Nicole Kidman and Per Saari’s Blossom Films, Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories and Theresa Park are collaborating with Irish author Cecelia Ahern and her Greenlight Go Productions label to produce a TV series based on Ahern’s upcoming book of short stories, ROAR. Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch (GLOW) are attached as executive producers and showrunners for the series, which is being developed in partnership with Endeavor Content.
Set to be published in Ireland on October 25th and in the UK in November 2018 by HarperCollins UK, and in the US in April 2019 by Grand Central Publishing, ROAR is a compilation of 30 insightful, moving and humorous short stories. Each story in the multifaceted collection features a woman exploring a different absurd contradiction or issue in her life – a sometimes comic, always moving look at the guilt, joys, humiliation and triumphs that define the modern woman’s experience, including the private moments when she feels the need to roar (“I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar” – Helen Reddy).
Flahive and Mensch are the co-creators and showrunners of Netflix’s Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated series GLOW. They’ve previously written for Orange in the New Black, Nurse Jackie, and Weeds.
Bestselling novelist Cecelia Ahern has seen her novels published around the world in nearly fifty countries and has sold twenty-five million copies. Two of her books have been adapted as films: P.S. I Love You and Love, Rosie. Ahern also co-created and produced the TV series Samantha Who?
Ahern will serve as an Executive Producer on ROAR alongside Flahive, Mensch, Kidman, Saari, Papandrea, Made Up Stories’ Steve Hutensky, and Park. Papandrea, Kidman and Saari previously teamed to produce last year’s Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning HBO series, Big Little Lies. Kidman and Saari are also actively developing and executive producing The Expatriates, based on Janice Y.K. Lee’s bestselling novel, alongside Theresa Park.
I’m incredibly honoured to be working with this phenomenal team in bringing ROAR from the page to the screen. The women in this collection have lived and breathed with me for so very long, I’m excited to begin the next journey of amplifying their voices. Cecelia Ahern, Author/Producer
Ahern is represented for TV and film by Anonymous Content and for publishing by Park Literary & Media.