YFEP winners Alexis Opper, Naomi Clements, and Daniel Pritchard at Youth Voices Uncensored.

“Books have been written for centuries to preserve and exhibit new thought,” says filmmaker Daniel Pritchard in his short film Excluded. “Why would we ever want to get rid of that?” Pritchard—winner of the  National Coalition Against Censorship‘s Youth Free Expression Project People’s Choice Award—was on hand with other young filmmakers this Saturday at the New York Film Academy for Youth Voices Uncensored, a special screening for all the winning films in NCAC’s annual film contest.

In addition to the winning YFEP films, works directed and produced by young people from the Global Action Project, a social justice organization for young people, and Reel Works, a teen filmmaking mentorship program, were also shown at the event.

The Youth Free Expression Project, made possible by the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, invites people ages 19 and younger to submit videos related to censorship. This year, participants were given the theme “You’re Reading What?!?” and asked to create films focusing on book banning.

YFEP winners are joined at the screening by Karim Alexander, a producer at Reel Works Teen Filmmaking.

Through films infused with arresting visual imagery, references to actual book challenges, and poignant personal accounts, the teens vigorously defend the right to read freely, and demonstrate a strong passion for freedom of speech.

First-place winner Eden Ames relies upon the contrast between black and white and color film to underscore the restrictive, limiting nature of censorship. Her film Waking depicts a bleak, grey environment comprised of blindfolded inhabitants. A young boy is scolded by his mother when he attempts to read, warning him that books could potentially confuse him, but by removing his blindfold and accessing a library, he soon discovers a new vibrant, colorful world. Acacia O’Conor of NCAC praises the film for its nuanced look at censorship. “It admits that a lot of the things we read confuse us,” she says. ”They’re difficult to swallow, these books that show us the ugliness of our lives sometimes, but they are so rewarding.”

The filmmakers also express concern for current and recent book challenges. In her film Banned, second-place winner Naomi Clements cites the recent challenging of Patricia Polacco’s In Our Mother’s House, which portrays a family with two mothers. School librarians in Davis County, Utah were forced to shelve the book behind their desks until full access was restored.

Clements employs simple yet powerful animated images—bookshelves being locked away, a child staring at a book hidden behind a desk—as she narrates her beliefs in her own and others’ right to read: “It is not the right of one parent or person to decide what everyone else can read. I do not want to live in a world dictated by the insecurities of others.”

Third-place winner Alexis Opper also references recent book challenges in her film You Do Not Speak for Me, but delves into her personal feelings on the issue as well. The film shows Opper visually rearranging her own favorite books that have been banned or challenged—such as Matilda, Just Ella, and Speak—as she describes the need to safeguard access to all titles. And she pleas to well-meaning adults seeking to remove seemingly disturbing material in an attempt to protect teens: “You do not make darkness disappear by covering it up. You don’t save us by taking away reality, and you don’t determine what helps and what hurts.”

Michael O’Neil, NCAC communications director, wrapped the screening by announcing the theme for the next 2013 contest: “Video Games in the Crosshairs.” Because video games are so often viewed as potentially dangerous to young people by parents, legislators, and educators, NCAC encourages young people to share their views on this subject that directly affects them.

O’Neil emphasizes the importance of giving young people the chance to voice their opinions. “What we really strive to do with this film contest,” he says, “is to give young people a chance to speak for themselves. There are so many adult authority figures who spend a lot of time speaking for kids…and we need more opportunities for young people to speak up for themselves.”

In fact, 2013 already promises a packed calendar of book-related film projects based on popular kid and young adult titles. Check out this roundup of releases that will have your students and patrons heading to the theater—and, hopefully, to bookshelves as well.

Coming Soon

The following adaptations, in order of release date, will be debuting in movie theaters in the coming weeks and months.

Oz the Great and Powerful (PG), starring James Franco, Michelle Williams, and Mila Kunis, opens in theaters everywhere on March 8. Directed by Spiderman trilogy master Sam Raimi, it’s inspired by Frank L. Baum’s classic, The Wizard of Oz.

Hoping to replicate the Twilight saga’s runaway success, the film version (PG-13) of Stephenie Meyer’s The Host (Little, Brown, 2008), which chronicles the tale of Melanie Stryder’s (Saoirse Ronan) struggle against a parasitic alien that wants to use her to destroy humanity, premieres March 29.

The Roaring Twenties come to life in Baz Lurhmann’s dizzying adaptation (PG) of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. On May 10, moviegoers will watch a star-studded cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio (Jay Gatsby), Carey Mulligan (Daisy Buchanan), and Tobey Maguire (Nick Carraway). Though not a children’s book, it’s certainly a high school curriculum favorite.

Logan Lerman, fresh off his leading role in Perks of Being a Wallflower, steps back into demigod shoes on August 16 in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, the sequel to Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief, both based on Rick Riordan’s bestselling series.

The first title in Cassandra Clare’s “The Mortal Instruments” series, City of Bones (S & S, 2007), will be making its way to the big screen on August 23. Lily Collins portrays Clary Fray, a teen from New York City who discovers the secret world of Shadowhunters (super-powered half-angels) when her mother (Lena Headey) is kidnapped by a demon.

The Seventh Son will be coming to theaters on October 18. This dark fantasy is based on the first installment of Joseph Delaney’s “Wardstone Chronicles” (HarperCollins), The Spook’s Apprentice. Ben Barnes plays the title character, and Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore also star.

Sci-fi classic Ender’s Game (St. Martin’s Pr., 1985) by Orson Scott Card will finally be getting the film treatment in this November 1 release. Asa Butterfield, the movie’s star who has been in several book adaptations (Hugo Cabret, Boy in the Striped Pajamas), portrays a military child genius who must save the world from evil aliens. Gavin Hood is both the director and screenwriter. The cast also includes Abigail Breslin (Valentine Wiggin0, Hailee Steinfeld (Petra Arkanian), Harrison Ford (Colonel Hyrum Graff), and Sir Ben Kingsley (Mazer Rackham). Not originally published as a YA novel, it has an avid teen following.

In the Pipeline

Below are several book-to-movie adaptations, scheduled to hit theaters next year, for which fans are already anxiously waiting.

The Maze Runner (Delacorte, 2009) by James Dashner is set for a February 14, 2014, release date; the film will be directed by Wes Bell.

Vampire Academy (Penguin/Razorbill, 2007) by Richelle Meade is also set for a February 14, 2014 release; the film adaptation, called Blood Sisters, will be directed by Mark Waters from a screen play by Daniel Waters. It will star Zooey Deutch (Rose Hathaway), Lucy Fry (Princess Lissa), and Danila Kozlovsky (Dimitri).

Divergent (HarperCollins, 2011) by Veronica Roth will be released on March 21, 2014, directed by Neil Burger from a screenplay by Evan Daugherty. It reportedly will star Shailene Woodley (Tris) and Kate Winslet.

Building Buzz

Several more adaptations have just been announced in recent weeks, although firm details about those projects are continuing to unfold.

John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton, 2012) will be produced by Fox 2000 and directed by Josh Boone from a screenplay by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. It reportedly will star either Shailene Woodley or Hailee Steinfeld.

Gayle Forman’s If I Stay (Dutton, 2009) will be produced by Summit Entertainment and directed by RJ Cutler. It will star Chloë Moretz (Mia).

Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief (Knopf, 2006) will be produced by Karen Rosenfelt at Fox 2000 and directed by Brian Percival. It will star Sophie Nélisse (Liesel), Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson (foster parents), Ben Schnetzer (Max), and Nico Liersch.

A live-action adaptation of John Rocco’s Blackout (Hyperion/Disney, 2011) will be produced by John Rocco and Ivana Schecter-Garcia at Fox 2000. Will Davies is writing the screenplay. A director has not yet been named.

A new version of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden will be produced by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Johnson from a screenplay by Lucy Alibar. It will be reportedly set in the American Southwest. A director has not yet been named.

Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book (HarperCollins, 2008) will be produced by Disney and directed by Ron Howard.

Lois Lowry’s The Giver (Houghton Mifflin, 1992) will be produced by Nikki Silver and reportedly directed by Phillip Noyce. It is set to star Jeff Bridges (The Giver).

Kendare Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood (Tor Teen, 2011) will be produced by Stephenie Meyer for Fickle Fish.

Not Yet Published

Several film adaptations are reportedly in the works for as-yet unpublished works.

An adaptation of Margaret Stohl’s Icons (Little, Brown, 2013) will be produced by Alcon Entertainment from a screenplay by Massy Tadjedin. A director has not yet been named.

The film version of Josin L. McQuein’s Arclight (HarperCollins/Greenwillow, 2013) will be produced by Universal Pictures/Imagine Entertainment from a screenplay by Matthew Sand. A director has not yet been named.

Meanwhile, on the Small Screen

Film producers aren’t the only ones mining the bookshelf for great ideas. Television network Nick Jr. has already premiered its new CG-animated series The Tales of Peter Rabbit on February 19; it follows the adventures of Peter Rabbit and many other of Beatrix Potter’s beloved animal characters. Other small-screen adaptions include:

Kiera Cass’s The Selection (HarperCollins, 2012) is set to premiere on the CW network. It will be directed by Mark Piznarski, written by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, and will star Yael Grobglas (America Singer), Peta Sergeant (Commander Gaia Woods), and Sean Patrick Thomas (Sylvan Santos).

Lauren Oliver’s Delirum (HarperCollins, 2011) will debut on Fox. It will be written by Karyn Usher and produced by Karyn Usher, Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope, Paul Mazur, and Mitchell Kaplan at 20th Television. It wills tar Emma Roberts (Lena), Daren Kagasoff (Alex), and Billy Campbell (Thomas Fineman).

Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian’s Burn for Burn (S & S, 2012) will be produced by Barry Josephson Entertainment. A network has not yet been named.

Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved classic Anne of Green Gables will get yet a modern-day, contemporary update with this adaptation produced by Joan Lambur at Breakthrough Entertainment. A network has not yet been named.

You sold the screen rights to The Diviners even before it was published. How’d that happen?

Lots of book-savvy producers track the deals announced on Publisher’s Marketplace. The good producers identify the titles, authors/illustrators, and loglines that seem most interesting and are persistent about getting access to the manuscripts as soon as possible.

Why are so many children and YA books—from the Hunger Games and Diary of a Wimpy Kid to Where the Wild Things Are and even Judy Moody—being adapted for the big screen.

Family films often prove to be very profitable as they play to the widest audience. Classic titles like Raggedy Ann are beloved by many generations. Newer successes like The Kane Chronicles often have crossover appeal. If studios and producers are going to spend millions of dollars on a film, they want to make sure as many people see it as possible.

Dystopian tales seem to be big now. Are there any other trends you’re seeing?

Every studio seems to have optioned several dystopian titles, so there is a glut within the development pipeline. Only so many films of this nature can be produced. The trend that is most surprising is the demand for love stories. It’s great to know that people want to produce and to see movies that make people swoon. It’s a welcome relief from the dark and serious movies that dominate the multiplexes these days. The movie posters for “Batman,” “Superman” and “Spiderman” are nearly pitch black. Let’s add some color back into our lives!

You work with some big names in the kid lit world like Mo Willems, John Corey Whaley, and Libba. What do you look for in your clients?

Each one seems to have a very unique and immediately identifiable voice, and yet each has a sense of flexibility as storytellers, crafting amazing narratives across genres and formats.

What kind of relationship do you have with publishers to get galleys or advanced copies of books?

We represent a number of publishers and a number of book agents, so we get to see material at very early stages very often.

Can you tell immediately after reading a book whether it’s going to be a hit?

I can’t always tell, but sometimes when you see it, you know it. There have been a handful of titles that I knew would make great movies or TV shows. Almost all have been optioned by now. I work in Hollywood and I read. There are many smart book-friendly executives who do read.  Anyone who wants to work with underlying material really should read. That said, Hollywood traffics in screenplays and so most people are best trained to read that medium. Reviews are helpful for summary more than for commentary. I want to make up my own mind.

Name some famous kid lit authors you’re successfully brought to the big screen?

Our company has the good fortune of working with many of the best in the business. We produced The Spider Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones is going into production shortly.

Obviously, you need a good book first, but tell us what happens after that.

There is no one definitive process. There are many roads, all rambling, to make it to the screen.  Typically, producers will read a book—or the coverage of the book—and say “Great book. Get a screenwriter.”  The screenwriter—or five—will adapt the book. Add a director who can get a great cast. Then add cast who are economically meaningful to an international audience. Make sure there is secure financing. Shoot the footage. Fix everything in post. Then maybe, hopefully, we’re off to the premiere. It all takes about eight years.

Does this bring in big bucks for you and your clients?

We always aim to get the best deal for our clients, and the best deal isn’t always about the biggest paycheck. Some have done very well, but everyone wants to do better.

How long have you been doing this?

I worked at Alloy [Entertainment] for a year before Gotham, where I’ve been now for eight years. Prior to that I was a college professor at Emory University in an interdisciplinary program. My favorite class to teach was “Fantasy, Fairy Tales, and Folklore,” where I taught books like Coraline, and Harry Potter, along with classical myths and Disney movies.

Do you have much competition out there in LA?

In the grand scheme of things, there is a relatively small group of people who speak Hollywood and publishing with equal fluency. When it comes to children’s and YA, there are even fewer. I am lucky enough to work with some of the best here at the Gotham Group.