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| Connie Mann with her son Ben Klopfenstein, showing off their Audience Choice for Best Feature award for CATCH OF A LIFETIME. |
by Connie Mann
Note: Connie Mann is a much-loved friend of the Ancient City Romance Authors. and we look forward to seeing her beautiful smile at our conference each year. When we heard the news of her novel-turned-screenplay-turned-film, we were so excited for her that we had to share with all our friends.
One of the great struggles for writers, especially those who
write commercial fiction, is to write, “the same, but different.” We scratch
our heads, trying to make sense of it. How do we keep fitting our writing into
accepted norms, while still making it new and fresh?
I learned, quite by accident, how writing something in an
entirely new genre ignited my creativity and passion for writing all over
again.
Several years ago, my son Ben Klopfenstein, who works in the
movie industry, asked me if I had any stories that might work as a screenplay.
He had several requirements: it had to be set locally, couldn’t have too many
characters and couldn’t have oodles of locations. (All things that keep a movie
budget tight.)
After he read what I gave him, he said, “Could you turn it
into a screenplay?”
Could I? I thought about it, gulped, a lot, and said,
“Sure.”
Then I went scrambling for information, because screenplays
and novels are two completely different animals. In a novel, you can have a
character think for pages on end. How do you show that on screen?
It took six intense weeks to take Catch of a Lifetime from
novel to screenplay, followed by months of tweaking and pre-production work. I
was privileged to be one of the producers and our house become movie central
for several weeks, with props stored in every available location, the cast and
crew being fed out of our kitchen, make-up applied in the hall bath. It was
crazy and intense, but the most amazing part was seeing my words brought to
life on screen. There is no thrill quite like it.
My son spent another year and a half (yes, you read that
right) editing, tweaking, adding music and doing all the other magic that makes
a movie wonderful! Ben submitted Catch of a Lifetime to the Silver Springs
International Film Festival and we were thrilled when it was accepted. It was shown
at a local theater a few weeks ago, so we all got to see it on the big screen
for the first time.
We were even more thrilled when, at the awards ceremony,
Catch of a Lifetime was named Audience Choice for Best Feature! This mama
couldn’t have been more proud of her very talented son!
I was also incredibly glad I’d accepted that creative
challenge and tried something new.
Connie Mann loves
stories of suspense, adventure and second chances. She encourages busy women through
her blog: www.BusyWomenBigDreams.com and is
the author of Trapped!, Angel Falls, and Catch of a Lifetime. She’s also a USCG-licensed boat captain, so
when she’s not writing, she’s usually on Central Florida’s waterways with local
schoolchildren or her fabulous family. Please visit her online at: www.conniemann.com.
Catch of a Lifetime: http://www.imdb.com/titl
Silver Springs International Film Festival: http://www.springsfilmfest.com/
