Book to Screen

by Frank Catalano

  You might be thinking, if you start your story at the very end, then there will be nothing left to tell or show the audience. I am not saying starting your story at the very end. I am saying start it at the moment just before the end. Start them at that pivotal moment where there is no point of return and your characters must go forward or perish. That’s where you start, then once they are on board, you can tell and show them all the details as you go along and then give the final ending at the very last moment.

  Let’s go back to your promise. Start them at the most pivotal moment in your story so you create their interest. They will want to know how it all turns out. That’s your job… you have to tell and show them how it will turn out. That’s your promise to them. It’s a promise that must be kept.

  So, now let’s get to work!

  I want to thank you all for being such a great group. I hope you enjoy the rest of the 25th Annual Writer’s Conference.

  (Audience Applause)

  I think we have to leave this space but I will be in the hotel lobby if any of you have questions or comments.

  Thank you again.

  (Audience applause)

  BOOK TO SCREEN

  HOW TO ADAPT YOUR NOVEL INTO A SCREENPLAY

  SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY

  25th Annual Writers Conference

  HOW TO ADAPT YOUR NOVEL INTO A SCREENPLAY

  BOOK 5

  FRANK CATALANO

  34

  REJECTION

  Book to Screen

  I HAVE HAD THE opportunity to be both writer and producer on different occasions and so I am familiar with how it feels to be on both sides of the table when considering screenplays for production. All stories and characters begin with an idea. Ideas can be presented to you in many forms – as a pitch, a note written on a piece of paper, a treatment, a full screenplay or a novel. No matter where you end up – what form – it all starts with an idea.

  Now living in Los Angeles, you can imagine that there are a lot of people writing screenplays. Many of them are professional screenwriters but the large majority are those individuals who kind of tinker at it. They may have an idea in their head or written down and they may even have a fully written screenplay in their back pocket – but few really are writers. Who are they? They are students, bank tellers, hair stylists or teachers. In short, everybody that lives in Los Angeles (and their mother) has a screenplay or a film idea.

  (Audience laughter)

  The reason I am telling you this is if you have experienced rejection trying to get a screenplay read by a Hollywood producer, a lot of it has to do with the fact that there are so many people asking them to read their scripts. Getting back to what I said before, almost everyone who writes screenplays calls himself or herself a screenwriter. But the simple truth is not everyone who calls himself or herself a screenwriter actually is one. So this makes it harder to get your work read and considered.

  For those of you who live in Los Angeles, next time you are waiting on line at the bank, ask aloud how many people in the bank, on line, the tellers have a screenplay. You will be shocked that almost everyone will raise their hand. So I had this thought. I have many.

  (Audience laughter)

  That it might be easier to get something read if it were a novel. There are fewer novelists and the work is coming through a different channel to a producer. Perhaps through a publisher, writer’s agent or other representative. But here comes the rub. What if they like your novel and want to develop it into a motion picture or television show?

  Your book will be assigned to a screenwriter that will take your material and create their own spin on what you have done. Then I had another thought. What if you were to have in your back pocket (if they like your book) your own version of the screen version of your book?

  What is your name sir?

  (Audience member: “Bill.”)

  What if Bill’s novel is optioned by a film company and of course he’s all excited about that only to find that the screenplay version radically changes his idea and story. Bill, how would you feel about that?

  (Audience member: “Not very good.”)

  You may have an option and you might make some money but you would be locked out of the creative process. The late author Tom Clancy was furious when Paramount studios changed the ending of his novel Patriot Games (1992) and as a result distanced himself from the production. He of course was paid for his book but was not happy about not being in the creative process of the filmed version.

  http://articles.latimes.com/1992-04-30/entertainment/ca-1996_1_patriot-games

  Here’s the question then. Is it a good idea to develop your own screen version of your existing novel? My answer to this question is “yes” for several reasons.

  If your novel is published, you can draw upon its success and provide specific demographic information to a producer. This will give a potential producer an idea of how a movie of the same idea would sell. But don’t stop there… movies have stars.

  Try to attach your novel and screenplay to someone with a track record and audience following. A published book, can be sent to their agents or directly to them for consideration. If they like your book, then you can attach them to any presentation you may give to a potential producer.

  Research talent (actors/directors) that have deals with studios. Get it to them and (if they like it) they will take it to the major studio or distributor that they have a relationship with. This is a great way to go because they have a track record and a pre existing relationship.

  Remember that your screenplay is not your novel. It is a version of your novel that has been created for the screen. You will have to make specific choices to keep the screenplay concise and not too long. An average screenplay written in the appropriate format is approximately one hundred and twenty pages – don’t try to peddle a two hundred-page script because it will not be taken seriously.

  So that was my first thought. And now for the second – our seminar description states something like BOOK TO SCREEN - “learn how to develop your novel into a marketable screenplay.”

  35

  KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING – IDENTIFY YOUR MARKET

  Book to Screen

  TELEVISION OR FILM including what to consider when transitioning from one medium to another. I’d like to talk about this idea today. If you are going to take your existing novel and transfer it to the film or television medium we will explore how to do that. Now it is my thinking that almost all of you sitting here today have a pre existing novel that you want to convert to a screenplay. Am I correct?

  (Almost everyone raises their hands)

  Great. So just about all of you have an existing novel and those that might not have an idea for one? Great. So for all of you, I want you to think about right now, what specific market your work would appeal to?

  Let’s take a moment and think about this. I don’t want you to tell me a “general audience.” I want you to be more specific. It is more focused on males or females? What age range? Any particular culture or ethnicity?

  I want you to kind of put a frame around your work so that you can easily identify where it fits in to the big picture. I want you to do this, because it will have a lot to do with how you transition your existing novel into a screenplay. Remember, making movies and television is an art but it is also very much a business. So one of the first considerations your screenplay will be given is whether or not it reaches a certain market and if connecting to that market is profitable.

  If I give you $50,000 and I tell you I want you to go out and buy a new car. But it just can’t be any car. It has to be the safest car – one that you would put an infant in a car seat and feel okay. What kind of car would you shop for?

  (Audience member: “Volvo… or Subaru…”)

  (Audience agreement)

  How do we know that?

  (Audience laughter)

  Have you ever stopped to think about that? We visualize a Volvo or a Subaru because these types of cars
have that position in our minds. Our brain simply states Volvo equals safe or Subaru equals safe. We know this to be so because these automobiles have been marketed to us in this manner and over time our brain has safely filed them away under “safe.”

  We don’t have to know much more about them, just that they are safe. So what does car shopping have to do with converting your novel into a screenplay?

  Answer… everything.

  We want a producer or script reader or actor to think about your work in a very specific way. They will use the same process.

  Your name equals novelist

  Your name equals great writer

  And a sub connection

  Your name equals a specific genre

  Your name equals a specific style

  In short we want to create a position for you in the mind of a producer. The reason I am talking about this idea of creating a position is so that your work as a novelist and screenwriter is consistent, clean and to the point.

  You may be thinking that you are a talented writer that has many facets to your work, many styles. All of that may be true but I want to make it as easy as possible for someone to connect to you and your work.

  Think about these writers and directors – I’m just going to say names.

  Woody Allen

  Quentin Tarantino

  Michael Bay

  Or these major stars

  Johnny Depp

  George Clooney

  Emma Stone

  Meryl Streep

  As I said the names, did you associate them with a kind of film or genre.

  (Audience: “Yes.”)

  Take Woody Allen and Michael Bay – can you visualize Woody Allen directing Transformers (2007, 2009, 2011, 2014?)

  (Audience laughter)

  or Michael Bay trying to make Midnight in Paris (2011), Blue Jasmine (2013) or Magic in the Moonlight (2014) like an action picture?

  (Audience laughter)

  I’m sure that each director would bring and interesting point of view to each picture they directed but we associate each director with a particular style of filmmaking.

  So, as a writer, you want to create a framework about the kinds of things you write. You might think that I am trying to put you in a box, but it is actually quite the opposite. I want to free you within a particular framework and make it easier for individuals to connect to your work. Whether you agree or not, people like to categorize everything in their minds so that they feel comfortable and validated about what they think or feel about a particular thing.

  Why not make it easier for them to do that with your work. Make your work, easier to grasp. If they want to put you in a category, let them do it. How horrible that would be to sell everything you write.

  (Audience laughter)

  No I’m only kidding. Once you establish a particular framework you can capitalize upon it and evolve into anything you want to be or do. What I’m talking about is not new – I’m sure you have heard it before when people say “lead with your strengths.” This is a good thing.

  In order to lead with your strengths, think like a marketer – who is your audience? Get to know who they are on a personal level. What do they like to eat? What do they do on vacation? What kind of car do they drive? And yes… what kinds of books, or movies or television shows to they like?

  As you take this journey, a portrait of that person that is your audience will start to reveal itself to you. It will slowly emerge and when you can clearly see this person and know them as you know yourself, then you will know what to write.

  So let’s put a cap on this bottle… you have to know if you are selling a Volvo, a Maserati, or a Ford pickup. Each has its value and place within the universe. Don’t think to yourself that you will only be the Maserati… because the Ford pickup is just as valuable in the world of ideas. Never forget that. It will make moving forward and rejection a lot less important. Speaking of rejection…

  (Audience laughter)

  Have you ever heard the saying “working your way to yes?”

  36

  WORKING YOUR WAY TO YES

  Book to Screen

  WHEN I WAS younger… much younger… I knew this guy whose name was “Mikey” short for Michael… but in Long Island, New York where I grew up… no one and I mean absolutely no one ever called you by your real name. They either called you a shorter version of your name with a “y” at the end of it.

  (Audience laughter)

  No this is the truth…. there were lots of Johnny’s, Pauly’s, Tony’s and yes… Mikey’s. Sometimes people put adjectives in front or in back of the name like “Big Johnny,” “Little Pauly,” or “Tony Maroni.” In my case, I was called Frankie. But I digress.

  Mikey was one of those guys who went every Friday a night to a disco in the seventies so that he could meet women for dating and other nefarious purposes. Places with names like “The Prince and the Pauper,” “Mother’s Lounge” and “White Brick Inn.” Mikey went there to “pick up” women.

  (Audience laughter)

  You’re probably thinking right about now that this story has nothing to do with converting your book to a screenplay. But it has everything to do with writing and selling a screenplay. It’s about working your way to “yes.”

  What is “yes” mean anyway? It’s agreement. You want someone to read and like your book or screenplay. You want them to say to you, “Yes, I will publish your work” Or “Yes, I will develop your screenplay into a film.”

  Am I right?

  (Audience nods in agreement.)

  So we all want to hear a yes at one point or another. Now, let’s get back to Mikey on Friday and Saturday nights. Now, I’m going to pretend I’m Mikey – to show you what he would do. Now visualize this… he would just walk up to the first girl he saw and earnestly ask them this question:

  (Catalano walks up to a woman sitting in the front row)

  You want to go out with me?

  (She doesn’t answer then he moves to the next)

  You want to go out with me?

  (Audience member: “I’m married.”)

  (Audience laughter, Catalano goes on to the next)

  You want to go out with me?

  (Audience member: “No…”)

  (Building audience laughter)

  (Catalano moves on to a young woman in the second row)

  You want to go out with me?

  (Audience member: “I don’t think so.”)

  (Audience laughter builds as Catalano moves on to a woman in the third row)

  You want to go out with me?

  (Audience member: “Well… okay…”)

  Are you sure?

  (Audience member: “I said okay.”)

  Was that a yes?

  (Audience member: “I guess it was.”)

  Okay, then. You had me worried there for a minute.

  (Audience applauds)

  This is what Mikey would do every Friday night. Now each time he would ask this question, he would get some version of “No…” in response to his question… “You want to go out with me?”

  Go to hell!

  Not in your lifetime!

  No way…

  Get lost creep…

  Get away from me!

  And each time he was harshly turned away, Mikey would stand taller and his smile grew with each rejection. I asked him one time “You are getting shot down and humiliated every time you walk up to someone. What are you so happy about?”

  He looked at me and smiled at me: “Because each time one of these babes tells me “no” I’m getting closer to “yes.” And I thought at that moment, that he was crazy. But the truth was every Friday night he did eventually find someone that told him… “Yes, I will go out with you.”

  (Audience laughter)

  So what can we learn from Mikey and how can we apply this idea to our writing.

  Ask the question - This means you have to get your work out in front of people. You have to do this every day. You can set a
specific number of people to talk to about your work or submit your work. Who are these people? Agents, Producers, backers in short anyone that can take your work to the next level. In Mikey’s case it was “Will you go out with me?”

  Do not be vested in the outcome – What does this mean? This means that you ask the question not caring whether it is a “yes” or a “no.” You are asking the question just to get to “yes.” If it’s “no,” don’t evaluate it, just move on until you get to some form of agreement. Mikey just kept going forward until he got a “yes.”

  No is only at that moment in time – What does this mean? When someone rejects you it is only for that moment in time within the universe. If you go through an entire list of agents or producers that all reject you, then go back up to the top of the list and start all over again. Why? The moment you were rejected you were in a specific state within the universe and they were in a specific state in the universe. Once that moment has passed, the universe has changed and the “no” you received has no meaning. There were some nights that Mikey, went through the whole bar asking his question without ever receiving a “yes.” He would then start all over again and (even within the same night) people who rejected him would at a later time change their mind. Always remember, that the universe is fluid and that a “no” or a “yes” for that matter will never be constant.

  Always take something away with you – What does this mean? If you are told “no” get something from the person rejecting you. In Mikey’s case, he often might say something like “If you don’t want to go out with me, then what about your friend?” They would tell him anything to get rid of him. “Why don’t you ask her yourself?” He would reply: “Sure, what’s her name?” They would always cough up the name and then he would move on to them already knowing their name with a referral from their friend. “Hello, Monica… my name is Mikey and your friend Jane just sent me over here and thought maybe you would want to go out with me.” You can do the same thing with an agent who rejects you. “I really like this agency because of its reputation and size. Do you know of another agency that’s just like this that might be a good fit for me?” If you ask, they will cough up a name of someone at another agency. After you get that, you contact the second agency with a note saying that you have been referred to them by the first. In this manner, you take an empty rejection and you create a situation where that rejection can spring board you to another opportunity and possibly a “yes.”