According to Deadline, Hulu has handed a pilot order to History of a Pleasure Seeker, a one-hour musical drama based on Richard Mason’s novel of the same name.
What’s Happening:
- Richard Mason is adapting his book himself with Bridgerton director Julie Anne Robinson helming the pilot and exec producing.
- History of a Pleasure Seeker is a musical drama set in Amsterdam in 1907 — a tale of a charismatic young man’s explosive adventures through all the temptations of the Belle Époque.
- ABC Signature is producing the pilot in association with American Gods and The Mosquito Coast producer Fremantle and Hat Trick Productions, the British production company behind series such as Showtime’s Episodes and Anna Paquin’s Flack.
- Mason executive produces with Robinson, who will direct, along with The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey, Hat Trick Productions boss Jimmy Mulville and Fremantle. Christopher Read will compose the music, along with Mason, and also serve as executive producer.
- The book, which was published in 2012 by Penguin Random House, follows Piet Barol, who has an instinctive appreciation for pleasure and a gift for finding it. When his mother dies, Piet applies for a job as tutor to the troubled son of Europe’s leading hotelier – a child who refuses to leave his family’s mansion on one of Amsterdam’s grandest canals. As Piet enters this glittering world, he learns its secrets and finds his life transformed.
- The book has been described as Downton Abbey-meets-Dangerous Liaisons.
- In addition to co-writing the music and songs on History of a Pleasure Seeker, Mason is creating original drama projects with FX, Shiny Penny, Fremantle and Carnival. He has written five novels and with the first novel, The Drowning People, selling over a million copies.
- Emmy, two-time BAFTA- and DGA-nominated director Robinson is currently directing the Partner Track pilot for Netflix, from Sarah Goldfinger, Georgia Lee and Jax Media. She received a 2021 Directing for a Drama Series Emmy nomination for the pilot of Shondaland’s romance-drama Bridgerton, and she also directed an additional episode in the first season. She also developed and produced The Catch with Shondaland previously.