Jared and Jerusha Hess to Adapt Acclaimed Childrens Novel Thelma the Unicorn by Aaron Blabey into Animated Musical Feature Film for Netflix

Jared Hess to Direct

• Director: Jared Hess (Masterminds, The Last Man on Earth)
• Writers: Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre) to adapt a screenplay based on the novel by Aaron Blabey
• Executive Producers: Aaron Blabey and Patrick Hughes of Foundation Media Partners
• Logline: When a rare pink and glitter-filled moment of fate makes Thelma the Pony’s wish of being a unicorn come true, she rises to instant international pop-superstar stardom, but at an unexpected cost. Thelma the Unicorn is a joyful story about learning to love who you are… even if you don’t have sparkles.
• Quote from Jared and Jerusha Hess: “We are huge fans of Aaron’s work. The lovable misfits in his books feel right at home for us. It is a dream come true to be collaborating with him and Netflix on an animated feature of Thelma the Unicorn.”
• Quote from Aaron Blabey: “I’m beyond excited that my beautiful phoney Unicorn is going to sparkle her way onto the screen in a big, glittery Netflix film. Thelma is SO ready for her close-up!”
• Thelma the Unicorn has sold over 1.6 million copies to date and has been distributed in 14 countries around the world. The success of Blabey’s novels has landed him on The New York Times bestselling list for 32 weeks.
• Thelma the Unicorn joins Netflix’s growing feature animation slate, which includes Pachamama on June 7th as well as the following upcoming titles: Klaus from director Sergio Pablos and SPA Studios, The Willoughbys from director Kris Pearn and BRON Studios, and Over The Moon from director Glen Keane and Pearl Studios, as well as the award-winning adult animated feature I Lost My Body from director Jérémy Clapin and Xilam Animation, which Netflix recently acquired at Cannes.

Images for Download

• Jared and Jerusha Hess
• Aaron Blabey
• Thelma the Unicorn Book Sleeve

About Aaron Blabey

Aaron Blabey has written many beloved, best-selling books for children. He has around thirteen million books in print and is the creator of three hugely successful series for children; the New York Times Bestseller The Bad Guys, Pig the Pug and Thelma the Unicorn. Each series has been translated into many languages and his work is published in over 30 countries.

In 2018, it was announced that a movie adaptation of The Bad Guys is in development at DreamWorks Animation, with Aaron serving as an Executive Producer on the project.

Aaron’s books have won many awards, including ten REAL Awards, an INDIE Book Award for Children’s Book of the Year, a Children’s Book Council of Australia - Book of the Year Award, a NSW Premier’s Literary Award for Children’s Literature, twoAustralian Book Design Awards and a Children’s Peace Literature Award.

On background: Aaron is represented by Patrick Hughes at Foundation Media Partners, who is also his producing partner. Jared and Jerusha are represented by UTA.