Turning a Book into a TV Series – Ashleigh Nugent

Ashleigh Nugent and Tom Thostrup, co-founder and Managing Director of 2LE media, will talk through the process of how Ashleigh’s electric debut novel, Locks, was optioned for TV. Locks was published by Picador Books in 2023 and received rave reviews, including 4 out of 5 stars in the Daily Telegraph. Later that year, he secured a TV deal with Royal Television Society award-winning and BAFTA-nominated producers, 2LE Media.

Locks is a coming-of-age comedy of errors; a novel about growing up, wising up, and finding your place in a world of opposites. Aeon, a mixed-up and mixed-race teenager from a leafy Liverpool suburb, is desperate to understand the Black identity thrust upon him. He grows dreadlocks and immerses himself in ‘gangsta’ rap. Aeon’s journey of self-discovery takes him to Jamaica, where he finds that smoking weed, messy locks and massive red boots don’t necessarily help him to fit in. Within days of his arrival he is mugged, arrested and banged up in a Jamaican detention centre. Seen as the ‘white boy’, he finds that his journey of self-discovery has only just begun – and he’s going to have to fight for the respect and recognition he deserves.

This event promises to be an inspirational experience for any budding screen writers, as well as a fascinating glimpse into the real-life struggles portrayed in this irreverent and authentic black identity debut.