Greenacre Films and ITV announce the cast for drama shorts, Unsaid Stories

Nicholas Pinnock, Yasmin Monet Prince, Joe Cole, Adelayo Adedayo, Paapa Essiedu, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Nicôle Lecky, and Amanda Abbington star in ITV Drama shorts, entitled Unsaid Stories… produced by Greenacre Films.

Greenacre Films and ITV have announced the cast for the series of short films, entitled Unsaid Stories… inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.

I Don’t Want To Talk About This, stars Joe Cole (Gangs of London, Peaky Blinders, Black Mirror) and Adelayo Adedayo (The Capture, Origin). Thea, a black middle class woman who is doing well for herself, bumps into her former boyfriend, Tom, at a party and despite the clock ticking on her taxi, Thea, begins to talk to her former lover and best friend like never before. They end up reassessing their relationship and the challenges they faced being a middle-class black woman and a working-class white bloke and the insidious and undeniable impact of racism on their love and friendship. 

Written by Anna Ssemuyaba, I Don’t Want To Talk About This, is produced by Madonna Baptiste (The Stranger, Black Mirror) and directed by Koby Adom (Noughts + Crosses, Haircut).

Nicholas Pinnock (For Life, Criminal: UK, Marcella) and Yasmin Monet Prince (Hanna, Dark Heart, Holby City) take the lead roles in Generational. Nicholas plays Oliver who catches his teenage daughter, Justina, sneaking out of the house to attend a Black Lives Matter march. At 16 he fears for his daughter’s safety and is concerned she’s putting herself at risk.  We later learn he has every reason to persuade her not to attend.

Written by Jerome Bucchan-Nelson (Bulletproof), Generational focuses upon a bitter sweet conversation for both father and daughter, as their views differ on what it means to fight for social justice. But as the conversation progresses and elements from Oliver’s past come to the fore their positions evolve and change and they find some common ground.  Generational is produced by Barbara Emile (Holby City, EastEnders) and directed by Alrick Riley (NCIS, The Good Doctor).

Nicôle Lecky (Superhoe, Death in Paradise), who has also written Lavender, plays Jordan a new mother who has recently had a baby with a black man. The drama centres around an uncomfortable conversation had between Lyndsey, Jordan’s mother played by Amanda Abbington (Sherlock, Mr Selfridge, Flack) and her mixed race daughter. Lavender is produced by Jo Johnson (Casualty, Ackley Bridge) and directed by Ethosheia Hylton (Dolapo is Fine, In The Silence).  As the conversation inevitably progresses, they are forced to confront and evaluate their relationship as a seemingly immovable wedge appears between them.

Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You, Gangs of London, Press) and Pippa Bennett-Warner (Maxxx, Gangs of London) star in Lynette Linton’s Look At Me, which tells the story of a young professional couple Kay and Michael who are both looking forward to their date. However, en route to the restaurant they are stopped by the police.  Back at Kay’s home, armed with a recording of what happened, we see the change in them from before the incident and the impact it has on them individually and as a couple.

Produced by Carol Harding (Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar, The Last Witness), Look At Me is directed by Francis Annan (Escape from Pretoria, Holby City).

Produced by Greenacre Films (Been So Long), an independent production company founded by award winning producers Nadine Marsh-Edwards (Joe All Alone, The Ruins of Empires, An Englishman in New York) and Amanda Jenks

(The Girl, Akala’s Odyssey, An Englishman in New York) with a remit to produce fresh and surprising stories with diverse voices, the dramas commence filming in London this week. The dramas are 15’ x 4 and will be produced whilst adhering to the TV and film production guidelines to ensure the safety and well-being of the cast and crew.

The dramas will be executive produced by Nadine Marsh-Edwards and Amanda Jenks.  They have been commissioned for ITV by Head of Drama, Polly Hill.  ITV Drama Commissioner, Chloe Tucker, will oversee the production of the dramas from the channel’s perspective.

Commented Nadine Marsh-Edwards and Amanda Jenks: 

“For these amazing actors to commit to the series, to work with such great creative talent behind the camera and bring these urgent stories to life in such a short space of time is an incredibly humbling experience. We are thrilled to be working with such talented teams and with ITV to bring these films to screen.”

Greenacre Films has a first look deal with Banijay Rights for the international distribution of their portfolio.