Manuscript to movie adaptation

As the goo continues to roll-down my face, stopping at the towel below my chin, I have enough time to type, wipe, then type again (geerose). So lovely.  She suggested I write about why, in fact, Rog is going heli-skiing today (it had been booked for 6 months) and the latest cycle of writing a book. I, on the other hand, realize I have to add a few more links the latest link on emergency preparedness. With two out of the three down, I'll give some context to all those aspiring writers out there...

This is the chronology:
Last summer, the studio said my book was 'weak', but I wanted to, I could write a 5 book overview and see if was possible to improve the thing. In other words, the producer thought 5% was salvageable. However, nothing ventured nothing gained, and when I say that, it means 'why the heck not?' The worst that could happen was I failed and back to where I started.

• Aug: wrote the 5 story outline, about 25 pages, 5/each book. Hit the plot, the characters, the themes and location(s).
• Sept: Submitted to the studio for review. (My agent wasn't interested until I had a completed book).
• End of Sept: Studio said "it has merit," and to "write the first chapter only."
• 1 evening (I think it was a Thursday): I wrote out the first chapter (about 5 pages), submitted it to the producer. "Great," the producer said. "Keep going until you have the first 50 pages"
• Mid Oct: submitted first 50 pages. "Write the whole book."

At this point you can see that it's all an iterative, stepping stone process, the milestones set up and met, but each done without compensation. It's all betting on the come, hoping against hope what I produced was going to be accepted.

• Oct-end Dec: completed the manuscript. This means I'd written the book not once, but gone through it about 3 additional times. It was at 412 pages. Submitted to the studio.
• Mid-Jan: received noticed it had been read, but then waited an additional 2 weeks for any input. I was going crazy, my hope dropping with each day that passed w/out a word of feedback. Finally, I wrote an email thta said something like this: "thumbs up, down or sideways on the manuscript?" To which I got a "it's actually quite good. A solid book. Changes of course. Let's discuss." After that short email, it wasn't until the following month I received feedback.
• February 7th. Met w/producer in LA, and over lunch, the producer whipped out a sheet of paper and gave me his notes on the manuscript.

I must stop here to highlight why this is so important. Years ago, pre-agent, pre-books, I had this rose-colored ideal that an agent was a writer's best friend, mentor, guide, editor etc. And why shouldn't I? When I read the acknowledgments from bestsellers, it usually includes the agent and/or editor as the sole reason for success. My reality (and that of my author/agent friends) is far from the truth. It's neither the agent's job or skill set to actually edit and provide feedback. The agent is the pitch person, the negotiator, the deal maker-not the editor. Putting this in movie context, the producer is about finding the right content, pulling all the pieces together and making a movie. It's not this person's job to be a mentor or guide either. Yet....this is what Lucas, in this instance did for me. He read the entire manuscript, made out a list of improvements and basically said...here you go.

Later this same day, when I asked the producer about timing, he told me April. As in, April 2011. Have the manuscript complete, the book edited, and ready to be distributed electronically in advance of the movie (and aligned with mobile apps, on line games etc). It blew me away.

• Feb8th-Mar 1st: incorporated all the comments to the book. The comments weren't suggested deletions, rather, they were elements that needed to be added. here are the primary points of feedback:
• Bring the romance closer to the front. V1 had it middle of the book and beyond. a filmmaker can't wait that long.
• Equal out the good guy vs bad guy quotient. I'll admit, I LOVE my bad guys. So did the studio. What I failed to notice (but the studio saw) was 2x1 bad to good guys. I had to bring forward 2 good characters and actually add another, net new, character
• Increase the amt of dialogue. The original MS (last summer) had too much, the studio said to cut it down, so I did, but in V1, I had gone too far the other way. I had to find a balance.
• Give a btr set up to one of the major historical figures
• Add a sense of overall wonderment to the dialogue (for certain time traveling characters)
• Add a unique relationship between the character in power and the slave

All of the above added another 100 pages to the manuscript. I wasn't worried about word/page count. I was focused on getting it right. It's now at 522.

• Mar 2-sent off to the studio and the editor. Now, as I wait for the verdict, I ponder whether or not I start writing  Book 2 in the series, or take a few weeks off.
• Mar 3-starting to track down person/group to convert Word doc to ebook format (a few grand)
• Mar 4-reviewed studio contract for the illustrator for the book ($10-20K)

The numbers and actions show the studio is serious, which is a good sign. Yet for all this goodness, I still don't have a signed agreement with the studio. The studio said that would happen in the next week or so, since it's illogical to pay $ for an illustrator or ebook conversion if they don't own the option rights. The expected course is for editing, illustration and ebook conversion to take place in Mar-April, with distribution and actual prep happening starting in May. Translation: I better get going on book 2. I don't have all that much time.