Film/TV Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, through their company Escapist Fare, have signed a multi-year overall deal with CBS TV Studios. That deal starts with a limited series adaptation of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay for Showtime, but includes a number of other projects in development. Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman will executive…
Film/TV
Abandoned Fox 2000 Team Resurrected By HarperCollins and Sony Pictures
The Fox 2000 team headed by Elizabeth Gabler produced numerous successful book-to-film adaptations over the years, but when Fox was sold to Disney the division was abruptly disbanded earlier this year. Now, the unit’s one-time corporate sibling HarperCollins is joining with Sony Pictures to bring back that production team, including includes Erin Siminoff, Marisa Paiva,…
Briefs
After renewed controversy around prosector-turned-mystery novelist Linda Fairstein following the release of a Netflix series about the Central Park Five, When They See Us, her longtime publisher Dutton said Friday the two parties “decided to terminate their relationship.” A “person with knowledge of the situation” tells the NYT that Dutton is buying out her contract….
Acquisitions: PRH Buys Salamandra, Scholastic’s Film Investment, and More
Already the world’s largest Spanish-language publisher, Penguin Random House continues to build on that position with another acquisition, agreeing to acquire Barcelona-based Ediciones Salamandra from Sigrid Kraus and Pedro del Carril. The company has over 500 authors on their list. Kraus will remain as publishing manager, “working closely” with PRH Grupo Editorial ceo Núria Cabutí….
People, Etc.
The Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize for literature, has named Mats Malm its new permanent secretary. The previous permanent secretary, Sara Danius, resigned last April after a sexual harassment and leaking scandal. Anders Olsson has been filling the role since last June. Malm, a professor of literary theory at the University of Gothenburg,…
Winter Is Here: What the Writers Guild Fight Means for Authors and Agents
More than a week ago the Writers Guild of America (WGA) ordered its members to fire their agents, and there’s no end in sight to writers’ objections to film and TV packaging fees and big agencies’ production affiliates. On April 16, the WGA escalated the situation by filing a civil lawsuit against the Association of…
