YA publishing industry veteran Christian Trimmer has been appointed to head the relaunch of MTV Books in partnership with Simon & Schuster, MTV Entertainment announced Tuesday. The relaunch aims to advance MTV Entertainment’s book-to-TV/film pipeline and the discovery of unique voices for publishing.
In his new role, Trimmer will acquire and edit books for young adults and work closely with MTVE’s Meghan Hooper, evp, head of original movies and limited series, to identify titles for development into films and miniseries across the group’s brands and studios. He will also assess whether existing IP could be reimagined as book projects.
Having worked in publishing for over 15 years, Trimmer previously served as executive editor at Simon & Schuster before becoming editorial director at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. In his previous roles, Trimmer oversaw international bestseller Children of Blood and Bone (which will be adapted into a feature film) and The Shape of Water (the film adaptation won an Oscar for best picture in 2018).
Trimmer is also the children’s book author of Simon’s New Bed, Mimi and She in I’ll Race You!, Teddy’s Favorite Toy and Snow Pony and the Seven Miniature Ponies.
“I could not be more excited to bring my skills as a book publisher and editor to MTV Entertainment,” said Trimmer. “Chris [McCarthy] and Nina have built an incredible team, and I look forward to working with them and Meghan to develop stories that surprise and delight audiences.”
The MTV Books imprint will be housed under the branded publishing group of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and overseen by vice president and publisher Valerie Garfield. Kara Sargent, director of branded publishing, will serve as lead editor on the Simon & Schuster side.
“With the relaunch of MTV Books, we have the opportunity to uncover new, cutting-edge voices and fast track their stories into series and TV movies,” said Diaz. “Christian has a keen eye for identifying some of the most pioneering authors of this generation and we’re thrilled to welcome him to the team.”
Previous MTV Books titles include Tupac Shakur’s The Rose That Grew from Concrete and Stephen Chbosky’s Perks of Being a Wallflower and Bethany Hamilton’s Soul Surfer, both of which were both adapted for feature films,.
“Simon & Schuster has a long history working with MTV, as well as significant experience in developing content that can work across multiple forms of media,” said Valerie Garfield. “Working with Christian and our MTV colleagues to relaunch the MTV Books brand is the perfect melding of both company’s well-established strengths.”
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
