By Jeanette Gardzelewski
AFI FEST Daily News Liaison to Queen Elizabeth

Packing in crowds for a third time, AFI FEST 2008 really knows how throw a TALK/SHOW! Today’s panel, BOLD ADAPTATIONS featured five differently gifted screenwriters, each with a unique approach to pursuing their craft.

The panel consisted of: Robert Knott (POLLACK); Simon Beaufoy (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, TRAINSPOTTING); Melissa Rosenberg (TWILIGHT, DEXTER) and Clayton Frohman (DEFIANCE).

Moderator Joe Picarillo (Executive Producer, LAKEVIEW TERRACE; Producer, THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES) led the discussion by stating that what often works in a book does not always work on screen. He asked each of the writers to give specific examples of their experience with this and to talk about how they personally chose to walk that line.

It quickly became apparent that seated on the Cinema Lounge’s stage were four completely different, yet equally talented writers whose wide-ranging interests and unique methodologies would inform all other topics of the day.

Melissa Rossenberg emphasized the necessity of condensing and distilling a lengthy book to make it into a screenplay. She tries to find ways to externalize a character’s inner dialog, turning private thoughts into material that can be put on screen.

Rossenberg finds that she and the original authors, both being writers after-all, are often on the same page. However, there are many situations where a book’s fans will call her to task if anything that they personally loved in book format doesn’t make it into the final screenplay.

Robert Knott, who appreciates The Great American Western enough to dress the part, also writes in the genre. He recently adapted the novel APPALOOSA with director Ed Harris. When asked how he makes a period piece relevant today, he replied that when he first reads the initial book he has to already find it relevant. There must be something that attracts him to the story first, but it certainly never hurts to have a universal theme.

During the panel Knott twice lamented the current undervaluing and under-viewing of Western movies, not only by European and foreign audiences but also by America’s youth.

The conversation bounced from topic to topic. It went from navigating the choppy seas of screenwriting’s legal issues to dealing with the sensitive authors whose books you are adapting. These authors, it turns out, tend to be not that sensitive after all. Who knew?

Each of the panelists, we learned are equally pragmatic. They are all willing to let go of their favorite scenes when a director chooses to cut them.

Says Knott, “Yeah, it hurts to lose them, but at the end of the day it serves the whole to let go of them…It’s just part of the overall process.”

Beaufoy agreed, saying that what may be painful to pull during the writing process is often forgotten by the time it hits the screen.

Rosenberg, hesitated slightly here, saying that when she writes she sees the whole movie in her head, “I’ve acted it, directed it… And it’s a REALLY GOOD FUCKING MOVIE…I always have a hard time imagining that someone can make the thing better than I would.”

Moderator Picarillo asked if this made her want to be a director.

Here Rosenberg answered definitely and without pause, “Oddly, no.”

Though the panelists may approach writing in different ways, it was clear that they each have an equal passion for it.

Beaufoy said he “won’t work on a project if he isn’t absolutely obsessed and in love with the material…or able to make himself absolutely obsessed and in love with the material.”

This was one thing that the writers agreed on.
And, on the big screen, it shows.

Photo: Jeanette Gardzelewski

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