BAFTA-winning screenwriter Jeff Pope is joining forces with ITV and Lauren Cowell to bring us a drama that speaks directly to the impact of social media on children nowadays.
Having approached ITV with the idea for the drama after working with Ellen Roome, Lauren (who is the partner of Simon Cowell) will serve as executive producer on the untitled drama alongside Pope, who will be producing it as part of his production company, Etta Pictures.
Per ITV, the drama will depict “the devastating global impact of social media” on children and will examine “the extent to which technology companies are able to evade responsibility and scrutiny”.
The project will follow the story of Roome and other families all over the world who have called for online safety for children in the digital age.
Roome was recently honoured with an MBE for her work campaigning for improvements to children’s online safety following the death of her teenage son, Jools Sweeney. Jools was 14 years old when he took his own life and Roome has spoken out about how she believes her son’s death may have been linked to an online challenge that had gone wrong.
Roome has campaigned for Jools’ Law, a change in the law that would allow families to access the social media accounts of their children if they die. The UK government announced it would make Jools’ Law a reality earlier this year.
Roome will serve as a consultant on the drama and will work alongside Pope and his team during the writing process for it.
On the announcement of the drama, Roome said: “The fact that ITV and Jeff Pope are committed to this drama has genuinely given me a huge sense of hope and reassurance. I truly feel they will not only tell my story, but most importantly Jools’s story, with the care, sensitivity and integrity it deserves.
“What happened to Jools changed my life forever, but if telling his story can help protect other children and make people truly understand the reality of what families are facing, then I know there is purpose in doing this. Thank you all again for believing in this and for committing yourselves to such an important story.”
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Pope is no stranger to penning powerful drama based on real events, having recently written Believe Me, which explored the harrowing events surrounding the victims and survivors of John Worboys, one of the UK’s most prolific sex attackers.
On the announcement of the new drama, Pope said: “Ellen’s story is tragic and inspiring in equal measure. I think we are at a point in history when every parent is starting to ask questions about social media and what it is doing to our children.
“It’s appalling that parents aren’t given the information they need in the quest for answers about what has happened to their children.”
Lauren Cowell has been at the forefront of the Raise the Age campaign, which calls for better online protection for children and for raising the age of “addictive and harmful social media features” to 16.
Of the new drama, she said: “This is not simply a drama about social media. At its heart, it is a story about love, loss, truth, accountability and the desperate urgency to protect children. I hope it moves people, challenges people and starts conversations that cannot be ignored any longer.
“I am incredibly grateful to ITV, Jeff Pope and Etta Pictures for having the courage and compassion to take on something of this magnitude.”
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