Kavaleer Productions has partnered with acclaimed director John Boorman (Point Blank, Deliverance) to develop its first animated feature film, The Honey Wars, based on the bedtime stories Boorman made up for his children. 

Kavaleer (Pablo, Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese) has developed a premise for the 90-minute film that revolves around a young girl who ends up in the middle of a conflict between fairies and elves. She makes friends with one of each, and together they try to uncover the secrets that instigated the war, and help the two sides reconcile in time to join forces against a greater foe. 

Boorman is serving as a story consultant and executive producer on the film, which is in the scriptwriting phase of development now, with financial support from Screen Ireland. 

Andrew Kavanagh, founder and CEO of Kavaleer, has been working on this project for two years. He was joined in his efforts recently by Alan Keane (Oddbods, Space Chickens), who started at Kavaleer as a development producer in June 2023.  

An all-star voice cast including Jamie Lee Curtis, Patrick Stewart, Brendan Gleeson and Jon Voight are already locked in, drawn to the chance to work with 91-year-old Boorman on what he told them would likely be his last project when he reached out personally to gauge their interest.

It’s a rough time for the industry, and like other companies, the focus for Kavaleer has been on figuring out how to keep the lights on, says Kavanagh. Working with Boorman (who Kavanagh has admired since seeing Deliverance when he was eight or nine years old) and having the chance to tell a dark but still family-friendly story is a major opportunity for the studio, he adds. 

“What really draws me to this project is the notion that the bedtime stories we make up for our kids stay so vividly alive in their imaginations throughout their lives,” he says. “I was stunned that all of John’s children had such clear recollections of these tales, and I knew straight away we were onto something special in The Honey Wars.”