Novel2Screen was started by Rebecca and Chris to delve into the art of adaptation and feature what we love – and hate – about transforming the written word to the silver screen.
In our debut year, 2016, we were thrilled to receive almost 100,000 views from over 70,000 unique visitors, and we are on track to surpass that for 2017. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for allowing us to talk your ears off for a bit about some of our favorite things.
BIOS
Rebecca Phelps
Hi, folks. Thanks for reading our blog! I’m a screenwriter, novelist and actress, and while I type this, my two kids are probably in this house somewhere watching TV. I became interested in book adaptations when my writer husband Steffen and I were hired to adapt Mary Downing Hahn’s gorgeous children’s book The Doll in the Garden into a screenplay a few years ago. And while that particular movie didn’t get made (welcome to Hollywood!), it was an amazing experience to be part of the transformation of a story from one format to another.
My Young Adult sci-fi book Down World is currently being edited, and I can’t wait to share more news with you as the process of bringing it into the world continues! My writing has been published on AntiHeroineChic and I’m a regular contributor to TVTopik.
If you like what you read here, please remember to “follow” our site (the little button on the lower right-hand side), or check out our Facebook page: novel2screen. You can also follow me on Twitter: @DownWorldNovel
Chris
Hey there! Ditto Rebecca on the thanks! I’m a novelist and short story writer specializing in Young Adult fiction. A long time ago in a galaxy far away I used to write scripts and worked in production in “Hollywood.” I interview producers, directors, and screenwriters regularly for The InkTip Magazine, and I head up the Writers Department at InkTip, where I help screenwriters connect with established producers to sell their scripts. I graduated from the awesomest college ever – Northwestern University – with a degree in film, in addition to studying short fiction writing and screenwriting. I’ve also studied short fiction and novel writing under authors Rob Roberge and Les Plesko at the UCLA extension program.
My Young Adult fantasy novel is in bang-your-head-against-the-wall as well as ignore-it-by-watching-film-and-TV-adaptations editing phase.
I also love a good mudrun, as you can see from my pic.
If you like what you read here, please remember to “follow” our site (the little button on the lower right-hand side), or check out our Facebook page: novel2screen. You can also follow me on Twitter @ACCooksonWriter
novel2screen 
First time reading you, thank you for this.
Like the jewelry, will there ever be knitting patterns for Claire’s fabulous knitted clothing?
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Hi there,
I’m an amateur writer and have a non-fiction book in mind that I would like to turn into a screenplay. It’s the life story of a Holocaust survivor, interesting for me as a German.
I always read: secure the book rights before an adaptation. But I was wondering why there are certain rights if it’s a non-fiction book (biography). Can anyone sell the rights to his life story?
Thank you for your time, I did not know where to send this to so I just post it here.
I would be grateful for an answer to my e-mail address,
Robert
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Hi Robert, always happy to answer these questions. If a book has been written about this person, you do not have the right to adapt that particular book unless you own the rights to it. If the person has sold his or her life rights to a producer, then only that producer can make a movie about that person for as long as the producer owns the rights. (Rights expire after a while.) If the story is in the public domain, meaning it is a well-known story about a significant figure and no one owns the rights to that story, then you may write your own version of that movie. Just make sure that you’re not using one piece of source material, such as a biography, as the main inspiration for your own work, unless you own the rights to that biography. (Of course, you could also approach the estate of the person in question and ask about purchasing the rights.)
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