F218. Adapting to Adaptation: Making the Most of Going Hollywood

Room 502 A, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level
Friday, April 1, 2016
1:30 pm to 2:45 pm

 

For many writers, having a novel or memoir optioned for film is a dream come true. But a book’s adaptation to the screen is often as complicated as a writer’s adaptation to the movie business. The authors on this panel, all of whom have had a book translated into film in the recent past, explore the losses and gifts of adaptation, offering insight about how best to stay involved throughout the experience, while also reflecting on the nature of narrative, art, and ownership.


Participants

Moderator:

Eleanor Henderson is the author of the novel Ten Thousand Saints, one of the New York Times ten Best Books of 2011, and coeditor of the anthology Labor Day: True Birth Stories by Today's Best Women Writers. She is an associate professor of writing at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York.

Cheryl Strayed is the bestselling author of the memoir Wild, the novel Torch, and the nonfiction collections Tiny Beautiful Things and Brave Enough. Her essays have appeared in The Best American Essays, the New York Times, Vogue, the Sun, Tin House, the Missouri Review, and elsewhere.

Stephen Elliott is the author of seven books including The Adderall Diaries. He has also directed two movies: About Cherry and Happy Baby, based on his novel of the same name. He is the founding editor of the online literary magazine the Rumpus and the senior editor of Epic magazine.

Jennifer Gilmore’s novel The Mothers is being adapted into a film starring Rachel Weisz. She is also the author of Golden Country, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and National Jewish Book Award, and Something Red, a New York Times Notable Book. She teaches at Harvard University.

Jenny Halper works as director of production and development at Maven Pictures, developing adaptations including Jennifer Gilmore’s The Mothers starring Rachel Weisz. She began her career on The Kids Are All Right. Her adaptation of a Laura van den Berg story was a 2015 Athena List winner.

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