Pilot Wave Motion Pictures, Fox Entertainment Studios and Moriah Media are developing a feature adaptation of Don’t Feed the Lion, the 2025 middle-grade novel by former CNN anchor Bianna Golodryga and Israeli Channel 12 anchor Yonit Levi. Gal Gadot and Jaron Varsano will executive produce, with Gadot attached as a potential star.
The source material
The book, published by Arcadia Children’s Books, follows 13-year-old soccer co-captain Theo Kaplan, his younger sister Annie and their classmate Gabe. When Theo’s soccer hero posts an antisemitic message that goes viral, the hatred spills into their Chicago middle school and the three friends must decide how to respond.
Golodryga and Levi wrote the novel after their own children asked about rising antisemitism and found little middle-grade fiction on the subject. The announcement lands as Golodryga receives the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Jewish Heritage Award at its 2026 Humanitarian Award Dinner in Los Angeles.
Why it matters
This is not a typical book-to-film option. It pairs a commercial star’s production banner with a Holocaust remembrance organisation’s storytelling arm and two newsroom voices. The result is a project built for family co-viewing and school conversations, rather than a niche political statement.
“This is a story that feels especially personal to us, both as parents and as a family,” Gadot and Varsano said.
- Values-driven IP is moving from niche to studio slates. Moriah Media’s involvement suggests institutional and philanthropic partners can become co-producers.
- Author credentials carry audience trust. Golodryga’s CNN background and Levi’s two decades in Israeli primetime news give the project built-in media relevance.
- The Gadot attachment is conditional but valuable. If she stars, casting changes the financing, distribution and marketing posture.
The takeaway
For entertainment marketers and content teams, the lesson is to lead with the child’s choice rather than the issue. The logline works because a hero figure becomes the source of harm, forcing young characters to choose between silence and speech. That structure is more marketable than a message.
Fox Entertainment Studios and Moriah Media, along with Israel’s Yes TV, recently co-produced the scripted anthology One Day in October for HBO Max, so this adaptation extends an existing partnership. Pilot Wave’s broader slate includes Netflix’s Heart of Stone and National Geographic’s Impact with Gal Gadot.
Source: Deadline
