Longtime lit agent and manager Shari Smiley has died. Smiley passed away Tuesday at age 53. Cause of death is not yet known.
Smiley had a long career in book to movie circles, and most recently had restarted her Smiley Management banner. Before that she had been at 3 Arts, this after a four year stint at The Gotham Group. There, she sold the dramatic rights to several titles, notably In A Dark, Dark Wood, The Barbizon and An Anonymous Girl, all of which resulted in bidding wars. Smiley had also been a consultant for the executor of the J.R.R. Tolkien Estate.
Smiley spent the bulk of her career, 18 years worth, at CAA, where she began as a receptionist in 1993 and was soon selling more books there than some of the tenured agents. When she left that agency, she called legendary literary agent Mort Janklow to tell him, and Janklow...
Smiley had a long career in book to movie circles, and most recently had restarted her Smiley Management banner. Before that she had been at 3 Arts, this after a four year stint at The Gotham Group. There, she sold the dramatic rights to several titles, notably In A Dark, Dark Wood, The Barbizon and An Anonymous Girl, all of which resulted in bidding wars. Smiley had also been a consultant for the executor of the J.R.R. Tolkien Estate.
Smiley spent the bulk of her career, 18 years worth, at CAA, where she began as a receptionist in 1993 and was soon selling more books there than some of the tenured agents. When she left that agency, she called legendary literary agent Mort Janklow to tell him, and Janklow...
- 11/17/2023
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Black Bear Pictures, the team behind Benedict Cumberbatch feature film The Imitation Game, is heading back to Bletchley Park – this time for the small screen.
The company’s television division has optioned the rights to Kate Quinn’s novel The Rose Code and is developing it as a scripted TV series.
The book, which was published by William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins earlier this month and which Black Bear Television won in a competitive situation, tells the World War II story of three female codebreakers at Bletchley Park.
As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to a mysterious country estate, Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Through their friendship, these women find the strength to survive war, loss, heartbreak, and the impossible pressure of secrecy. Navigating two distinct timelines, the novel is blend of history,...
The company’s television division has optioned the rights to Kate Quinn’s novel The Rose Code and is developing it as a scripted TV series.
The book, which was published by William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins earlier this month and which Black Bear Television won in a competitive situation, tells the World War II story of three female codebreakers at Bletchley Park.
As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to a mysterious country estate, Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Through their friendship, these women find the strength to survive war, loss, heartbreak, and the impossible pressure of secrecy. Navigating two distinct timelines, the novel is blend of history,...
- 3/31/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Black Bear Television has nabbed the rights to Mary Kubica’s “Local Woman Missing,” an upcoming mystery novel about a series of strange disappearances.
The deal come in advance of “Local Woman Missing’s” release in May 2021. The story is told through different perspectives and timelines, and revolves around three missing women from the same town whose disappearances have remained unsolved. One day, over a decade after the women go missing, one of the victims shockingly returns home. That raises a number of questions. Where has she been? What happened to the other women? And who is responsible?
Park Row will publish the novel. Kubica’s previous best-selling works include “The Good Girl,” “The Other Mrs.” and “Pretty Baby.” Black Bear Television is the TV studio division of Black Bear Pictures, the production and financing company behind “The Imitation Game,” “Mudbound,” “Suburbicon” and the upcoming “I Care a Lot.” The...
The deal come in advance of “Local Woman Missing’s” release in May 2021. The story is told through different perspectives and timelines, and revolves around three missing women from the same town whose disappearances have remained unsolved. One day, over a decade after the women go missing, one of the victims shockingly returns home. That raises a number of questions. Where has she been? What happened to the other women? And who is responsible?
Park Row will publish the novel. Kubica’s previous best-selling works include “The Good Girl,” “The Other Mrs.” and “Pretty Baby.” Black Bear Television is the TV studio division of Black Bear Pictures, the production and financing company behind “The Imitation Game,” “Mudbound,” “Suburbicon” and the upcoming “I Care a Lot.” The...
- 11/11/2020
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
"You scare me," my husband said a few months ago, after peeking over my shoulder at Karin Slaughter's
Blindsighted
. He was (understandably) freaked out about how calm I was reading a thriller, describing the details of the woman who was sexually assaulted and mutilated. But here's the thing: I was more concerned with how well I could relate to the victim's sister, who sought justice on her own terms in this page-turner.
You see, it's not the violence against women that gives me nightmares - it's the fact that she was attacked while in the restroom of a public place by someone well-loved in the small-town community. It's that type of realistic plot that women authors know will shake women to the core. It's just one of the many reasons why women suspense writers are just better.
Long before quarantine started, I have binge-read books like other people watch TV.
Blindsighted
. He was (understandably) freaked out about how calm I was reading a thriller, describing the details of the woman who was sexually assaulted and mutilated. But here's the thing: I was more concerned with how well I could relate to the victim's sister, who sought justice on her own terms in this page-turner.
You see, it's not the violence against women that gives me nightmares - it's the fact that she was attacked while in the restroom of a public place by someone well-loved in the small-town community. It's that type of realistic plot that women authors know will shake women to the core. It's just one of the many reasons why women suspense writers are just better.
Long before quarantine started, I have binge-read books like other people watch TV.
- 7/26/2020
- by Sydni Ellis
- Popsugar.com
Exclusive: Longtime lit agent and manager Shari Smiley has joined 3 Arts.
Smiley had most recently been a manager at The Gotham Group, where in her four year stay she sold the dramatic rights to several titles, notably In A Dark, Dark Wood, The Barbizon and An Anonymous Girl, all of which resulted in bidding wars. Smiley brings with her a diverse range of bestselling authors. Most recently she oversaw a bidding battle for the Mary Kubica novel The Other Mrs, which was won by Netflix and she has been consulting for the executor of the J.R.R. Tolkien Estate.
Smiley spent the bulk of her career, 18 years worth, at CAA, where she began as a receptionist in 1993. As an agent there, she sold rights that went on to become the films Wild, Gone Girl, The Devil Wears Prada, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, Artemis Fowl series,...
Smiley had most recently been a manager at The Gotham Group, where in her four year stay she sold the dramatic rights to several titles, notably In A Dark, Dark Wood, The Barbizon and An Anonymous Girl, all of which resulted in bidding wars. Smiley brings with her a diverse range of bestselling authors. Most recently she oversaw a bidding battle for the Mary Kubica novel The Other Mrs, which was won by Netflix and she has been consulting for the executor of the J.R.R. Tolkien Estate.
Smiley spent the bulk of her career, 18 years worth, at CAA, where she began as a receptionist in 1993. As an agent there, she sold rights that went on to become the films Wild, Gone Girl, The Devil Wears Prada, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, Artemis Fowl series,...
- 5/6/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: In a surprise deal that could represent a shift within the publishing industry, Blackstone Publishing — the largest independent publisher in the multi-billion dollar audiobook business — has set up a partnership with The Story Factory to expand in the print and e-book markets. The centerpiece of the deal: Blackstone is making a three-author deal with New York Times bestselling and two-time Edgar Award-winning Steve Hamilton, five-time New York Times bestselling and four-time Edgar Award-nominated Reed Farrel Coleman, and Edgar Award-winning Meg Gardiner. All three authors, who are Story Factory clients, are leaving Penguin Random House to join Blackstone.
The partners said that at a time when even well-established authors are seeing advances and promotional budgets slashed, the three authors will receive career best paydays in a deal in the seven figures. The authors get creative and promotional approvals throughout the publishing process, and guaranteed publicity budget for each book launch.
The partners said that at a time when even well-established authors are seeing advances and promotional budgets slashed, the three authors will receive career best paydays in a deal in the seven figures. The authors get creative and promotional approvals throughout the publishing process, and guaranteed publicity budget for each book launch.
- 4/1/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: In competitive bidding, Netflix acquired the rights to Mary Kubica’s upcoming suspense novel The Other Mrs. Netflix will turn the book into a feature film. The novel will be published in the U.S. by Park Row in 2020.
Here is the logline: When Will and Sadie Foust inherit a house on a small, remote island off the coast of Maine, they jump at the chance to make a fresh start with their family. But their eerie new home comes with some challenges, including caring for their 16-year-old orphaned niece, who proves as unwelcoming as their new surroundings. When a neighbor turns up dead, the entire tight-knit island community rallies against the Fousts, who learn that they can’t escape the secrets of their past.
Kubica will be executive producer on the film.
The author is repped by Shari Smiley of Smiley Management, Rachael Dillon Fried of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates,...
Here is the logline: When Will and Sadie Foust inherit a house on a small, remote island off the coast of Maine, they jump at the chance to make a fresh start with their family. But their eerie new home comes with some challenges, including caring for their 16-year-old orphaned niece, who proves as unwelcoming as their new surroundings. When a neighbor turns up dead, the entire tight-knit island community rallies against the Fousts, who learn that they can’t escape the secrets of their past.
Kubica will be executive producer on the film.
The author is repped by Shari Smiley of Smiley Management, Rachael Dillon Fried of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates,...
- 3/20/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Grey Matter Productions and Topic Studios have set writer-director Oren Moverman to adapt The Good Girl, the debut novel from Mary Kubica, into a thriller drama series. Topic’s Adam Pincus and Lisa Leingang, along with Grey Matter’s Lawrence Grey and Ben Everard, will executive produce.
The Good Girl is a twisting and suspenseful thriller about the kidnapping-gone-wrong of Mia Dennett, the perfect daughter of a prominent Chicago judge. When she is abducted as part of a wild extortion plot, her kidnapper unexpectedly decides to hide her in a remote cabin for months, evading both the police and the criminals who want to use her to get to her father. Alternating timelines and the shifting points of view of Mia’s mother, her kidnapper, and the detective tasked with finding her, constantly circle the question of what really happened to Mia and how, even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems.
The Good Girl is a twisting and suspenseful thriller about the kidnapping-gone-wrong of Mia Dennett, the perfect daughter of a prominent Chicago judge. When she is abducted as part of a wild extortion plot, her kidnapper unexpectedly decides to hide her in a remote cabin for months, evading both the police and the criminals who want to use her to get to her father. Alternating timelines and the shifting points of view of Mia’s mother, her kidnapper, and the detective tasked with finding her, constantly circle the question of what really happened to Mia and how, even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems.
- 9/13/2018
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Grey Matter Productions and Topic Studios are set to produce a new television drama series based on Mary Kubica’s novel “The Good Girl,” with Oren Moverman adapting. Topic Studios’ Adam Pincus and Lisa Leingang will executive produce with Grey Matter’s Lawrence Grey and Ben Everard. Grey Matter’s Seana Diemer Iwanyk sourced the project.
“The Good Girl” tells the story of the kidnapping-gone-wrong of Mia Dennett, the perfect daughter of a prominent Chicago judge. When she is abducted as part of a wild extortion plot, her kidnapper unexpectedly decides to hide her in a remote cabin for months, evading both the police and the criminals who want to use her to get to her father. Alternating timelines and the shifting points of view of Mia’s mother, her kidnapper, and the detective tasked with finding her, constantly circle the question of what really happened to Mia and how,...
“The Good Girl” tells the story of the kidnapping-gone-wrong of Mia Dennett, the perfect daughter of a prominent Chicago judge. When she is abducted as part of a wild extortion plot, her kidnapper unexpectedly decides to hide her in a remote cabin for months, evading both the police and the criminals who want to use her to get to her father. Alternating timelines and the shifting points of view of Mia’s mother, her kidnapper, and the detective tasked with finding her, constantly circle the question of what really happened to Mia and how,...
- 9/13/2018
- by Daniel Holloway
- Variety Film + TV
Mary Kubica’s source material centres on botched abduction.
Oren Moverman will adapt and direct the TV series The Good Girl for Topic Studios and Grey Matter Productions.
Based on Mary Kubica’s debut novel, the story tells of the botched kidnapping of a prominent Chicago judge.
Topic Studios’ Adam Pincus and Lisa Leingang, along with Grey Matter’s Lawrence Grey and Ben Everard, will serve as executive producers. Grey Matter’s Seana Diemer Iwanyk sourced the material.
Moverman earned a 2019 best original screenplay nod for The Messenger. His directing credits include Rampart and The Dinner.
“Oren Moverman is one...
Oren Moverman will adapt and direct the TV series The Good Girl for Topic Studios and Grey Matter Productions.
Based on Mary Kubica’s debut novel, the story tells of the botched kidnapping of a prominent Chicago judge.
Topic Studios’ Adam Pincus and Lisa Leingang, along with Grey Matter’s Lawrence Grey and Ben Everard, will serve as executive producers. Grey Matter’s Seana Diemer Iwanyk sourced the material.
Moverman earned a 2019 best original screenplay nod for The Messenger. His directing credits include Rampart and The Dinner.
“Oren Moverman is one...
- 9/13/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.