Kevin Kwan Drama Series From Robert Simonds' STXtv In Development At Amazon Studios

'Mozart in the Jungle' EP Will Graham Boards

BURBANK, Calif., Aug. 3, 2018 -- STXtv, the television studio for Robert Simonds' STX Entertainment, today announced it has received a script-to-series order from Amazon Studios for a new drama series from the mind of Kevin Kwan, the No. 1 New York Times best-selling author of the Crazy Rich Asians franchise and one of Time Magazine's Most Influential People of 2018. The yet-to-be titled series is a globe-hopping drama set amongst Hong Kong's most influential and powerful family and the business empire they control. Will Graham (Mozart in the Jungle) will supervise the series co-created and co-written by Kwan and David Sangalli. Hailey Wierengo is set to co-executive produce under Graham's Field Trip Productions banner as part of the company's first-look deal with Amazon.

"This series is precisely the type of East-meets-West material that STX is uniquely positioned to develop across all of our divisions. We are so pleased to be able to partner with Amazon, whose established relationship with Kevin and support of his literary career make them the perfect platform to launch his first TV project," said Jada Miranda, EVP and Head of Scripted Television at STXtv. "The Crazy Rich Asians trilogy remains one of Amazon's top fiction best-sellers because millions of passionate fans around the world can't get enough of Kevin's exuberant brand of storytelling. We can't wait to bring the wildly entertaining world he and David created with this series to Prime audiences worldwide."

"STX is proving to be a new creative force in television, and their focus on diverse storytelling that bridges the East and West was extremely appealing to David and me as we embarked on writing this TV series," said Kwan. "Amazon has been a wonderful partner over the last several years and continuing our relationship on this project felt like a natural next step. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to work with someone of Will Graham's caliber as we bring this story to life."

"I'm such a fan of Kevin's writing, and the incredible worlds he brings to light," said Graham. "I can't wait to start on this adventure with him and David, STX and Amazon to create a truly international show that feels like nothing we've ever seen on screen before."

Kwan's international best-selling debut novel "Crazy Rich Asians" has also been adapted into a feature film of the same name. With more than one million copies in print worldwide, the book has never left the best seller lists in Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. "China Rich Girlfriend," published in 2015, and "Rich People Problems" are both national and international bestsellers. "Rich People Problems" debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List upon its release in 2017. The trilogy has been translated into more than 20 languages to date. Kwan and Sangalli are repped by ICM Partners and attorney Peter Nichols at Lichter Grossman. Will Graham is repped by UTA and Kaplan Perrone and Bruce Gellman at Hansen Jacobson.

This series is the latest in a string of projects from STX's television studio, following three back-to-back scripted production commitments in the last five months for series including, "Valley of the Boom," a six-part limited series on National Geographic from showrunner Matthew Carnahan, YouTube's "The Edge of Seventeen," a spin-off of STXfilms' critically-acclaimed film of the same name with the film's original director Kelly Fremon Craig returning as executive producer, and Hulu's "UglyDolls" animated kids series based on STX's highly anticipated animated franchise.