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May 1, 2018

THUNDERBIRD TO BRING THE MARROW THIEVES TO TELEVISION

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Vancouver / May 1st, 2018 – Thunderbird Entertainment announced today that they have optioned Cherie Dimaline’s award-winning novel, The Marrow Thieves. The book, which won The Governor General’s Literary Award for Young People’s Literature – Text and the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers last year, will be adapted as a limited series for television.

The Marrow Thieves takes place in a not-too-distant future after humanity has nearly destroyed the world through global warming. An even greater evil lurks: the Indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost— the ability to dream. In this dark world, sixteen-year-old Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden — but what they don’t know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves. Despite the bleak future depicted in The Marrow Thieves, it resonates with a message of hope, loyalty and belonging.

“We were thrilled when Thunderbird expressed interest in The Marrow Thieves, but our thrill quickly gave way to the genuine enthusiasm and excitement Alex Raffé brought to our discussions. We could not imagine a better home for the book’s characters and story,” said Marc Côté, publisher of Cormorant Books.

The best-selling book was a CBC Canada Reads selection, has spent eleven weeks on the Globe and Mail bestseller list reaching #1, received starred reviews from Quill & Quire, Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Booklist. The Marrow Thieves was one of the Globe and Mail 100 Best Books of 2017 and is currently shortlisted for the White Pine Award. It was named one of the top ten books by the Ontario Library Association and was named an Honour Book by the American Indian Library Association.
“Because The Marrow Thieves has become an important work for the Indigenous community, it was essential to find a team who could bring this story to life with a commitment to honour its messages and worldview. Thunderbird has made such a commitment and I am happy to be working with them as this project comes to life and gains an even larger audience,” said author Cherie Dimaline.

Linda Saint of The Saint Agency arranged the deal with Thunderbird’s Senior Vice-President Scripted Production Alex Raffé.

 

For Press Inquiries Please Contact:

Nicola Pender, Director of Communications
Thunderbird Entertainment
nicola@thunderbird.tv / 604.683.3555

Marc Côté, Publisher
Cormorant Books
m.cote@cormorantbooks.com / 416.925.8887

Thunderbird Entertainment is a rapidly growing Vancouver-based multiplatform entertainment company with offices in Los Angeles, Toronto and London. Thunderbird creates award-winning programming for Canadian and International broadcasters and boasts divisions in scripted and unscripted development and production, theatrical distribution, and animation.

Thunderbird’s most recent projects include Blade Runner 2049 film starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, ABC’s thriller-drama series Somewhere Between,  #1 Canadian comedy Kim’s Convenience, ratings juggernaut Heavy Rescue: 401 and the animated Netflix original series Beat Bugs, featuring reimagined songs from the Beatles catalogue sung by the biggest recording artists of today including Sia, Eddie Vedder, P!nk and more. https://thunderbird.tv/

Cherie Dimaline is a writer and editor from the Georgian Bay Metis Community in Ontario who has published 4 books of short stories, literary fiction and young adult fiction. In 2014, she was named the Emerging Artist of the Year at the Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and became the first Aboriginal Writer in Residence for the Toronto Public Library. Her latest book, The Marrow Thieves, won the 2017 Governor General’s Award and the prestigious Kirkus Prize for Young Readers, is a finalist for the White Pine Award and was a selection for CBC’s 2018 Canada Reads. The Marrow Thieves was also named a Book of the Year on numerous lists including the National Public Radio, the School Library Journal, the New York Public Library, the Globe and Mail, Quill & Quire and the CBC, and is a national bestseller. Cherie currently lives in Toronto, Ontario where she coordinates the annual Indigenous Writers’ Gathering and is at work on her next novel.

Cormorant Books Three-time winner of the Libris for Small Press Publisher of the year, Cormorant Books is an independent literary press based in Toronto. It is known for discovering and developing literary talent in fiction, nonfiction, and books for young readers. Authors and books published by the company have been nominated for, or won, the Trillium Book Award, the RBC Taylor Prize, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Literary Awards, and many others.  The Marrow Thieves was Published by DCB, the young readers’ imprint at Cormorant Books.

 

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