‘The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse’ Author Charlie Mackesy Forms Production Company & Teams With Bad Robot On Animated Short

Tom Grater
·2 min read
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British writer Charlie Mackesy is teaming with Oscar-nominated producer Cara Speller (Pear Cider And Cigarettes) to form production company NoneMore Productions, which will focus on developing his works for the screen.

Mackesy’s illustrated book The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse spent 53 weeks in the Sunday Times’ top 10 bestseller list, winning Waterstones Book of the Year and Barnes and Noble Book of the Year. That text will now become an animation short film, which is being produced with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions. Abrams and Bad Robot’s President of Motion Pictures Hannah Minghella will serve as producers on the project alongside Speller and NoneMore’s Matthew Freud.

The 30-minute short will feature hand-drawn animation capturing the look and spirit of the book and will see a team of artists work alongside Mackesy to bring the project to the big screen.

The project reunites Speller and Minghella who have a decade long relationship, having first met when Speller was working with music group Gorillaz and Minghella was head of Sony Pictures Animation. Speller and Minghella most recently teamed to develop a family movie The Toymaker’s Secret at TriStar Pictures, written by Alex Garland and to be directed by Paloma Baeza.

Delphi Lythgoe has also joined NoneMore as development executive.

Charlie Mackesy said: “I’m continually surprised by everything, and I’m excited by this film. It’s a new adventure for me, and it’s another way for people to experience the journey of the four unlikely friends.”

Hannah Minghella said: “Charlie has created an instant classic. From the beauty of his illustrations to the deeply moving and profound questions these characters contemplate, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse is a balm for the soul. As we continue our own journey into animation at Bad Robot, JJ and I are thrilled to be partnering with Charlie, Cara and Matthew to bring these beloved characters to life.”

Cara Speller said: “From the first moment of seeing Charlie’s soulful characters, I wanted to know more about them and how they interact with each other beyond the moments in the book. The opportunity to bring them even further to life with the magic that animation promises, and to introduce them to an even wider audience, is an incredibly exciting prospect that we can’t wait to explore.”

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