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When life gives you lemons,
make something

wonderful
inspiring
positive
personal

My Story

I'm a writer, broadcaster, campaigner, speaker... and sometimes a comedian. I wrote and starred in Channel 4's Lee and Dean, and am the creator of ITV's coming-of-age drama Tell Me Everything.

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And, as a kid, I was sexually abused. I wish I could say that was the only lemon life had given me, but… my dad died suddenly, without any warning, when I was 15. He just went to work one morning, collapsed, and I never saw him again. Four years later, after a long illness, my mum died. Sorry. (I know I probably don’t need to be, but I am - it’s a lot, isn’t it?)

 

My life didn’t get off to a great start, and the effects of all that early tragedy and trauma has influenced every chapter of it since. I’ve had a lot of therapy. Honestly, a LOT. So much therapy that I worried for a long time there’d be none left for anyone else. But as great and important as much of that was, there’s one thing that has made an even greater difference to my life – my outlook, my determination, my mental health, my sense of not just being a bit broken - lemonade. 

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Not actual lemonade, of course (although I do like actual lemonade). I mean the metaphorical stuff. The ‘when life gives you lemons…’ type. I’ve made things. Some of them real, tangible things you can see and hold, some of them less so – but no less powerful.

 

My first own personal lemonade (that sounds weird) was ‘Tell Me Everything’, where I told the story of what it was like being a teenager whose dad dies. My next bottle of the sweet lemony stuff is a documentary where I explore the sexual abuse I suffered as a child. The documentary follows me as I journey through my past, meeting people who knew me growing up, and people in my life now - and as I attempt to make a sitcom about being sexually abused. Which we’ve also made.  It’s called ‘My Sexual Abuse – The Sitcom’.

 

It sounds nuts, I know. But these have been the most healing, cathartic things I’ve ever done. I’ve taken some horrible negative things and made something positive out of them. Lemonade. I think this act of creation is the real key to healing from the bad things that happen to us. Trauma destroys lives, dreams, memories, potential. What better answer is there to destruction than creation?

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And I realised something else - my greatest successes and achievements in life have always come soon after my biggest failures, mistakes, disasters and disappointments. This realisation has been more than a bit life-changing for me... Bad stuff happens to us, there's no avoiding it - things go wrong, we go through times that we wouldn't wish on anyone else. But it's what we do next that matters, how we turn those bad things into fuel - what we create with it.

 

I think the act of making something can take almost any form - a letter, a poem, a painting, or a simple act of kindness for someone else. It might even be the very personal work of making sense of whatever has happened to us. And for all of us, I hope, it’s eventually the act of making peace with our trauma, our hardships, our failures, and ourselves. Making sense, making peace, making something – it’s all making. And it all helps to make us the strong, resilient individuals who’ve survived everything we’ve been through so far. 

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So I'm on a bit of a mission: to find out what other people have made with the lemons life has given them, to help and encourage others to make their own lemonade, and to share the power and importance of creating something in the face of adversity.

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I'll be Making Lemonade through a podcast, a book, and a series of talks and workshops.

 

Fancy a glass?

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The Documentary

The Documentary

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My Sexual Abuse: The Sitcom

(From Channel 4 Press Pack)

 

This bold and moving documentary from award-winning producers Swan Films follows writer and comedian Mark O’Sullivan (Lee and Dean, Tell Me Everything) as he writes and directs a sitcom about the sexual abuse he survived as a child, and the court case that led to the conviction of the man who abused him.
 

Charting the writing, rehearsals and eventual filming of the 80s-style family sitcom in front of a studio audience, the documentary explores why Mark has chosen to deal with his abuse in this way.  He asks whether comedy really can be used to confront some of the worst parts of the human experience.  
 

As the sitcom begins to take shape with an all-star cast including Cariad Lloyd, Rufus Jones, Ellie Taylor and Sam Underwood, Mark reveals his daring decision to play a 12-year-old version of himself, and the unusual portrayal of the paedophile. 
 

In order to make the sitcom Mark delves into his past, meeting a range of people who help him understand what he went through as a child, from a friend of his late parents, to a psychotherapist, and his wife Jenny.  
 

Through these encounters Mark also examines what happened when, as an adult, he revealed the abuse to his family, the court case that took place when Mark was in his thirties, and the ways that being a survivor of abuse continue to shape his life and mental health.  
 

With his comedy partner and best friend, Miles Chapman, Mark weighs up the role of humour in dealing with trauma, and with fellow abuse survivor, broadcaster and comedian-turned counsellor, Iain Lee, Mark is challenged about what he’s doing and why. 
 

Culminating in the studio recording of the sitcom in front of an audience, the documentary builds into an audacious, heartfelt and, at times, funny exploration of the effects of childhood sexual abuse, and the redemptive power of creativity. 

 

You can watch the documentary and sitcom here.  

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Made by Swan Films for Channel 4
Directed and Produced by Joe Evans

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"This extraordinary film... is deeply uncomfortable, confronting and never less than searingly honest and valid, both artistically and ethically."

The Telegraph

 

"Astonishingly powerful... this programme conveys a genuinely life-affirming sense of the power of creativity in bringing light to the darkest places."

The Times

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"Confronting, funny and raw. O'Sullivan's documentary - and resulting sitcom - was a twisted triumph - *****"

The I Paper

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The Podcast and Book

In 'My Sexual Abuse: The Sitcom', I say I feel that making the documentary and sitcom might well be the 'full​ stop', the closure that I've always sought. And in a way, I was right - it was. I know longer feel ruled by the emotions that those events left me struggling with. 

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But I was also wrong. Because the power of making something overwhelmingly positive out of something so negative has left me wanting to know, and do, more. 

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I want to share the insights I've gained, explore the power of creativity in all and any forms as a transformative energy, find out how creativity relates to resilience and - most importantly - talk to other people about the lemonade they've made out of the lemons life has given them.

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I also want to talk about trauma. 

 

I used to think that trauma was quite a rare thing. Not everyone’s experienced a traumatic event or period of their lives, right? But the number of people who have, or will, experience trauma in their lives is shocking – PTSD UK estimate it to be around 50-70%. 

 

The personal cost of trauma is huge, but the cost to society is terrifyingly high – a recent study (by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) of male prisoners in California estimated that 97% of inmates had “at least one traumatic childhood experience.” 

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These are the themes and conversations I'll be exploring in Making Lemonade's podcast and book, which is currently in development. 

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To find out more and get regular updates, sign up to my newsletter. And if you'd like to talk to me about how you've created your own positive changes, please get in touch

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Talks and Workshops
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Talks and Workshops

Before starting my career in television, I spent almost two decades working as a facilitator, teacher and trainer - firstly in education, then for organisations in the public, third and private sectors. I designed and delivered talks, seminars and workshops on topics from issues-based programmes like domestic abuse and hate crimes, to harnessing creativity, resilience, career development and change. I'm now offering a range of talks and workshops that can be delivered 'off the shelf' or tailored to suit your organisation's specific requirements.

Alternatively, if you'd like me to come and speak at your event/seminar or to your group or team about any of the following, please do get in touch:

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Child Sexual Abuse (effects, reporting it to the police, legal proceedings)

Childhood Bereavement 

My experience of:

  • Trauma

  • Working with police and criminal justice officials

  • Navigating when and how to tell loved ones, including children, about what happened to me

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Making Lemonade for Organisations

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Making Change - for individuals, communities and organisations

Resilience - how negative experiences can fuel our next achievements and successes

Creativity for everyone - think you're not creative, or there isn't a place for creativity in your work? Let me help you to change your mind!

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Making Lemonade for Education

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Making Lemonade - how to turn the bad stuff - when it happens - into the energy for success, and build resilience 

How to be an amazing friend - because you never know when someone will need you to be

The Power of Creativity - for ideas, self-motivation, reflection and healing

Writing and Devising - how to get your ideas out of your head and on to the page

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