Ok !
Who do I
do next ?

WHAT'S AN
IDENTITY BUILT
ON TRAUMA?

Created by Nicola Scarlino

Some men are dead to shame. Some live through it.

You can fuck with it all you want,
you still won't know who you are.

This is not about sex.

It's about the part of him that was let down – and won't let go.

The Concept

Mauro builds perfect worlds for a living – flawless sets, total control. Beneath the surface, he is spiralling. Survival looks like: overachieve, seduce, collapse, repeat. Campaign after campaign, celebrity after celebrity, he creates beauty that is not his. He builds the illusion, but the shame bleeds through.

The series blends psychological realism with stylised delirium. Campaigns, sex, therapy, music, medicine – they are not just storylines, they are triggers. One by one they force him to confront a terrifying question: How much of me is just repetition?

Tonal Comparisons

I MAY DESTROY YOU

12 episodes · ~£8–10M season · 2020

Sexual trauma as nonlinear narrative. Healing, consent and identity questioned without moralising.

BABY REINDEER

7 episodes · ~£6–8M season · 2024

Deeply personal. A confessional into shame, self-destruction and the need to be seen.

FLEABAG

6 episodes/season · ~£5–7M · 2016–2019

Darkly funny, visceral, raw, witty, unfiltered.

Characters

Mauro (33)

Sharp. Guarded. Boyish. Cracked.

Mauro grew up in Florida's 1990s barefoot waterski scene – a violent, smile-or-drown kind of world. Today he is a high-end production designer working globally, immersed in the rhythm of fashion and music: fast, transactional, disposable. There is no time to process, only the next brief, the next name, the next set – until one memory, buried for 25 years, hits hard enough to break the cycle.

For the first time he has to ask:
Who do I become next?

Elena (30 then / 64 now)

Mauro's mother

Opinionated, pressuring, rigid, brilliant.

Elena was once an elite barefoot waterski champion, a master of pressure and control. For years Mauro thought her manic highs were the source of his damage. In truth she was the perfect cover. While everyone watched her unravel, he was being raped.

Jimmy (28)

Mauro's lover

Queer. Fluid. Unrooted.

Triggering in all the right ways.

Jimmy moves on instinct – charming, magnetic, sometimes reckless. To Mauro he feels like freedom. But staying close to him means nothing stays buried. He does not label what they are; he just keeps pushing until Mauro has no choice but to reveal himself.

Immaterial Forces

Fashion & Music Gigs

Spectacular. Devouring. Addictive.

They are not just settings – they are belief systems. For Mauro they offer framework and status, but they also erase him. He is an artist without a self, creating for others, selling illusion (quite often just lipsticks) delivering vision that is never his own.

Sex Encounters

Revealing. Explorative. Kink.

Mauro does not have sex to connect; he does it to feel something real – or someone real. It looks like discovery, but it is a loop, a failed attempt at defining himself by pleasing someone else.

The Memory

Buried. Repressed. Infectious.

Mauro ignores what happened when he was seven, but his body does not. It plays out in sex, in shame, in work. When the memory returns 25 years later, it dismantles everything he thought was true and pushes an already fractured soul to the edge of depersonalisation.

Season & Episode Breakdown

#TitleShort SynopsisTone / Format
ACT I DENIAL
Performance as survival.
1DistractionA glossy emotional setup hides abuse under infidelity tropes.Fake Rom-Com / Trauma Trap
2High FunctionStylised tension in high-speed grind of sex, gigs and self-erasure.Burnout noir / Aesthetic panic
3Rock BottomThree timelines crash in one. Truth cracks through — he was raped.Intercut psychological thriller
ACT II. COLLAPSE
Memory resurfaces.
4TriggerJimmy leaves. Memory whispers. Mauro phases out.Slow-burn psych
5CortisolA shroom trip becomes a body-led trauma revelation: flesh and truth.Psychedelic body horror / Anime
6DopamineEMDR hits like a fix. Healing becomes another high to chase.Therapeutic thriller / Docu-style
ACT III INTEGRATION
A new authentic self.
7ScarringHe’s awake now — haunted, righteous, no more covers.Grief rage / Reckoning arc
8The Wounded HealerNo performance anymore. He integrates. The wound becomes a compass.Existential drama

Development Strategy

Where We Are

  • 4 of 8 episodes already written in Final Draft.
  • Season world, arcs and structure are locked emotionally and formally.
  • Pitch materials: deck, themes, comps and tone are ready.

What’s Next

  • Finish the remaining 4 scripts and polish the season bible.
  • Open the material to a writers’ room while protecting the core voice.
  • Secure an animation partner for the shroom/psychedelic episode.
  • Finalize a visual lookbook for production and marketing.

What We’re Looking For

  • A lead producing partner to package and pitch with the creator.
  • An EP / co-showrunner aligned with auteur, psychologically-driven work.
  • Early conversations with platforms around strategy & festival roll-out.
  • Room to grow form while keeping the emotional architecture intact.

Distribution & Marketability

Global Emotional Resonance

  • 1 in 5 adults are CSA survivors (WHO/CDC, 2024).
  • Identity & recovery arcs resonate across the 3Gs.
  • Speaks to a silenced audience with precision, not pity.
  • Targets Gen Z / Millennial audiences craving truth.

Stylistic Flexibility


  • EP format shifts: POV, animation, surreal realism.
  • Visually distinctive — each episode its own universe.
  • Raw, poetic, doesn’t flinch — but offers catharsis.
  • High replay & discussion value for digital audiences.

Cross-Platform Integration

  • Built into fashion, music, influencer culture.
  • Ideal for campaign tie-ins & festival positioning.
  • Meta-celebrities drive press, virality, and fandom.

Budget & Financing

Budget Range (Est.)

Target €10.6–11.5M — Season 1
Hybrid live-action + animation (Episode 5)
Location planning key

Production Timeline

Pilot script available
60% written
6–8 months from greenlight to production-ready

Production Model

Boutique core crew + high-end creative partners
Lean, agile and artist-driven — built for prestige, not overspend
Open to collaboration on casting, rollout and visual tone adjustments

Financing Strategy

Secure HBO as lead financier and broadcaster
Co-production ready — open to EU support (CNC, regional funds)
Organic partnerships with fashion / beauty / music brands

Production Structure — Set-Piece vs Bottle Episodes

EpisodeFormat / TypeKey Cost DriversBudget Weight
1 — DistractionBottle + Location DramaParis interiors, Florida insertsLow–Mid
2 — High FunctionMulti-location Set-pieceNightlife / music venues / fashion backstageMid–High
3 — Rock BottomIntercut Set-pieceFlashback structures, multi-timelinesHigh
4 — TriggerBottle + Surreal InsertsMauro’s loft, dream imageryMid
5 — CortisolHybrid (Live Action + Animation)Lanzarote landscapes + animated sequencesVery High
6 — DopamineBottle EpisodeEMDR therapy scenes + minimal locationsMid
7 — ScarringConfrontation Set-pieceRooftop, police precinct, stylised city insertsMid
8 — Wounded HealerFinal Bottle ResolutionTherapy space, contained emotional arcLow

Creator Control & IP

Creator-Led Vision

Conceived and written by Nicola Scarlino.

A singular voice — ensuring tonal coherence, emotional truth and visual boldness from script to screen.

Original IP, Fully Owned

All rights retained by the creator.

100% original material — no adaptation constraints. Built for scalability across seasons, formats and markets.

Platform-First Partnership

Designed for a network that champions bold, author-driven storytelling.

Encourages narrative risk-taking, cross-genre fluidity, and genuine creative authorship.

Creative Flexibility

Open to collaboration on casting, structure and rollout — without compromising the emotional architecture.

Style can evolve. Substance remains sharp.

I didn’t write this series to heal.

I wrote it because I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

When I was a kid, something happened that I buried so deep it shaped my whole life without me knowing.

At 35, it came back. Not as a flashback — as a fracture. Quiet, violent, undeniable.

Suddenly, everything made sense. The hunger to be seen. The bulimia. The obsession with getting it right. The sex. The work. The disconnection. The charm. The collapse.

It wasn’t ambition — it was survival.

I always say I survived twice. Once when I was a child. Once when I remembered. The second time nearly killed me.

I don’t want applause. I want to show what it feels like when your identity is built on something you never asked for.

When the thing that hurt you most… also made you who you are. And you can’t tell if that’s tragic or beautiful.

This show doesn’t try to fix that question. It just dares to sit in it — and look.

OK, so who do I do next?

YOU, BABE.