Fremantle Taps WME’s Raffaella de Angelis For Literary Acquisitions Role

By Naman Ramachandran

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “The Young Pope” producer-distributor Fremantle has hired WME’s Raffaella de Angelis to lead literary acquisitions for its global drama division.

De Angelis will also lend her expertise to ’s development and production outfit The Apartment, which is headed by “My Brilliant Friend” executive producer Lorenzo Mieli, as well as “True Detective” executive producer Richard Brown’s Passenger Pictures, with whom Fremantle has an exclusive multi-year deal.

Based in London, de Angelis will report into Christian Vesper, Fremantle’s executive VP and creative director for global drama.

At , de Angelis was international literary agent and partner, working with such celebrated authors as Alice Munro, Mohsin Hamd, Jhumpa Lahiri, Lauren Groff, Jonathan Lethem, Petina Gappah, Chiara Barzini, Suketu Mehta, Timothy Snyder and Eric Schlosser, as well as on international bestsellers such as Daniel James Brown’s “The Boys In The Boat” and Paul Kalanithi’s “When Breath Becomes Air.”

She has had previous stints at ICM, Maria B. Campbell Associates, Warner Bros. and The William Morris Agency.

De Angelis said: “I can’t wait to find literary material for Richard Brown at Passenger and Lorenzo Mieli at The Apartment, two of the most visionary producers in the current high-end drama space, as well as for Fremantle global drama’s group of dynamic and multilingual producers.”

Vesper added: “Raffaella’s literary experience and eye for a fantastic story is unrivalled. She will be an incredible addition to Fremantle’s global drama family, working closely with our incredible partners Passenger and The Apartment to find literary gems that will eventually become outstanding drama series.”