Michel Bussi (c) Quaisse
STUDIOCANAL, Europe’s leader in production, distribution and international sales of TV series and feature films has secured worldwide international rights to N.E.O, the first young adult saga from one of France’s most celebrated authors, Michel Bussi, and will co-produce a 12 x 45’ series along with AUTHENTIC PROD.
N.E.O will be a quadrilogy, the first two of which have been successfully published by PKJ (EDITIS Group).
Produced by Françoise Guyonnet for STUDIOCANAL and Aline Panel for AUTHENTIC PROD, the adventure series will be written by Brigitte Bémol and Julien Simonet (Je Te Promets).
Michel Bussi is one of the best-selling and most widely read French authors (over 8 million copies sold). His novels have been translated in 36 countries and three of them have been successfully adapted for television. He is signed to Presses de la Cité, Pocket, Phileas and PKJ, part of leading publisher Editis group (Vivendi Group) and will collaborate as co-author of the adaptation.
In a world where adults have disappeared, there are a couple of shelters for the two rival tribes who survived the cataclysmic event: the Tipi (The Eiffel Tower) and the Castle (The Louvre). Some hunt to feed themselves, the others live as recluses. The hour of confrontation has come: can the war between the two tribes still be avoided, even if nature has never been more threatened? Humanity must be saved at whatever the cost…
Françoise Guyonnet, Executive Managing Director TV Series at STUDIOCANAL, comments, “This is a far-reaching and timely project aimed specifically for young adults. As the way we live our lives alongside the natural world becomes ever more perilous this look into the near future seems far too close for comfort. Along with our colleagues at EDITIS and our friends at AUTHENTIC PROD we are delighted to be working with the exceptional Michel Bussi and look forward to delivering this thrilling and thought-provoking story to screens around the world in the coming months.”
Aline Panel, producer and president of AUTHENTIC PROD, is looking forward to a new collaboration with Michel Bussi, with whom she has worked with in the past. Aline is equally pleased to partner with STUDIOCANAL and EDITIS, thanks to this ambitious project which speaks to the issues at the heart of its editorial policies. “N.E.O. is entertainment in the noblest sense of the word, striving to fulfill the aspirations of younger generations to work toward a world that is fair, at peace, and environmentally-friendly.”
Michel Bussi, author, also comments “Three of my novels have been adapted into a series for French TV, but the N.E.O project is the one that is closest to my heart. I imagined it as a spectacular and addictive saga, dealing with major contemporary issues. The meeting of the talents of AUTHENTIC PROD and STUDIOCANAL, their enthusiasm and their great professionalism, are the best guarantees for my dream to become reality.”
