Firebird Pictures snaps up TV rights for Reynolds debut Shiver

Allie Reynolds’ sought after thriller Shiver (Headline) has been snapped up by Firebird Pictures for adaptation into a TV series.

Headline scooped the ex-snowboarder’s debut for six figures earlier this year, fighting off interest from nine other publishers. Penguin Putnam in the US pre-empted North American rights and it has already been sold in 12 languages

Now TV rights have been scooped acquired by Firebird co-founder Craig Holleworth from Julian Friedmann at Blake Friedmann.

Set in the French Alps, it focuses on five friends who meet for a reunion years after taking part in a snowboarding competition that led to the disappearance of the sixth member of their group, Saskia. Trapped in a deserted hotel at the top of a mountain, the secrets of their past are about to come to light with increasingly dangerous consequences. 

Firebird co-founder Elizabeth Kilgarriff, a former BBC senior commissioning editor responsible for “Bodyguard” and “Luther”, said: “To find a story that combines the high stakes, dangerous world of competitive snowboarding with a locked room mystery set in a spooky hotel is television gold-dust.  Tightly plotted and with an engaging cast of young characters, Allie’s story mixes genre in a way that feels incredibly fresh and promises huge visual and emotional scale.”

Reynolds said: “Elizabeth and Craig have so many impressive BBC credits behind them so I'm beyond thrilled that Firebird has optioned my novel and incredibly excited by the prospect of seeing my story come to life on the screen.”