Sony snags rights to 'Familiars'

June 10, 2009 In a low- to mid-seven-figure deal, Sony Pictures Animation has picked up the rights to "The Familiars," an upcoming children's fantasy book series written by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson. The writers pitched the idea to their reps at UTA and H2F Entertainment, who believed -- given the current marketplace that favors having an IP like a comic book or book behind a project -- that going the book route would be better than simply going out with a pitch. The writers' literary agent, Markus Hoffmann of Regal Literary, submitted a partial manuscript plus a detailed chapter outline for the first book as well as short synopses for the second and third volumes during the Book¬Expo America convention, where HarperCollins Children's pre-emptively acquired North American rights to the series in a six-figure deal.

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