Amazon Studios to Team with Musician, Bestselling Author and Entrepreneur Jessica Simpson with New Multi-Media Rights Deal

Amazon Studios announced today that it has joined with iconic musician, actress, entrepreneur, and author Jessica Simpson in a unique multi-media rights deal, including a new unscripted docuseries based on her #1 New York Times best-selling memoir Open Book, development of a new coming-of-age scripted series, also inspired by the memoir, as well as two new original essays to be published through Amazon Original Stories, an imprint of Amazon Publishing. Simpson became the highest-selling female pop culture celebrity author of all time at Open Book’s debut.

Simpson said, “I am humbled and honored to partner with Amazon Studios to bring my story and heart to life on the screen. 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 the mission I set out to accomplish in writing Open Book — to inspire others to be entertained, moved, and empowered to walk through fear and come out on the other side even stronger.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome Jessica to the Amazon family. Jessica has a fascinating, emotional story, not just of celebrity and success, but with relatable, all-too-human problems so many of us encounter with love, family, and life,” said Vernon Sanders, Co-Head of Television, Amazon Studios. “Open Book was a phenomenon, and we’re so excited to bring it to life on Prime Video and IMDb TV, and for Amazon Original Stories readers to have the chance to hear more from Jessica in her own words.”

Premiering on Amazon Prime Video, the unscripted project is a raw and revealing multi-part docuseries that 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 an executive producer on the unscripted series, with Lauren Auslander and Lacy Lynch.

Amazon Studios and IMDb TV are also developing a fictionalized drama series inspired by Open Book and Jessica coming of age in her mid-twenties, following her divorce, on the journey to discovering herself. The scripted series will be produced by Simpson and Patrick Moran of PKM Productions, alongside Lynch and Auslander.

Music will be a key component of both the scripted and unscripted series.

Amazon Original Stories has also acquired two essays from Jessica Simpson, slated to be released in 2021. The first essay will focus on motherhood, and the second will focus on gratitude. The essays will be available free to Prime Members and Kindle Unlimited subscribers in digital and audio formats; Simpson will narrate the audio editions.

Simpson’s critically-acclaimed, best-selling memoir, Open Book, debuted at #1 in three categories of The New York Times bestseller list, set a new standard for celebrity memoir and was included in Time’s “100 Must-Read Books of 2020” and Rolling Stone’s “Best Music Books of 2020.” The book was sold at auction to Dey Street Books and went on to sell almost half a million copies in 14 weeks in 121 countries -becoming a global bestseller and defying critics, which has become a hallmark of Simpson’s career. The blockbuster audiobook, narrated by Simpson, included six original songs, produced by Simpson and her music team, her first new music in over a decade, and landed her at #1 on the Audible and audio charts.

About Jessica Simpson

Simpson is a musician, actress, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and bestselling author. In 2005, she launched the Jessica Simpson Collection, now a billion-dollar global brand and the most successful celebrity licensing brand in history. In 2020 she published her memoir Open Book that debuted at #1 in three categories of The New York Times bestseller list. She released six original songs on the audiobook and landed at #1 on the audio charts. She will be releasing an updated paperback version of Open Book, a premium guided journal and a yet to be announced project in a new vertical with Harper Collins in 2021. She lives with her husband and three children in Los Angeles, California.

About Amazon Studios

Amazon Studios is the home for talent, creating and producing original films and television series for a global audience. Original series all premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, which is available in over 200 countries and territories. Recent hit Amazon Original series include the Emmy Award-winning comedies Fleabag, created by and starring Emmy Award-winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel from Emmy Award-winners Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, as well as the action thriller drama Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan starring John Krasinski, the irreverent superhero series The Boys, and fantasy drama Carnival Row starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne; Amazon Originals also include culturally relevant and buzzed about content such as Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty music and fashion event, Donald Glover’s Guava Island and Chasing Happiness, a documentary about pop superstars the Jonas Brothers.

In film, Amazon Studios produces and acquires original movies for theatrical release and exclusively for Amazon Prime Video. In 2017, Amazon Studios became the first streaming service to win Oscars for Manchester by the Sea and The Salesman. Recent Amazon original movies include the subversive comedy Borat Subsequent Moviefilm with Sacha Baron Cohen, Troop Zero starring Viola Davis and Allison Janney, Tom Harper’s The Aeronauts starring Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne, Scott Z. Burns’ The Report, Alma Har’el’s Honey Boy and the Academy Award nominated Les Misérables directed by Ladj Ly. The 2020 slate include the family comedy My Spy starring Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman, Chemical Hearts starring Lili Reinhart, Sound of Metal starring Riz Ahmed, Sylvie’s Love with Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha, Alan Ball’s Uncle Frank with Paul Bettany and Sophia Lillis, I’m Your Woman starring and produced by Rachel Brosnahan and more. In addition, the originals film slate includes a number of diverse first-time feature filmmakers – Blow the Man Down directed by Danielle Krudy and Bridget Savage Cole, Selah and The Spadesfrom director Tayarisha Poe, The Vast of Night directed by Andrew Patterson and 7500 directed by Patrick Vollrath.

About Amazon Publishing

Amazon Publishing is a leading trade publisher of fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books with a mission to empower outstanding storytellers and connect them with readers worldwide. We publish emerging, bestselling and critically-acclaimed authors in digital, print, and audio formats. Amazon Original Stories, an imprint of Amazon Publishing, is known for its single-sitting reads from bestselling authors, acclaimed storytellers, and new voices.