Before I could publicly announce it yet—while the lawyers on
both sides were negotiating the contract—I told my blog buddies here in
confidence that I was in the process of selling an option on a story I’d
written for the purposes of making a film from it. At that time I was asked and
agreed to write a post about that process when I could. So here it is.
My short story, “The Good Neighbor,” was published in Kansas City Noir by Akashic Books as
part of their famed international “noir” series. There it was read by someone
with extensive experience in the movie business and past successes in
Hollywood. He contacted me about the possibility of making a film out of my
story. This person, Mitch Brian, and I
have taught at the same writers conference, and I’ve sat in on his classes and
been quite impressed with him, so I took it quite seriously from the beginning—and
I might well not have if I hadn’t developed some real respect for him. I was
inclined to agree right away because I felt he would respect the characters and
stay true to the story within the constraints of dramatic writing for film,
which has different demands than a work for the page.
I didn’t realize how successful he had been until my kids
looked him up and told me. What sold me on the idea of signing over rights was
a long talk we had about what Brian intended for the screenplay and the
realization that the very things that drew him to the story were the things I
cared most about keeping intact. We even walked the neighborhood in which the
story is set, so he could see the setting. It was at that meeting that we came
to the real agreement, but it took many weeks of his people in Hollywood and
his lawyers drawing up a contract and my agent and the agency lawyers looking
for problems and suggesting changes.
Eventually, however, all was arranged successfully, and the
company Cerberus Limited had an option on my story with Brian committed to
write the screenplay. That—the screenplay writing—began in January. I know the
chances of this option turning into an actual movie are slim, based on the
reality of film options. But I also believe that, if the film is finally made,
it will stay true to the story and the characters, and that’s what matters most
to me. Daniel Woodrell turned down big studios who wanted to do Winter’s Bone. Instead he gave the
rights for very little upfront cash to a small woman-owned company who stayed
true to his vision and finally got the money to make the Oscar-nominated movie.
I feel I’ve made a similar choice.
So that’s the story of the film option, not nearly as
glamorous as people might think, but something I’m very excited about. If it
actually comes to be a film, I know it will be my vision on the screen and not a
miserable mish-mash of commercial Hollywood tropes.
