Australian Production Company Like A Photon Creative has optioned The Giant and the Sea and will look to make it into a short film.
A timely and powerful take on climate change, standing up for what you believe in, and the power of hope.
Hachette Australia’s forthcoming picture book, The Giant and the Sea by Trent Jamieson and illustrated by Rovina Cai, has been optioned for film by award-winning Australian production company Like A Photon Creative. The team plan to develop The Giant and the Sea into a short film for international release. The film option was negotiated by agent Alex Adsett.
Perfect for the children and adults of the Climate Strike, this is a lyrical and deeply moving story about climate change, standing up for what you believe in, and the power of hope.
A giant stands on the shore, watching the sea. She never moves, never speaks, until the day she turns to a little girl and says, ‘The sea is rising.’
The brave girl takes the message to the town. But when the people refuse to listen, the giant must find another way to save them.
The lyrical text is perfectly captured through the illustrations of award-winning artist, Rovina Cai, and promises to be an exceptional animation when adapted for the screen.
Agent Alex Adsett, who represents both the author and illustrator on this project, says:
The moment this story arrived in my inbox, I knew it was something special. Trent Jamieson was already one of my favourite Australian authors, and with The Giant and the Sea, I just had to be the agent taking it on. Introducing the incredible Rovina Cai to the book as illustrator was another dream come true, and after years of waiting, nothing could beat that overwhelming moment of opening the final book, and its spellbinding combination of story, illustration and design.
It is no surprise that everyone who opens this beautiful, powerful, and timely book falls in love with it. And yet, I can still hardly believe that the producers at Like A Photon immediately felt the same way. Like A Photon Creative are one of the most exciting studios working in the world right now, and I have long admired their energy and passion for every project they take on. I can’t wait to see them work their magic on The Giant and the Sea.
Trent Jamieson is an editor, bookseller and award-winning writer of science fiction and fantasy, including the Death Works series and Roil duology. His 2015 novel, Day Boy, won the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel 2015, Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novel 2015, shortlisted for the Ditmar Award for Best Novel 2016 and Courier-Mail’s People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year 2016, and longlisted for the International DUBLIN Literary Award 2017. He has published over 70 short stories, two of which have won prestigious Aurealis Awards.
Rovina Cai is an illustrator from Melbourne, Australia. Her illustrations evoke a sense of intrigue; images that make you linger, hungry to know the story behind them. She has a degree in Communication Design from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, and an MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Tintinnabula, her first picture book, with acclaimed author Margo Lanagan, was published in 2017 and won the CBCA Crichton Award for New Illustrators. Her work can be seen at rovinacai.com.