Atlanta Nights : The Movie

It takes talent to write at both ends of the literary spectrum - exceptionally good and godawfully bad books alike. And Atlanta Nights manages to be off that scale completely, but in the most creative ways. My favorite part is the chapter generated by software.

He paused for two weeks, how it felt to actually harm the saris sometimes had once dated the fridge.

In 2004, this sting manuscript was offered to PublishAmerica, a vanity press/author mill claiming to be a "traditional publisher". Naturally, it got an acceptance, which PublishAmerica quickly withdrew once the sting was announced. It's a pity they didn't accept it, though - Atlanta Nights has sold more copies than many other books PublishAmerica released.

And now it's being made into a movie as well. So I interviewed filmmaker Rachael Saltzman on this no doubt surreal experience...

1. How did you first hear about the novel Atlanta Nights, and what prompted you to make a film out of it?

Rachael : I first heard about the project on the Absolute Write message boards, and went digging around for more information. Initially, I thought the whole thing was hilarious. Then I started thinking more about the motivation for creating the project, and that bit is very sad. And I got angry on behalf of the writers who had been taken advantage of. Tried to figure out how I could make an impact with my current skillset. Since my background is film, it eventually became the most logical answer. It took me about two years to figure out how that could possibly work.

2. In this book, characters die and then stroll back into the story (not as zombies either). They change race and gender. And then there's the infamous chapter which was produced by a text generator. All of these would be, um, interesting for a filmmaker to depict. Do you plan to film these particular details?

Rachael : I do. Since things like that are so integral to the bigger joke of the manuscript, they have to find their way into the narrative. For the text generated chapter, I'm talking to a couple of animators right now and would like to let them just go nuts. For the character changes, I plan on using completely different actors with some sort of clue to indicate that it's the same character - maybe a similar costume design, or even name tags. The precise mechanism is going to depend on the budget for that.

3. Who do you hope to interview for this movie?

Rachael : I hope to interview all of the living writers who took part in the project - they've all agreed. Proximity is the most difficult issue there.

4. How will you recreate the no doubt authentic Georgia setting?

Rachael : Hahah! So far, there no plans to shoot anywhere in the South, in keeping with the feel of the book. I'm not sure exactly where the bulk of the filming will take place just yet, but so far, NY, LA, and a small town in Minnesota have been tossed around as possibilities. It's very likely that the characters will enter one building, and leave another - possibly up to 3,000 miles away from each other.

5. What's your favorite part of this project?

Rachael : Oh gosh, there are so many things that I'm digging about this project. The first one is, of course, getting the information out to a wider audience, one that might not be as research oriented or net savvy as the writers who find this stuff out for themselves. The support and enthusiasm coming from the writers involved is just wonderful, and I've met all sorts of great new people. I've never adapted material quite like this before, so that's a new challenge. There's just so much comedy fodder, I could make a six hour movie just of that!

6. What legal issues should be a filmmaker be aware of when handling this kind of project?

Rachael : Well, errors and omissions is pretty standard for any film. I suspect it'll be a hot button issue for a very small percentage of the population. There's always risk of someone being unhappy when creating a project like this, even if the controversy reaches a very small audience (such as the Crumb documentary).

7. Once the film is made, how will you get it advertised and distributed?

Rachael : There's an interesting set of options for this film that I haven't seen in any others that I've worked on, namely the convention circuit, which I'm learning more about every day. Advertising for something like this is most effective via word of mouth, be it physically or virtual, so I suspect most of the campaign will be online. I also plan on sending it to specific film festivals, and have some social connections who work with distribution. If I have to self distribute, I certainly will - that's a world of headaches in itself, but I think the subject is important enough to share.

Thanks very much, Rachael! Read the manuscript of Atlanta Nights here, and please show your support for this project!

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