- Have you dreamed of seeing you book
become a movie or a TV show?
Even a non-fiction book has big potential
when it comes to on-screen adaptations.
There's so many opportunities to take your book to screen
and if you're wondering how to do it,
then this video is for you.
(upbeat music)
Hey there, I'm Julie, the book broad,
from Book Launchers.
We're your professional self-publishing team,
helping you write, publish, and promote
a non-fiction book that will help you have
a powerful impact on your readers
and it will help you grow your brand, build your business,
and make you money.
And the best part, you get to keep all rights and royalties.
The coolest part about keeping all rights and royalties
is when you shop your book around in Hollywood
or someone approaches you about turning your book
into something else, you have full control
and full benefit of the process.
I really don't think I can over-emphasize the importance
of that fact, because this is your intellectual property,
and a lotta non-fiction authors give it up pretty fast.
But this is your story, your expertise, your research,
and your experience, and you really should own it
and get as much financial benefit from that as possible.
Now when it comes to getting that book into the right hands
to explore the potential for adapting it to screen,
you might be wondering what do you need to do
if you really wanna make it happen?
Stalking Kathleen Kennedy, James Cameron,
or Jerry Bruckenheimer, Ruckenheimer?
Bruckheimer?
- [Man] Bruckheimer.
- Bruckheimer. (beep)
Stalking Kathleen Kennedy, James Cameron,
or Jerry Bruckheimer is not gonna work,
nor will hanging out on red carpets,
begging people to read your book.
You need to know the lingo and set your book up for success,
and that's where our new partners come in
and I'm so excited to introduce you to one of them.
Please meet Tory Foster of Underground Jam.
Tory has been writing and developing entertainment content
for years for companies like Lionsgate, Warner Music, Annie,
and many, many others.
Tory is an industry veteran
and she's also extremely passionate
about finding new voices and helping them succeed.
And that's really how we met.
She was curious about our authors
and what books we had that might be great for adaptation.
And in that conversation, we really clicked.
So I've asked her to explain
how to get your book set up for success
in the adaptation process.
And I asked her what kind of books
have you worked on adaptations for?
- There's been a lot of autobiographies
that have been really interesting.
Social science, some history,
definitely some fantasy in there.
Recently I worked on a project that was based on a book
written by a neuroscientist.
So yeah, just really pretty wide range.
- When you look at your book, you may not even realize
that it's no just about blockbuster movies.
Many kinds of books lend themselves to become material
for reality TV shows,
based on a true story TV series or movie,
documentaries, web series, and short films.
So how do you know what's right for your book
and how do you set yourself up for success
in this process?
- The industry has a set of expectations
and kind of an insider language
and as much as you can, meeting those expectations
and exceeding them and really speaking in a language
that makes sense to the business people
that can make things happen for you.
And just really, really putting out the strengths
of your project in a way
that is entirely understandable to them
and really says to them, hey this is something
you're gonna be able to do something with.
This is gonna be something that's gonna get
other people in your industry excited.
This is gonna be something that's gonna electrify
people at a very high level and then also the audience.
- In my conversations with the team at Underground Jam,
the one thing that really stood out to me
was how important it is to know the language.
There's a language in Hollywood
that's spoken about the projects
and you really need to understand that.
And you gotta know what's hot at this moment.
And the fact that certain people in the industry
are actively looking
for certain types of projects right now.
Like a celebrity might really wanna play a certain part
or certain directors may wanna cover
a certain hot topic right now.
You gotta know that.
Really, in some ways it feels to me
like Hollywood is a secret society,
created to keep you out.
(laughing)
And yet the people inside are hungry for new,
interesting, and appealing material.
So they really need you as much as you need them,
but you have to wrap it all up in a package
so they can really see the value
in what you're bringing to them.
So obviously, the next thing you need to know
is what is this process actually look like?
So Tory goes into detail.
- Let's say you have an autobiography
and you wanna take that, you wanna make that into a movie.
First, you know, it would be take your project
and you can get it covered, which is just an analysis,
where you have someone from the industry read it,
boil it down to what they understood and took away from it,
a basic synopsis, and then an analysis with some ideas for,
you know, where this could fall in terms of, you know,
different categories of genre, audience appeal,
scope, you know, budget level, that type of thing.
So then the next step probably would be
to generate a treatment based on your material,
which is basically a vision for what the project could be.
It's a prose document, it's just a few pages.
It's something that can be sent around
and read really easily,
and it's definitely something that should really show
an exciting vision for what your project could be.
- The really big thing I want you to understand
is you can't just send your book around
and think that it's gonna land in the right hands
and be turned into something that will be on the screen.
That happens sometimes, but that's really luck.
And most of us, we really just need to create our own luck.
So here's the thing,
once you have the research and you have the treatment,
you use that to shop it around and start the packaging
of the project.
And basically, if you're a Hollywood outsider like me,
(laughing) you're gonna wanna get
that first person on the project,
who's a go-getter, who is on the inside,
and will take it from there.
Now figuring out who the go-getter person is
that will drive your project forward
is where the massive value of a company like Underground Jam
comes in, because they know who is looking for what,
who will hustle and drive a project,
and if they don't know who,
they know who to ask.
And that's why Book Launchers is partnering with them
to help our clients who are interested in this process.
Because without insider's directing you,
your project might never ever land in the right hands.
And the reality is, without that first person
who pushes for your project in the first place,
unless you plan to dedicate your life to this
your project's not likely to succeed.
Now, what the heck is packaging?
(laughing)
Well, I got Tory to go into that a little bit.
- Find a producer, find a director after that.
That's kinda usually how the order goes,
but it can also be in reverse.
Then from your producer and director,
you might wanna add some other valuable elements
like a really good post production house
or special effects director or team.
You know, it might be something where you want
a specific art director, that type of thing.
And then of course, there's huge value in the talent,
the actors that you can attach.
So there are certain actors who are deemed fanciable
in the film industry.
It's usually a really short list.
There's some actors that are fanciable
for different territories, parts of the world,
that type of thing,
and so you build that, those attachments.
- Packaging is pretty big.
It's also where the script would get written
and then with that script in hand
and some important attachments, (giggling)
the project can then be shopped for financing,
locations, more talent, and then you build out from there
to finally go to production.
The most important thing here, I think, is this.
- The idea is that it's not a solo effort,
you really need champions and you need a great team,
you need to assemble all the right elements
to make it a success.
- Now, if you're feeling like, "There's no point.
"I live in Florida or in Georgia or in Montana
"or Canada, and I'm just too far away",
Tory wants you to remember that it's an industry
made up of business people.
They need your project, but you have to speak to them
in a language they understand.
- These business people really want to find projects
that they can do something with.
That they can use to attract other partners,
use to electrify the top talent,
and really do something special for the audience.
So I think one of the things that's really important
is to bring them something in a language they understand
that meets their expectations.
So you come in like an insider, you come in like a pro
who's been doing this for years
with a really polished treatment.
Or just a great log line
that gets them to ask for the script or the book.
You really wanna come in with something
and then give them a sense that you've really thought about
what kind of a film this could be or, you know,
what kind of a screen project this could be
and who would it be for.
- Now, I know you're wondering how to create a cover
and what a treatment looks like.
And if you're interested in seeing more videos
on book to screen subject matter,
where we talk about all that,
make sure you smash that thumbs up button.
Go ahead (giggling).
'Cause that tells me you want more content like this.
And also make sure (bell dings)
you subscribe to the channel and turn the notifications on
so you catch the new videos when they come out.
Have questions?
I know when I first met Tory and her colleague
from Underground Jam, I sure did.
So if you have questions or you've taken any of the steps
to have your book to screen,
let's chat about it in the comments below.
And when you comment the day a video is released,
you'll be entered to win some sweet Book Launchers swag,
like our oh-so-soft journal and our #newbornbooks mug.
It's been so lovely hanging out with you today
and it would be an absolute pleasure
if we could continue our time together.
Perhaps, you're thinking you should create
an audiobook before you pursue the screen?
If that's you, this video is a good one for you.
If that's not of interest, well maybe you missed
the first video I did with Tory.
That one is right here.
So please, go ahead.
I've got the coffee brewing for you.
Choose your next video and we'll hang out some more.
(upbeat music)