Would anyone be interested in creating a forum section where people could submit short stories that could be attractive for film producers?

I think there is a little bit of a trend in this. Studios are scooping these up, searching for gold that can be adapted. It's probably not likely they are searching unknown writers, but maybe it's worth using a forum like this as a starting point to getting feedback and getting exposure.

The Screencraft contest people even had a contest last year for short stories designed for film adaptation. I have no idea how it went, but those guys over there seem pretty connected to the latest trends.

Denis Lehane's short was turned into the Tom Hardy film The Drop last year. The short story is easy to find online, and it's a perfect example. It's a very short story, but was turned into a feature.

Just a thought.

I like it!

I guess we could also have discussions on short stories that have been adapted, or short stories by published authors we would like to see adapted. I would think Rick and Chris have a lot of suggestions in those areas.

I LOVE short stories! And, as you know, I'm also adapting a book right now. Only 240 pages, so kind of a short novel.

I have asked authors for the rights to adapt their books twice now and both times they said yes. I have no problem coming up with my own ideas. I have too many as is, but I read quite a bit and every now and then, I come across something I really love and would want to see as film. Just something to consider for other screenwriters.  :)

Absolutely. When someone decides to make that tremendous investment in time and energy and money into a film, they first need to be excited about the story. I mean is there really anything more important than that? So whatever storytelling form gives the story the best chance to get a filmmaker excited seems like the best way to go.

I've mentioned this in passing before.

I'd certainly contribute.

I was always a massive fan of Stephen King shorts and I started my own writing with short stories. I adapted a couple of my own when I first started with scripts here on SS.

Like Pia, I just secured the rights to adapt a kids book which I'll be turning into a series of short episodes too... so I'll gladly contribute to such a board.

Anthony

I'm not ignoring this.

Would you rather just put the story in the thread or as an upload in PDF?

- Don

I myself don't have a preference or a plan. Was just kind of feeling it out.

One thing: I am finding that I would rather not put my work in PDF form. I have been outputting it as an e-book. Because it matters to me how the reader experiences it. And I want it to feel like a book. Or at least an e-book. The paragraphs are constructed with that in mind, so the eye is drawn down the page, with emphasis placed on standalone sentences.

Take the paragraph above. In book it might look something like this:

    One thing: I am finding that I would rather not put
my work in PDF form. I have been outputting it as an
e-book. Because it matters to me how the reader
experiences it.
    And I want it to feel like a book.
    Or at least an e-book.
    The paragraphs are constructed with that in mind,
so the eye is drawn down the page, with emphasis
placed on standalone sentences.


That's not a great example, but maybe it serves the point. I discussed above the value of rhythm in writing. This is best achieved not only with sentence construction, but paragraph and page formatting. I don't think PDF can be easily made to do the trick.

I found some excellent free software called Calibre where you can convert a document to e-book(or even mobi, which is Kindle). It's very easy to use.

Then the writer can drop the file in Google Drive, make it public, and put the link here.

For someone to open it, there are different ways people can figure out, but one easy way is to just use google drive to use an e-book app to open it. No software required for anyone to download.

This way the forum would only need a topic heading.

Of maybe two topic headings? One for writers here to post, another to discuss published prose that has been or is being adapted?

Just thoughts, hopefully others will pitch in what the think.