North Carolina Literature into Film
Courtesy
You see, having several friends who’d sold their book rights to large film companies, I’d heard plenty of horror stories about the process, how Hollywood treated authors, running roughshod over their artistic works, blithely changing the stories and keeping the authors at arm’s length. I knew, for example, from my budding friendship with David Picker that many producers and directors even refused to have authors show up on the set. So, in a way, I was prepared for the worst. Indeed, months passed and no contract arrived from King Rex and Creative Genius Associates. By then it was late autumn and I was raking up the last leaves, more or less having forgotten about my second time being wooed by Hollywood. Suddenly Patsy phoned out of the blue, sounding a tad anxious. “Here’s the situation, dear. You’ll receive the contracts for Faithful Travelers first thing tomorrow. It’s very important that you sign the contracts immediately and FedEx them straight back to me. Is that understood?”
of James an d wendy Dodso n
“Oh, absolutely not,” Patsy assured me. “No worries at all, dear. These are two entirely separate film projects based on separate literary properties.” “Very good. Here’s what I would also appreciate very much,” I said, eager to show I was no pushover in the negotiating game. I explained that I hoped to be able to review the script before any shooting began and, if possible, to visit the set with my moviemad daughter to watch the film get made. “That won’t be any problem at all,” Patsy assured me, sounding a touch late for lunch with Steven Spielberg. She added, “You’ll receive the contracts in a few weeks. You’ll need to review them, have your lawyer review them if necessary – though, frankly, that’s why you have me – then sign at the designated places, and return them to us here at CGA. Is that clear, sweetie?” I assured her that was clear and swallowed the urge to call her Tootsie (another David Picker movie). With that I hung up the phone and went outside to mow the lawn, thinking how cool it was that my first two books would soon be movies. Silly me.
RIGHT James Dodson with his daughter, Maggie, during the trip to
Wyoming (1996) that inspired Dodson’s Faithful Travelers: A Father. A Daughter. A Fly-Fishing Journey of the Heart (New York: Bantam, 1998)
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