For Nothing film adaptation Interview

As you all know the novel For Nothing is being adapted into a screenplay by Sir Thomas Humphreys of Wales.  The magazine Side B recently interviewed him about his writing style, current works, family life, etc.  His interview contained large portions of dialogue about For Nothing including how we met, his thoughts on the book, the screenplay, etc.

Feel free to give it a read.  It is insightful as far as Thomas' writing process, flattering as far as my work is concerned, and generally pretty entertaining.

                               The Interview with Side B 

“What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he’s staring out of the window.” - Thomas Humpherys 


LH: Let’s talk about “For Nothing”: How did you get involved in writing the adaptation of Nicholas Denmon’s novel? Were you approached or did you seek it out? Had you read the book before writing it–I’m assuming you eventually read it to in fact adapt it.

TH: Where do I start with Nicholas Denmon? I was introduced to Nick about a year ago through a mutual friend; we connected on that wonderful writer’s tool, Twitter. He was an author, I was a screenwriter, so eventually his book came up in conversation, I was already working on a couple of scripts of my own at the time and in, I think, May of this year I flew out to Florida for just under a month to get away from the distractions of life here and concentrate on rewrites. I find my own company is a lot more bearable in 90 degree heat, sat next to the pool at the house there. [Click for entire interview]

Screenplay: For Nothing complete

The first draft of For Nothing, as it pertains to the world of screenplays, is now complete thanks to my good friend Thomas Humphreys.  Don't let his dabbling with alcohol and nonsensical Welshman ways fool you.  This man is a seriously talented writer.

If you are uncertain what goes into adapting a novel into a screenplay, let me tell you it is not easy.

Consider:

- The novel is 280 pages, roughly.  The screenplay needs to be under 120 pages.  There is an axiom that a page of a screenplay is worth one minute of film time.  To cut a novel by 60% and still convey the original story is a monumental task.

How monumental?  At the moment it is about 180 pages.  So where to cut the next 60 pages becomes problematic to say the least.

- You have an author who considers the novel his baby, and you must please him.  I hope I wasn't tremendously picky through the process, but Thomas was very patient and kind enough to let me put my two cents in on a few moments through the process.  If impossible sinners could be saints, he might be one.

- Don't mess up the story, readers will know and will call you out for it.  All while cutting out 60% of the story...did I mention that?

THE PRICE

I may or not have made several promises.

Items said to have been mentioned include but are not limited to:

- A round of shots at a local American bar.

- To attempt to work in a small role for his actor brother, Mike Humphreys, if we ever get the chance.

- To write this blog.

All in all not a bad deal for a superb piece of work.  Though I did have to mention that Americans really don't say bollocks.  The term is beneath our civilized society.


Follow Tom on Twitter here: @Mr_Frodo_esq 

Follow him on Facebook here:  His Facebook Page

Follow his actor brother Mike here: His Facebook Page 

How can you not like people who hangout and get dirty like this?