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Exclusive: Neil Gaiman has been removed from UK agent Casarotto Ramsay & Associates’ client list after the Good Omens writer has faced a string of sexual misconduct allegations over the past six months.

Gaiman’s profile was quietly scrubbed from Casarotto Ramsay & Associates’ website, meaning he no longer appears on pages listing its film, TV, and theatre clients.

Internet archives show Gaiman’s profile, which included trailers for his screen work, was live on the agency’s website as recently as last October, months after the initial allegations were published. The author denies wrongdoing.

Casarotto Ramsay & Associates failed to respond to repeated requests for comment about whether it continues to rep Gaiman. Gaiman has been contacted for comment. His long-time literary agent is Writers House’s Merrilee Heifetz, who has been approached for comment. Gaiman has also been repped by CAA, who have been contacted.

Neil Gaiman’s profile page...

Exclusive: Twenties actors Sheria Irving and Sophina Brown have boarded FX’s limited series Kindred as series regulars. They join an ensemble led by newcomer Mallori Johnson, which also includes Micah Stock, Ryan Kwanten, Gayle Rankin, Austin Smith, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy and David Alexander Kaplan, as previously announced.

The series adapted for the screen by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Watchmen) is based on Octavia E. Butler’s acclaimed 1979 sci-fi novel of the same name. It follows Dana (Johnson), a young Black woman and aspiring writer who has uprooted her life of familial obligation and relocated to Los Angeles, ready to claim a future that, for once, feels all her own. But, before she can get settled into her new home, she finds herself being violently pulled back and forth in time to a 19th century plantation with which she and her family are surprisingly and intimately linked. An interracial romance threads through her past and present,...

FX has ordered its pilot adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s acclaimed novel Kindred to series.

Based on MacArthur Fellow and Hugo Award winner Butler’s 1979 novel, the eight-episode series follows Dana (played by newcomer Mallori Johnson), a young Black woman and aspiring writer who has uprooted her life of familial obligation and relocated to Los Angeles, ready to claim a future that, for once, feels all her own.

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FX has ordered to series its TV adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s novel “Kindred” from Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Darren Aronofsky and “The Americans” creators Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields. A first-look photo of the show (pictured above) has also been released.

Picked up as a pilot in March 2021, the eight-episode sci-fi show centers on Dana (newcomer Mallori Johnson), a young Black woman and aspiring writer who has uprooted her life of familial obligation and relocated to Los Angeles, ready to claim a future that, for once, feels all her own. But, before she can get settled into her new home, she finds herself being violently pulled back and forth in time to a nineteenth-century plantation with which she and her family are surprisingly and intimately linked. An interracial romance threads through her past and present, and the clock is ticking as she struggles to confront the secrets she never knew ran through her blood,...

FX has given a series order to Kindred, an adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s influential novel, with newcomer Mallori Johnson set to star. The project, which received a pilot order in July, hails from writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Watchmen), Courtney Lee-Mitchell (The Reluctant Fundamentalist), Darren Aronofsky and his Protozoa Pictures, Joe Weisberg (The Americans) and Joel Fields (Fosse/Verdon). The eight-episode series will be produced by FX Productions.

Written by Jacobs-Jenkins, FX’s adaptation of Kindred is centered on Dana (Johnson), a young Black woman and aspiring writer who has uprooted her life of familial obligation and relocated to Los Angeles, ready to claim a future that, for once, feels all her own. But, before she can get settled into her new home, she finds herself being violently pulled back and forth in time to a nineteenth-century plantation with which she and her family are surprisingly and intimately linked.

An all-star team is behind FX’s upcoming drama pilot “Kindred,” the network’s adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s acclaimed 1979 novel.

FX announced on Wednesday that Janicza Bravo, who recently directed the heralded 2020 film “Zola,” will direct the FX show’s pilot episode. “Kindred” will be executive produced by Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields (showrunners on “The Americans”), as well as Darren Aronofsky, the director of “Black Swan” and “Mother!” Additional executive producers include Bravo, series writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (“Watchmen”), Courtney Lee-Mitchell, Ari Handel, Ernestine Walker, and Merrilee Heifetz.

The series’ cast includes Micah Stock, Ryan Kwanten, Gayle Rankin, Austin Smith, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, and David Alexander Kaplan, who will join the previously announced Mallori Johnson as regulars on “Kindred.”

The synopsis for the original novel reads: Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in...

FX announced that the pilot based on Octavia Butler’s 1979 science fiction novel “Kindred” has cast Micah Stock, Ryan Kwanten, Gayle Rankin, Austin Smith, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy and David Alexander Kaplan as series regulars.

They join previously announced cast member Mallori Johnson, who will play the lead role of Dana, a young Black writer who finds herself transported back and forth between the present and a 19th century slave plantation.

Stock is primarily known for his stage work, including his Tony-nominated performance as Gus in Terrence McNally’s “It’s Only a Play.” He will also star in John Slattery’s upcoming film “Maggie Moore(s)” alongside Jon Hamm and Tina Fey. His other credits include Netflix’s “Bonding,” Disney Plus’ “The Right Stuff,” and Paul Downs Colaizzo’s film “Brittany Runs A Marathon.” Stock is repped by ICM, Anonymous Content and ID.

From 2008 to 2014, Kwanten starred as Jason Stackhouse in HBO’s True Blood.

FX has rounded out the series regular cast for drama pilot Kindred, based on an adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s influential novel. Joining newcomer Mallori Johnson, who stars, are Micah Stock, Ryan Kwanten, Gayle Rankin, Austin Smith, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy and David Alexander Kaplan.

The project hails from writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Watchmen), Courtney Lee-Mitchell (The Reluctant Fundamentalist), Darren Aronofsky and his Protozoa Pictures, Joe Weisberg (The Americans) and Joel Fields (Fosse/Verdon). FX Productions is the studio.

Johnson plays the central character Dana, a young Black woman and aspiring writer who has uprooted her life of familial obligation and relocated to Los Angeles, ready to claim a future that, for once, feels all her own. But, before she can get settled into her new home, she finds herself being violently pulled back and forth in time to a nineteenth-century plantation with which she and her family...

HBO has ordered a pilot script based on Octavia Butler’s novel “Fledgling” from the Emmy-nominated drama series “Lovecraft Country’s” writers and co-EPs Sonya Winton-Odamtten and Jonathan I. Kidd. Among the executive producers for the book-to-screen adaptation is Issa Rae, creator and star of “Insecure,” and J.J. Abrams (“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”). The pilot, which hails from Warner Bros. Television, is currently in development.

Per the book’s description, “Fledgling,” which was originally published in 2005, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly inhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: she is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted – and still wants – to destroy her and those she cares for and how she can save herself. Butler, a multiple Hugo and Nebula award winner,...

Exclusive: Octavia Butler’s novel Fledgling is getting a television adaptation at HBO.

The WarnerMedia premium network has ordered a pilot script for the project from Lovecraft Country writers and co-EPs Sonya Winton-Odamtten and Jonathan I. Kidd.

The pair, who re-upped their overall deal with HBO in December, are writing the adaptation with Issa Rae and J.J. Abrams among the exec producers.

Fledgling is a sci-fi vampire novel that Butler, the first sci-fi writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, published via Grand Central Publishing in 2005, a year before her death.

It is the story of an apparently amnesiac young girl whose alarmingly inhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: She is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted — and still wants — to destroy her and those she...

Exclusive: A24 has won rights to Octavia E. Butler’s science fiction odyssey Parable of the Sower, the first in a two-book series, and has set Time director Garrett Bradley to direct. Originally published in 1993, the book has recently been rediscovered by fans and appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for the first time in September 2020, fulfilling a lifelong dream of Butler’s.

Paul Mezey will produce the film. The rights deal was negotiated by Anonymous Content on behalf of Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House. A24 will finance and distribute.

Set in a near-future Los Angeles devastated by societal collapse, a teenager with a unique gift must lead humanity in a battle against extinction.

The project would mark Bradley’s first feature film at a major studio following a run of critically acclaimed documentaries including the Oscar-nominated Time from Amazon Studios. Her newly released docuseries Naomi Osaka recently premiered on Netflix to acclaim.

FX has tapped “Zola” director and co-writer Janicza Bravo to direct the pilot of “Kindred,” starring Mallori Johnson in the lead role.

Based on the novel by Octavia E. Butler, “Kindred” follows Dana (Johnson), a young Black woman and aspiring writer who has moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of an independent future. She soon finds herself being pulled back and forth in time to an 1800s plantation to which her family is intimately linked. As an interracial romance weaves through her past and present, Dana struggles to confront the secrets she never knew ran through her blood.

Production is scheduled for September, with writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Courtney Lee-Mitchell, Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel, Joe Weisberg, Joel Fields, Ernestine Walker, Merrilee Heifetz and Bravo executive producing.

“I first read ‘Kindred’ 20 years ago,” Bravo said. “I was in college. I hadn’t ever seen myself in a world like that. And certainly not at its center.

Zola helmer Janicza Bravo has been tapped to direct and executive produce FX pilot Kindred, an adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s influential novel, with newcomer Mallori Johnson set to star. The project hails from writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Watchmen), Courtney Lee-Mitchell (The Reluctant Fundamentalist), Darren Aronofsky and his Protozoa Pictures, Joe Weisberg (The Americans) and Joel Fields (Fosse/Verdon). FX Productions is the studio. Production is scheduled to begin in September.

Johnson will play the central character Dana, a young Black woman and aspiring writer who has uprooted her life of familial obligation and relocated to Los Angeles, ready to claim a future that, for once, feels all her own. But, before she can get settled into her new home, she finds herself being violently pulled back and forth in time to a nineteenth-century plantation with which she and her family are most surprisingly and intimately linked.

FX has tapped “Zola” director Janicza Bravo to helm its adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s “Kindred,” the cable network announced Thursday.

The project, which counts Darren Aronofsky and “The Americans” duo Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields among its executive producers, is set to begin production in September. Newcomer Mallori Johnson has been cast in the lead role of Dana, a young Black woman and aspiring writer in Los Angeles who is violently pulled back and forth in time to a 19th-century plantation.

Bravo will direct the pilot and executive produce, re-teaming with FX after previously directing episodes of “Atlanta” and “Mrs. America.”

“I first read Kindred 20 years ago,” Bravo said in a statement. “I was in college. I hadn’t ever seen myself in a world like that. And certainly not at its center. What might seem like only a portrait of an invisible woman is also a potent...

FX has ordered a pilot based on the Octavia E. Butler novel “Kindred.”

The pilot will be written and executive produced by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Courtney Lee-Mitchell, who acquired the rights to the novel in 2008, will also executive produce along with “The Americans” creators Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, as well as Darren Aronofsky via Protozoa Pictures. Ernestine Walker and Merrilee Heifetz serve as co-executive producers. FX Productions will produce.

“Since my first encounter with the novel nearly two decades ago, there have been few, if any, books and even fewer authors who have meant as much to me as ‘Kindred’ and Octavia Butler,” said Jacobs-Jenkins. “It has been the highlight and honor of my career thus far to try and finally bring this timeless story to life – and especially at FX, whose catalogue of bold, thought-provoking, and cutting-edge television has been an endless source of inspiration and delight.”

The project centers on Dana,...

FX has given a pilot order to Kindred, an adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s influential novel, from writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Watchmen), Courtney Lee-Mitchell (The Reluctant Fundamentalist), Darren Aronofsky and his Protozoa Pictures, Joe Weisberg (The Americans) and Joel Fields (Fosse/Verdon). FX Productions, where Weisberg and Fields are under an overall deal, is the studio.

The rights first were acquired by Lee-Mitchell in 2008 from the author’s agent, Writers House LLC, on behalf of Butler’s estate.

The novel, which sold over a million copies, has been hailed as a visionary work of science fiction since it was first published more than four decades ago in 1979.

FX’s adaptation is centered on Dana, a young Black woman and aspiring writer who has uprooted her life of familial obligation and relocated to Los Angeles, ready to claim a future that, for once, feels all her own.

FX has ordered a pilot adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s science fiction novel “Kindred.” The pilot is written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins of “Watchmen.” Courtney Lee-Mitchell and Darren Aronofsky are also among the executive producers.

Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields of “The Americans” are also executive producers. Ernestine Walker and Merrilee Heifetz are co-executive producers on the FX Productions pilot.

The highly influential “Kindred” was first published in 1979. Lee-Mitchell got the rights in 2008 from Butler’s estate.

FX’s adaptation of “Kindred” is centered on Dana, a young Black woman and aspiring writer who has uprooted her life of familial obligation and relocated to Los Angeles, ready to claim a future that, for once, feels all her own, according to the Disney-owned cable channel. But, before she can get settled into her new home, she finds herself being violently pulled back and forth in time to a nineteenth-century plantation with...

Exclusive: Amazon Prime Video is developing Wild Seed, a drama series based on the first book in Octavia E. Butler’s acclaimed Patternist sci-fi series, from Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions.

Co-written by award-winning sci-fi novelist Nnedi Okorafor and Rafiki filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu who is set to direct, Wild Seed is a love (and hate) story of two African immortals who travel the ages from pre-Colonial West Africa to the far, far future. Doro, a killer who uses his power to breed people like livestock, encounters Anyanwu, a healer who forces him to reassess his millennia of cruel behavior: for centuries, their personal battles change the course of our world as they struggle against the backdrop of time — master vs slave, man vs woman, killer vs healer.

Davis, Tennon and Andrew Wang, JuVee’s head of television development, executive produce with Kahiu, Okorafor, along with Ernestine Walker...

About seven months ago HBO was planning a full six season adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Things apparently didn't work out between the two parties because the project is no longer set up at HBO, which is a bloody shame. 

The series is now being developed by FremantleMedia, who produce the shows The Tomorrow People and the upcoming The Returned. This is the press release that the production company sent out making the announcement, along with some details on what the series will be about. 

Gaiman, the creator of the celebrated Sandman comic series, and the author of bestselling novels The Graveyard Book, Coraline and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, will Executive Produce the series along with FremantleMedia. Gaiman was represented in the deal by nm2228878 autoJon Levin[/link] at CAA on behalf of literary agent Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House.

The plot posits a war...

As you may or may not be aware, we at SciFi Mafia are somewhat hesitant to post news about shows in development, or even picked up to pilot. That’s because we are wary of heartbreak. So many pilots never make it to series, and an even smaller percentage of series in development make it any further.

Nevertheless, there are times when we just gotta tell you. This is one of them, confirmed by the man himself: FreemantleMedia North America (The Tomorrow People, The Returned) has picked up the rights to develop our beloved Neil Gaiman‘s American Gods novel to series.

As we reported back in 2011, HBO had picked up the option to develop the series with Tom Hanks‘s Playtone. Gaiman explains in his blog what has happened since:

A few people have asked for more background on this: HBO had an option on American Gods for several years.

In an extremely exciting piece of news for Neil Gaiman fans, it was announced yesterday that FremantleMedia have picked up the rights to American Gods. While the project had initially been in development at HBO (the cable network responsible for the likes of Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones), it changed hands late last year.

FremantleMedia are perhaps best known for reality television such as Amercian Idol, The X Factor and America’s Got Talent, although they have recently made a move into scripted shows with the likes of the planned The Vampire Diaries spinoff and The Tomorrow People on The CW.

The press release can be read in full below, and it offers up a plot synopsis which should help give you an idea what to expect from the series if you’ve never read the book. Where exactly it will now end up – and when it will air – remains to be seen,...

Catching up on my emails and saw this announcement (via press release) sent to me a few days ago. In short, publisher Abrams ComicArts has announced that the company will publish a graphic novel based on Octavia E. Butler’s classic novel Kindred. Abrams acquired rights to the novel from Writers House literary agent Merrilee Heifetz, and will be edited by Carol Burrell under the direction of Abrams ComicArts editorial director Charles Kochman. The graphic novel will be adapted by Damian Duffy and illustrated by John Jennings, with a fall 2014 publish date planned under the Abrams ComicArts imprint. I should note that, as maybe one of Butler's most...