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Screen grab: producers seek books

16.04.07 Joel Rickett

From Oscar-fëted films such as "The Last King of Scotland" and "Notes on a Scandal" to the new wave of fantasy blockbusters led by "Eragon", book adaptations are continuing to score at the box
office and reap critical acclaim. The literary option market is showing no sign of deflation, with producers hungry for the right material. In the the build-up to London Book Fair 2007, film scouts, agents and producers have been tapping into the flood of new manuscripts.

LBF has grown into a forum for the US and European film adaptation markets; two of the most talked-about books of last year's fair, Lionel Shriver's The Post-Birthday World (HC) and Stephen Hall's The Raw Shark Texts (Canongate), are in development by Film4. Show regulars include Hardy Justice of Tribeca, Drew Reed of Fox, Jill Morris of Focus Features, Willow Grylls of Company Pictures, John Delaney of Scott Rudin Productions, and influential scout Erin Hennicke of Franklin & Siegal.

The most in-demand books are strong thrillers in the mould of Robert Ludlum's Bourne franchise, political fiction to follow John le Carré's The Constant Gardener, romance (both "rom coms" and love stories), and children's and fantasy properties (particularly for boys).  "Hollywood producers feel that LBF is an event they can't afford to miss," says Rebecca Watson of film agency Valerie Hoskins Associates. "More and more people are coming over for the show to make sure their relationships with us are really strong."


A leg-up

In the UK adaptation market Film4 is leading the way, centring its slate on Zadie Smith's On Beauty and Tom McCarthy's Remainder, as well as The Post-Birthday World and The Raw Shark Texts. Film4's head of development Katherine Butler says that books offer a "leg-up" to producers: "You have the material in your hand, can send it out to directors and talent, and build something that looks like a film very quickly. Book projects can move faster."

Her view is echoed by Nick Harris of LA agency Rabineau, Wachter, Sanford & Harris. "Books-to-film is as strong as ever," he says. "As an agency our three big films last year were all adaptations: 'The Last King of Scotland', 'Little Children' and 'The Prestige'."  Harris recently sold Suite Française to Kathleen Kennedy at producer Kennedy Marshall, as well as Princess Diana conspiracy thriller The Accident Man (Transworld) to John Goldwyn/Paramount. He's also fielding interest in Jung Chang's Mao biography. "Producers want either high-concept genre fiction,
or non-fiction with a very strong story," he observes.

Other agents feel that the market has been less frenzied since the start of 2007. Lucinda Prain of the William Morris Agency believes the big Hollywood players are busily developing previously-optioned projects. "People have been looking to solidify their slates," she says.

Agent Lucy Luck recently sold Ewan Morrison's début novel Swung to Gillian Berrie and director David Mackenzie's Sigma Films (Mackenzie's "Hallam Foe", a literary adaptation starring Jamie Bell, premiered at this year's Berlinale festival). "It's interesting how difficult a market it is," Luck says.

"Everyone is looking for the next hot property, but it takes so many parts to commit to make a film adaptation work, and there is small upfront financial gain." She counsels caution when dealing with producers at LBF: "If an option is offered without a decent package then it's unlikely the project will get far."

Rights Joel Rickett film London Book Fair

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