I’ve long been an advocate for repurposed writing.

After finishing my latest novella, part of an anthology of teen-led Noir stories to be published later this year, I realized it is the final work that I have adapted from one of my original, unproduced screenplays.

In another lifetime, I made a modest living penning for-hire scripts. In between jobs I wrote several feature-length scripts on spec, none of which were ever made into a film. Instead of letting them exist in perpetual limbo, I opted to give them another chance at life as prose works.

Here are all the stories that I’ve adapted from my screenplays:

DEAD SIZE (original script title LAST STAND OF THE LILLIES)

The narrative for this Dark Fiction novel follows the script pretty closely, with a couple of new subplots woven in. Different drafts of the script had three alternate endings. I chose the 1st draft version for the book. It’s the least commercial of the endings, but I always felt it fit the story best in both tone and theme.

UGLYVILLE

The screenplay for this Noir-inspired story contained more fantasy elements to cinematically represent the delusional mind of its 15-year-old female protagonist. The novella is written in diary form from her POV. The first person approach allowed me to present the reader almost exclusively with her skewed way of thinking. I think it’s a more immersive experience than a film would have been.

SUITABLE FOR FRAMING (excerpted from script CLEAN LIVING)

One of the very first screenplays I wrote, way back in high school(!), was an ensemble piece of alternating stories set in New York City. One of those became the basis for this short story, a dark meditation on art. It’s probably my favorite work of writing in terms of how effectively narrative and theme came together.  

THE BOY WHO CRIED ALIEN (excerpted from script HAILING SULLIVAN)

A few years ago, I wrote an offbeat Sci-Fi spec script for a production company, about a man who exposes America’s (space) alien research program. While the film never launched, I was able to salvage a portion of the screenplay—an 8-page flashback sequence—to fashion this short story.

THE LORD IS MY ROCKET

I derived this short story from the first and second acts of the feature screenplay of the same title. Of all my spec scripts, this one got the most “buzz” from Hollywood folk… albeit for a substantially revised version that transformed it from a dark comedy into a mainstream one. Since neither ultimately sold, I (of course) adapted the darker version.

THE DEVIL’S DELINQUENTS (original script title BOYS’ RITES)

This early screenplay had once been optioned by a small prodco, but once again was never made into a movie. The story of 90s “Satanic Panic” is perhaps the most faithful adaptation of one of my scripts, its sole significant change being a major male character in the screenplay becoming a femme fatale in the novella, necessitating the new title.

The post Recycled Writing: From Script to Book appeared first on Sawney Hatton, Dark Fiction Author.

A significant element of VENT!’s raison d’être (see previous post) was demonstrating that even the most lauded and famous filmmakers had difficult, even doubtful beginnings. Below are a few true origin stories I had shared on the website about some respected auteurs. Whether you’re a filmmaker, author, musician, or other artist, there’s always hope if you’re resourceful and persistent. (Being talented probably helps too.)

• Francis Ford Coppola, the genius behind such cinema classics as The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, began his filmmaking career a little less illustriously. In 1961, as a UCLA film student, 22-year-old Coppola wrote, produced and directed a nudie short called “The Peeper” (inspired by Russ Meyer’s The Immoral Mr. Teas). He combined it with a nudie western (made by others), plus some additional footage. The result was the 66-minute Tonight For Sure (original title: Wide Open Spaces). Coppola also shot new scenes for the nudie feature Playgirls and the Bellboy before going on to work for B-movie mogul Roger Corman.
• Controversy monger and hyperkinetic filmmaker Oliver Stone began his auspicious career in the industry working for schlockmeisters Troma Entertainment (The Toxic Avenger, Surf Nazis Must Die, Class of Nuke ‘Em High), first as an actor in the G-rated(!) The Battle of Love’s Return (1971), and then as associate producer a year later on the initially X-rated erotic thriller Sugar Cookies.
• Guerilla moviemaker turned Hollywood mover-shaker Robert Rodriguez partially financed his early films, including El Mariachi, by volunteering as a “lab rat” for medical experiments. One week-long session to test a speed healing drug required he endure biopsies in which small chunks of flesh were removed from both his arms.
• Before moving to Austin, Texas to make his hit debut feature Slacker, Richard Linklater left school to work hard labor on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
• In lieu of film school, punch-happy film geek Quentin Tarantino learned his craft through working at a video store. His first job, providing him with an education of a somewhat different sort, was at a porno theater called the Pussycat Lounge.
• Alan Rudolph, protégé of auteur Robert Altman and later director of such cryptically giddy films as Choose Me and Trouble in Mind, started off as assistant director on The Brady Bunch TV series. Among the very first projects on which he had honed his filmmaking talents (under a pseudonym) was the twisted 1973 horror feature Barn of the Naked Dead. The “plot” includes kidnapped women in chains, a psycho dressed as a ringmaster with a whip, a long-haired mutant from an H-bomb test site, as well as ridiculous dialogue, terrible sound, and bad editing.
• Celebrated filmmaker/humorist Woody Allen was not quite the exemplary student. Before he was bounced out of New York University after having been enrolled for a total of only two semesters, he had never earned more than a grade of C- in motion picture production and an F in English. He admits to having skipped half of his classes (although he did attend the film screenings regularly). One dean told Woody he was “not good college material” and a professor of his declared he had no future in film. Years later, in lieu of academic honors and a college diploma, Allen has won major critical acclaim and three Academy Awards (and many nominations) for his work.

The post Revisiting “VENT!”: Famous Filmmakers Origin Stories appeared first on Sawney Hatton, Dark Fiction Author.