Dreaming Whilst Black Creator on US vs UK Pay Gap
Adjani Salmon says a single American comedy pilot can pay him more than two full seasons of a BBC show in Britain.
The co-creator and star of Dreaming Whilst Black made the comparison during a panel at the RTS London Convention, as reported by Deadline on 29 September 2026. He writes, directs and acts, and his warning was about money and choices.
Salmon said he is currently writing a pilot in the United States — a trial episode made to test a possible series — that might never get made. Even so, the one-off fee is larger than his pay for two seasons with the BBC. “By that metric financially, why should I make British TV going forward?” he asked the panel.
The gap matters because Dreaming Whilst Black was built in Britain on a small budget. Salmon turned a self-funded YouTube series into a BBC Three pilot, meaning a single test episode, before BBC Comedy ordered a full series with Big Deal Films and A24. Salmon co-wrote the show and reprises his role as Kwabena in series two.
That series has since collected BAFTA awards, and Salmon is an RTS Award-winning creator. BBC Comedy later commissioned a second series. Both seasons are available in the US on Paramount+ after A24 picked up the Big Deal Films show.
Salmon said the pay gap will shape where new writers go next. Young creators on TikTok can earn £3,000 to £4,000 a month, he said. If traditional broadcasters such as the BBC keep budgets low, those creators will have little reason to switch to television.
He was speaking alongside Jon Thoday, the co-founder of UK agency-producer Avalon. Thoday said Americans are investing in Britain through shows including Prime Video’s Last One Laughing UK and Sky’s Saturday Night Live UK, but British companies are not matching that spending.
What makes this stand out is the working life behind the figures. A pilot fee can outweigh years of writing, filming and returning for another series. For viewers, that calculation decides who stays to finish a story and who leaves to start one elsewhere.
