Ask HN: I Want to Make “The Chronicles of Amber” into a TV Series. How?

I am a journalist. I write articles about gadgets, web, science, technology, space, and the like. And I love to read fiction books. My favorite book is the "The Chronicles of Amber" by Roger Zelazny. It's a magnum opus of 10 volumes about life and adventures of a supernatural mythical family. And for a long time I had a dream – to make this book into a movie.

And at some point I realized, that it should not be a movie, but a TV series! They are becoming more intense and complex, and attract a big audience. There is even a very popular series based on the famous multi-volume fantasy saga. Yeah, that one. When I realized this, I quickly wrote the screenplay for a pilot episode. I think that it came out quite good. I've registered it with the Writers Guild of America, and can send it to anybody who can help me.

Next I found the agency and discussed this subject with them. The agency took its time to figure out who I am and what do I have. Finally, they told me that at the moment someone allegedly bought an option for a screen version of the book. But, reading between the lines, I realized that they just do not want to work with an unknown person. So I began to think about what to do next.

I found out that the book was turned into an audiobooks by TV actors Alessandro Juliani ("Battlestar Galactica", "The 100") and Wil Wheaton ("Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Eureka"). I found their managers' contacts and exchanged letters with them to find out if they are interested in supporting the film adaptation.

One of the managers was kind enough to explain to me, that his client is not engaged in producing activities, so, basically, when I'll have the rights and the financing for the project, they will be happy to listen to my proposal.

I've created a blog at https://9amber.wordpress.com/ with additional information about this problem in a blogpost (I had to cut this message at HN down to 2000 symbols), and a contact page. So feel free to contact me.

I too am a huge fan of the Amber series. I don't think Zelazny's estate has managed that asset very well though. See the Bettencourt novels and the controversy relating to their publication as an example. Or how rarely one will find Zelazny's works on the shelf at most brick and mortar bookstores compared to his contemporaries.

I wish you well in your quest! I'd love to see this series get a second life.

I've had the same dream for many years. Please, whoever does it, don't mess it up.

You're in a tough spot. The more interest that you build in the series, the more likely that someone with more money and better connections will decide to take your idea and run with it. Further, it's not like you can simply start creating derivative works to demonstrate your abilities - you might get sued out of existence.

I'd suggest creating a website that talks about your plans, how you would approach the TV show making process. What are the types of things that you would do, what are some plot lines, how would you show the story's "card mechanic" visually? Build a community so that there is fan devotion not just to the idea, but to you and your implementation of it.