New Line Cinema has struck a first-look deal with ChickenHouse, the English children's book company whose publisher was creditedwith the discovery of Harry Potterauthor J K Rowling.

The publishing deal creates a new channel of story ideasfor the studio and will allow Chicken House to co-produce and develop its ownwriters' ideas for the screen.

StephenMoore of The Kohner Agency negotiated the deal for Chicken House with NewLine's Eric Ellner.

Executivevice president of New Line Production Mark Ordesky and senior vice president ofEuropean productions and acquisitions Ileen Maisel will oversee for the studio.

"Ourexciting relationship with New Line opens up a wonderful way for Chicken Houseauthors to explore the possibilities of their work, and a new way to build ourtalent together," publisher Barry Cunningham said in a statement.

"Thisventure allows us to use our storytelling skills for a whole new audience, andI am so pleased to be working with Ileen Maisel and Mark Ordesky - a coupleof fine story-tellers too!"

"ChickenHouse is an amazing company," Ordesky and Maisel added. "Theirbooks are original, imaginative and fun - everything we would look for ina movie for kids and parents - and we are thrilled to be bringing some ofthese wonderful new stories to life on a big screen."

NewLine's upcoming releases include The Notebook, a romance starringRyan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner and Gena Rowlands, comedy HaroldAnd Kumar Go To White Castle starring John Cho and Kal Penn, and thethriller Cellular with Kim Basinger and Chris Evans.