This week I achieved another first in my writing career.  A few weeks ago, a student filmmaker from India named Sairaj Reddy contacted me and expressed interest in adapting my story “Still Life Through Water Droplets” to film.  After a brief negotiation, we came to an agreement that will allow Mr. Reddy to film the story.  That’s pretty cool, and I admit it’s also flattering that anyone would like one of more stories enough to invest his time and money to bring it to the screen (any screen, large or small).

While Mr. Reddy has asked that I look over the script, I don’t particularly want to get involved in many (if any) aspects of the production—I’m a writer, not a filmmaker, and I really don’t know the first thing about films.  I understand that things in my story will be changed, and I’m fine with that; if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have given the rights.  Like most films, and especially student films, I expect few will ever see final product, or that it will make any money.  Then, that wasn’t my motivation for giving the rights to Mr. Reddy.  I don’t write to make money (although that’s a nice bonus, and if I could earn a living doing it, that would be awesome), and if producing this film can help Mr. Reddy achieve his goals in the film industry that would be great.  One thing I can definitively say is that I will be one of people who sees Mr. Reddy’s work (it’s in our agreement that I get a copy of the final film), and I will likely subject everyone I know to a personal showing, too, so that’s an audience of at least…oh…three or four people.

I’m especially looking forward to seeing what Mr. Reddy does with the story.  My story takes place in Boston, so it’ll be interesting to see if he chooses to move the story to India and gives it an Indian flavor if he choses to leave it in the U.S.A.  Will he play with the themes a little? Will it get a little Bollywood treatment?  I don’t know, but I’m game for just about anything.  If all goes smoothly, I’ll find out relatively soon, too—a final film should be available sometime in the next year or two.