TV rights to WONDROUS STRANGE series go to Shaftesbury

Apparently it's all TV/film deals, all the time! We've had a number of exciting TV/film deals announced recently (see The Clan of the Cave Bear and Olivia Kidney), and now we're delighted to announce another!

Leading producer Shaftesbury Films has acquired TV rights to Lesley Livingston's acclaimed Wondrous Strange trilogy, published by HarperCollins! The award-winning trilogy, which includes Wondrous Strange (2008), Darklight (2009), and Tempestuous (2010), follows the adventures of Kelly Winslow, a teenager whose life takes a dramatic turn when she learns she is the long-lost heir to the Faerie realm. 

Livingston will be part of the creative team behind the Wondrous Strange TV production, and as she says in Quill and Quire, "To say that I’m excited about this would be a galactic understatement. Galactic." Shaftesbury produced the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's long-running Murdoch Mysteries series, as well as the Canadian Television Network's paranormal police series The Listener.

The announcement was picked up by Deadline, Quill and Quire, and Publishers Weekly, among others.

Below is the full press release with additional details:

SHAFTESBURY SECURES TELEVISION RIGHTS TO AWARD-WINNING YOUNG ADULT BOOK SERIES WONDROUS STRANGE

“With a marvelously refreshing heroine, a genuinely lovable hero, and a swift-moving, fascinating plot, Ms. Livingston gives a modern twist to the age-old epic hero’s 'coming of age’ story. Wondrous Strange shows that the world of Faerie can be updated and yet retain its age-old charm - as well as its aura of deadly danger. This is my kind of fiction, and my kind of heroine!”

-LJ Smith, author of The Vampire Diaries

TORONTO/LOS ANGELES, July 14, 2014 – Leading producer Shaftesbury has acquired the television rights to Lesley Livingston’s acclaimed Wondrous Strange young adult trilogy, published by HarperCollins Canada as well as HarperCollins U.S. Including Wondrous Strange (2009), Darklight (2010) and Tempestuous (2011), the book series follows the adventures of a young woman who discovers she is the long-lost heir to the Faerie realm.

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bitten and Orphan Black have shown us that television audiences are hungry for genre series featuring strong female protagonists who are dealing with extraordinary circumstances in the real world,” said Maggie Murphy, Head, Shaftesbury U.S. “By putting a refreshingly darker spin on classic fairy lore, Wondrous Strange offers an entirely new fantasy world that has never been seen before, with empowering, believable characters who speak directly to the young female demographic.”

“I could not be more thrilled to hand this world and these characters over to Shaftesbury,” said Livingston. “This kind of creative, dedicated, professional team is one that writers wait a long time for and I’m so excited to see this story getting the opportunity to grow beyond the pages of the books.”

Shaftesbury has a long-standing, successful track record in adapting the best of Canadian literature for film and television, including the works of Margaret Atwood, Carol Shields, Mordecai Richler, Timothy Findley, Morley Callaghan, Michael Ignatieff, Dr. Vincent Lam and Maureen Jennings.

In Wondrous Strange, when the invisible membrane dividing our world from an unknown, other dimension is punctured, a young woman named Kelly Winslow joins a small Guard determined to stop the tide of evil…but soon discovers she is born of the very thing she has sworn to destroy. With the mysterious Sonny Flannery by her side, Kelly learns Faeries are alive and well and that she is the missing heir to their throne. As she falls desperately for Sonny, she wonders if the two can ever truly be together. In New York City, just off Broadway - amongst never-ending roadwork, digital overload and street meat - lies the battleground. The evil in Wondrous Strange hides in plain sight, often disguised in seemingly benign human form - always present, awaiting that split-second opportunity when we lower our guard. Late at night the parasites come to call, to snatch our innocent sleeping children. Can Kelly embrace her heritage in time to save the imperfect world she calls home?

Released in Canada and the U.S. in 2009 and multiple international markets including Brazil, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, Russia and Poland, Wondrous Strange was the 2010 Canadian Literary Association’s Young Adult Book of the Year and the 2010 White Pine Honor Book, and was also shortlisted for the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Speculative Fiction.

Lesley Livingston is an acclaimed Toronto-based author whose Wondrous Strange series includes Darklight (2010) and Tempestuous (2011). Livingston’s second trilogy, published by Penguin Canada, includes Once Every Never (2011), Every Never After (2013) and Now and For Never (2014). A spin-off to the Wondrous Strange series, Starling, was released by HarperTeen in 2012 and includes Descendant (2013) and Transcendent (forthcoming December 2014). Livingston’s middle-grade series with Jonathan Llyr, The Wiggins Weird, was published by Penguin Canada in 2013 and includes How to Curse in Hieroglyphics and The Haunting of Heck House. A principal performer and founding member of the Toronto-based Tempest Theatre Group, Livingston also regularly appeared on the Space network series, Spacebar. Livingston is represented by the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, Inc.

About Shaftesbury
With offices in Toronto and Los Angeles, Shaftesbury is an innovative creator and distributor of original content for television and digital platforms. Sold in 120 countries worldwide, Shaftesbury's programming slate includes five seasons of The Listener for CTV, Fox International Channels and ION Television; eight seasons of Murdoch Mysteries for CBC, UKTV and ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment; and the hit kids series Life with Derek. Shaftesbury's groundbreaking digital media division, Smokebomb Entertainment, creates convergent experiences for television and original digital content including the comedy series Backpackers for The CW and CTV Extend; tween series Totally Amp'd and Unlikely Heroes for YTV.com and Hulu; and 3D sci-fi series State of Syn for Hulu and Google Glass. Shaftesbury recently launched shift2, an innovative agency that creates, manages and markets digital content targeting Generation C on YouTube. Visit us online at http://shaftesbury.ca, http://smokebomb.ca and http://shift2.ca.

For more information:
Katherine Wolfgang
Shaftesbury
kwolfgang@shaftesbury.ca
416-363-1411 x163 or 416-669-2823

Jean M. Auel's THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR to become major TV series on Lifetime

We are thrilled to announce that Jean M. Auel's bestselling The Clan of the Cave Bear and Earth’s Children® series will soon be on TV! Lifetime has ordered a pilot for a potential 2015 launch, with Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Allison Shearmur, and Linda Woolverton involved.

The Clan of the Cave Bear, the first in Auel's Earth’s Children® series, was originally published in 1980 by Random House. The sixth in the series, The Land of Painted Caves, came out in 2011. All six books are New York Times and international bestsellers, with over 60 million copies having sold globally.

In light of the heavy-hitters involved in The Clan of the Cave Bear pilot, people in the industry speculate this production could be the breakout series for a cable channel that has recently begun widening its viewer appeal and broadening its scope. Plans are also in the works for Lifetime to adapt the Stephen King novella Big Driver and V.C. Andrews's Flowers in the Attic, among others.

Below is the full press release, which was picked up in Variety, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, and Broadway World, among others:

LIFETIME ORDERS DRAMA PILOT THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR, A LIONSGATE/FOX 21 CO-PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH IMAGINE TELEVISION AND ALLISON SHEARMUR PRODUCTIONS

RON HOWARD, BRIAN GRAZER and ALLISON SHEARMUR to Executive Produce and LINDA WOOLVERTON to Write Pilot Based on JEAN M. AUEL’S Series of Best-Selling Novels

LOS ANGELES, CA (July 9, 2014) – Lifetime has ordered the drama pilot The Clan of the Cave Bear, based on Jean M. Auel’s series of best-selling novels, it was announced today by Rob Sharenow, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Lifetime. A co-production of Fox 21 and Lionsgate in association with Imagine Television and Allison Shearmur Productions, the project will be executive produced by Academy Award®-winning director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Rush) and Oscar® and Emmy® Award winner Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind, 24), along with Allison Shearmur (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Cinderella), Linda Woolverton (Maleficent, The Lion King), who is writing the pilot, Francie Calfo (Gang Related, Empire) and Jean M. Auel. The project is targeted for a potential 2015 launch.

“I’ve always admired Jean M. Auel’s timeless work,” said Sharenow.  “With the visionary creative team of Ron Howard, Linda Woolverton, Brian Grazer, Alli Shearmur, Jean M. Auel and Francie Calfo behind it, this project has it all--epic storytelling, great characters and a unique world that’s never been explored on television before.  This is exactly the type of top-tier creative talent and great stories we embrace at Lifetime.”

The first book of Auel’s Earth’s Children® series, The Clan of the Cave Bear, takes place at a time in prehistory more than 25,000 years ago when Neanderthals shared the Earth with the first early modern humans and a band of cave dwellers adopt blond and blue-eyed Ayla, a child of the “Others.” As Ayla matures into a young woman of spirit and courage, she must fight for survival against the jealous bigotry of Broud, who will one day be clan leader.

Auel’s book series has sold more than 60 million copies globally and all six books have been New York Times bestsellers.

ABOUT LIONSGATE

Lionsgate is a leading global entertainment company with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution, new channel platforms and international distribution and sales. Lionsgate currently has over 30 television shows on more than 20 networks spanning its primetime production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as the multiple Emmy Award-winning Mad Men and Nurse Jackie, the comedy Anger Management, the network series Nashville, the syndication success The Wendy Williams Show and the critically-acclaimed series Orange is the New Black.

ABOUT FOX 21

Fox 21 is a cable production studio housed within Twentieth Century Fox Television devoted to making creatively ambitious scripted series for the cable television market, as well as unscripted shows for both cable and broadcast networks. Fox 21 currently produces the Emmy and Golden Globe winning Homeland starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, the critically acclaimed smash hit Sons of Anarchy (with FX Productions), Brannon Braga and Adam Simon’s freshman hit Salem, Howard Gordon’s dramatic thriller Tyrant, the animated comedy Brickleberry from Daniel Tosh and Witches of East End starring Julia Ormond and Jenna Dewan Tatum. The studio also produces the upcoming Rush from Jonathan Levine and Legends from Howard Gordon and Jonathan Levin, and is developing the drama series The Bastard Executioner (with FX productions) from Kurt Sutter and Imagine TV’s Brian Grazer.

ABOUT LIFETIME

Lifetime is a premier female-focused entertainment destination dedicated to offering the highest quality original programming spanning scripted series, non-fiction series and movies.  As a result of the network’s aggressive programming strategy that has doubled the hours of its original programming, 2013 marked Lifetime’s second straight year of growth among Total Viewers.  Lifetime Television®, LMN®, Lifetime Real Women® and Lifetime Digital™ are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks.  A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.

A+E Networks Official Press Site: http://press.aenetworks.com.

Contact: Les Eisner
310/407-8526
Les.eisner@aenetworks.com

Breaking news! Film rights to OLIVIA KIDNEY go to Moonbot Studios

We're so excited to announce that film rights to the Olivia Kidney trilogy by Ellen Potter have been acquired by Moonbot Studios!

Ellen Potter's critically acclaimed children's novel Olivia Kidney was published by Philomel in 2003. Publishers Weekly likened it to Alice in Wonderland, calling it "an imaginative, original offering with a poignant and satisfying ending that may bring a tear or two." Potter followed the first in the trilogy with Olivia Kidney Stops for No One in 2005 and Olivia Kidney and the Secret Beneath the City in 2007.

Below is the full press release via Reuters:

OLIVIA KIDNEY Film Rights Acquired by William Joyce’s Moonbot Studios

Academy Award®-Winning Team To Develop Feature Film

Moonbot Studios announced today that it will acquire film rights to the Olivia Kidney trilogy of young adult books by award-winning author Ellen Potter. The series is published by Philomel (a division of Penguin/Putnam). Moonbot plans to develop Olivia’s Alice in Wonderland-like adventures as a live action film with significant animation sequences. The film rights deal was handled by David Lipman and Michael Siegel for Moonbot and for Ellen Potter by Alice Tasman and Jennifer Weltz of Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.

“At Moonbot, we’re grabbing for magic and Olivia Kidney has captivated us,” said William Joyce, Moonbot co-founder and author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. “Ellen Potter has crafted a unique and enchanting fantasy that we can’t wait to bring to life as a film.”

Moonbot Studios has also recently acquired film rights to The Extincts by Veronica Cossanteli, published by Chicken House Entertainment. Both books will be come part of Moonbot’s slate for feature films, chosen because of their high caliber of storytelling, immersive worlds and charming characters. These are the first books optioned by Moonbot outside of their internally-developed IP including The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, The Numberlys and The Lollipop 3.

For more information about Olivia Kidney visit: http://ellenpotter.com

ABOUT MOONBOT STUDIOS

Moonbot Studios is a secret, zero-gravity colony inhabited by interstellar beings in Shreveport, La. Their mission is to create the best books, films, apps, games, and entertainment in the galaxy. Award-winning artists and filmmakers William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg, and Lampton Enochs cofounded Moonbot Studios in 2009. Since then, Moonbot has produced an Academy Award®-winning short film, New York Times bestselling book and iTunes Hall of Fame app, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Moonbot’s Annie Award-winning short film for Chipotle Mexican Grill, The Scarecrow has garnered over 12 million views on YouTube. The studio’s latest book, The Numberlys, will be released in May 2014. For more information, visit moonbotstudios.com.

Moonbot Studios
Sara Hebert, 318-213-0193
shebert@moonbotstudios.com

BEYOND THE BEAR's extraordinary account of survival inspires, per reviews across the board

Just published this month from Lyons Press, BEYOND THE BEAR by Dan Bigley and Debra McKinney has been recently featured in People Magazine!  The magazine gave the book 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

BEYOND THE BEAR tells the story of Dan Bigley and the day that changed his life forever. A 25-year-old who loved exploring the Alaskan outdoors and who was newly in love, Dan had spent a glorious midsummer's day in July 2003 doing what he enjoyed most, salmon fishing with friends, when a grizzly bear charged around a bend and mauled him, leaving him blind and near death. 

People writes,

In this richly detailed, emotional memoir, Bigley retraces his harrowing journey of recovery, including the six surgeries it took to reconstruct his face. With the help of dedicated doctors, nurses, friends and family--including future wife Amber Takavitz, whom he'd met just before his accident--Bigley returned to health. His story inspires and sticks with you long beyond the final page.

Here's the review in People's books section:

Publicity is ongoing for BEYOND THE BEAR, particularly in Alaska, where the book has taken newspapers and magazines by storm.  The Anchorage Daily News featured an excerpt of the book in its newspaper just this week, and you can read that excerpt here.

Authors Bigley and McKinney also recently hosted an online book launch party, which streamed live (if you're interested in watching it, the live feed is viewable here).  And there was a non-online launch party as well!  Festivities took place at a bar in Anchorage.  The night included signings and a reading.  Check out a photo of Bigley and McKinney signing copies of the book below:

Bigley has been previously featured in an animal attack survivor series on The Discovery Channel, which continues to air on TV.  For a glimpse of what's to come in the book, watch it below:



In addition to the People review, BEYOND THE BEAR has received a wealth of other wonderful praise.  Here's a summation of what's come in so far:

“Inspiring...Unflinchingly recounts the horrific details of the mauling and its aftermath...Perhaps the most moving part of his story, however, is his relationship with Amber, the woman he fell for the night before the attack, who has remained steadfast despite his early attempts to let her go. A well-written and touching tribute to human resilience.” --Booklist

“This moving memoir of his experiences is more about Bigley's emotional recovery and beyond-impressive triumph over adversity...Readers will appreciate Bigley's inspirational and well-written story.” --Publishers Weekly 

“Combine a man shaped by an extraordinary experience with a writer adept at weaving the threads of his story and the result is a stunningly powerful book. BEYOND THE BEAR may compel you to worry less about all the bad things that could happen in life and focus instead on embracing its possibilities. You might as well buy extra copies for you will soon want to give others the gift of this insightful and riveting read.” --Jill Fredston, bestselling author of ROWING TO LATITUDE and SNOWSTRUCK

"BEYOND THE BEAR delivers in gut-wrenching detail the harrowing account of one of the most horrific bear attacks in recent Alaskan memory, but the book is so much more than a bear mauling. BEYOND THE BEAR is a powerful love story, an unforgettable tale of hope and resilience, a triumph of the human spirit in the darkest of hours. A life destroyed in a blinding flash of blood and fur. A bright and beautiful Alaskan landscape seemingly darkened forever, the midnight sun all but extinguished, yet Dan Bigley's courage and heart take us all beyond the bear and along the way we all learn to see the world in a new and beautiful light." --Don Rearden, award-winning author of THE RAVEN'S GIFT

"This book is surprising in so many ways--heartfelt, funny, buoyant, tragic and triumphant--that after awhile I wanted to do nothing else but read it and be inspired and enthralled. And so I was." --Kim Heacox, bestselling author of THE ONLY KAYAK and VISIONS OF A WILD AMERICA

For more information about the authors, visit the website here, and follow them on Facebook here!

Lyons Press, April 2013

Saving the Ocean with Carl Safina: A new PBS series

Carl Safina is the host of a new PBS series, Saving the Ocean, which not only illuminates the dire straits our ocean is in today, but also highlights the people and communities who are working to save the ocean before it's too late.  The series will premiere on PBS this Thursday, October 11th!

As the series' website makes clear, "Saving the Ocean is not just another doom-and-gloom TV show; it's about people solving problems. The news is grim: overfishing, pollution, coral reef troubles, and on and on. These problems are spread all over the two-thirds of the globe that is ocean. But a far-flung group of unsung heroes--scientists, conservationists, local communities--are hard at work inventing, advocating, and implementing solutions."

The show will premiere on PBS on October 11th, but viewing on local stations will vary. To find out when Saving the Ocean will appear on your local station, check the schedule here: http://www.pbs.org/tv_schedules/.

(Keep in mind that your local station may not show the series until some weeks after its premiere.  PBS only announces shows on its schedule board two weeks in advance, so be sure to check back later if you don't see the show listed immediately.)

Saving the Ocean takes viewers on an ocean expedition around the world, where you can see everything from the cutest baby turtles to the world's friendliest whales. Learn which animals and which destinations will be featured by viewing the upcoming season programming on the Saving the Ocean website here. Plus, be sure to watch the series trailer below:



Two pilot episodes for Saving the Ocean previously aired in April 2011. The full episodes can be viewed online at pbs.org, but below are preview trailers for both! (Please note that the second trailer from the April episode is no longer online, and we have replaced it with the trailer for a different episode that is viewable online, as of December 2012.)

Shark Reef: Learn about the creative efforts that have been implemented to keep sharks safe from the shark fin trade.  View the trailer below, and the full episode here.

Watch Shark Reef | Preview Trailer on PBS. See more from Saving the Ocean.

Swordfish!:  Learn about the most sustainable fishery around and how swordfish won the contest for the best "big fish" comeback story. View the trailer below, and the full episode here.

Watch Swordfish! - Preview on PBS. See more from Saving the Ocean.

Carl Safina is the author, most recently, of THE VIEW FROM LAZY POINT and A SEA IN FLAMES.  Read more of our blog posts on Safina via this link, and don't forget to tune in for Saving the Ocean!

Wondering what to eat? Try lionfish!

Carl Safina, author of THE VIEW FROM LAZY POINT and A SEA IN FLAMES, has released a series of guests posts on food columnist Mark Bittman's blog on The Opinion Pages of The New York Times.  Safina is a marine biologist, the founder of the Blue Ocean Institute at Stony Brook University, and a recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Grant. His series, entitled "Scourge of the Lionfish," focuses on the red lionfish, a beautiful, quilled fish native to the west Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea that has become dangerously invasive along Atlantic coastlines stretching from Venezuela to Rhode Island.  

As Safina writes, "In a world where the main concern about fishing is overfishing, and the main demand on fish is to feed an increasingly hungry human-dominated world, it may seem odd to complain about abundance. But theirs [the lionfish's] is an abundance that produces widespread scarcity. That's because invaders from afar often crowd out or gobble a wide array of desirable natives. And as an invading saltwater fish--the lion is king."

With venomous spines and a deceptive seaweed-like disguise when on the hunt, the lionfish is virtually untouchable. Lionfish prey upon many juvenile fish, including (among others) parrotfish, which are important for keeping coral reefs alive and thriving. As Safina argues, the ocean simply cannot afford to experience a scarcity of parrotfish or any other native fish.

And so, the solution proposed to restore marine habitats and prevent the invasive lionfish from destroying the underdogs is just as unorthodox as the complaint: hunt down the lionfish and eat them.

Red lionfish and Carl Safina. Photo by Safina.

While Safina and a crew of cameramen were filming for Safina's upcoming PBS series Saving the Ocean, they traveled to the Bahamas, Florida, and Mexico to investigate the lionfish.  Below are links to each of the fascinating articles in Safina's series:

Part 1: Why the lionfish began appearing in the Atlantic in the first place and why they are such superb--and direly threatening--predators.

Part 2: How contestants in a lionfish derby launched their own attack against these invasive predators, by spearfishing them and frying them up.

Part 3: How fishermen are trying to commercialize the lionfish by catching them in bulk and convincing restaurants in the States and elsewhere to put lionfish on their menus. Fortunately the lionfish are, in Safina's words, "really delicious."

Part 4: Safina's thoughts on how human overfishing in general may have led to the domination of the lionfish.

As Safina concludes, "It's a sad commentary about how we're changing the world that killing and eating one of the world's most beautiful fish--as long as they're from the Caribbean or Atlantic Ocean--actually helps."

Safina's PBS series Saving the Ocean will premiere in mid-October.  Expect more from us soon as we near the release date!  In the meantime, you can learn more about the TV series at PBS or the Saving the Ocean website.  Once the premiere date is nearer, be sure to find out when Saving the Ocean will appear on your local station at this link. 

POPE JOAN to premiere this weekend!

POPE JOAN, the two-part movie miniseries, will be premiering in just a few days: on December 18th and 19th!  Don't miss it on Reelz Channel, starting at 8 pm!

Reelz has been posting trailers and interviews with the author of the book, Donna Woolfolk Cross, in anticipation of the event.  The US premiere of the movie, which has taken international theaters by storm, will feature never-before-seen film footage as well as behind-the-scenes clips and further interviews with Donna Woolfolk Cross.  Check out the trailer and an interview below:





Pope Joan | Hollywood Dailies | Pope Joan | Movie Trailer | Review

Meanwhile, the book that inspired the movie is being featured on Crown Publishing's Read It Forward website (view here) and the movie is being featured on Random House's Word & Film website (view here).

To participate in the conversation before the film, join the GoodReads Q&A here.  You can also learn a lot more about the film and book on the author's GoodReads page here.  During both nights of the film, there will be a Tweetup, where you can ask the author, @DonnaWCross, your questions.  Use the hashtag #PopeJoan.

Everyone's getting excited--be sure to tune in!!

Crown, 1996, 2009

POPE JOAN to premiere in the US on Reelz!

We've just heard exciting news that the film POPE JOAN, based on Donna Woolfolk Cross's novel of the same name (Crown, 1996, 2009), will premiere in the US on Reelz Channel as a two-night miniseries!  The film will appear on December 18th and 19th.

POPE JOAN takes place in the 9th century and tells the fascinating story of a controversial figure of historical record: a woman who disguised herself as a man and eventually became Pope.  Sonke Wortmann directed POPE JOAN, which stars Johanna Wokalek, David Wenham, and John Goodman.  It was first released in October 2009 and premiered worldwide in Berlin, Germany, where it was the #1 film.  It also appeared in theaters in the UK, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium, among other countries.  View the stunning German movie poster below:

Be sure to tune into Reelz on December 18th and 19th!  Learn more on Reelz's website here, or Donna Woolfolk Cross's website here.  And find out even more by reading the book!

 Crown, 1996, 2009

POPE JOAN author on the Oprah Winfrey Network

On Wednesday, September 21, at 10 pm, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) will be airing a Primetime special on the fascinating and controversial history of Pope Joan, featuring author Donna Woolfolk Cross!

Cross's historical novel POPE JOAN (Crown 2009 reprint) has been a smashing success since its initial release in 1996. The international bestseller has sold in 33 countries and has been described as "a fascinating and moving account" by Library Journal. The Los Angeles Times Book Review said it had "all the elements one wants in a historical drama--love, sex, violence, duplicity, and long-buried secrets."

The Primetime special originally aired on ABC in 2005. According to the OWN website, the special takes "a look at the mystery and lore behind the medieval legend of Pope Joan, believed by many to be the only female pointiff of the Roman Catholic Church."

Be sure to tune in! Plus, learn more about the author of POPE JOAN and her novel at www.popejoan.com!

Crown, 2009

POPE JOAN Film Premiers at #1 in Germany

From ScreenDaily.com:

"Constantin’s UK-Germany-Spain-Italy co-production Pope Joan . . . made a strong start to its run, with a $5m tally from 565 screens in three territories. The lion’s share of the gross came from Germany, where the film secured top spot with $4.4m from 465 screens, a $9,500 average. Set in the 9th century, the drama follows a woman who disguises herself as a man in order to rise through the ranks of the Vatican. Pope Joan opens in Belgium on November 18 and Netherlands on December 17."













Crown paperback rerelease June 2009

POPE JOAN Motion Picture, German Trailer