Jonny was born, raised, educated and is a proud product of the East End of London. Having enjoyed himself for many years barely paying attention in school he finally found a creative outlet in writing and managed to obtain a Masters with distinction in Writing at the university of (you guessed it) East London.
In theatre, Jonny has successfully taken part in various initiatives including ‘Stage Write’ (a competition he won), and has had short plays performed at the Hackney Empire, The Stratford Circus, and the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith. Jonny was the winner of ‘Script This’, a year long competition run by The Broadway Barking, and was named as an Associate Artist at the theatre where his play The Royal Duchess Superstore was developed. The Royal Duchess Superstore was later produced at The Broadway, Barking and The Half Moon theatre, directed by Karena Johnson.
Jonny was selected for the BBC Writersroom 10, the BBC Continuing Drama Playwrights Scheme and was also one of six writers to deliver a 90’ script for Coming Up. Following a successful trial script for Eastenders, Jonny’s first episode transmitted in September 2014. He’s continued to write for the show and now has more than 50 episodes under his belt.
Jonny’s first radio play Community Service starring Daniel Mays and Leo Bill was nominated for an Imison Award in 2017. Jonny joined the writers’ room for eight-part crime series Heist with Red Planet Pictures and is currently writing original pilot script, Mr 10%, as a participant in the BBC Studios Writers’ Workshop 2021.
Jonny O’Neill is represented by Frances Arnold