Book Adaptation Rights Market

The Venice Production Bridge is launching the Call for Publishers for the 11th edition of the Book Adaptation Rights Market, which will take place from September 4th to 6th 2026, during the 83rd Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia (September 2nd – 12th, 2026).

The Venice Production Bridge is co-financed by the European Commission’s MEDIA Fund.

The Book Adaptation Rights Market will offer up to 30 international publishing houses and literary agencies, plus those invited as part of the VPB FOCUS 2026, a dedicated area to meet the producers registered to the Venice International Film Festival through one-to-one meetings.

Compared to other events dedicated to publishing within the context of Film Festivals, the Book Adaptation Rights Market will enable the invited publishers to propose their entire catalogue for film adaptations, rather than focusing on a single book or volume.

The producers purchasing their Industry Gold Accreditation through the Venice International Film Festival will be entitled to request 30-minute one-to-one meetings with the selected publishers and literary agents via our website in the BARM dedicated area (veniceproductionbridge.org).

The meetings will allow to the publishers to foster lasting relationships and of course to make deals on the adaptation of novels, drama, children’s literature, short stories, comics, graphic novels, essays, and biographies.

With this event the Venice Production Bridge renews its vocation to encourage the development and production of international and European projects across a range of audio-visual forms.

A tailor-made initiative of this kind requests a real confidentiality for the producers and the partners already in place. A first Project line-up will be sent to selected potential producers in order to allow them to register to this rights market.

The Book Adaptation Rights Market brochure, detailing each publishing house and literary agency selected and their new titles, will be sent to producers in July 2026 to support them to decide which titles match better their production house before requesting the 30-minute one-to-one meetings. The VPB Office will set up these meetings in accordance with the availability of the participants and meetings slots. Each publisher and literary agent will receive a personalised meeting schedule a few days before the event.

The Book Adaptation Rights Market terms and conditions are as follows:

General eligibility

1. The publishing house or literary agency must be the audio-visual rights representative of the titles proposed for adaptation within the BARM

2. The publishing house or literary agency must have and provide a catalogue with a significant amount of titles and of different authors

3. The proposed titles should be bestsellers or brand new, yet to be published, with strong potential for screen adaptation

4. There must be there an English translation or a logline translation of each title proposed.

This call is open to European and International publishers for the following publication topics:
- Children’s and Young Adult Literature (general)

- Comics

- Fiction (general)

- Graphic Novels

- Non-Fiction (general)

If you are not sure which books to submit, please do not hesitate to contact us at barm1to1@labiennale.org

Teams
Publishers & Literary agents must have previous experiences in their field (audio-visual rights).

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 25 May 2026
Submission is carried out in two steps:

1. Fill in the BOOK ADAPTATION RIGHTS MARKET FORM
2. In order to complete your submission, provide the materials listed below by clicking the ‘Browse Dossier’ button at the end of the form. All documents must be in English or have an English translation.

Please combine the requested documents into a single pdf (DOSSIER). This has to include the following:

1. Catalogue of 5 min - 10 max PAST MAIN PUBLICATIONS that may or may not have already been adapted to the screen (or currently in production).
2. Catalogue of 3 min - 10 max LATEST TITLES that you want to propose for film adaptation within the Book Adaptation Rights Market. For both catalogues please titles must be put in chronological order from the latest to the oldest and USE THE FOLLOWING FORMAT: English Title (Original Title) by Author (Year of publication). Synopsis and highlights (numbers of copies sold, adaptation in which languages, adaptation for screen/tv/series/film, commercial success)
3. Publisher or Literary Agent’s biography and track records

Once the selection has been made, the selected publishers and literary agents will be contacted to confirm their participation and asked to provide updated material for inclusion in the Brochure and a video presentation for the 11th edition of the Book Adaptation Rights Market, which is going to circulate to producers before and during the Festival.

Participation in the event entitles the delegate of the selected publishing houses or literary agencies to the following services and facilities:
· accommodation for 4 nights (3 to 7 September, 2026)
· extensive networking opportunities and one-to-one meetings
· titles promotion
· an Industry Gold accreditation for the access to all the services of the Venice Production Bridge and for the screenings of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.

In return all the selected publishing houses and literary agencies are required to:
· pay the set up fee for the one-to-one meetings (€ 700 plus VAT) by filling in the Industry Services Form (see section C ‘Table at the Book Adaptation Rights Market’ at the end of the form)
· provide us with additional information for the Book Adaptation Rights Market catalogue and a 3 minutes’ video presentation in English and with English subtitles if possible
· attend the activities of the Book Adaptation Rights Market
· attend all the organized one-to-one meetings during the event

By accepting the invitation to participate to the Book Adaptation Rights Market, you are also agreeing to follow and satisfy the above conditions.
Producers who are interested in filming literary material, as well as publishers and literary agents, can request more information regarding this event by writing to barm1to1@labiennale.org
The selected publishers and literary agents will be announced in June.

• 83rd Venice International Film Festival: 2nd -12th September 2026

• Venice Production Bridge: 3rd – 9th  September 2026

• Book Adaptation Rights Market: 4th - 6th September 2026

La Biennale di Venezia aims to carbon neutrality. This involves reducing and offsetting the emissions of carbon dioxide through targeted actions that require the involvement and attention of all Festival participants. We would like to thank you in advance for your collaboration in achieving this ambitious goal, which will be reached through the individual behaviour of each of us.