Jo Ho is an award winning British-born Chinese screenwriter and director, best known for creating the BBC series Spirit Warriors

Spirit Warriors (TV series)

Spirit Warriors is an award-winning BBC children's adventure series, broadcast on BBC Two, BBC HD and CBBC. It is the first British television drama series to have a predominantly East Asian cast....

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She has been credited as the first Chinese person in the UK to have successfully created an original television drama series.

Early life

Jo was born in Dagenham, Essex, and studied Mixed Media Arts at the University of Westminster

University of Westminster

The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...

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Career

Jo Ho received her first credit working in the wardrobe and makeup department in 1997. She went on to work as a production manager on several projects, before creating her first short film Isolation 9 in 2006. The film won the Audience Festival award at the Buffalo Black & Asian Short Film Festival. Her next short film Monkey Nut Tales 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 panel.

After several years of development, Spirit Warriors

Spirit Warriors (TV series)

Spirit Warriors is an award-winning BBC children's adventure series, broadcast on BBC Two, BBC HD and CBBC. It is the first British television drama series to have a predominantly East Asian cast....

began filming in 2009. The series aired in 2010, on BBC HD

BBC HD

BBC HD is a high-definition television network 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...

, BBC Two

BBC Two

BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

, and CBBC

CBBC

CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...

, and was nominated for several awards, including Best Children's Programme at the 2011 Broadcast Awards.
Ho 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.

Since Spirit Warriors, Ho has worked as a storyline consultant on another BBC series called Bishaash, a supernatural fantasy set in Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

, and is in pre-production for several feature films.

Jo Ho is a member of BAFTA.

Awards

• Winner of the Women In Film and Television's 'New Talent' Award (2010)
• Nominated for CDN's 'Best Breakthrough Production Talent' Award
• Big Ben Award for 'Outstanding Achievement by a Chinese Woman in the UK Film and Television Industry’