When you attach the name Darren Star to anything we’re paying attention. The man is a genius, especially when it comes to producing television shows. Lets talk about Younger, Emily in Paris and Sex & The City – all amazing shows.
He’s attached to the adaptation of a new book – set to co-write and executive produce alongside Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas. Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas’ (she’s a film producer and you’ve probably seen her stuff) debut novel, Climbing in Heels, hits store shelves on April 29, 2025.
Goldsmith-Thomas said in a statement, “I am thrilled to be partnering with Darren Star and Universal Television to bring life to these complicated, colorful women who refused to be sidelined or silenced.”
What is this book about? You know it’s going to be good, especially since it’s been picked up so far ahead of its release.
CLIMBING IN HEELS is the story of three women, “Beanie Rosen, Ella Gaddy, and Lara Baxter – whose backgrounds were as unique as their talent, whose passion was as fierce as their rage, and whose unwillingness to settle for less in a world where less was expected rose with grit, stood on each other’s shoulders, balancing, stretching, reaching to touch the top. It was thick, that glass ceiling, and they only scratched the surface. But in scratching it they brought the biggest theatrical agency in the world, William Morris, to its knees. It’s also the story about how sometimes they became the very monsters they fought against.”
The description continues, “Beanie, Ella and Lara are more than ambitious—they’re quick-thinking (Beanie), devil-may-care (Ella) and calculating (Lara) predators. Colleagues, friends, sometime roommates and frequently frenemies, they manipulate an already cutthroat business to make places for themselves.”
And finishes off by saying, “Sexy, plot-rich, and full of the details that made the talent agencies businesses of fascination and front page news, CLIMBING IN HEELS brings all the swagger, customs and costumes of Los Angeles in the ‘80s to life. It’s like turning THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO inside out and discovering that the lives of the starmakers are even more gripping than the lives of the stars themselves.”
Sounds intriguing. Star said in a statement, “I’m excited to team up with Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas to bring Climbing in Heels – her addictive fictional account of Hollywood in the 1980s through a female lens – to the screen. It’s the ballsy and bawdy love child of Mad Men and Sex and the City. I can’t wait for audiences everywhere to meet this indomitable ensemble of female characters who broke all the rules to make their own.”
Goldsmith-Thomas’ Hollywood history is captivating. She was once an agent, then a studio head, and transitioned into producing and writing. We’re so excited for this book and definitely are pre-ordering right away.
