Canada’s Sinking Ship Entertainment and Northern Ireland’s Paper Owl Films announced today their new partnership on the latter’s movie adaptation of the bestselling Sophie Kinsella novel, Finding Audrey.

The two award-winning companies are co-developing the project, with Paper Owl Films producing and Sinking Ship Entertainment distributing internationally.

The movie adaptation is being envisioned as a family film, and is in the advanced stage of development ahead of Kidscreen in February 2022.

Based on Sophie Kinsella’s best-selling novel of the same name, Finding Audrey is the heartfelt, meaningful, and sometimes hilarious story of a teenage girl suffering from social anxiety disorder. After a triggering bullying incident at school, Audrey is unable to venture out of her house and hides from the world with the help of dark sunglasses. 

This new family film tells the story of Audrey’s journey to recovery, with the help of her chaotic but loving family and a boy named Linus. Finding Audrey mixes live-action, animation and special effects to create a quirky, comedic, and emotive viewing experience that will resonate with today’s families. 

Sophie Kinsella comments: “I’m thrilled to have worked with Paper Owl Films on this exciting and imaginative adaptation of Finding Audrey. I can’t wait for fans of my book to see the characters come to life on screen, and also for a wider audience to meet Audrey and her family. I hope viewers will really engage with the storyline and the issues surrounding teenage mental health.”

Grainne McGuinness, Creative Director at Paper Owl Films comments: “Using Sophie’s novel as our springboard, we’ve deliberately included a mix of live action, animation and special effects in Finding Audrey to create a highly engaging and emotive viewing experience for our family targeted audience. Together with the characters’ mix of perspectives and their evolution within the story, we hope this adaption will continue Sophie’s mission to blow the lid off existing social attitudes to mental health.”

Kate Sanagan, Head of Sales and Distribution from Sinking Ship Entertainment comments: “We’re excited to be partnering with Paper Owl Films on this important project. We were immediately drawn to Finding Audrey’s perceptive take on mental health and teenagers, and we are confident that the series’ creative and engaging format will resonate with both broadcasters and audiences worldwide.”

For more press information about Paper Owl Films, please contact Highlight PR:

betsy@highlightpr.co.uk             01225 444268

For more press information about Sinking Ship Entertainment, please contact The Lede Company:

anna.bailer@ledecompany.com  (1) 845-641-9568

About Paper Owl Films:

Creators of Pablo and Sol, Paper Owl Films represents a diverse team of creatives bringing content that matters to audiences all over the world. Paper Owl Films Ltd. was founded in 2012 by Grainne McGuinness, Stephen Petticrew and Gavin Halpin, and employs a dedicated collective of storytellers, film makers, animators and creators across their animation and live action collective. Paper Owl specialises in producing content for children and grown-ups across international broadcast and digital platforms. Their work is enjoyed all over the world on channels such as CBeebies, RTÉjr, TG4, BBC, CBC, NBC Universal, Netflix and digital platforms.

To find out more about Paper Owl Films, visit the website.

About Sinking Ship Entertainment:

Named as the number one Kids’ Entertainment Production Company on Kidscreen’s Hot50 list in 2020, Sinking Ship Entertainment is a globally renowned and industry leading Production, Distribution, VFX and Interactive studio specializing in children’s and family content. Since its founding in 2004, Sinking Ship has won 24 Daytime Emmy® awards, including series wins for Ghostwriter (Apple TV+), Dino Dan: Trek’s Adventures (Nickelodeon), Odd Squad (PBS Kids), and Giver (ION) and was named the Most Innovative Producer at the 2021 Banff World Media Festival. With a global reputation for quality, ground breaking original series and companion interactive experiences, Sinking Ship has produced more than 17 series and distributed to more than 200 countries across the world. Upcoming projects include the third season of the worldwide success, Odd Squad, Builder Brothers Dream Factory, in partnership with Scott Brothers Entertainment and the highly anticipated series, Jane, co-produced with the Jane Goodall Institute.