From Screenplay to Film

Here Lies Joe
Here Lies Joe

I posted several months ago about how one of my students went from a short story to a screenplay, coauthoring the screenplay with a friend of hers, Mark Battle. Mark is a filmmaker, and they have now gone from screenplay to film. During the summer Mark gathered a cast and crew and a 1991 Toyota Corolla—a vital part of the film, practically a character in its own right—and over the course of a few months shot the movie. Here Lies Joe had its premiere last night at Stage Two Cinema Pub in Amesbury, Massachusetts.

It is a wonderful film. I am always amazed, whenever I see short films like this, how much story can be told in twenty minutes. But I am also awed by short stories, perhaps because I can’t fathom how anyone can write them. (I am definitely a novel writer.) Here Lies Joe covers less than a day in two people’s lives, their odd intersections and connections and, ultimately, their healing. The final moments are wonderfully uplifting.

Mark intends to submit the film to film festivals for consideration, so if you happen to hear about a screening for a short movie called Here Lies Joe, make sure you go see it. It will be worth it.

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