Today The Edinburgh TV Festival has announced an exclusive Save Me masterclass with creator, writer and actor Lennie James, director Nick Murphy and executive producers Simon Heath (World Productions) and Jessica Sykes (Independent Talent).
The six-part Sky Atlantic series launched in February and introduced us to an unlikely hero in Nelly Rowe, played by Lennie James. The life and soul of his local boozer, a charmer, chancer, fighter, and liar, Nelly’s world is turned upside down after he is arrested and accused of kidnapping his 13-year-old daughter Jody, a child he barely knew existed.
The series became the fastest ever downloaded box-set release on Sky, with almost 700,000 watching the full series in the first week alone, and more than a million-people watching the entire series in less than a fortnight. A second series has recently been confirmed and will once again star James as Nelly and see the return of Suranne Jones as his ex-lover and Jody’s mother, Claire.
The exclusive masterclass will explore Save Me’s unique development process specifically looking at Lennie’s approach to writing, his compelling characters, authentic dialogue and gripping narrative and how director Nick Murphy created a distinctive visual language to bring this world to life.
Lennie James said “So much of the process of bringing Save Me from idea to screen happened out of circumstance and necessity. I’m not sure that it equates to a blueprint that anybody else could follow, but I learnt a lot about myself as a writer and what it takes to champion your idea through the different steps. I am looking forward to sharing and exploring those lessons in this masterclass.”