In a market crammed full of remakes, reboots and sequels, Emma Needell has made executives at Disney sit up and take note with her original fairytale titled The Water Man.

The first time American screenwriter, who studied film and film production at Baltimore's John Hopkins University, recently inked a deal with the studio on her wistful tale about a precocious young boy who runs away from home to find a mythic/legendary character called The Water Man in order to help his terminally ill mother. What's more Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Films and David Oyelowo's Yoruba Saxon are also in talks to co-produce the project from the Colorado born filmmaker, which is currently in the very early stages of development.