Starz announced today it is developing the half-hour drama series Sweetbitter, based on the national best-selling book of the same name written by Stephanie Danler, who has also written the script for the first episode. Plan B Entertainment tapped Stu Zicherman (The Americans, The Affair, Six Degrees) to develop the script with Danler, and both will serve as executive producers along with Plan B.
Sweetbitter follows 22-year-old Tess who, shortly after arriving in New York City, lands a job at a celebrated downtown restaurant. Swiftly introduced to the world of drugs, alcohol, love, lust, dive bars, and fine dining, she learns to navigate the chaotically alluring, yet punishing life she has stumbled upon. This is the story of a young woman’s coming-of-age, set against the rich and grimy backdrop of exclusive restaurants, conjuring a nonstop and high-adrenaline world evoking the possibility, beauty, and fragility of being young and adrift.
A writer based in Los Angeles, Danler’s debut novel Sweetbitter was selected as an NPR Best Book of 2016 and ranked on the New York Times‘ Hardcover Fiction Best-Seller List, reaching #10; the Los Angeles Times‘ Best Seller List at #2 and the Paperback Fiction List at #6; Amazon Top 100 at #28 and USA Today‘s Best-Selling Books List. It also reached #10 on the Publishers Weekly Hardcover Fiction list and #13 on the IndieBound Hardcover Fiction list.
Senior Vice President of Original Programming Ken Segna and Vice President of Original Programming Patrick McDonald are the Starz executives in charge of Sweetbitter. Starz retains all global distribution and home entertainment rights to the series.
