Author Aaron Blabey on the success of ‘The Bad Guys’ and imposter syndrome

Australian children’s book author, Aaron Blabey, has had his hugely popular book series ‘The Bad Guys’ turned into a Hollywood blockbuster.

The film, made by DreamWorks, will hit theatres in the US next month, with Blabey working as Executive Producer on the production.

“When I went across to Hollywood in 2016 to talk to all the studios about it, the studio that always just had the best feel for it was DreamWorks,” he told Neil Mitchell on 3AW Mornings.

“They just got it, and they genuinely loved the books, so I always felt safe that they were going to take what I created, and then build upon that, which is what they’ve done.

“So accordingly, the movie itself feels exactly like the big, colourful 3D version of what I imagined in my head when I was making my little black and white books.

“They’ve totally nailed it as far as I’m concerned.”

Blabey said he was on “a very long journey” before he found his calling in children’s book.

“I found it at around the age of 32, I wrote my first book, but then it took another eight years really to have any success with it.

“So it was everything that came before that, I always felt like an imposter, I always felt like I was pretending to be that thing.

“And then when I found, this, when I found writing books for kids and then turning them into movies … it’s like a glove, and it just feels — not easy — but feels right.

“It just always has.”

Press PLAY to hear the full interview below 

Image: Dymocks