I have been commissioned to write several filmscripts over the last few years, both as scriptwriter and story editor.
Together with my friend and publishing colleague Tobias Steed of Can of Worms, I was asked to write a fictional screenplay based on the true story of the kidnapping of the great Argentine racing driver, Juan Manuel Fangio, by Castro’s rebels on the eve of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. We’re hoping the producers will move the film into production soon, but meanwhile you can read a few pages of the script here.
I was asked by the producer of Henry V, Stephen Evans, to write a first draft of a new screenplay of the Ford Madox Ford book, The Good Soldier. This is probably my favourite novel, and certainly one of Stephen’s, and you can read a sample of the first few pages here.
Another client has asked me to develop a film treatment around the famous libel trial of 1933 of Princess Yusupov vs MGM of America. That is a fascinating work in progress which we are intending to develop over the coming months.
In these uncertain times with the film world in particular impacted by the Covid-19 situation, filmscripts can sometimes be perceived by producers as not quite as valuable as book-length novels and works of biography, which allow producers more luxury and time to explore different film outputs. It will be interesting to see if the value of books in the eyes of the film world continues to rise over the coming months and years.