Ash Nugent - Turning a Book into a TV Series

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 W**d, 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.  

Ashleigh Nugent was the first black male writer from Liverpool to have a traditional book deal in his genre.  Ashleigh has also written for theatres and been published in academic journals, poetry anthologies and magazines. He was Liverpool City Region’s Artist of the Year in 2021 and is now a special advisor at the Shakespeare North Playhouse. Ashleigh is also course director at RiseUp, where he uses his own life experience, writing and mindset expertise to support prisoners and inspire change. 

Tom Thostrup is a TV and film producer and runs an independent production company called 2LE Media. He has worked in television for over twenty years, producing both scripted and unscripted programmes, including the Bafta and International Emmy-nominated Facejacker, and most recently 2LE Media’s first feature film, Dance First, directed by James Marsh (The Theory Of Everything, Man On Wire) and starring Gabriel Byrne, Aidan Gillen and Maxine Peake. Locks, by Ashleigh Nugent, is the first books 2LE Media have optioned for adaptation. 

Video Odyssey, Toxteth TV, 37-45 Windsor St, Liverpool L8 1XE 

Wednesday 8th May, 7:30pm 

Tickets: £5 

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