Geek Girl Book Cover – Picture: HarperCollins
Netflix has picked up a new teen series based on the best-selling book franchise Geek Girl from Waterside Studios, Nelvana, Ruby Rock Pictures, and Aircraft Pictures, which begins production later this year. Here’s what we know so far.
Please note: this preview was first published on January 20th, 2023, at 04:00 EST.
Ten episodes have been commissioned by Netflix and Corus Entertainment, each around 30 minutes.
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While Netflix is the key distributor worldwide, there is a notable exception. In Canada, the distribution will be handled by Corus Entertainment which owns networks like Global, Slice, HGTV, W Network, and Showcase.
Waterside Studios is headed up by executive producer Jeff Norton, known for his work in bringing best-selling books to the screen. Waterside Studios regularly teams with Nelvana (the animation studio owned by Corus Entertainment) on children’s animated and live-action content.
RubyRock Pictures are producing the forthcoming show. The British-based outfit describes itself as a “high-end scripted production company” founded by Zoë Rocha. Rocha, alongside production executive Josh Harris serves as producer on the project.
Aircraft Pictures, based in Canada, are also behind the production.
What’s Geek Girl about?
The series itself is based on a book series by British writer Holly Smale who went on to produce six entries in the series in total, published between 2013 and 2017.
The six book entries include the following:
- Geek Girl (2013)
- Model Misfit (2013)
- Picture Perfect (2014)
- All That Glitters (2015)
- Head Over Heels (2016)
- Forever Geek (2017)
Geek Girl book collection from Holly Smale
The best-selling books are published by HarperCollins and have been translated into over 30 languages.
Per GoodReads, here’s the synopsis of the first entry:
“Harriet Manners knows a lot of things.
She knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a “jiffy” lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. What she isn’t quite so sure about is why nobody at school seems to like her very much. So when she’s spotted by a top model agent, Harriet grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her Best Friend’s dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of the impossibly handsome supermodel Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves.
As Harriet veers from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, she begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn’t seem to like her any more than the real world did.
And as her old life starts to fall apart, the question is: will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?”
Who will star in Geek Girl on Netflix?
No cast announcements have been made as of June 2023.
On February 2nd, 2023, Rob Kelly Casting issued a casting call for the female lead for the forthcoming series.
In their casting call, they state they’re looking for an actress to play the role of Harriet Manners and encourage those that are neurodivergent to apply, with the deadline being February 17th.
Filming is ongoing, so we expect to see some cast news soon.
Casting call for Netflix’s Geek Girl
When will production begin on Geek Girl?
We’ve known for some time that the production of Geek Girl was set to start sometime in Spring 2023.
Filming has officially begun as of June 6th, 2023, and will run until September 11th, 2023.
Filming is primarily taking place in the United Kingdom, but some locations will be used in Toronto, and Ontario in Canada.
We’ll be tracking all updates and news about Netflix’s new YA series Geek Girl as and when we get it, so keep this post bookmarked as it’ll be updated over time.