‘Traitors’ Producer 42 Hires Literary Manager Eugenie Furniss

By Leo Barraclough

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Eugenie Furniss is joining London- and Los Angeles-based management and production company 42 as literary manager, it was announced Wednesday. The company’s slate include movie “Ironbark,” a Cold War thriller starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and TV series “Traitors,” a spy thriller coming to Netflix in the U.S. at the end of the month.

Furniss joins in the London office to expand the company’s offerings in representation and create a book division that represents international authors, both across fiction and non-fiction. She brings with her a wealth of best-selling writers, with a particular interest in stories that translate to other media. Her clients’ work has been adapted for TV, including the hit BBC series “Call the Midwife,” which is filming season nine, the BBC’s “Hotel Babylon,” which aired for four seasons and starred Dexter Fletcher, and ITV’s “Mr. Selfridge,” starring Jeremy Piven.

Most recently Furniss set up and ran the book division at Furniss Lawton for seven years, the literary arm of the James Grant Group. Prior to this role, she was at WME for 15 years and ran their London book division for her final three years at the company.

Furniss said: “From the moment I first walked in the door, I was struck by 42’s energy and dynamism. That fact, coupled with the extraordinary talent that they represent, convinced me that there was no better place for my authors to engage with all the developments we’re seeing across screen and stage.

“Representing their interests in the publishing world will remain my core business, but I hope to see more of my authors’ works being adapted into different media and, with the guidance of the team here, will also be encouraging those that are interested to learn, to write for other forms too.”

Partner and literary manager Cathy King said: “We are incredibly happy that Eugenie is joining us. She is a hugely talented, highly respected representative with wonderful clients. Her presence here – with her particular knowledge, expertise and the very special writers she works with – makes this undoubtedly a very significant and exciting development for the 42 team.”

42’s upcoming slate includes three films in post-production, Cold War thriller “Ironbark” starring , “Military Wives,” starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan, and “In the Shadow of the Moon,” featuring Michael C. Hall and Boyd Holbrook.

In the TV sphere, six-parter “Traitors,” which is airing on Channel 4 in the U.K., is written by Bash Doran, and stars Michael Stuhlbarg, Emma Appleton, Keeley Hawes and Luke Treadaway. 42’s TV projects also include “‪Watership Down,” a four-hour animated miniseries adapted from the best-selling book, and featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, John Boyega, Ben Kingsley, Daniel Kaluuya, Gemma Arterton and Olivia Colman, which is on Netflix; “The English Game,” a six-part drama series in development with Netflix, written by Julian Fellowes; and “Wild Bill,” starring Rob Lowe for ITV.