Secret Genius’ senior games producers Sammy Summers and Tasha Colvin on how the productions benefit when two people work as a single unit. In December 2019, one of us was waddling out of Pinewood Studios just weeks away from giving birth, convinced it might be her last day working in television. The logistics felt impossible. How could anyone be in two places at once — on a demanding production and at home with a newborn? A few years later, the other found herself asking the same questions after having her son. After a decade in TV, the worry wasn’t about passion or ambition, but practicality: how can you give everything a production demands and still make it home for pick-up, bath time and bedtime?

Like many parents in the industry, we had heard whispers of “job shares”. But they always seemed to exist somewhere else — in different departments, on different types of shows. We knew brilliant edit producers who had made it work, but in the games and challenge world it simply didn’t exist.

We had crossed paths on a production before but never worked closely together. A mutual friend reconnected us, and what began as the occasional check-in quickly turned into 3am, podcast-length voice notes, sent while navigating night feeds, sleep deprivation and the emotional whiplash of becoming new parents. The small talk disappeared fast. In its place was something deeper — a shared understanding of a new, chaotic world and a growing sense that maybe, just maybe, there was a connection here that could work professionally as well as personally.

After countless conversations about logistics, communication and trust, we decided to take the leap. A returning series — one that one of us had worked on before — gave us the opportunity, and that made all the difference. It turned out to be the best career decision we have ever made.

We quickly learned how each other worked. We supported each other’s strengths and learned new things along the way. Trust became the foundation of everything. We made sure we were both on every email, reviewed every document, and handed over seamlessly whenever one of us was offline. Over time, we stopped operating as two individuals and became more than the sum of our parts. We often joke that we speak to each other more than our own families, but that constant communication is the backbone of our partnership.

We divide the five-day working week between us, with one working two days and the other three, alternating this pattern each week. We aim to schedule at least one crossover day a week so the team has access to both of us together.

Since becoming a job share, we’ve collaborated on a range of UK and international productions, including Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge, Amazon Prime’s 007: Road to a Million, Netflix’s upcoming The Golden Ticket, ITV’s The Box, and Channel 4’s Secret Genius.

Along the way, we’ve encountered many generous supporters. When we stepped into the Mothership offices on day one of Secret Genius, we felt not just welcomed, but fully understood and celebrated, thanks to the support and the trust Kelly Webb Lamb.

The job share makes sense for the lives we’re trying to balance, but we’ve realised its value goes far beyond flexibility. Productions gain double the brainpower developing ideas, 25 years of combined experience, two sets of contacts, two sets of skills and perspectives, and an ever-present ability to problem-solve. When challenges arise — as they always do — there is always someone across every detail.

At the beginning, we worried that companies might hesitate at the idea of two mums running a team. But we’ve learned that parenting adds enormous value to a production. In our eyes, any parent working in television is a superhero — no cape, a few extra eye bags, but an extraordinary set of skills. By the time parents arrive at work, they’ve already lived a full day. Deadlines are managed alongside forgotten PE kits, pick-ups, emails and a thousand open tabs in the mind.

Hiring a parent is hiring a multitasking powerhouse. It’s been a joy to see more job shares emerging in games and challenge recently. We hope it signals a way forward — one where a career in television and family life can coexist, and where balance isn’t the exception, but the future.

Sammy Summers and Tasha Colvin are the senior games producers on Channel 4’s Secret Genius