{"id":5811,"date":"2016-03-24T17:19:50","date_gmt":"2016-03-24T21:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/by-the-book\/"},"modified":"2016-03-25T08:39:00","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T12:39:00","slug":"by-the-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/by-the-book\/","title":{"rendered":"By The Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"4_NovelAdaptations\"<\/a>Jane Marlow hears from leading producers and distributors about the science, and art, of adapting book properties.<\/em><\/p>\n

As platforms and content providers continue to mushroom worldwide, it\u2019s not just the clamor for content that gets louder\u2014the clamor for breakout hits also increases. Waiting for scriptwriters to come up with original ideas can be risky, so where better to look for inspiration than the tried-and-true hits of the literary world?<\/p>\n

And you can\u2019t find material much more reliable than that of author Ken Follett. Rola Bauer, the head of U.S. TV production and co-production at STUDIOCANAL and CEO of TANDEM Productions, who established a relationship with the author on The Pillars of the Earth<\/em> and World Without End<\/em>, has now optioned another Follett hit, Code to Zero<\/em>. The action in the novel takes place in 1958, but Bauer says they will contemporize the story in the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to take it out of the Cold War and the space race between the U.S. and the Soviets and bring it into a contemporary time frame that reflects the change in technology,\u201d explains Bauer. \u201cWe feel Code to Zero<\/em> has a true relevance today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Doole, FremantleMedia\u2019s director of global drama, says that traditionally British television has relied heavily on books, in part because it\u2019s a territory with a strong literary tradition. \u201cNow we\u2019re entering a different world in which those classic adaptations are really important,\u201d says Doole, whose drama slate includes adaptations of Daphne Du Maurier\u2019s Jamaica Inn<\/em>, Michel Faber\u2019s The Crimson Petal and the White<\/em>, Neil Gaiman\u2019s American Gods<\/em> and Anne Holt\u2019s Vik\/Stubo crime novels. \u201cBut it\u2019s about how you can tell that story in a new way for a contemporary audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

LITERARY CLASSICS<\/strong>
\nAs classics go, there aren\u2019t many more challenging than Leo Tolstoy\u2019s epic War and Peace<\/em>. With a recent Franco-Italian version still sitting on some broadcasters\u2019 shelves, Ben Donald, executive producer of international drama at BBC Worldwide, says one of the biggest challenges to creating the new BBC version was ensuring it was both relevant and different from previous incarnations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe classic adaptation is a subset of the overall question about the use of books as a basis for TV series,\u201d explains Donald. \u201cA classic is a very specific thing. Broadcasters either do or don\u2019t want one. I think there\u2019s been a bit of a trend against classic adaptation, particularly as public-service broadcasters try to reinvent themselves for a younger audience. It\u2019s perceived to be slightly old-fashioned. But I think that you can do it in a not-old-fashioned way, and writer Andrew Davies and director Tom Harper have pulled that off in War & Peace<\/em>. It\u2019s hard to convince people of that when it\u2019s just a script in the co-pro phase.\u201d<\/p>\n

With sales in 153 territories, ITV Studios Global Entertainment\u2019s (ITVS GE) new spin on Winston Graham\u2019s classic Poldark<\/em> is evidence that historical novels still do good business if they\u2019re given the right spin. Ruth Clarke, executive VP of global content strategy and investments, attributes the success of Mammoth Screen\u2019s production of Poldark <\/em>to the fact that the story lines were updated and are relatable to a modern audience. With Agatha Christie\u2019s Marple<\/em> and Poirot<\/em> in the ITVS GE catalogue, Clarke believes that literary adaptations have always been part of the TV landscape. \u201cThey have a built-in audience. There\u2019s a known brand there,\u201d says Clarke, using Poirot<\/em> as an example. \u201cWhen we launched the end of Poirot<\/em>, we had Agatha Christie\u2019s grandson with us, and that was fantastic. People were really drawn into being able to meet part of the [author\u2019s] family. That real-life, tangible attachment to the author was really interesting for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brand recognition is an important part of the appeal of novel adaptations across the board, but as BBC Worldwide\u2019s Donald points out, \u201cOne country\u2019s classic is another country\u2019s obscure author.\u201d<\/p>\n

NAME DROPPING<\/strong>
\nIn the case of Hat Trick International\u2019s Doctor Thorne<\/em>, an ITV\u2008commission, the brand recognition may lie more with the person doing the adapting\u2014Julian Fellowes\u2014than with the author, Anthony Trollope, who wrote the book in the 1850s. \u201cJulian Fellowes made costume drama a global phenomenon with Gosford Park<\/em> and then Downton Abbey<\/em>,\u201d says Sarah Tong, the director of sales at Hat Trick International. \u201cWith Doctor Thorne<\/em>, he is introducing global audiences to one of his favorite writers, Trollope. This isn\u2019t your standard costume drama. It\u2019s fresh and not overly reverential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tong also has the three-part drama The Secret, <\/em>based on Deric Henderson\u2019s novel Let This Be Our Secret<\/em>, on her slate. She says that the predictability of a well-known brand for a broadcaster is like casting a big-name star in the lead of a movie.<\/p>\n

That could make an author like Norwegian crime writer Anne Holt the literary equivalent of Jennifer Lawrence. FremantleMedia International has brought Modus<\/em>, made by Miso Film and based on Holt\u2019s crime novels, to the market. Doole acknowledges the value of working with such a high-profile author. \u201cCrime is the best-selling genre in international TV,\u201d she notes. \u201cIf you\u2019ve got a strongly plotted, well-characterized crime novel, then that\u2019s a really important piece of IP, because usually that can be turned into great television.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doole adds that modern audiences are looking for a higher degree of authenticity. \u201cIn Modus<\/em>, Stockholm looks so beautiful and is almost a character within the story,\u201d she says. \u201cIn all the best crime novels, the place is usually a character. You couldn\u2019t imagine Inspector Morse<\/em> not set in Oxford. I think that sense of place is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crime might be a law unto itself, but BBC Worldwide\u2019s Donald says that one of the pitfalls of adaptation is assuming that book sales automatically translate into audiences. \u201cYou\u2019ve still got to make something original for TV,\u201d he says. \u201cThe readers will only be a proportion of the people you\u2019re trying to make the show appeal to.\u201d<\/p>\n

FANNING FANDOM<\/strong>
\nIn the case of Robert Kirkman\u2019s Outcast<\/em>, which had a graphic novel that rolled out ahead of the TV series, the fans are paramount, says Sharon Tal Yguado, the executive VP of global programming at FOX International Studios, which is backing the new show. \u201cWe always start with the superfans, the evangelists, the people who know the source material and will watch the show, and then we broaden it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the millions of people who watch The Walking Dead<\/em>, based on a graphic-novel series by Kirkman and broadcast internationally on FOX, Yguado expects that less than\u00a010 percent will have read the source material.<\/p>\n

Using a comic book as source material means that in addition to the stories, there is a wealth of visual references that a showrunner and director can tap into. \u201cAdam Wingard directed the pilot episode [of Outcast<\/em>] and was very much inspired by the comic books\u2014the muted colors, the cinematic sensibility,\u201d explains Yguado. \u201cThe comic books were the storyboards for the show. At a lot of the locations we went to, he would look for specific elements that would make the superfans go crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yguado has also acquired the rights to The Fix<\/em>, Declan Hill\u2019s nonfiction book about match fixing in the world of soccer, and The Prop<\/em>, Pete Hautman\u2019s novel about a female poker player.<\/p>\n

A well-researched nonfiction book provides information that gives the drama project a solid backbone. \u201cWe could have gotten that information in other ways,\u201d says Yguado about The Fix<\/em>. \u201cWe could have talked to people, but it\u2019s a relatively easy way to tap into that knowledge. And when you do have that source material, it legitimizes the project even more. There are so many development projects out there, it shows that this is something that has gravity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yguado believes adaptations are also a good way to engage topflight screenwriters. \u201cThere are very talented writers out there, but sometimes they run out of ideas,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you get high-profile source material, it\u2019s easier to attach a high-profile writer. Writers get excited about these materials. Other\u00adwise you have to wait for them to knock on your door.\u201d<\/p>\n

The degree to which authors are involved with the TV transformation varies from project to project.<\/p>\n

STUDIOCANAL\u2019s Bauer says of working with Ken Follett: \u201cWe want him to be happy about what we\u2019re doing. The happier he is, the more ensconced in the process he is, the better it\u2019s going to be when we start getting the show into production and start promoting it. Ken Follett is a very social-media savvy man. With The Pillars of the Earth<\/em> we set him up on Facebook and Twitter [to promote the adaptation]. He launched into it and he is brilliant at it. It\u2019s incredibly beneficial if you have someone who is active on social media.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holt was also supportive of the dramatization of her novels in Modus<\/em>. \u201cI\u2019m deeply impressed,\u201d says Holt of the series, not only by \u201chow the universe and my thoughts that went into writing the book have been recreated, but also by the way the writers saw opportunities to strengthen the story for TV.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the newest entrants into the business of delivering original drama is Amazon. For the world\u2019s largest bookseller, ordering Bosch<\/em>, based on Michael Connelly\u2019s best-selling series of crime novels, was perhaps a no-brainer. Henrik Bastin, the CEO of Red Arrow Entertainment Group\u2019s Fabrik Entertainment and producer of Bosch<\/em>, says that when he first started inquiring about the rights to the novels, they had just been released after having been tied up at Paramount for many years. Anticipating a bidding war, Bastin\u2019s approach was to convey his creative vision for the show to Connelly himself, which was what won him the rights to the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made a handshake deal that Michael would always be a part of it if he wanted to,\u201d Bastin says. \u201cI really wanted him to be in, and he really wanted to. He\u2019s been writing episodes and has been on set almost every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

A FRESH LOOK<\/strong>
\nLike STUDIOCANAL\u2019s Code to Zero<\/em>, there was some updating to be done with the Bosch<\/em> franchise, which first appeared on the shelves in 1992. But changes were more about updating Harry Bosch\u2019s history and setting rather than the kind of man he was conceived as. \u201cMichael said from the beginning that he wanted to protect the DNA of Harry Bosch: who he is, how he acts,\u201d says Bastin. \u201cMichael wanted to make sure that people who have read his books for a number of years recognized Harry Bosch and the world he inhabits.\u201d<\/p>\n

If novel adaptations are seen as a way of mitigating risk in an expensive, high-stakes genre, forming relationships with agents and authors is an essential part of the job.<\/p>\n

Doole says she benefits from the fact that FremantleMedia is part of Bertelsmann, which also includes Penguin Random House. \u201cWe have a meeting with them every month\u2014they join our development sessions,\u201d says Doole. \u201cI\u2019m interested in what trends are coming through from them as publishers. We also have great relationships with Pan Macmillan. I have two people within my team working nearly full time on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Producers and distributors might be getting more organized about the ways in which they go after rights, but BBC Worldwide\u2019s Donald thinks the interest in \u201cbuzzy books\u201d has always been intense. \u201cAll producers have very strong relationships with agents to ensure that they\u2019re on the submission round and get a call when something\u2019s at manuscript stage,\u201d says Donald.<\/p>\n

He goes on to add: \u201cWhat has changed is the appeal of a tele\u00advision adaptation over film. Notoriously, lots of rights were tied up in film contracts and the films never got made. I think now you can make a pitch to an author that a TV series or a serial is a good or arguably better exploitation than a film, which might not get made. Things have to be massively condensed when they reach the screen, so sometimes a TV series or serial can allow the book to breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pictured: BBC Worldwide’s <\/em>War & Peace.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jane Marlow hears from leading producers and distributors about the science, and art, of adapting book properties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nBy The Book - TVDRAMA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/by-the-book\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"By The Book - TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jane Marlow hears from leading producers and distributors about the science, and art, of adapting book properties.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/by-the-book\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-24T21:19:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-25T12:39:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2016\/03\/4_NovelAdaptations-th-e1458909319630.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"638\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"356\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"World Screen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"World Screen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/by-the-book\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/by-the-book\/\",\"name\":\"By The Book - 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