Press release from TM Publicity
Matchbox Pictures is thrilled to announce that it has secured the rights to produce a television adaptation of Christos Tsiolkas’ acclaimed novel, The Slap.
At a suburban barbeque, a man slaps a child who is not his own. This event ricochets through a group of family and friends, dividing and changing them.
This year’s most talked-about book, The Slap recently won the 2009 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize. It is shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award (winner to be announced 18 June), ABA Bookseller Choice Award, and the Association for the Study of Australian Literature ALS Gold Medal (the oldest literary award in Australia, winner to be announced 8 July).
First published in Australia in November 2008 The Slap has already sold to 8 international territories including prestigious publishing houses in the US, UK, France and Canada where it is scheduled for publication in late 2009/early 2010.
Matchbox’s Tony Ayres says “The brilliance of The Slap is that it brings to vivid life an Australia which we absolutely know, and yet we have never seen before. Through focusing upon the shattering repercussions of a single event, the novel unfurls into a coruscating discourse on race, class, gender, sexuality and identity in contemporary Australian. Matchbox Pictures is convinced that The Slap will make landmark television.”
Christos Tsiolkas says “I am very excited to be working with Matchbox. From personal experience, I trust their vision and their integrity as creators of film and television and believe they will create something exhilarating, passionate and provocative with the material in the novel.
The Slap will be produced by Helen Bowden (Soft Fruit, Girl in a Mirror), Michael McMahon (The Home Song Stories, Saved) and Tony Ayres (The Home Song Stories, Walking on Water) for Matchbox Pictures. The Executive Producer will be Penny Chapman (RAN, Brides of Christ) who is currently producing the landmark children’s series My Place.