EXCLUSIVE: Chris Van Dusen is back at Netflix where he created the hugely popular period romance drama Bridgerton and served as executive producer and showrunner on the first two seasons. He is boarding another high-profile project, Calabasas, executive produced by Kim Kardashian and Emma Roberts, which Netflix landed in April 2024 after a bidding war.
Van Dusen replaces Pretty Little Liars creator I. Marlene King who was originally attached as showrunner of the drama, based on the book If You Lived Here You’d Be Famous By Now by Via Bleidner. She has stepped away from the project after working on it for over a year. Van Dusen will now write the adaptation and sever as showrunner.
He will executive produce via his CVD Productions alongside Kardashian, Belletrist Productions’ Roberts, Karah Preiss and Matt Matruski as well as Alexandra Milchan (Tár), who had the rights to the book, through her Crescent Line banner.
In the vein of The O.C. and Beverly Hills, 90210, Calabasas follows Via, a 16-year-old sheltered Midwestern Catholic school girl whose world is turned upside down when her family moves and she’s forced to transfer to the fast world of Calabasas High where nothing is as it appears and where everyone is trying to be someone else. It’s a place where dreams come true … but not without complications and sometimes unforeseen consequences.
Calabasas native Kardashian, who has been a driving force behind the project, is a self-professed big Bridgerton fan after first discovering the series in March 2021 when she watched the breakout first season, shepherded by Van Dusen. She has been messaging with Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan who called her in an interview “Lady Kardashian of Calabasas.”
Season 1 of Bridgerton remains among Netflix’s Top 10 most popular English-language series, currently at #6. It earned Van Dusen an Outstanding Drama Series Emmy nomination and a PGA nomination.
At Netflix, Van Dusen also has in the works They Both Die At The End, inspired by Adam Silvera’s novel, which is executive produced by Bad Bunny. Additionally, he is adapting for television Elle Kennedy’s book Girl Abroad with A24 and Pacesetter Productions.
Van Dusen’s series credits also include Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy. He is repped by WME, Literate and The Nord Group.
Published in 2021 by Flatiron Books while Bleidner was attending UC Santa Barbara, the collection of stories If You Lived Here You’d Be Famous By Now marks her writing debut. Kardashian stars in and executive produces the new Ryan Murphy legal drama All’s Fair, which premieres Nov. 4 on Hulu.
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