Lipman to share how book "Found" its way to film at March 14 event

Lipman to share how book "Found" its way to film at March 14 event

By Debbie Gardner
PRIME Editor

Elinor Lipman is much more than just an accomplished novelist.

She writes poetry . "I've never written a poem that doesn't rhyme, and how unfashionable is that?" . contributes occasional columns to the Boston Globe, has penned a gem of an essay on novel writing for the Borders Books Web site, teaches writing at several local colleges and of course, has produced nine highly-acclaimed works of fiction, the last, "My Latest Grievance," which won The Poetry Center's Patterson Fiction Prize in 2007.

She's also one of the most patient women I've ever had the privilege of interviewing.

This April, the movie based on her 1990 debut novel, "Then She Found Me," will finally make its way to the silver screen.

Lipman will share the story of her book's long journey from printed page to technicolor imagery with friends and fans during an appearance at the Agawam Cultural Council's "Applause!" series on March 14.

The event, which will take place at the Agawam Public Library at 7:30 p.m., is free and open to the public.

The long road to the screen

"I'd nearly given up hope," Lipman said during a mid-February telephone interview with PRIME. "The book was optioned in 1989 . my son was in first grade and he just turned 26 last month."

That son is now somewhat of a Hollywood insider, working as an assistant to a vice president of production for 20th Century Fox. Lipman said he served as "my spy and interpreter" as the film moved through development, production, and finally, debut at the Toronto Film Festival last September.

"He called me with the first report and said it got a standing ovation," she said. "The next day, he called me [again] and told me 'don't tell anyone yet but there's going to be a distributor.'"

Yet as exciting as this recent turn of events has been, Lipman said the experience has taught her a great deal about how books become films.

"It was May of 1989 that I got the first phone call," she said. "I had a miserable cold and I was complaining to my girlfriend [on the phone] about how worried I was about the book, that my agent is on her honeymoon . and I clicked over to call waiting.

"I remember the agent's voice," she recalled. "She had a British accent. She said 'how would you feel on this miserable, rainy day, to know that Sigourney Weaver loves your book?'"

She said she clicked back, excitedly saying, "Rita, Rita, I have to get off . Sigourney Weaver loves my book!"

"The manuscript was sent out by the agent . I didn't even know," she said, recalling her surprise at the turn of events. "The book wasn't even in galley[author proof] form yet!"

About a week later, after all the negotiations were complete, Lipman said she threw a celebration for her first film success.

"I wore my only strapless dress, a rhinestone bracelet and sunglasses . it was very Hollywood," Lipman said. "If anyone had ever told me that night in 1989 that it would be 19 years and my son would be giving me advice from Hollywood ."

Helen Hunt finally makes it her own

But, Lipman said, in the end, it wasn't Sigourney Weaver who brought "Then She Found Me" to the screen. It was another actress, 1997 Academy Award-winner Helen Hunt.

"For 10 years it was a full-time job of Helen Hunt's," Lipman said. "She wrote it, she directed it and she got the financing."

Lipman said her first contact with Hunt was in "late 2004 or early 2005" when she got a copy of the first draft of the screenplay.

It was then that she learned about the alterations to the plot, specifically that the character of the bookish Dwight had been eliminated, and that Hunt had added a marriage, betrayal and divorce for the character of April Epner, along with a different romance.

She e-mailed Hunt's manager with her thoughts.

"I had written that I first wondered, 'where are my characters?' Then I just fell in love with the screenplay."

Lipman said, "I got a lovely long email back from [Hunt] right away . how happy she was that I liked it."
She wrote back [about the original screenplay] that she loved my romance, but that she needed to have a north star for the movie, and that was the betrayal," Lipman said.

According to Lipman, the original plot of "Then She Found Me" revolves around "two misfits who find each other."

"But movies about that [kind of personal interaction] are kind of the Australian films that are sweet, and you rent," Lipman admitted.

"Now we have Colin Firth and Matthew Broderick . neither were characters in the book," she said.

And, she said, Bette Middler's portrayal of April's larger-than-life mother, Bernice, is "taken directly from the book."

"I'll tell you, if this had happened 18-and-a-half years ago I would have been more sentimental about my own storyline and my own characters. Sentimental and a little dismayed," Lipman said of the changes. "But the movie's wonderful. When someone changes the plot to make it cornier or cheaper or a more commercial movie, that's one thing.

"But when it's changed for various reasons of plot or more effective moviemaking and the author loves it.

"I laughed, I cried, I loved it," she said.

And she still needs to buy a dress for the movie premiere.