Overview

Discover this journey of how a short story set in a fictional small town in West Virginia became a screenplay set in Oklahoma, and that script became an award-winning film set and filmed in Australia. All stories portray how a young woman, Angela Jacobs, and her boyfriend make life altering decisions in their small town, along with their friends. Includes the original short story, Billy's Return, and the screenplay adaptation, Angela's Decision, along with excerpts of the adapted shooting script and the adapted TV pilot script. This book allows film students and writers of all levels- from university film programs to writing workshops to self-directed study- to follow the adaptation process from story to screen in one sitting. Gena Taylor Ellis wrote the short story and the adapted screenplay as her graduate thesis at the University of Oklahoma and has since taught screenwriting and adaptation. Not just for film students, the film-watching public will find the memoir-ish read interesting as the author offers an inside look from the writer's prospective- from her humorous beginnings of a wannabe writer as a pageant contestant at the West Virginia Strawberry Festival to a more poignant look at deployment and army life and its effect on her writing. Photos from the film are included. This book also contains two bonus stories. Christmas Tradition, also available as a single eStory, is an adaptation from war letters sent home during the Korean War by the author's uncle. The other bonus is a postmodern-esque story, based on the author's experiences, on the war in Iraq- An Ethnography of Those Left Behind, circa 2004- and never before published. The film, Angela's Decision, is available on Amazon and serves as a companion piece to fully study this adaptation journey. Mat King directed and produced the film, later directing TV shows Wentworth, Doctor Who, Law and Order: UK, and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, among others. Kate Croser also produced and Aaron Gully filmed it, garnering a top Australian cinematography award. Lead actors Rhiannon Owen (The Strip, McLeod's Daughters) and Xavier Samuel (Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Adore, Love & Friendship), and the supporting actors, give outstanding performances of young people making life decisions. The film garnered many U.S. film festival awards. Read the book first or watch the film first; the study of this adaptation is up to you. View browndotproductions.com for more information. Gena is an award-winning writer and producer. She's also been on screen in TV shows and films, such as Nashville, Chicago Fire, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Gena is a graduate of Marshall University and the University of Oklahoma. View bdp and genaingeneral.com for info. View director Mat King's television and film credits at matking.co.uk.

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9781535221269

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Gena Taylor Ellis is a daughter of Appalachia where storytelling is as old as the hills. She is a writer, and a journalist, an army veteran, a producer, and a background actor on TV shows, such as Chicago Fire and Nashville. The background of life is where the best stories are mined, so Gena can be found there, digging up stories for her scripts, her blog, and even a novel in progress, plus giving seminars and workshops. Gena is from no-woman's land by the lake town of Summersville, WV. A Canvas Grade School alum, she is also a graduate of Marshall University and the University of Oklahoma. View her website at browndotproductions.com and her latest venture at genaingeneral.com. View LinkedIn for official business-y stuff.

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