An Inside Look at How Children’s Books Get Adapted for the Screen

At SCBWI, two experts in children’s entertainment explained how books move from page to screen and which questions drive development

Books as source material are all the rage right now in the children’s entertainment market, and at the annual SCBWI conference in Los Angeles, two industry experts—Sarah Maizes from Jim Henson Co. and Julie Kane-Ritsch from Gotham Group—explained how and why certain properties get adapted for TV, film, and other forms of media.

First, Kane-Ritsch says talking points are a must to sell a book—and these don’t necessarily center around the book’s story or content. For example: Has the book been nominated for awards? Does it have starred reviews? What engagement does the author have with readers? What’s the author’s social media presence? Has the book sold internationally? Has it been translated into lots of territories? The answers to these questions help point to the audience or demographics for the book.

Knowing the age of the audience is critical for development. There are four rough age categories (warning: these ranges can get blurry): preschool (ages two to five), preschool bridge (ages four to seven), older kids (ages six to 11), and teen (ages nine and up). Preschool is the rough equivalent of a children’s picture book; preschool bridge equates to chapter books; older kids are middle-grade readers, and teen is YA.

Shows for preschool age are typically divided into three segments of seven minutes each or two segments of 11 minutes each. Preschool bridge uses two segments of 11 minutes each. Older kids can watch 22-minute shows. Teen media can go up to an hour.

When evaluating a book for adaptation, there must be a strong answer for Why this book? What is the book bringing to the market that’s different from another, similar book? Is the voice unique? Maizes said that, in some ways, there are no new subjects—only new voices, or a unique angle that hasn’t been done before. Production companies also evaluate the material for fit into specific curriculum areas: Does it address social emotional issues, for example? English skills or language acquisition? STEM or STEAM? School readiness? That last one is a huge area for PBS: learning to sit still, tolerating stress, working with other kids, waiting your turn, and so on. Certain brands of kids’ entertainment will focus on specific types of messages or education. For instance, Jim Henson is known for themes of first friends, lovable weirdos, inclusivity, innovation, representation, and making the world a better place. Maizes said a book may have a natural home for only one particular buyer, or it may be possible to adapt the pitch to appeal to a particular buyer.

Kids are consuming content in many different ways and also simultaneously, two to four screens at a time. For that reason, adaptations may take not just one form, but many forms. Once upon a time, the big choice might have been movie feature versus TV show. Today, media may also be produced for streaming on the internet (OTT), streaming video on demand (VOD), podcasts, audiobooks, interactive books, games (virtual reality and augmented reality), and more.

During the deal-making process for books to screen, Kane-Ritsch tries to put a freeze on studio publishing programs. A studio will want all rights to the book, including rights that allow them to establish a publishing program based on their series, which may or may not bear any resemblance to your book. A good agent will disallow such a thing—freezing those rights—unless everyone agrees it’s a good idea. “We want to drive people back to the authors’ books and build author brand and not have derivative works diluting the brand for the original work,” Kane-Ritsch said. “Studios kick and scream and throw a fit and don’t want to do it, but Gotham Group has had success in retaining those rights.”

Studios always buy more than they make. Kane-Ritsch said that children’s buyers will have maybe 20 projects in development. Of those, they might take 10 to storyboard (to see the characters come to life), and take three to pilot for one slot. “That’s the normal process,” Kane-Ritsch said. The good news: If you’ve had a project in development (that didn’t get made), that can help get someone new on board—especially if you have possession of the materials related to development. (Kane-Ritsch says it’s possible to negotiate the rights to buy that material.) Also, because TV/film development is a small business, any new developer will ask the prior one if you were easy to work with. A good report card helps as well.

Bottom line: Contrary to what we’ve heard at some other industry events, for the children’s market at least, you need to have a published book to sell TV/film rights; selling rights to unpublished manuscripts is the exception, not the rule. Furthermore, backlist is not easier to sell in the children’s market unless the story couldn’t be successfully adapted before because the tech wasn’t available. If you’re interested in seeing your work adapted for the screen, talk with your agent or secure one. Children’s is not an industry where authors can realistically pitch their own work or make headway without introductions or existing connections.