Book to Box Office

You have to take the heart of a novel and recreate it as a visual idea.

– Screenwriter and director Ian Mune

One writes a book because one has control over it: you are the author. You have control over the whole process.

– Alex author Tessa Duder

If you watch them [film producers] turn your Arab stallion into a carthorse, there's not much you can do except wring your hands and curse them.

– Author and scriptwriter Ken Catran on the risks for an author of selling the rights to a story

The question of why any book gets chosen to be made into a film, I think from everything that I've heard and read about this, I think it boils down to the characters. The heart of a book is in the characters and the journey they undertake.

– Alex author Tessa Duder

There are occasions where you have to, I think, throw the book out the window. But you've always got to maintain the intent of what the author wants to do. If you don't maintain that you may as well not bother.

– Screenwriter and author Ken Catran

You've still got to write a document that will excite filmmakers to do their job to their utmost ability.

– Ian Mune on screenwriting

I saw the impact that Warriors the movie had, and thought well I can still tell a good story and just do it in movie form. But it didn't work that way, it actually told me that, 'Alan Duff, you can't write a screenplay'.

– Author Alan Duff