Production on the Julian Fellowes-created series is set to begin in the spring.

NBC is inching forward on its long-in-development series The Gilded Age, setting a start date for the project and hiring director Michael Engler to helm the first episode.

The Gilded Age comes from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and has been at NBC since way back in 2012, when Downton was in its third season. The show didn't get a formal green light, however, until this January, when the network ordered it straight to series with 10 episodes.

Engler will direct the two-hour premiere and serve as an executive producer. He is a three-time Emmy nominee for his work on the Downton Abbey series finale, 30 Rock and Sex and the City. Engler also has directed episodes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Affair and Empire, and was director and executive producer on Showtime's The Big C.

The Gilded Age is set in 1880s New York and will center on Marian Brook, a young woman who sets about infiltrating a wealthy neighboring family, which includes railroad baron George Russell; his wife, Bertha; and their rakish son, Larry. Gareth Neame is executive producing the Universal TV project along with Fellowes and Engler.

Production on The Gilded Age is set to begin in the spring. When NBC announced the series pickup in January, it said the show would premiere in 2019; a spring start date likely means it will air in the latter half of the year.

Engler is repped by WME, Anonymous Content and attorney Alan Hergott.