Assemble Media, the IP creation and production company, took the book to publishers before selling the television adaptation rights. Kim's (photo) book earned her a three-book, seven-figure deal for North American publishing rights after an auction by six publishers.
This deal was brokered between Macmillan's Tor Publishing Group Senior Editor Carl Engle-Laird and Steven Salpeter of Assemble Media, which is behind films such as The Forgiven, starring Jessica Chastain, Ralph Fiennes and Matt Smith, and Gia Coppola's Mainstream.
Salpeter, who is President of Literary and IP, director Jack Heller and Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen, VP of Production and Development, worked with UIS' Global Scripted Series team and will serve as executive producer alongside Kim.
The book is set in a world where a process called 'instancing' splits a person into two different copies: one that migrates and one that stays. The story unfolds as a migrated woman returns to Seoul and must face her other self, as her childhood friend's New York self drags her into a conspiracy to control the future of instancing, bringing both versions of him back into her life with worldwide consequences.
USG's Creative Acquisitions and IP Management team, led by Jordan Moblo, was behind securing the rights to the book.
Kim is a Korean-American speculative, science fiction and horror author from New York. She is a Shirley Jackson Award winner and her short fiction has been published in many genre fiction magazines and anthologies.
She said, “I’m delighted to be working with Universal International Studios and Assemble Media on the TV adaptation of my debut novel, Sublimation. The creative team shared a vision of Sublimation’s adaption that really impressed me and felt true to the world of my novel. I’m so excited to be working with them on the project.”
“From the very first page, you feel drawn to these characters and this world that explores such rich themes through this paradoxical existence that Isabel has captured so sublimely,” said Kelsey Balance, SVP, Global Scripted Series, Universal International Studios. “It’s staggering that this is her first novel as it’s so compelling but also so fresh and creative. We can’t wait to bring her vision to audiences around the globe.”
