Olivia Colman and Naomie Harris were also in training at the time.
His NYT training helped Dan feel settled at Bristol, “I felt, I know this place. I know this environment. I know the creative routine here”, he says.
After graduating, Dan was curious to explore film and television as well as theatre. An early job as a third assistant director on a BBC Wales production threw him in at the deep end, but his stage-management training stood him in good stead.
“I had to really give the facade of, ‘I know what I’m doing here’”, he laughs. “As stage managers we were always taught to delegate speedily, in order to keep ourselves available to deal with whatever unexpected challenge cropped up”.
Next, Dan moved on to Channel 4’s Sunday, written by Jimmy McGovern and based on the tragic events of Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland. It proved a pivotal experience for Dan as he considered his career ahead.” If I had to try and define the sort of stories I most aspire to helping tell, it would be those which have a true-life element,” he says. “It was Sunday that helped me realise that, despite being a runner rather than a producer at that stage”.
Dan was first assistant director on projects including Boy A, Appropriate Adult, Tyrannosaur, House of Saddam and The Mark of Cain. He moved into production, and has produced projects including What We Did on Our Holiday, A Very English Scandal, Quiz, The Lost King, Brian & Maggie and Black Mirror: Beyond the Sea.
Whilst his career has involved working with acclaimed writers, directors and actors, Dan remains true to what he took away from the NYT – that every team member has an essential part to play in the creation of a production and bringing a script to life.
“A good producer radiates an energy, enthusiasm, inspiration and inclusiveness, focussing everyone in the same direction with a united ambition,” he explains. This is far from the common misconception that producing is all budgets, spreadsheets and organisation. It’s a critically creative role. “Producing inevitably demands a constant need to problem solve in determination of achieving the best creative outcome for a story”. Dan believes positivity must always be the default.
His advice to young people entering the industry is grounded in his own experiences. “Be willing to absorb everything you possibly can from those around you, whatever their department or job role, whether in theatre, TV or film”.
Dan remembers knocking on dressing-room doors, walking an actress’s dogs on his lunch breaks and even sitting beside the refrigerators in a real morgue while working on Silent Witness; tasked with switching them off for takes because their hum interfered with the sound. “Every experience has taught me something, and helped me continue learning from project to project”.
“I have huge admiration and respect for every craft required to see a production through from its origins to curtain up or release,” he says, reflecting on how the NYT opened that mindset for him. Dan’s career might have looked very different if he hadn’t jumped at the opportunity to apply to the NYT. While every incredible project Dan’s been involved with has brought something different, the appeal remains strikingly similar to what he discovered as a teenager – “It’s such a cool thing to be part of a creative community of people all working towards a common goal.”
Auditions to join National Youth Theatre in 2027 are open now