Mike Caron Options Sara Coven Novel 'The One We Left Behind' for Film
Sean Lavery will write the screenplay for the 1990s-set middle-grade adaptation, developed through Mike Caron Productions.
Mike Caron has optioned Sara Coven's middle-grade novel The One We Left Behind for development as a feature film, according to hollywoodreporter.com. Sean Lavery is attached to write the screenplay adaptation.
Caron is developing the project through Mike Caron Productions, the company he launched in 2022. The novel is set in the 1990s and follows a group of seventh graders navigating friendship, bullying and the consequences of their choices. It centers on 13-year-old Evan, whose standing as one of the cool kids is tested when he is assigned to spend lunch with William, a new student with severe food allergies who is bullied by classmates.
The option adds to Caron's current slate: he is in pre-production on the feature Invader, which stars Amy Acker, Todd Stashwick and Tommy Walker.
Background
Caron directed several dozen episodes of Henry Danger, Danger Force and Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder, and earlier served as an assistant director on series including Josh & Drake, Zoey 101, iCarly and Victorious. Lavery was a writer on the comedies Cougar Town and Crossing Swords, and his 2019 pilot Me & You was selected for the inaugural Black List Disability List. Coven's novel was one of six nationwide finalists in Kirkus' inaugural Indie Awards for the Children's Literature category and took first place for its audiobook at BookFest.