<\/p>\n
EXCLUSIVE: <\/strong>Lion Forge Entertainment has acquired rights to Kimberly Ann Harrison\u2019s acclaimed debut novel Beyond the Paddock<\/em> and will make a YA TV series with the author, showrunner and executive producer.<\/p>\n Harrison, whose list of credits include FRIENDS<\/em>, Criminal Minds<\/em>, STAR<\/em>, Deputy<\/em>, All Rise<\/em>, Law and Order Organized Crime, <\/em>Disney\u2019s The Crossover<\/em> and most recently Washington Black<\/em> for Hulu, will adapt Beyond the Paddock<\/em> for television and serve as the series showrunner. Lion Forge Entertainment founder and CEO David Steward II and President and Chief Creative Office Stephanie Sperber will produce the series for the studio.<\/p>\n More from Deadline<\/strong><\/p>\n Beyond the Paddock<\/em> is a YA coming-of-age story, following the lives of two teenagers from the Los Angeles foster care system who are forced to relocate to Lexington Kentucky into the elite world of equestrian competitive riding and jumping. The storycenters on brothers Julian and Cameron, adrenaline junkies who turn their love for street racing into a passion for competitive horse riding, set amidst a world full of privilege that they have never known before. Throughout the book, they learn each has a unique talent, making friends, enemies and finding connection along the way.<\/p>\n Harrison was inspired to write the novel after watching her sons ride at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, where they compete in English equestrian showjumping.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first read Beyond the Paddock<\/em>, it hit close to home for me,\u201d said David Steward II. \u201cMy son rides, and over the years, the equestrian world has become a big part of our family\u2019s life. We\u2019ve spent countless hours around barns, competitions and that incredible community, so I immediately recognized how authentic Kimberly\u2019s story feels. What she\u2019s written isn\u2019t just about the sport. It\u2019s about belonging, discipline, and young people discovering who they are. That\u2019s what made us fall in love with this project and why we\u2019re so excited to bring it to television.\u201d<\/p>\n RELATED: TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2026 So Far<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Harrison won an International Impact award for Beyond the Paddock<\/em> and has a successful track record adapting novels. She served as Co-Showrunner and Executive Producer on the television adaptation of the acclaimed novel Washington Black<\/em> for Hulu, where she helped shape the story\u2019s transition from page to screen.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the moment we read the novel, we saw incredible potential for a series that feels both grounded and aspirational,\u201d said Stephanie Sperber. \u201cThe story captures the thrill of discovering a passion while navigating the complexities of growing up, the discovery of an entirely new culture, first loves, victories and defeats, and Kimberly\u2019s voice brings authenticity and emotional depth to these characters.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeing able to share an equestrian story from such a unique perspective is both fulfilling and empowering for so many people,\u201d said Harrison. \u201cI\u2019m grateful to be partnering with Lion Forge to bring this heartfelt story to life. Their team has been incredibly collaborative and truly aligned with the vision I set out to achieve with this project.\u201d<\/p>\n RELATED: Book-To-Movie Adaptations Coming Out In 2026<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Founded by David Steward II, Lion Forge Entertainment focuses on global IP that is both authentic and appealing to a broad audience. The company develops and produces animated and live-action content targeting kids & family, YA and adult audiences. Most recently, the studio\u2019s epic animated fantasy series Iyanu<\/em> was a breakout cross-platform success on HBO Max and Cartoon Network last year and will debut season two this spring.<\/p>\n The studio\u2019s pipeline has surged in the last year. A highly active 12-month period for Lion Forge Entertainment saw the company join forces with George R. R. Martin (Game of Thrones<\/em>) to adapt the novella A Dozen Tough Jobs<\/em> into an adult animated feature film; set a partnership with TalesVision to expand their short-form YouTube sensation, Lostlings,<\/em> into a premium long-form series; executive produce two movies \u2013 the comedy Jacob Beats Up Nate<\/em> and A Dog\u2019s Perfect Christmas<\/em> for Netflix; set a first of-its-kind strategic partnership with Scouting America (formerly Boy Scouts); and partnered with Rebel Girls to develop content around Rebel Girls Sports in the unscripted space. Additional strategic partnerships for Lion Forge Entertainment include an alliance with Penguin Young Readers, a division of Penguin Random House, to develop series and features based on select children\u2019s books.<\/p>\n Harrison is represented by CAA and Yorn Levine Barnes<\/em>\u00a0Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner Endlich & Gellman. Lion Forge Entertainment is represented by Activist Artists Management.<\/p>\n RELATED: Lion Forge Entertainment & Boy Scouts Org Scouting America Set Strategic Partnership<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Best of Deadline<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Deadline’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source nz.news.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" EXCLUSIVE: Lion Forge Entertainment has acquired rights to Kimberly Ann Harrison\u2019s acclaimed debut novel Beyond the Paddock and will make a YA TV series with the author, showrunner and executive producer. Harrison, whose list of credits include FRIENDS, Criminal Minds, STAR, Deputy, All Rise, Law and Order Organized Crime, Disney\u2019s The Crossover and most recently […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2337127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[452751,432752,452753,310350,432751,367426,371238,452750,452752,353296],"class_list":["post-2337126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-ann-harrison","tag-david-steward","tag-equestrian-world","tag-executive-producer","tag-lion-forge","tag-lion-forge-entertainment","tag-los-angeles-equestrian-center","tag-stephanie-sperber","tag-the-paddock","tag-washington-black"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Lion-Forge-Entertainment-Acquires-TV-Rights-to-Kimberly-Ann-Harrisons.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2337126"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2337128,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337126\/revisions\/2337128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2337127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2337126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2337126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2337126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}