Foundation Media Partners Inks Deal with Simon & Schuster

Foundation Media Partners (Bad Guys, Thelma the Unicorn) has signed a first-look deal with Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing for film and TV adaptations of book properties.

Foundation will develop and produce projects based on Simon & Schuster’s extensive kids’ library, which spans 100 years of publishing. The company will focus particularly on adapting a multi-title slate from the Little Simon imprint’s chapter books and graphic novels.

Foundation previously adapted and produced the animated feature Bad Guys from Aaron Blabey’s best-selling children’s book franchise for DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures. Patrick Hughes, Foundation’s founder and CEO, is currently executive producing Bad Guys 2. Most recently, the company adapted and produced Blabey’s Thelma the Unicorn franchise as a feature film for Netflix.

Additional projects Foundation has worked on include the first Build-A-Bear animated Christmas film, based on best-selling holiday plush collection Glisten and the Merry Mission, and the animated series Kabu, currently in production with Laughing Dragon.

“The creative team at Simon & Schuster are as passionate about storytelling and franchise-building as we are at Foundation, and together, we’re looking to create a new standard for how stories are told and experienced by young audiences,” Hughes said. “Having access and first-look rights to one of the most prominent and voluminous libraries on the planet is a rare opportunity with endless possibilities.”

“Each book we’ll adapt and develop with Simon & Schuster will be distinct in its own way but share emotion, comicality and sense of discovery that we love to reflect in children’s properties we bring to the screen,” noted Amy Wilson, VP of development and production at Foundation Media. “This is an enormous creative exercise we’re all looking forward to very much.”

Valerie Garfield, senior VP and publisher of licensed, novelty and branded publishingg in the Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, added, “We’re thrilled to be able to partner with Foundation Media to bring great characters and series to life in a new dimension for our avid readers. We believe great content can coexist across many platforms, and each one will enrich the storytelling experience.”