Cartoon Saloon and Aircraft Pictures have announced a major co-production deal to adapt the award-winning novel ‘The Breadwinner’, written by Deborah Ellis as an animated feature film.
‘The Breadwinner’ is the story of Parvana, a young girl living under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan who must disguise herself as a boy and become the breadwinner of the family when her father is unfairly imprisoned for being an intellectual. The book has sold millions of copies worldwide.
The film will be directed by Nora Twomey from Cartoon Saloon, co-director of the Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature ‘The Secret of Kells’, and director of the multiple award winning shorts ‘From Darkness’ and ‘Cúilín Dualach’ (Backwards Boy). The screenplay was written by author Deborah Ellis and Anita Doron. Doron’s credits include the feature films ‘The End of Silence’ starring Sarah Harmer and ‘The Lesser Blessed’ written and directed by Doron, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
‘The Breadwinner’ will be produced in Ireland and Canada and plans to begin production this year. Development work on the project has been assisted by Telefilm Canada, the Irish Film Board, The Belinda Stronach Foundation and Movie Central – A Corus Entertainment Company.
Speaking about the upcoming co-adaption, Nora Twomey from Cartoon Saloon said: "We're excited to be working with Aircraft Pictures, Toronto to bring ‘The Breadwinner’ to the screen. Anita Doron and author Deborah Ellis have created a really wonderful screenplay that's perfect for the medium of animation. We're delighted to be moving forward with this amazing story of a child who becomes the breadwinner for her family."
Aircraft Pictures is an independent film, TV and digital media production company with offices in Toronto and LA. Recent credits include the internet motion picture ‘Cybergeddon’ by C.S.I. creator Anthony E. Zuiker, two seasons of supernatural comedy ‘Todd & The Book of Pure Evil’, ‘What’s Up, Warthogs’ and most recently the digital series ‘Wingman’ for Xbox and two short films for Sesame Street.
The studio is currently in post-production on Tomm Moore’s ‘Song of the Sea’, the much anticipated follow-up to ‘The Secret of Kells’. It will be distributed in North America by G Kids and international sales are by West End Films. The studio is also in production on the pre-school TV series Puffin Rock featuring Chris O’Dowd with partners Dog Ears and Penguin Books.
