TORONTO – Blink Studios announced today it has acquired the rights to Hold My Girl, an upcoming novel from Canadian author Charlene Carr (above).
Michael London and Shannon Gaulding of Groundswell Productions will executive produce the series with Carolyn Newman and Virginia Rankin for Blink Studios.
Blink Studios was launched by several former Entertainment One executives last November. Endeavor Content is the independent content studio’s lead strategic investor.
The studio’s television adaptation of Hold My Girl is its first project since its launch.
It “is a heart-wrenching, dual narrative women’s fiction novel about two women whose eggs are switched during IVF, only to be revealed over a year later when one of them has been raising the wrong daughter, and the other has been grieving a stillborn child that wasn’t hers,” a description in the press release reads.
“Centred around a moral question, the emotional story features themes of motherhood, racial identity, betrayal and ultimately hope and healing. The premise of the novel was very much inspired by Charlene’s own life – a Black woman who gave birth to a visibly white child via IVF – and stemmed from her own fears of a mix-up, that one day she too would receive a call to say her daughter wasn’t hers.”
The book is expected to be published by Harper Collins in Canada in 2023 and will be published in the U.K. by Welbeck Publishing. A spokesperson for Blink Studios told Cartt.ca via email there is not yet an anticipated release date for the TV series.
“We are committed to working with and discovering great Canadian voices which is why we are delighted to partner with an emerging and brilliant talent like Charlene to help bring her novel to television,” said Newman, executive vice-president of global scripted and Rankin, executive producer at Blink Studios, in the press release. “Her exceptional storytelling is authentic and universal, while also embracing her Canadian roots.”
“I am beyond thrilled to have Blink Studios and Groundswell Productions working on the screen adaptation of ‘Hold My Girl’,” said Carr. “I was blown away by their enthusiasm, emotional connection to the story, and clear desire to keep as true to the book as possible.”
Image supplied by Blink Studios.
