With the children’s television landscape evolving from the bright sitcom-style of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows, a veteran director of the genre is charting his own course, while still working in the field of children’s entertainment.
Mike Caron, who directed several dozen episodes Henry Danger, Danger Force And Totally Weird Parents: Quite Weirdhas optioned Sarah Cowen’s award-winning middle grade novel what we left behind.
Shawn Lavery, writer of comedies Cougar Town And crossing swordsAn adaptation is set to be penned, being developed as a feature.
Caron is developing the adaptation through Mike Caron Productions, the production company he launched in 2022 to develop the original concepts and acquire the intellectual property. The project resonated with Karen, who saw the book and had long been interested in exploring the topic of bullying in a darker, feature-length format. Following his new focus and company, he returned to the material with a plan.
“Taking an independently published, award-winning book and bringing it to the screen is exactly the kind of story I want to support,” Caron said in a statement. “There’s incredible creative freedom in finding great material outside the traditional paths and Sarah’s fiction has that rare, raw authenticity.”
Established in the 90’s, what we left behind It follows a group of seventh graders as they grapple with friendship, bullying, and the consequences of the choices they make. At its center is 13-year-old Evan, whose carefully constructed reputation as one of the “cool kids” is challenged when he is tasked with spending lunch with William, a new student suffering from severe food allergies who has become the target of his classmates’ ridicule. What begins as resentment slowly turns into an unlikely friendship, leaving Evan facing pressure to fit in and constant severe bullying from someone he cares about.
Cowen wrote the novel as a passion project, inspired by the effects she witnessed when her nephews struggled with severe food allergies. The book made an impact. It was one of only six finalists nationwide in Kirkus’s inaugural Indie Awards for the children’s literature category, representing the highest achievement among independently published books. And it also won first place award for audiobooks at the Bookfest.
Karen’s career is closely associated with Nickelodeon and some of the most successful children’s television series of the last two decades. In addition to directing the show, he also worked as an assistant director on the series josh and drake, zoey 101, icarly, And victoriousamong others. what we left behind represents a deliberate expansion into broader family audiences and feature film production. Karen is currently in pre-production on this feature intruderStarring Amy Acker, Todd Stashwick and Tommy Walker.
For Lavery, this project has a personal connection because his son has a disability. This is something he’s used before with his writing, with his 2019 pilot you me Being selected for the inaugural Black List Disability List, which recognizes the ten best scripts focusing on disability or featuring a disabled main character.
“Coming of age stories made me a writer, but watching my disabled son grow into adulthood gave me a new perspective on experiences.” Lavery adds, “Sarah’s novel reflects the idea that hyper-specificity gives rise to universality, which is my approach to storytelling, and I’m excited to add an extra dimension to the world Sarah has created.”
Karen is represented by the Kaplan Stahler Agency. Lavery is represented by Heaven Entertainment.