STOP DEVELOPMENT FROM DRIFTING
A hand-picked senior development team.
For one intensive week.
Built around your precise needs.
Sharper ideas. Pitch-ready materials. Faster momentum.
7 SPRINTS COMPLETED
ONE CLEAR OBJECTIVE · ONE SENIOR TEAM · FIVE FOCUSED DAYS
YOUR IDEAS. YOUR IP. NO BACKEND.
The Development Sprint isn’t a formats company.
We don’t take ownership in your ideas and we aren’t developing a competing slate on the side.
Your ideas remain yours.
We work under clear confidentiality, with strict separation between clients, projects and teams.
When do you need a Sprint?
A funded development lands. You need to deliver fast.
A tender drops. You need to stand out.
A format isn’t working. It needs rebuilding.
Your slate has gone quiet. You need fresh thinking.
You’ve got good ideas sitting around. You need to work out which ones are worth pushing.
A senior development team, built around the problem.
We start with one clear development objective.
Then we assemble the senior team that brief needs.
For five focused days, the team works together to move that specific problem forward.
A defined scope, a fixed fee and an agreed outcome — all set before the Sprint begins.
The right people. The right brief. One clear finish line.
HOW IT WORKS
01 DEFINE THE GOAL
Before the Sprint starts, we agree exactly what needs to have changed by Friday.
02 BUILD THE TEAM
We hand-pick the right senior people for that particular challenge.
03 FIVE FOCUSED DAYS
Ideas are generated, challenged, developed, written and visualised together.
04 LEAVE WITH SOMETHING USEFUL
You leave with the development outcome agreed at the start and a clear next step.
Fixed objective. Fixed period. Fixed fee.
CLIENTS & COMMISSIONERS
CHARLOTTE DAVIS
“We’ve used The Development Sprint on several projects and found it to be an incredibly productive and creative process. Tom quickly assembled the right team, generated high-quality ideas, and helped us move projects forward at pace. A brilliant way to inject fresh thinking into development.”
Creative Director, Rock Oyster Media
FEDERICO RUIZ
“The Sprint added real clarity and momentum to the development, resulting in a sharp and timely pitch. It’s a smart way for indies looking to marshal senior development firepower around a specific brief.”
VP Commissioning Editor, Channel 5 & Paramount+
Hidde Pel
“We brought Tom and his team on board at a time when we were facing tight client deadlines and limited internal resources. They were incredibly agile, responsive and quick to get up to speed. Not only did they exceed our expectations creatively, but the communication throughout was excellent, with regular alignment on progress and creative direction.”
Head of Development, Fremantle Netherlands
“Tom is a real find if you haven’t worked with him before. His senior development experience means he can analyse both the marketplace and the idea for a fit instantly and collaboratively with you.
He keeps pushing and looking for the next turn of the wheel within the idea. He’s also very good at decks, a hard worker and lovely to deal with.”
RUKHSANA MOSAM
Creative Director, Ten66 Television
“We’ve drafted Tom in on numerous occasions for a whole host of different projects, and it’s been brilliant to be able work with a development veteran (no offence, Tom) – he’s very creative, resourceful, realistic and most importantly, fun.”
EOIN KAVANAGH
Head of Development, Avalon
“Tom is brilliant… very diligent and goes the extra mile… always delivers creatively, with deep knowledge of formats and the current landscape.”
JASPER WARRY
Founder & CEO, Hello Deer Studios
“I thought it worked really well. It’s a good process for commissioners; because there’s a range of ideas that have only been lightly worked up it means we can be slightly more direct – and you feel less like you’re breaking people’s hearts!”
HELEN NIGHTINGALE
Head of Factual and Factual Entertainment, UKTV
RECENT SPRINTS
NEW SLATE
A specific broadcaster opportunity needed a fresh slate, with a clear view of which ideas to take forward. A senior team generated and shaped propositions against the brief.
Outcome: A prioritised bank of propositions, with the strongest developed into pitchable ideas.
FORMAT BUILD
A promising idea needed a stronger format engine. The Sprint concentrated senior development work on clarifying the proposition and strengthening the structure.
Outcome: A clearer proposition, stronger format structure and a defined direction for the pitch.
FAST-TURNAROUND PITCH
An early idea needed to become a coherent pitch quickly. The Sprint combined format development, writing and visual direction in one focused intervention.
Outcome: A coherent pitch, with the idea developed in both words and visuals.
THE RIGHT TEAM FOR THE BRIEF.
Sometimes one excellent freelancer is exactly the right answer.
When a brief needs several kinds of senior thinking, a focused team can work through the problem together.
That might mean combining idea generation, format expertise and visual storytelling around one objective.
The Development Sprint assembles that combination for five focused days, without adding permanent headcount.
The Sprint Team
Every Sprint team is hand-picked around the brief, combining the senior experience and specialist skills the objective needs.
Example Sprint Roles
Topline Specialist
Format Fixer
Visual Designer
Games Brain
Digital Expert
Connected Caster
Tom Sutton | Founder, The Development Sprint
Tom Sutton is an experienced unscripted television executive with over 25 years in the industry. His career began in production, working on some of Britain’s biggest entertainment shows, including Big Brother, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and You’re Back in the Room.
He has since held senior development roles at leading production companies including Studio Ramsay, BBC Studios, South Shore, Shine TV, Twofour, Avalon and Optomen, creating and developing programmes across entertainment, reality and factual entertainment. His development credits include Banged Up, Freddie’s Field of Dreams, Loaded in Paradise, Singletown, Cooking with the Stars and Question Team, with a track record of developing ideas into commissions for major UK broadcasters.
He founded The Development Sprint to bring that combination of hands-on production experience, creative development expertise and commercial understanding to independent production companies.
FAQs
What is a Development Sprint?
A Development Sprint brings a senior team together for five focused days around one clear development objective.
Who will be in the Sprint team?
The brief determines the team. We select the senior development experience and specialist skills needed for the agreed objective.
When should we use a Sprint?
When you have a specific development problem that needs focused senior attention and a clear outcome to work towards.
How does the pre-Sprint process work?
Before the Sprint, we hold a focused briefing session to define the objective, deliverables and what success looks like.
That allows us to assemble the right team and hit the ground running on day one.
How involved do we need to be during the Sprint?
Some clients want daily check-ins and fast steering. Others prefer a clearer handover with key decision points. We agree on the rhythm upfront.
Where possible, the Sprint can run in person, either at your office or in a dedicated working space.
What do we have by the end of the Sprint?
You leave with the development output agreed in the briefing, ready for the next step on that project.
What happens after the Sprint ends?
If further development is needed, we can return to the brief, project or slate — including responding to commissioner notes, preparing pitch materials or running another Sprint.
How is this different from hiring freelancers?
We build and lead a team around one objective, working together for five focused days.
How does confidentiality and IP work?
Your ideas remain yours. We work under clear confidentiality, with strict separation between clients, projects and teams.
How much does a Sprint cost?
Every Sprint is scoped around the objective and the team required. We agree the scope and fee before we begin, so you know exactly what the week is costing before the work starts.