The Making Of David Harewood: Psychosis and Me (BBC2)

A BSL interpreter will be available on this session.

Television has a very important role in destigmatising mental health issues.  As a 23-year-old, David Harewood had a psychotic breakdown and was sectioned.  In this film David let viewers into the realities of experiencing a psychotic breakdown, in a way that audiences have rarely, if ever, have seen a well-known person do.  The resulting award-winning film produced and directed by Wendie Ottewill, broke barriers for the honesty and openness of its portrayal of his journey.  It also looks at racism that David experienced as a performer.

In this session David and Wendie will talk about their working relationship during the making of this deeply personal film, as well as the complexities of its associated ethical and consent issues.  

Speakers:

David Harewood has achieved global recognition and widespread praise for his roles in films including Blood Diamond and The Hot Potato and in television series such as Homeland, Fat Friends and The Night Manager. As well as his screen acting work, Harewood has an impressive list of stage credits, and has fronted several acclaimed documentaries in the UK and beyond including Psychosis & Me.

Wendie Ottewill is a BAFTA nominated, multi award winning television documentary maker with over 20 years’ experience, mostly for the BBC, ITV & Channel 4. When head of Vice digital programming UK, she Exec Produced all video across Vice’s UK platforms.  She won the Royal Television Society Craft award for directing  David Harewood: Psychosis and Me. She’s currently Executive Producing, part-time. 

This session will be chaired for ScreenSkills by Katherine Parsons, executive producer/media consultant/board trustee.

This event is supported by the ScreenSkills Television Skills Fund which invests in training for the freelance television workforce thanks to contributions from the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Channel 5.

It is part of a ScreenSkills programme to support freelancers to upskill and stay connected, helping keep the industry resilient in these difficult times.

This session will take place online via Zoom. Click ‘get ticket’ to reserve your place: you must login or register before you are able to get a ticket for this event. A booking confirmation with a joining link to the session will be sent to you via email.

If you are no longer able to use your ticket, we ask you to please contact support@screenskills.com so that we can release your place. Our sessions are often oversubscribed, so we’d like to give other freelancers the opportunity to fill available spots. Thank you for your consideration.