Scottish indie Freedom Scripted to adapt Lucy Holden memoir ‘Lucid’

Lucy Holden & ‘Lucid’

Glasgow-based prodco Freedom Scripted has acquired the rights to turn Lucid, the memoir by author and journalist Lucy Holden, into a TV series.

Holden is attached to adapt the autobiographical book herself, with the series following her life over the course of a decade, where she faces unstable living conditions and the struggles of modern love.

Life in the fast lane as an ambitious young journalist eventually veers into darkness, before the pandemic forces Lucy to a standstill, where she must face her own buried trauma.

The story is described as that of “a generation exploring the constant battle between freedom and fear that defines coming of age from the 2010s and beyond,” with the series portraying Holden’s comical and unflinchingly honest account of her own experiences.

“We are so pleased to be working with Lucy on adapting her brilliantly funny, perceptive and at times gut-wrenching memoir,” said Nancy Napper Canter, development executive at Freedom Scripted. “Lucy’s no-holds-barred account of millennial life is second to none, and we cannot wait to bring her story to life on screen. It’s set to be essential watching for anyone who’s ever come of age, fallen in love, or lived in a nudist camp in Amsterdam.”

Holden added: “I’m so proud that Freedom has acquired the rights to Lucid, the memoir of my wild twenties. The number of readers who continue to write-in thanking me for laying bare my experiences suggests I have struck a nerve and that this is a story ripe for screen adaptation.”

UK public broadcaster Channel 4 invested in Freedom Scripted earlier this year via its Indie Growth Fund.

The prodco, which was founded in 2018 by former BBC, STV and World Productions development producer Mike Ellen, focuses on contemporary drama.

Its other projects in development include an adaptation of Sarah Moss’ novel Summerwater by John Donnelly; Glasgow-set crime thriller Southside; and Unseen, described as “a fresh take on invisibility” from Welsh writer Alan Harris.