Joelle Charbonneau’s young adult thriller novel “Need” is getting the big screen adaptation treatment, and thankfully those in power have secured a female writing-directing team for the task.
As The Hollywood Reporter writes out of the American Film Market, Samantha Buck and Marie Schlingmann have been selected to write and direct the film. The filmmaking duo is behind the Peabody Award-winning feature documentary “Best Kept Secret.” Covert Media is financing and producing “Need.”
“Need,” THR writes, “is set at a Wisconsin high school, where students engage in a new social networking site that grants their every desire. The story follows Kaylee, who needs only one thing — a kidney for her younger brother. But Kaylee and the other students slowly begin to find out that there is a high — possibly fatal — price to pay for getting everything they want.”
“‘Need’ is a fan favorite YA novel that we know will make for an exciting and chilling look at the world of social media,” said Covert CEO Paul Hanson. “With the fresh perspective of the creative team we have in Samantha and Marie and the twists and turns of Joelle’s novel, this is a film that already has us on the edge of our seats.”
Far too often, film adaptations of female-skewing young adult books (the whole genre of which tends to skew female to begin with) are given male production teams of writers and directors (“The Hunger Games” franchise, the “Divergent franchise,” etc). Thankfully, “Need” is one project for which we don’t have to lament hiring practices. It’s not that a female-led project or novels written by women must always have women directors or writers, but until women have equal standing in Hollywood, studios, the media, and fans must continue to insist that projects like these are made by women.
Fortunately Covert knows what’s up. They’re also shopping another project at the American Film Market: “Ophelia,” the re-imagining of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” from the POV of its tragic love interest, which is set to star Daisy Ridley.
