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 ."