Nick Cannon to Produce Multimedia Book Series With Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Nick Cannon to Produce Multimedia Book Series With Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

TO BE RELEASED BY ALADDIN AND SIMON SPOTLIGHT IN SPRING 2010

NEW YORK, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Nick Cannon, an internationally known award winning actor, comedian, musician, screenwriter, producer, and business mogul, is joining forces with Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division to produce a brand-new multimedia book series to coincide with the Cannon-directed movie, School Gyrls, which will premiere on Nickelodeon on February 21, 2010. To kick off the series, Simon Spotlight will publish a movie novelization in February 2010, and a movie tie-in scrapbook. Aladdin Books will publish six original novels based on the three members of the real life teen pop group School Gyrls who are the stars of the movie. Fiona Simpson from Aladdin acquired World rights through Fletcher & Company in association with UTA on behalf of Nick Cannon.

"We could not be more excited to join forces with Nick on this project," said Fiona Simpson, Editorial Director of Aladdin. "School Gyrls presents the perfect multimedia opportunity, and we're proud to be part of an initiative with so much potential!"

"It was always my vision to create a multi-platform campaign for the School Gyrls brand. The girls are rare talents with amazing personalities. Through their movies, music albums, concerts, merchandise, and book series, we have an opportunity to bring the School Gyrls brand to life and connect them with their audience through every avenue imaginable. I'm thrilled to have Simon and Schuster's support in this endeavor, and I look forward to the School Gyrls series being a huge success," said Nick Cannon, who discovered the teen pop group and makes his directorial debut with the School Gyrls movie.

School Gyrls tells the story of three students, Mandy Rain, Mo Money, and Jacque Nimble, all talented girls who love to sing and dance, but have very different individual personalities. The School Gyrls movie, which will be the basis for the book series, follows their adventures at an all-exclusive and all-girls boarding school. Signed to Cannon's NCredible Entertainment, the group officially formed in November 2008 and will be doing a 10-week cross-country tour with Cannon in the spring of 2010 which will coincide with promotions surrounding their debut album to be released by Island Records. A second movie is also being planned, as well as a possible TV-series.

ABOUT SIMON & SCHUSTER CHILDREN'S PUBLISHING

Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, one of the leading children's book publishers in the world, comprises the following imprints: Aladdin, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Beach Lane Books, Libros para ninos, Little Simon®, Little Simon Inspirations(TM), Margaret K. McElderry Books, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Simon Pulse, Simon Scribbles, and Simon Spotlight®. While maintaining an extensive award-winning backlist, the division continues to publish acclaimed and bestselling books for children of all ages. In addition to numerous Caldecott, Newbery, and National Book Award winners, Simon & Schuster publishes such high-profile properties and series as Eloise, Olivia, Raggedy Ann & Andy(TM), Henry & Mudge®, The Hardy Boys®, Nancy Drew®, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts®, Nickelodeon's® Dora the Explorer®, Blue's Clues® and SpongeBob SquarePants®, and Mirage studios' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(TM). For more information about Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, visit our website at http://kids.simonandschuster.com/.

Simon & Schuster, a part of the CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com

ABOUT SCHOOL GYRLS

The School Gyrls not only look the part of sweet high school students, they actually are: composed of Mandy Rain (15), Jacque, pronounced "Jackie," (15) and Monica (16). These three young pop stars pack major charisma and talent into an adorable adolescent package. Signed to Nick Cannon's NCredible Entertainment, the group officially formed in November 2008 and have been hard at work ever since. They made their television debut as the School Gyrls with Nick Cannon on the season finale of E! TV Show "Party Monsters" in Cabo San Lucas in January 2009 and have since been busy recording their debut album which will be released under the Island Records imprint in 2010. A self titled, full length feature film written and directed by Cannon which centers entirely around the three teen stars and features cameos from Reverend Run, Justin Bieber, Kristina DeBarge, Soulja Boy, Angie Stone, Pete Wentz and others will debut on Nickelodeon on February 21st, 2010. Though barely old enough to drive, these young ladies are seasoned professionals, with over twenty years of acting, singing and dancing experience combined. All professionally trained triple threats, they have each appeared in countless print and TV ad-campaigns, music videos and performed as dancers for a variety of live stage shows; but at the heart of all of it, they are still sassy teenage girls who share a love for shopping, fashion and roller coasters.

ABOUT NICK CANNON

Cited by People Magazine as one of the 'Top Ten Most Successful Young People in Hollywood' and featured on the cover of Black Enterprises' '40 Under 40,' Nick Cannon, at 29 years old, is a successful, multi-faceted entertainer: film star, comedian, musician, writer and executive producer of his very own hit TV shows. A San Diego native, Cannon began performing at the age of eight after his grandfather left him several instruments as a gift. Cannon headed for Hollywood at the age of 15 and landed gigs at world renowned comedy venues including The Improv, The Laugh Factory and the Comedy Store. Cannon went on to share the stage with the likes of Chris Tucker, Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock before landing his first television gig as a stand-up audience warm-up for the long running Nickelodeon hit show "All That." Producers quickly recognized Cannon's calling was in front of the camera and he became a regular on the show as well as a writer, making him the youngest staff writer in television history at the age of 17. This path culminated in the creation of "The Nick Cannon Show" which he starred, directed and executive produced, earning him his first Kids Choice Award. While he enjoyed tremendous success on Nickelodeon, Cannon's career catapulted onto the big screen in 2002. He made an appearance alongside Will Smith in "Men in Black II" before landing a leading role in the classic feature film "Drumline."

That same year he released his own self-titled debut album on Jive Records. In 2005, MTV debuted "Nick Cannon Presents Wild N Out," an improve comedy show with musical performances that Cannon created, produced and hosted which eventually became one of MTV's highest rated shows in the network's history, airing new episodes for four consecutive seasons.

In the fall of 2006, Cannon was featured in the Emilio Estevez written and directed film "Bobby." His performance earned him a 2007 SAG nomination for "Outstanding Performance" in addition to becoming the first African American Actor in history to be honored at the world renowned Cannes Film Festival with the "Breakthrough Actor of the Year" award.

In 2008, Nick hosted the Teen Choice Awards for FBC, and was the host/DJ for ABC's highly successful Presidential Inaugural Neighborhood Ball. NBC also recently tapped Nick to serve as the host for the new upcoming season of their hit show, "America's Got Talent" in 2010 following a successful stint as their host 2009. Cannon's other film credits include Sundance Film Festival featured films "Weapons," "American Son," and his most recent role in the psychological thriller, "The Killing Room." He now has his own multi-media company called NCredible Entertainment, which has several TV shows and films in development in addition to serving as the Chairman of TeenNick, the new Nickelodeon television network aimed at the teen audience.

Source: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

CONTACT: Paul Crichton, Director of Publicity, Simon & Schuster
Children's Publishing, +1-212-698-2809, Paul.Crichton@simonandschuster.com;
Tracy Nguyen, NCredible Entertainment, +1-212-846-2534,
tnguyen@ncredibleinc.com

Web Site: http://kids.simonandschuster.com/

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