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For years, screenwriter Dan Mazer worked alongside Sacha Baron Cohen, first on his Da Ali G Show, which he followed with writing credits on Da Ali G Movie, Borat, Brüno and The Dictator. Mazer then shifted to directing with the indie rom-com I Give It a Year and then directing last year’s Robert De Niro and Zac Efron comedy Dirty Grandpa.
Mazer has now signed on to his third film as a director, a supernatural comedy based on Vera Brosgol’s graphic novel ANYA’S GHOST, the Tracking Board confirms. First published by First Second in 2011 when it won an Eisner Award, Brosgol’s book has been adapted into a screenplay by author Patrick Ness of A Monster Calls and Chaos Walking fame.
Entertainment One is financing and producing the movie along with Jeremy Bolt from Bold Pictures and Benedict Carver of Bullitt Entertainment with plans to start filming before the end of the year. Lara Thompson and Ilda Diffley from eOne will oversee the project.
The film’s protagonist Anya is a 16-year-old girl who rescues the ghost of a teenager named Emily who died in an underground cave a thousand years prior. The two become friends until that friendship starts to affect Anya’s other relationships.
Mazer is repped by CAA, 3 Arts Entertainment, United Agents and George Davis of Nelson Davis. Ness is also with CAA, Michelle Kass Associates and attorney Howard Abramson. ROAR and Hansen Literary handled the deal for Vera Brosgol.
Edward Douglas | East Coast Editor
