Random House has won the North American rights to I’m on the Moon, the debut memoir from veteran late-night TV producer Daniel Kellison.
Kellison held various roles on David Letterman’s NBC and CBS late-night shows over eight years, during which he helped develop some of the show’s most talked-about segments, including Drew Barrymore’s birthday flash, Madonna’s profanity-laced sit-down, and Sean Connery’s entrance via jet-pack.
Kellison left Letterman’s Late Show in 1996 to serve as the initial executive producer on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, later co-founding Jackhole Industries with Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel, and executive producing The Man Show, Crank Yankers and Jimmy Kimmel Live!
His written work has appeared on Bill Simmons’ Grantland, where his essay “My Letterman Years,” written upon Letterman’s retirement in 2015, was named by Sports Illustrated as one of the year’s best pieces of journalism.
As first reported by Deadline, Kellison’s deal with Random House was finalized just before a scheduled auction that had already drawn interest from multiple major houses.
Kellison’s memoir is said to trace his journey from a self-described “bongs-before-breakfast lump” to producing some of the most unforgettable moments in late-night television.
“This is my version of Almost Famous,” Kellison told Deadline, “but instead of music and Rolling Stone, it was comedy and David Letterman.”
“My hope is this book finds someone like I once was: on the verge of adulthood, unsure what comes next, but convinced they’re already doomed,” Kellison said. “This isn’t a celebrity memoir about a charmed life—it’s the opposite. If it resembles a celebrity story at all, it’s like the phoenix tattooed on Ben Affleck’s back: I rose from the ashes and found my way out of the ruins.”
Random House has yet to reveal a release date for I’m on the Moon.
