Draft:Lumberjanes (TV series)

Lumberjanes is an upcoming American animated television series, based on the comic book series of the same name by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Gus A. Allen and ND Stevenson. The showrunners for the series are Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Gus A. Allen and ND Stevenson.

Plot
The story follows a group of girls named Mal, Ripley, Molly, April, and Jo who meet one summer at the Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thilstle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types. These girls learn that there is more to the camp than getting badges, that their camp director is keeping a secret from them, and they work to overcome challenges involving supernatural beings and rivalries between each other while learning the "true meaning of friendship."

Production
As of May 2015, 20th Century Fox was working on a live-action adaptation. In August 2016, Emily Carmichael was announced to direct the film. During this period, Cat Vasko, known for writing "strong female stories," worked on the film, presumably as a writer. In August 2019, the film was reportedly canceled by Disney after its acquisition of 21st Century Fox. In October 2020, it was reported that HBO Max won a bid against Apple and Peacock to release an animated television adaptation of the series. The one-hour animated special introducing the characters will be executive produced and written by ND Stevenson. He will also write and direct episodes for the main series, while serving an executive producer. Additionally, Ross Richie and Stephen Christy, from BOOM! Studios, will be executive producers, as will Mette Norkjaer, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Gus A. Allen.

On October 7, 2020, Stevenson told EW about the series, saying that his "interest in lifting up and exploring queer stories" is not going anywhere. He added that he is interested in "telling central queer stories," having stories that are "built around" queer characters. The same EW story said that the series is in the "early development" stage with HBO Max. On October 22, 2020, in response to a question from a fan, Stevenson stated that the show is in "development, not production" and that there is "no crew at this time." In January 2021, Gumroad said that Stevenson is "steering" the animated Lumberjanes adaptation.

In February 2021, Mey Rude of Out said that Stevenson had spent the year recovering from running She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, while working on various personal projects, and the Lumberjanes series. This was confirmed by an ITV interview with Stevenson, which described him as "currently working on" the series. Stevenson's work on the series was also noted in an October 2021 interview. In February 2022, Morgan Shaunette of CBR described Stevenson as "currently shepherding" the series. This was confirmed by Multiversity Comics in June 2022. In December 2022, Multiversity Comics reported that they were "still waiting for the Lumberjanes TV show", with no news in 2022. As of June 2023, no news about the series has been announced, with HBO Max remaining silent on the series possible release.

In a June 2023 interview for Deadline Hollywood, Stevenson said he was still "developing Lumberjanes" and "figuring out that world." A New York Times profile of Stevenson, also in June 2023, described him as working on developing the series.

Reception
In January 2021, Leah Thomas of CBR said that Lumberjanes, if it became an anime series, could boost the yuri genre.