FROM PRODUCER GAIL ROSENBLUM

Why I’m making “Milkweed”

I realize that producing an animated feature based on a beloved young adult novel is not for the faint at heart. I have considered running away from the challenge many times over the past decade, but a little boy keeps pulling me back. His name is Stopthief, or so he believes, as he runs from the Nazi Jackboots in 1940s Poland, stealing bread to stay alive.

Since finding my way to “Milkweed,” Jerry Spinelli’s raw and beautiful young adult novel, I have not been able to get endearing, maddening, courageous little Stopthief out of my head — or my heart.

There are countless first-person memoirs of the Holocaust, each more horrific than the next. Milkweed, as historical fiction, serves as a blank and universal canvas — a stark reminder of the tragic consequences of dehumanizing another person or group of people. It is a story as relevant today as it was 75 years ago.

It is a story we must continue to tell our children.

When I read “Milkweed,” as a Jew, as a mother and as a writer, I knew that I had to find a way to share it with a wide audience. While the goal is to create a breakout independent film for a worldwide audience, nonprofit Courage Coalition is also focused on providing empathy-based teaching lessons and social justice activities in middle schools nationwide for free. (Read more here). Our children do not know what the Holocaust is and it’s not their fault. We must teach them.

With film rights in place, the lean and beautiful screenplay complete, and my creative team raring to go, we are ready to bring “Milkweed” to life. Please join me and the Milkweed team on this extraordinary and life-affirming adventure.