Parkes+MacDonald Acquires Novels ‘My Lady Jane’ & ‘People Like Her’ Novels For TV Series Development

Denise Petski

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EXCLUSIVE: Parkes+MacDonald has acquired the television rights to two titles – Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows’ New York Times bestselling novel My Lady Jane, and forthcoming thriller novel People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd, for series development.

My Lady Jane, one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Young Adult Books of the Year in 2016, is a comic supernatural tale of true love and high adventure, set in an alternate England in 1553, a country on the verge of civil war. The planned series takes the tale of one of history’s most tragic heroines but reimagines it with an uplifting twist: the damsel in distress saves herself — and then the kingdom.

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Gemma Burgess is set to pen the adaptation for My Lady Jane and executive produce with Parkes+MacDonald’s Laurie MacDonald and Walter Parkes. Parkes+MacDonald’s Maggie Cahill will produce.

People Like Her, by Ellery Lloyd, the pseudonym for husband-and-wife writing team Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos, was picked up in a preempt in the U.S. by HarperCollins and was acquired in a competitive five-way auction by Mantle/Macmillan in the UK. The novel is set to release in the U.S. and internationally in 2021.

People Like Her is a contemporary thriller set in the world of social media influencers and the power they have over their loyal followers. Instamom, Emmy Jackson, has perfected the art of curating her personal life into relatable content for her millions of followers. However, behind the scenes there is a different story. Her marriage is falling apart, primarily due to their constant bickering over the role their children play as a part of her brand. Along with the adoration and love she receives within her social media community also comes the online haters. One in particular has a dangerous resentment for Emmy and will stop at nothing to ruin her.

The project is being eyed as a cable or streaming limited series and a search is out for a writer. MacDonald and Parkes will executive produce. Maggie Cahill of Parkes+MacDonald will produce. Lyons and Vlitos are set as consulting producers.

Since completing a three-book deal with Macmillan for Brooklyn Girls in 2015, Burgess has developed for TV with ABC, NBC, Amazon and Bravo. In features, she sold her female ensemble comedy script, Undergrads, to New Regency. She also is the author of The Dating Detox and A Girl Like You.

Parkes+MacDonald is repped by UTA. Burgess is repped by Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson. Holly Frederick at Curtis Brown reps My Lady Jane. Luke Speed at Curtis Brown UK reps People Like Her.

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