By Stephanie Ornelas
There's a unique partnership between the director, the screenwriter, and the author when adapting a book for the big screen. When handled collaboratively and honestly, this collective magic can make the viewing experience for new and old fans of the literature that much more meaningful. And although the end product speaks for itself, like every film, these types of projects can present their own production challenges.
These were the main topics of conversation when Eugene Hernandez, Sundance Institute's new Festival Director, led a panel discussion on adaptation during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Hernandez, who will be officially stepping into his new role for the 2024 Festival, sat down with Debra Granik (Leave No Trace), Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here), and partners Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan (Wildlife), to talk about the inherent challenges that come with directing movie adaptations. Their lively discussion in Park City had audience members laughing and fellow panelists intrigued by each other's insight.
For Paul Dano, this was his first time directing and he had been thinking about Richard Ford's Wildlife for over the course of a year. He did a lot of journaling and through that process, he really thought: Why does this book obsess me? Why does this book haunt me a little bit?
What got me to do [the film] was thinking of what the final image could be, recalls Dano. Once I had this certain scene or image, I said, Okay. I think I can actually do this.'
Eugene Hernandez, Debra Granik, Lynne Ramsay, Paul Dano, and Zoe Kazan at the Sundance Film Festival Cinema Cafe in 2018. The film is based on Ford's 1990 novel of the same name about a teenage boy forced to deal with his mother's complicated response after his father temporarily leaves them for a menial and dangerous job. When I wrote [Ford], he immediately gave me a gift, which I sort of wish every author would do for any filmmaker, and that was he said, My book's my book and your picture is your picture. I think you'd be doing both of us a disservice if you don't make what is you.'
And when Dano wrote his first draft, it was not formatted as a screenplay. That was conscious because I didn't want to jump to any conclusions. I was really just trying to understand how one takes internal life and narration and translates it to an image. So, I wrote something that I thought was really good. Then I gave it to Zoe and she tore it apart, Dano laughs.
But the ideas and the story were there. As Kazan says, Paul had already pulled all of the treasure from the book. She just had to learn how to understand Dano's interpretation, and they needed to work on conveying that back to the larger audience.
Paul had done a lot of the heavy lifting. He fell in love with this book and I could see why it obsessed him. I told him, I think you should let me do a draft of this and sort of translate what you see in your head so other people can see it,' Kazan explains. I did a lot of restructuring and I learned to see the film that he saw in his head and speak in the voice that he was trying to speak in that was half his and half Richard Ford's - then it became mine too. I had never done that before.
Director Lynne Ramsay had a similar experience when writing the screenplay for You Were Never Really Here, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Her film is based on Jonathan Ames' novella of the same name about a teenage girl who goes missing and a jaded enforcer who attempts to rescue her. Ramsay explains that when she wrote the first 60 pages [of her screenplay], It read like a novel. It was just thoughts in my head. So I started in that similar way [as Dano]. A lot of it for me is trying to translate what your vision is.
While making her 2011 thriller, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Ramsay faced an additional challenge that many independent filmmakers can relate to: budget cuts. In the middle of working through her film, she was told the budget was going to have to be massively reduced and that could mean reworking, and perhaps even removing, some crucial parts of the film. And when it comes to adapting a book, deciding what scenes to trim can be a major hurdle.
I had to reconceive the whole thing. That was a real challenge. I had been working on this project for ages, and I said, I'm still going to do my damnedest to make it.' It was a 450-page novel and a 70-page script in the end.
Paul Dano talks about his journey creating Wildlife (2018 Sundance Film Festival). Like her fellow panelists, Debra Granik saw the importance of collaboration with screenwriter Anne Rosellinias as she recalled her journey directing the 2018 Sundance Film Festival screening Leave No Trace. The film is based on the true story of Peter Rock's novel My Abandonment and follows a military veteran father with PTSD who lives in the forest with his young daughter.
Granik looks back at how the collaboration between her and Rosellinias was crucial in shaping the overall story: I would send her a draft and she'd send me a lot of notes. She's someone who I always work with on casting and locations heavily. We scout together. After taking tons of photos of real places or meeting some real characters who we might want to work into the story, she knows exactly what I'm talking about and who I'm talking about. Then we try really hard to make sure other people know why we like it, whatever that location was, or specific type of person or animal.
Through their distinctive projects, each director brought their own unique perspective to the panel discussion, giving audience members a fascinating window into the world of film adaptation and the obstacles they had to overcome.
While the adaptation from origi
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...
10/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...
10/06/2026
An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...
10/06/2026
The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...
10/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
10/06/2026
SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...
10/06/2026
NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...
10/06/2026
Vince Caputo and Scott Carter, winners of the 2026 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Post Produced Audio have been announced as presenters for the 2026 SVG Advanced A...
10/06/2026
FOX One today unveiled a slate of new product features and enhancements designed to elevate the viewing experience for fans on the official streaming platform o...
10/06/2026
Primary production partners Dome Productions and Raycom Sports once again played...
10/06/2026
The Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship is an immersive professional devel...
10/06/2026
The league has expanded its HSAN architecture for the NBA Finals to manage more ...
10/06/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Draft will take place Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Cosm Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT. The event will strea...
10/06/2026
The University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics Department and Learfield have announce...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has released TR-06-4 Part 8, a new specification for RIST Satellite-Hybrid: Out-of-Band Method. The specification creates a mecha...
10/06/2026
Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, supporting live medical proc...
10/06/2026
A still from The Doom Generation by Gregg Araki (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
Have you checked out our Sundance Film Festival 101 list yet...
10/06/2026
Get Hands-On with Interfaces & Mic Preamp Brands
If youre after a new interface or preamp, then GearExpo UK is the place to be! Well have a whole host of au...
10/06/2026
November 13-14 2026, The Midway, San Francisco
Following their recent rebranding, MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo) have officially announced thei...
10/06/2026
Debut instrument free for limited time
deFORM is the debut release from newly founded developer ebbandflow, and it's being offered as a free download fo...
10/06/2026
Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast
10 June, 2026
Media releases
WATCH THE TRAILER
Smash-hit survival series Alone Australia drops its highly anticipa...
10/06/2026
DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH ...
10/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing THORIS at ILA 2026: A sovereign, end to end counter...
10/06/2026
MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern drive...
10/06/2026
Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...
10/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
10/06/2026
Accedo, Humans not Robots, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have announced the launch of Ecoflow X. Formerly an IBC Accelerator project, ...
10/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as General Manager...
10/06/2026
At the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for live medical procedures s...
10/06/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media, and entertainment managed services, today announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform powered by Or...
10/06/2026
Klvr will showcase how venues, integrators and production teams are rethinking disposable battery usage at InfoComm 2026 (Las Vegas, June 17-19, booth #N6311). ...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...
10/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/06/2026
10 Jun 2026
VEON's Banglalink Brings Every World Cup 2026 Match to Football...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
How to watch every ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports
Where is the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 availabl...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
P RLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care'...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upco...
10/06/2026
Wuppertal June 10, 2026
Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular ConferenceAt the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Li...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC
Product
10 June 2026
GlobalSouth KoreaJapan
Link copied to c...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions
Business
10 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download all assets
N...
10/06/2026
Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals-without losing their shape Scripps Research team develops stereoretentive radical-radi...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...
By Stephanie Ornelas 
