J.P. Pomare pictured at the launch of his book In the Clearing at McLeods Booksellers in Rotorua in 2020. Photo / Andrew Warner
J.P. Pomare pictured at the launch of his book In the Clearing at McLeods Booksellers in Rotorua in 2020. Photo / Andrew Warner
Rotorua-born author Joshua Pomare's book is being adapted into a Disney series.
The 33-year-old, also known as J.P. Pomare, told the Rotorua Daily Post he was "absolutely over the moon" that his second novel, In The Clearing, would be adapted to an eight-part Disney series called The Clearing.
Pomare, wholives in Melbourne with his wife Paige and his two-year-old daughter Blake, said filming would start at the end of June in rural Victoria.
The series will star Australian actress Miranda Otto, of Lord of the Rings fame, Guy Pearce, who starred in Memento, and Teresa Palmer from A Discovery of Witches.
Miranda Otto will star in the new series, The Clearing, based on a book by Rotorua's Josh Pomare. Photo / Getty Images
Pomare said he felt a "strong sense of pride and joy" about the adaptation of his "favourite" book.
"I still pinch myself because it's all happened so quickly and it's such a privilege to have a big streamer on board - it's very exciting.
"I'm extremely happy but it feels very much like [being] a tourist in this because it's quite glamorous - I'm just sort of taking it in and enjoying the ride."
Pomare started writing fiction books in his early twenties. Photo / Andrew Warner
The book was inspired by a cult which was "relatively unknown" outside of Victoria and was "most active" during the 1970s and 1980s.
The story is about a woman "recluse" who wanted to raise and protect her son, but did not engage in society in a way that "most of us do".
"She sort of clashes in a way with this cult that's living in the bush near here."
Pomare said it had always been a "pipe dream" to have one of his books end up on the big screen but he had never written with the intent of an adaptation.
He liked to think he wrote in a "cinematic way" and his book was often quite dialogue-heavy, with lots of action.
"There's more of the story that's not on the page, which I think film people like."
He said the potential for film was so much higher for exposure than books and hoped this would help create awareness around this work.
"It just means more people are exposed to my work, which is ultimately the goal with books - you want readers. So I think that part of it is really significant for me as well."
He said In The Clearing was dedicated to his father, Bill Pomare.
