Amy Poehler Options Rights To Upcoming Y.A. Novel ‘Moxie,’ With Other Female-Friendly Projects Underway

Amy Poehler, the American comedian, actress, producer, director, writer, and voice artist, is possibly best known as a comedian on Saturday Night Live. In 2011, Poehler was named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine.

Apart from winning Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy awards for her comedy performances, Poehler, who was born in Massachusetts in 1971, has produced popular comedy shows like Welcome to Sweden, Broad City, and Difficult People; the latter two programs being broadcast on Comedy Central and Hulu.

Now, Paper Kite Productions, Amy Poehler’s production company, has optioned the feature rights to the upcoming young adult novel Moxie, written by Jennifer Mathieu. Despite the fact that the novel isn’t due to be released until September 19, Amy Poehler and her Paper Kite Productions co-founder Brooke Posch are so confident in Mathieu’s work that they knew they wanted to acquire the right to the book. According to Deadline, Moxie tells the story of a 16-year-old Texan girl who “starts a feminist revolution at her high school.”

Paper Kite Productions is also set to produce Family Style, a comedy show to be broadcast by ABC. Family Style will be written by Claudio Lonow and Scott King, and it’s the story of two gay men with different personalities who find love in a Miami-based restaurant. Washington Blade reported that the upcoming gay romantic-comedy series will be based on Scott King’s real life experiences.

Previously, Claudio Lonow created and produced the ABC comedy series How to Live with Your Parent. Deadline reported that Paper Kite Productions and Universal TV are also preparing for another television show titled Baby, whose pilot show will be broadcast on NBC.

Baby was conceptualized by Amy Poehler and Seann William Scott. It appears that Paper Kite Productions is doing very well because ABC has committed to airing the pilot episode of another show produced by Poehler’s company which features the famous comedy actress Carol Burnett.

Apart from working hard on her acting and television career, Amy Poehler is helping young women build confidence by being true to themselves and harnessing their real potential. With the aim of satisfying her humanitarian spirit, the comedian has partnered with producer Meredith Walker and established Smart Girls, a motivational community helping women be positive by boosting their confidence and providing them with necessary resources.

Smart Girls is both an online and offline community. Poehler and Walker planned to create the community when they worked together on the set of Saturday Night Alive. The two personalities realized just how important it is for women to feel confident while remaining true to themselves. According to Forbes, Poehler spoke about the dream she shared with Walker that motivated them to establish the Smart Girls community.

“Together we dreamed about helping young women find their way in the world while hanging onto their own identities.”

The Internet currently hosts several websites targeting young women, with initiatives to help women develop their self-esteem and confidence through a variety of techniques. However, most of these techniques encourage women to comply with benchmarks set by society, rather than motivating them to be true to themselves.

Poehler’s Smart Girls initiative is different from other programs because it encourages women to use their intelligence, imagination, and curiosity: to be unique and wonderful in their own way.

The comedian has been credited for using her endless energy, self-confidence, and intelligence in a creative way to produce entertaining comedy acts. Much of the improvisation training taught to Poehler was during her practical experience and, although the training was applied to acting and theatrics, it also taught her certain qualities that helped her achieve success in her career.

Today, the comedian hopes to use the Smart Girls initiative to help young women develop the same qualities that will help them to become successful in their chosen field.

The They Came Together actress has also teamed up with her peers to form the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre to train acting professionals in improvisational theater techniques.

[Featured Image by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]