Grace Chan’s highly acclaimed debut novel, Every Version of You, has been optioned to adapt into an international feature film by Cognito Entertainment, a major new independent film and television production company launched this week in the US.
A ‘visceral, mind-bending and tender’ story set in the near future, Every Version of You centres on a star-crossed romance between lovers separated by the boundary between our world and the metaverse. Published by Affirm Press, the novel was shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year Award and the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Christina Stead Prize and longlisted for the Indie Book Awards and the Stella Prize.
Every Version of You is slated to be one of the first major features for the newly launched independent production company, Cognito Entertainment, the brainchild of acclaimed film and TV producer Matt Tauber, award-winning executive producer Adam Fratto and neuroscientist, bestselling author and Emmy-award winning writer and presenter, Dr David Eagleman. Based in Los Angeles and Palo Alto, Cognito’s brief is to produce innovative and compelling stories from the world of science, spanning feature films to scripted and unscripted TV, features, documentaries and podcasts.
Co-founder Adam Fratto said: ‘Every Version of You leaps off the page as a filmic, deeply emotional story that poses an urgent question: how will human relationships evolve as scientific advancements change what it means to be human? Grace Chan has crafted a beautiful novel, and we are honoured to be able to steward it on its journey to the screen.’
Chan, a speculative fiction writer whose short stories have been shortlisted for Aurealis and Norma K. Hemming Awards, and a psychiatrist in her other life, says her first novel could not have found a better home.
‘I’m utterly overjoyed that the wonderful team at Cognito are taking Every Version of You to the big screen, and that their creative vision is to interweave the story’s scientific elements with a tender portrayal of love and loss. This is beyond anything I could have imagined for my debut novel! Thank you to Adam, Matt and David, to my wonderful publishers Affirm Press and to my amazing agents, Jacinta and Danielle at Jacinta Di Mase Agency, and Fiona and Nerrilee at Bold Type Agency’.
‘From its very first pages, we could see that Every Version of You was something special,’ said Ruby Ashby-Orr, Senior Editor at Affirm Press. ‘This tale of a frighteningly possible future, and its consequences for our most intimate and important relationships, resonated deeply with our entire team. We’re so happy for Grace and look forward to seeing this stunning story shared with a whole new audience.’
The film deal with Cognito Entertainment for Every Version of You was negotiated by Bold Type Agency on behalf of Jacinta di Mase Management and Grace Chan.
