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Amazon is set to adapt author Natalie Keller Reinert’s horseback-riding-centric “The Eventing” and “Briar Hill Farm” romance book series for TV.

Originally self-published by Reinert beginning in 2014 with the first book, “Ambition,” and now set for a re-release through a seven-figure deal with publisher Flatiron, the novels follow an interconnected universe set in the equestrian community of Ocala, Florida, and touch on themes of female friendship, self-determination, romance, and upstairs-downstairs class lines.

Per Amazon, “Against the riveting high stakes backdrop of equestrian competition and demanding athleticism, Reinert explores the passions which drive us, the love affairs which fuel us, and the partnerships – both animal and human – which help us thrive and find ourselves.”

Amazon MGM Studios preempted the TV rights for both Reinert’s “Eventing” and “Briar Hill Farm” and has set a series in development with Lacy Lynch and Reinert as executive producers. Lauren O’Connor, Amazon’s head of IP and literary acquisitions,...

The scripted pilot based on Jessica Simpson’s bestselling memoir “Open Book” is not moving forward at Amazon Freevee, Variety has confirmed. Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s period comedy “Western” has also been scrapped, though both potential series are now being shopped elsewhere.

The pilot for “Open Book” was ordered by Amazon Freevee back in October, with Tom Kapinos set to write and executive produce and Adam Bernstein on board as a director and executive producer. Katelyn Tarver would play Sadie Sparrow, a young singer based on Simpson, while John Stamos was cast as her older songwriter, Butch. Over time, the two would develop a connection that went beyond music.

Simpson was set to executive produce the project, along with Patrick Moran for his Pkm Productions and Amazon Studios. Lauren Auslander and Lacy Lynch were also on board as executive producers.

Meanwhile, Lord and Miller’s “Western” was set...

Exclusive: Amazon Freevee will not be moving forward with two of its half-hour scripted pilots, Western and Open Book. Both are currently being shopped elsewhere.

Western is a period comedy developed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Sony TV-based Lord Miller. Pen15 co-creator and star Anna Konkle had been tapped to lead the series.

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Written by Michelle Morgan, Western is set in the 1800s. It follows Polly (Konkle), a young high-society woman from Philadelphia who travels out west on a desperate quest for a husband only to discover that she has been catfished by a teenage boy. Now stranded in 1866 Montana, Polly,...

Exclusive: Elena Saurel (Industry) has been confirmed as a lead opposite Katelyn Tarver in Open Book, Amazon Freevee’s half-hour scripted pilot, inspired by Jessica Simpson’s bestselling memoir, from Tom Kapinos (Californication), Patrick Moran’s Pkm Productions and Amazon Studios.

Described as a propulsive, music-soaked coming-of-age story, Open Book, written by Kapinos, follows pop star Sadie Sparrow’s (Tarver) rise from ingenue to mogul, introducing us to the family, friends, and lovers she collects along the way. Touching on themes of love, friendship, family and sisterhood, relationships, soul connections, Hollywood and the music business, Sadie ultimately comes to embrace herself and the fact that her heart inevitably wants what it wants at every stage of life.

Saurel plays Kat. Dark and cynical with a dry wit and unique wisdom, Kat is Sadie’s older sister and the “black sheep” of the family.

John Stamos also stars in the pilot...

Exclusive: Gillian Vigman is set as a lead opposite Katelyn Tarver in Open Book, Amazon Freevee’s half-hour scripted pilot, inspired by Jessica Simpson’s bestselling memoir, from Tom Kapinos (Californication), Patrick Moran’s Pkm Productions and Amazon Studios.

Described as a propulsive, music-soaked coming-of-age story, Open Book, written by Kapinos, follows pop star Sadie Sparrow’s (Tarver) rise from ingenue to mogul, introducing us to the family, friends, and lovers she collects along the way. Touching on themes of love, friendship, family and sisterhood, relationships, soul connections, Hollywood and the music business, Sadie ultimately comes to embrace herself and the fact that her heart inevitably wants what it wants at every stage of life.

Vigman will play Sadie’s mom.

John Stamos also stars in the pilot and will recur if it is picked up to series.

Kapinos and Bernstein executive produce. Moran and Pkm Productions executive produce with Amazon Studios.

Jessica Simpson's "Open Book" memoir is getting the TV treatment for a forthcoming scripted series. On Oct. 10, Amazon Freevee announced that it ordered a pilot of a half-hour show based on Simpson's 2020 New York Times best-selling book, which chronicled everything from the mother of three's first record deal to her body image issues and previous marriage to Nick Lachey.

Per details shared with Popsugar, the synopsis for Simpson's adaptation - described as a "propulsive, music-soaked coming-of-age story" - reads as follows: "'Open Book' follows pop star Sadie Sparrow's mid-20s rise from ingenue to mogul, introducing us to the family, friends, and lovers she collects along the way. Touching on themes of love, friendship, divorce, family and sisterhood, relationships, soul connections, Hollywood and the music business, 'Open Book' follows Sadie's unexpected journey as she ultimately comes to embrace herself and the fact that her heart inevitably wants what it...

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Jessica Simpson’s memoir, Open Book, is getting the TV treatment.

Freevee, the ad-supported streamer backed by Amazon, has handed out a pilot order for Open Book. The half-hour scripted comedy will star singer, songwriter and actress Katelyn Tarver and Fuller House grad John Stamos.

Open Book is described as a propulsive, music-soaked coming-of-age story that is inspired by Jessica Simpson’s best-selling memoir. The show follows pop star Sadie Sparrow (Tarver) from her mid-20s rise from ingenue to mogul, introducing viewers to the family, friends and lovers she collects along the way. The comedy is expected to touch on themes of love, friendship, divorce, family and sisterhood, relationships, soul connections, Hollywood and the music business as it follows Sadie’s unexpected journey as she ultimately comes to embrace herself and the fact that her heart inevitably wants what it wants at every stage of life.

Katelyn Tarver is set as the lead in Open Book, Amazon Freevee’s half-hour scripted pilot, inspired by Jessica Simpson’s bestselling memoir, from Tom Kapinos (Californication), Patrick Moran’s Pkm Productions and Amazon Studios. John Stamos has been tapped as the male lead. If the pilot goes to series, Stamos will recur; he currently headlines the Disney+ series Big Shot. Adam Bernstein (Billions) directs and also serves as executive producer.

Described as a propulsive, music-soaked coming-of-age story, Open Book, written by Kapinos, follows pop star Sadie Sparrow’s (Tarver) rise from ingenue to mogul, introducing us to the family, friends, and lovers she collects along the way. Touching on themes of love, friendship, family and sisterhood, relationships, soul connections, Hollywood and the music business, Sadie ultimately comes to embrace herself and the fact that her heart inevitably wants what it wants at every stage of life.

Tarver’s Sadie...

Amazon Freevee has ordered the half-hour scripted pilot “Open Book,” based on the memoir by reality TV and pop star Jessica Simpson. The project stars Katelyn Tarver (“Ballers”) as Sadie Sparrow, a young singer based on Simpson, while John Stamos (“Full House”) is on board as Butch, an older musician who’s tasked with writing songs with Sadie — but soon their connection is much more than that.

Tom Kapinos is the writer and executive producer behind “Open Book,” while Adam Bernstein is director and EP.

Simpson also serves as an EP, along with Patrick Moran, Lauren Auslander and Lacy Lynch. Pkm Prods. is behind the show, along with Amazon Studios. Here’s the logline: “‘Open Book’ follows pop star Sadie Sparrow’s mid-twenties rise from ingenue to mogul, introducing us to the family, friends, and lovers she collects along the way. Touching on themes of love, friendship, divorce, family and sisterhood,...

Exclusive: WME has signed up-and-coming pools filmmaker Sam Hayes for representation.

Hayes soon will wrap post-production on his debut feature, Pools — a coming-of-age story about pool-hopping that he wrote, directed and produced, starring Odessa A’zion, Mason Gooding, Michael Vlamis, Ariel Winter, Tyler Alvarez, Francesca Noel and Suzanne Cryer. The film shot last summer in Chicago and will be represented for sales by UTA.

Hayes is a Chicago native who also recently executive produced Roswell, New Mexico star Michael Vlamis’ first feature Crossword, in which he stars alongside Aurora Perrineau and Harvey Guillén. He also penned the Halloween comedy Costumes Required with Black List writers Vlamis and Kyle Anderson, seeing it be optioned by Seth McFarlane’s Fuzzy Door Productions in 2020, with Nina Dobrev attached to produce and play a role. Rights to the project have subsequently reverted to Hayes, who will produce the film himself.

Hayes started his career...

Amazon is opening the book on Jessica Simpson after striking a broad, multi-media rights deal with the pop and reality TV star.

The streamer is working on an unscripted docuseries, based on Simpson’s memoir Open Book and Amazon-owned IMDb TV, is also developing a coming-of-age scripted series inspired by the book.

Separately, Simpson, best known for pop hits such as “I Wanna Love You Forever” and for starring in MTV reality series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, will write two new original essays to be published through Amazon Original Stories.

The unscripted project, which is a multi-part documentary series, will launch on Amazon Prime Video. Featuring never-before-seen personal footage shot over the last decade, it will explore the highs and lows of Simpson’s life, including her singing career, her journey to sobriety, starting a family, the rise of creating a billion-dollar business. Simpson will exec produce alongside Lauren Auslander and Lacy Lynch.

Amazon Studios is set to adapt Jessica Simpson’s memoir “Open Book” into two separate TV projects under a new multimedia rights deal with the author, the streamer announced Wednesday.

Under the deal, Amazon Studios will produce an unscripted docuseries based on the recently published memoir, in addition to developing a scripted series inspired by Simpson’s post-divorce coming-of-age journey.

The docuseries will include “vivid and intimate, never-before-seen personal footage shot over the last decade and will explore the highs and lows of Simpson’s life, including her singing career, her journey to sobriety, starting a family, the rise of creating a billion-dollar business and finding her voice.”

Simpson will serve as executive producer on the unscripted series, along with Lauren Auslander and Lacy Lynch. The scripted series will be produced by Simpson and Patrick Moran of Pkm Productions, alongside Lynch and Auslander.

In addition to the two TV projects,...

Jessica Simpson has signed a multi-media deal with Amazon.

The deal includes a new unscripted docuseries based on Simpson’s New York Times best-selling memoir “Open Book,” development of a new coming-of-age scripted series that is also inspired by the memoir, as well as two new original essays to be published through Amazon Original Stories, an imprint of Amazon Publishing.

“I am humbled and honored to partner with Amazon Studios to bring my story and heart to life on the screen,” Simpson said. “I am a huge TV fan and many of my favorite shows live on Amazon, so the gift of this unprecedented collaboration is a dream for me. From our first meeting I had a visceral connection to every member of this team. I know that parts of my life have been extraordinary, but I also know that many of my struggles are universal. I hope to continue...

Picture Perfect Federation, the company recently launched by Patrick Wachsberger and Pascal Breton (pictured), has acquired adaptation rights to Allison Pataki’s novels “The Accidental Empress” and “Sisi: Empress on Her Own,” to produce a female-driven period series with a modern spin.

The two novels chart the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria who is still widely known throughout Europe as the beloved “Sisi.”

It will be the first international TV series about the unconventional Empress, who was the Princess Diana of her time. Romy Schneider made Sisi famous with her legendary performance in the 1955 movie “Sissi” which is one of the most successful German-language movies of all time.

Picture Perfect Federation, a joint venture between Patrick Wachsberger’s Picture Perfect Entertainment and Pascal Breton’s Federation Entertainment, will handle international sales on the show. Michael Shamberg’s Mas Production will be executive producing the series with Pataki, who is...

Picture Perfect Federation, the company recently launched by Patrick Wachsberger’s Picture Perfect Entertainment, has teamed with Pascal Breton’s Federation Entertainment to acquire Allison Pataki’s two bestselling novels — The Accidental Empress and Sisi: Empress on Her Own — to be developed as a series on the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She was considered the Princes Diana of her time and still widely known throughout Europe.

Picture Perfect Federation will handle worldwide distribution with Michael Shamberg’s Mas Production exec producing along with the author. The series will be a thoroughly female driven period piece with a modern spin. It’s about a strong woman’s journey to accept and embrace her power in order to make her mark and live on her own terms in a male dominated world. Wide in scope with rich period details, this premium drama spanning from 1853 up until the start of World...