Shannon Molloy’s Fourteen to be made into a film

An acclaimed Australian novel released earlier this year has been picked up by a production company to be translated to screen.

The harrowing-yet-hopeful true story of news.com.au’s Shannon Molloy has been picked up by a production company for screen adaptation.

Announced this week, Orange Entertainment Co. has acquired the rights to Fourteen: My Year of Darkness, and the Light that Followed, the autobiographical debut of Molloy.

The memoir, which guides the reader through Molloy’s torrid high school journey at a Catholic all boys school in regional Queensland to the light at the end of the tunnel, details the bullying and violence he experienced as a gay teenager.

It was released to glowing reviews in April.

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Fourteen by Shannon Molloy. Picture: Supplied.

Speaking of the announcement this week, Molloy – who will be closely involved with production of the film – said he was “thrilled” to be working with the 2019-established company Orange for which Fourteen is the first acquisition.

He said the partnership came after interest from other production companies, but he ultimately chose Orange for their vision.

“There was some other interest but it was clear immediately that Kurt and Dan understood what I wanted to do with the story,” Mr Molloy said of CEO Kurt Royan and head of content Dan Lake.

“What really jumped out at me was Orange’s vision for this story and the potential to tell this story in a bigger, different way.

“That’s to give a raw and honest account of what young people have gone through and continue to go through in Australia but to bring hope, to show what love and kindness can do to people going through a tough time.”

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Fourteen is a raw and heartbreaking account of homophobia in the town of Yeppoon.

While a deeply painful tale at times, it also celebrates the power of kindness through the support of his close family and friends, with the core focus on the importance of uplifting others.

Orange’s head of content Dan Lake, who first introduced CEO Kurt Royan to Molloy’s debut novel, said he felt passionately about Molloy’s story, and the importance of sharing it with others.

“What excites me about Fourteen is we’re developing not just a queer project – the world inhabited by 14-year-olds is so intoxicating and tangible and it’s one everyone can relate to, regardless of where they went to school or where they grew up,” Lake said.

“So many people who don’t identify as queer have connected with Shannon’s story because of the universal themes of fitting in and just trying to make it out of ‘teenage-hood’ alive.”

Fourteen is in its initial development phase, but Molloy will remain closely involved.

“We really want to keep Shannon involved in the production process. This is not just a story, this is his story,” Lake said.

Molloy added: “I’ll make coffee, I’ll photocopy stuff, whatever they need! I’m just so thrilled to be involved beyond signing on the dotted line.”

As for casting the role of his teenage self, Molloy joked: “I’m at the age where I don’t know any cool, popular people under the age of 40. Are there any cool teenage Hemsworths?”

Molloy and his mother Donna, who he said is the “star” of the story. Picture: Supplied.

Fourteen, which featured on ABC’s The Drum and Conversations, has seen several positive reviews in its short time on shelves. The audiobook version, narrated by Molloy, was also named one of Audible’s Best Audiobooks of 2020.

Released in the pandemic’s early months, Molloy admitted he was “worried” it would struggle to be discovered.

In the five “joyous” months since its release, however, he has been inundated with heartwarming messages from readers touched by his candour.

“I’ve heard from a man in his 70s who suspects his 14-year-old grandson is gay and wanted to know how to support him, a mum who lost her teenager to suicide in the 90s, principals and school librarians keen to spread the message of kindness and hope, a priest who gave me advice on the LGBT conflict with Catholicism, gay men my age and older who had war stories of their own, and many, many people who grew up in small town Australia,” he said.

“I’m so grateful they bought my book and got something from it and I’m touched that many have told me their own struggles.”

He said having the novel adapted to a film was “out of this world”.

“If writing a book one day was my boyhood dream, then seeing this marvellous creation adapted for the screen is a notion that’s totally out of this world.”

The novel was released through Simon & Schuster Australia.

“From the moment I started reading Fourteen, I knew Shannon’s brave and powerful story would change lives,” Managing director of Simon & Schuster Australia Dan Ruffino said.

“We are immensely proud and privileged to be his publisher and so thrilled his story is now set to win over a whole new audience.”