Post for Billie Letts

Dear Billie Letts,

My name is Arden Zink and I would love to turn your book into a movie! I think that a movie adaptation would be best because of the style of the book and the story line. It could almost be a TV series, but it would be hard to make more than a few episodes. It will be somewhat challenging to create a movie because of the time lapses that occur in your book, but I believe we can get through that obstacle by using fading and showing the exact dates on the screen, like many other movies have done before. Of course all of the scenes are important, but there were a few that really stood out. We definitely need to focus on the scene where Willy Jack dumps her at the Walmart, from their fight in the beginning to her running out of the store and knowing he was already gone. We also should focus on the scene where Willy Jack gets arrested, because it is so important to his story and how he turns out. Another important scene would be when Novalee first sees Forney, to slightly foreshadow what is to come just like in the book. We need to put emphasis on the people she meets and how she takes their pictures and how that camera is so important to her. We should also make an emphasis on the buckeye tree throughout the movie. In the scene where Forney decorates the library with candles and cooked for Novalee, we need to pay close attention to all of the details, and go from close ups to scanning and pick perfect music. This is possibly the most romantic scene in the book, so we really need to get it right. Another big moment is of course when Novalee has her baby on the Walmart floor. When Novalee thinks of a name for her baby, Americus, should be emphasized as well. These are only some scenes from the beginning, but I will now tell you a few small scenes that we could most likely do without. The biggest thing would be to try and chop down the extra stuff when she is in the Walmart. We need the part at first and maybe for the first day and night, but she is there a very long time and we can use fading and show the dates to shorten this up. Another scene could be when Novalee meets Forney’s sister, because we already get a feel for the sister without meeting her and it isn’t a significant part to the storyline. Finally, we can talk about casting. I have a few ideas for who could play Novalee, Forney, and Willy Jack. For Novalee, I picture someone like Shailene Woodley. For Forney, possibly Johnny Depp or Ben Affleck. And for Willy Jack maybe a younger Mark Wahlberg. Hopefully we will get in touch soon!

Sincerely,

Arden Zink