Max Winkler is set to direct the pilot for American Love Story, the first installment of Ryan Murphy’s FX anthology series, sources tell Deadline. The series chronicles the whirlwind courtship and marriage of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessett, starring newcomer Paul Kelly (The Venery of Samantha Bird) as Kennedy Jr., Sarah Pidgeon as Bessett and Naomi Watts as JFK Jr’s mother, Jackie O.
American Love Story, the latest offshoot in FX/20th TV’s American Crime Story franchise, is a scripted anthology series of sweeping true love stories that captured the world’s attention.
In the first season, focused on JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, what started out as a beautiful union for the young couple, widely regarded as American royalty, began to fray under the stress of the relentless microscope and navel gaze of tabloid media. The pressures of their careers and rumored family discord ended with their tragic deaths when his private plane crashed into the ocean on a hazy summer night off the coast of Massachusetts.
American Love Story is executive produced by Ryan Murphy, Brad Simpson, Nina Jacobson, D.V. DiVencentis and Connor Hines.
Winkler is a longtime colleague of Murphy’s having worked with him as director and executive producer on Grotesquerie, multiple installments of American Horror Story, Monster and Feud. He most recently was tapped to direct Murphy’s The Shards, based on Bret Easton Ellis‘ prep school thriller novel, which is in early development at FX. His other credits include Minx (director), School Spirits (director/EP), The Watcher (director), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (director), Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (director) and New Girl (director), among others. His film work includes 2017’s Flower, which he wrote and directed.
Kelly is repped by Innovative Artists. Watts is repped by CAA, Linsten Management, Markham Froggatt & Irwin, Grant Tani Barash & Altman, Untitled Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson Teller.
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