Best-selling Children’s Books to be Adapted for Television as Nevision Options M.G. Leonard’s BEETLE TRILOGY with Nigel Pickard as EP

The deal was negotiated with Kirsty McLachlan of DGA Ltd.

Nevision is developing a live action adaptation of the trilogy for television with M.G. Leonard as screenplay writer, Nigel Pickard as Executive Producer along with Ceri Barnes as Development Executive.

Published by Chicken House in the UK and Scholastic in the US, Canada and Australia, as well as more than thirty other territories including France, Germany, Italy, China and Russia, the books have become best-sellers globally and have won a raft of coveted accolades on both sides of the Atlantic*.

London-based independent producer Nevision has optioned a trilogy of children’s books penned by award-winning author M.G. Leonard: Beetle Boy, Beetle Queen and the recently released Battle of the Beetles. The deal was negotiated with Kirsty McLachlan of DGA Ltd.

Published by Chicken House in the UK and Scholastic in the US, Canada and Australia, as well as more than thirty other territories including France, Germany, Italy, China and Russia, the books have become best-sellers globally and have won a raft of coveted accolades on both sides of the Atlantic*.

Nevision is developing a live action adaptation of the trilogy for television with M.G. Leonard as screenplay writer, Nigel Pickard as Executive Producer along with Ceri Barnes as Development Executive.

Commenting on the deal Nigel Pickard, former Director of Programmes at ITV and Controller of Children’s at the BBC and board member at Nevision says “The Beetle trilogy is one of the most compelling and brilliant children’s book series currently on the market. Maya’s writing is fast-paced and filled to the brim with villains, heroes and adventures. It will make an epic on-screen experience which will appeal to both young viewers and their families.”

M.G. Leonard adds “Ever since I was little I’ve been frightened by Creepy Crawlies. Then I found out that beetles can be pretty, brightly coloured- even gold. Others are as strong as the Incredible Hulk. Some shoot acid out of their butts, and all beetles have wings! My fear had stopped me from seeing how fantastic beetles were, and so I decided to write an adventure with beetles as the good guys. I am thrilled to be now taking this to the next level, writing scripts that bring my characters to life for the small screen.”

Beetle Boy was published in Spring 2016, followed by Beetle Queen in 2017 and Battle of the Beetles in 2018. The trilogy begins with thirteen-year-old Darkus Cuttle’s search for his kidnapped father, leading him to discover a mountain of extraordinary beetles and pitting him against the mad-scientist of the fashion world Lucretia Cutter, an haute-couture villainess with an alarming interest in insects. These three critically acclaimed, darkly hilarious adventures are full of exotic beetles, daring schemes and true friendship.

About Nevision
Nevision is a creative hub, rooted in the production and financing of quality television and theatrical content for the global market. Launched in 2013, Nevision is an independent production company that originates, produces and facilitates content creation; curating and nurturing a project from inception to exploitation. Nevision exclusively represents an investment group and is able to access deficit funding as required.

The company has a broad slate of series currently in production including: animated series Floogals season 2 for Universal Kids in US and an English-language version for Channel 5’s Milkshake! in the UK; scripted series Keeping Faith with Vox Pictures for S4C and BBC Wales and Alex with SF Studios in Sweden for Viaplay. Nevison’s first feature documentary Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards is now available on Netflix globally following its theatrical release last year.

Nevision’s board includes some of the UK’s most experienced and creative business executives including James Cabourne, Neil Zeiger and Nigel Pickard with a string of globally renowned production credits to their names.

Nevision also owns a majority stake in boutique financing and distribution company About Premium Content (APC), with offices in Paris and London.

About M.G. Leonard
M. G. Leonard is an award winning, bestselling writer of books, poems and screenplays. She has a first-class honours degree in English literature from the Open University and an MA in Shakespeare Studies from Kings College London. She works as a freelance Digital Media Producer for clients such as the National Theatre, and Harry Potter West End, and previously worked as a Senior Digital Producer at the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House and Shakespeare’s Globe. She spent her early career in the music industry running Setanta Records, an independent record label, and managing bands, most notably The Divine Comedy. After leaving the music industry, she trained as an actor, dabbling in directing and producing as well as performing, before deciding to write her stories down. Maya lives in Brighton with her husband and two sons.

* Awards/Accolades:

BEETLE BOY

WINNER of the 2017 Branford Boase Award

Shortlisted for the 2017 Waterstones Children's Book Prize

Shortlisted for the 2016 Books Are My Bag Readers Awards

Longlisted for the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Award

Selected as a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2016

Selected as an ABA Independent Booksellers’ Debut Pick 2016

Included in New York Public Library 100 Best Book for Kids 2016 list

Selected as a White Raven 2017

Selected for the WH Smith Tom Fletcher Book Club

BEETLE QUEEN

Nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Award 2018