Flick Bits: Boneshaker by Cherie Priest Optioned for Film!
According to Deadline, Cherie Priest‘s 2009 steampunk novel Boneshaker (released through Tor) has been optioned for a film by Cross Creek and Hammer Films: Los Angeles, CA – November 30, 2011 – Brian Oliver, President of Cross Creek Pictures, Simon Oakes, Vice-Chairman of Exclusive Media Group and President & CEO of Hammer Films and Guy East and Nigel Sinclair, Co-Chairmen of Exclusive Media Group (“Exclusive”) announced today that Hammer has acquired the rights to the novel “Boneshaker” by Cherie Priest for adaptation to the big screen. Project will be co-produced by Hammer and Cross Creek Pictures and co-financed by Exclusive and Cross Creek Pictures. John Hilary Shepherd, a 2010 WGA Award nominee for his work on the first season of the Showtime series, “Nurse Jackie,” is writing the screenplay. Tobin Armbrust, Head of Production is overseeing the project’s development for Hammer Films. Cross Creek recently released The Ides of March, written and directed by and starring George Clooney. It is also the company behind Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman. Exclusive Media Group, another key player here, brought us the 2010 American remake of Let the Right One In (retitled Let Me In), and had a hand in many of Cross Creek’s projects. Overall, that sounds like a pretty awesome crew to have behind Priest’s novel. What do you all think? Congrats to Ms. Priest! Let’s hope for a wicked awesome steampunk film in our near future!
Winter Is Coming Again…
After the success of the first Game of Thrones TV series a second season is currently in production. For me this can’t come soon enough and I hope it is to the standard of the first. I think that the first series really captured the feel of the book, and while adapting it for TV they managed to keep the integrity of what the author was trying to do, while still making it entertaining for a widespread audience. I imagine this was not an easy thing to do with all the different character arcs and subtle nuisances within the novel. I hope the new series will do just as well for the second book. Don’t disappoint me HBO! Production Promo [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhgbqpA06n8&w=560&h=315]
2011 Holiday Logo Design Contest!
If the title doesn’t entice you, then maybe this will: The lovely folks at ooShirts, a Bay Area independent shirt company, has offered a few t-shirts to us for The World in the Satin Bag and The Skiffy and Fanty Show. Rather than shoving our logos on the shirts and enjoying them by ourselves, we thought we’d give folks a shot at a t-shirt of their own! Here’s how it will work: We want a new logo design for The World in the Satin Bag and The Skiffy and Fanty Show that reflects the content or feel of the sites in some way. Roughly translated, that means we have no clear rules whatsoever, in part because we are artistically handicapped. The designs should look nice (obviously) and it should have something to do with the sites, but we are more interested in seeing what you come up with than bogging down the artistic process with rules and rigid desires. These will break down into two contests: one for The World in the Satin Bag and one for The Skiffy and Fanty Show. And you can enter both. What you get if you win: The two winning logos will receive a t-shirt with their winning logo on the front. Free books — winners will receive a $10 gift certificate to their preferred online bookstore AND a choice of a selection of books to be announced later. A bio and thanks in the About sections of both sites (because you’re awesome and we love you) The Rules: High quality images (so that we can adjust, shrink, and move the images without worrying about all those shrinkage issues) Images must be submitted by 11:59 PM on January 8th, 2011 to skiffyandfanty[at]gmail[dot]com. The winner will be announced the following week. Original work only. By submitting your images to this contest, you are not giving us ownership of your stuff. You grant us the right to show the logo and use it on our website and materials we purchase only for ourselves (i.e., business cards, shirts for us to wear at conventions, etc., but not stuff we buy for friends and the like). Any sale of your logo by us will have to be agreed upon at another time. If you want to donate the logo(s) to us, that would be awesome, but we’re not in the business of taking work from people without compensation unless they’ve offered it. Should we become interested in selling the shirts with your logo, we’ll contact you to talk about royalties. A little about ooShirts: While I’d love to reproduce their story here, I think you’d better read it for yourself. They’ve got a great story behind them, and a great company philosophy. We wish them the best of success (not because they’re a Cali company, because we’re totally not that biased…). Have it it, logo designers!
Episode 76 — Torture Literature Meets Modelland by Tyra Banks
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/www.archive.org/download/TheSkiffyAndFantyShow6.3–TortureLiteratureMeetsModellandByTyra/Sandf–Episode6.3–TortureLiteratureMeetsModellandByTyraBanks.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSThis week marks our first ever Torture Literature show. And you’re definitely in for a treat. We decided months and months ago that we would read and review Modelland by Tyra Banks. Why would we do this to ourselves? Because we think punishing ourselves is a great way to entertain all of you. So sit back, turn on the episode, and enjoy! Note: If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 76 — Download (MP3) Intro and Torture Cinema Meets Modelland by Tyra Banks (0:00 – 45:01) Modelland on Amazon (Save yourself and don’t read it…) Tyra Banks’ Website Some extra goodies for you all: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRBV-UTrdjM] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjC-L2O3I4g] And now some tweets (from Shaun)(read them from the bottom up): Also: having your 1st period in #Modelland is superseded by how interested you are in your roommate’s toothbrush. Foh real. Staying on menstruation in #Modelland — protagonist’s 1st period takes up less than 1pg. Because clearly it’s important for young girls. It’s apparently important to remind us that women naturally synch their menstrual cycles. Instantly in #Modelland. Thanks, Tyra. GTK. Smart people in #Modelland know algorithmic statistics (but never show it) and put together jigsaw puzzles w/ 30 pieces. Yeah… I’m glad someone is getting joy out of my #Modelland troubles.@actuallyaisha Heaven knows I’m dying right now… Because calling something the Common Room would be too obvious, Tyra came up with UnCommon Room. *snort* #Modelland I don’t think I can do this anymore. #Modelland is so bad it’s actually giving me the shakes. And I can’t throw an ebook at the wall… Skimming #Modelland doesn’t help with the reading experience. You end up focusing only on the really bad parts. Ugh. Apparently Yorkshire terriers exist in the world of #Modelland, even though it’s not clear whether England does. #WorldbuildingGaps Not related to reading: Tim Tebow = most annoying football player since T.O. Like watching Jesus Camp over and over…and over… Let’s get one thing straight: Tyra Banks is not going to be a legitimate poet anytime soon… #Modelland #awfulpoetry #Modelland Poetry Anthology: “Modelland is your new HOME / Welcome to the superDOME / For you XX-chromoSOMED / Modelland is your new home” #Modelland Dictionary — Mannecant (n): a servant to the BellaDonna of Modelland. Derived from servant (n) and mannequin (n). #eyeroll Mythology from #Modelland: “Long, long ago, the battle raged between the Muses and the nail polish remover.” <–Actual quote… For some reason, becoming an Intoxibella (Tyra’s version of a super model with magic power) requires an obstacle course w/ fire #Modelland The basic plot of #Modelland is almost exactly like Harry Potter. Run the basics through your head, turn “wizards” into “models.” Done… .@Dhympna I’m reading it for @skiffyandfanty — We’re recording tonight. Torture Literature. First episode. Released tomorrow #Modelland If you guessed Bestosterone (the name of the academy) and ManAttack (the name of the class), you are correct. #Modelland Can you guess the name of the male modeling academy in Modelland? How about one of its classes? Go on, guess. I really should have been tweeting about Modelland *while reading it.* Because this book is fucking awful… —————————————————————————– Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
Breaking News: Film Rights for Zoo City (@laurenbeukes) Picked Up by Helena Spring
I’ll let the Angry Robot press release do all the talking: TOP SOUTH AFRICAN PRODUCER WINS COVETED FILM RIGHTS IN INTERNATIONAL ‘BID FEST’ TO MULTIPLE AWARD-WINNING AND BESTELLING NOVEL “ZOO CITY” by SOUTH AFRICAN AUTHOR LAUREN BEUKES “Beukes’ energetic noir phantasmagoria, the winner of this year’s Arthur C. Clarke Award, crackles with original ideas.” – (Jeff VanderMeer, New York Times Book Review) Helena Spring, widely regarded as one of South Africa’s most accomplished motion picture producers, has just been awarded the highly sought-after film rights to Zoo City, the Sci-Fi thriller penned by South African author Lauren Beukes – who garnered the 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award for best Science Fiction novel. In the wake of whopping sales figures, multiple awards and critical acclaim Beukes’ book generated fierce interest from numerous bidders in the entertainment industry, putting Spring alongside major US and UK producers eager to tell Beukes’ unique tale. Zoo City was published first in South Africa by Jacana Media and thereafter internationally by by Angry Robot. The urban fantasy is set in a futuristic, gritty and hard-core Johannesburg where the eponymous ghetto has been colonised by society’s outcasts – like criminals, drug-dealers and psychopaths, and their animal companions. Like the other residents of the Zoo City slum, Zinzi, the anti-heroine, is “animalled”, but she is also a shrewd, street-smart girl with the gift (or burden) of finding lost things. Zinzi wears her power animal, a sloth, on her back. When she is hired to find a missing teenybopper star, she hopes that it will be her ticket out of Hell’s waiting room. “I’m delighted to have secured the film and television rights for Zoo City,” commented Helena Spring. “It is a groundbreaking, magical novel begging for a life on the big screen. Lauren’s storytelling is masterful – edgy and futuristic, unique yet universal. It is high in entertainment value yet emotionally charged, a dream project for any producer.” Beukes positively acknowledges the choice of the winning producer. “Every novelist dreams of a movie deal – but you actually want more than that. You want to find a producer of great vision and integrity and experience who fundamentally gets the book and understands how to transform it into an entirely different creature based on the same genetic material. I’m thrilled that it’s being produced in South Africa – for an international audience.” Spring’s career in the entertainment industry spans nearly three decades, during which time she has produced over twenty motion pictures – including the first ever South African film to receive recognition at the Academy Awards®: Darrell Roodt’s Yesterday earned a Best Foreign Picture nomination in 2004. Spring, who has worked with some of the foremost filmmakers in the world – such as Paul Greengrass who helmed the box office smash hits The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, and Academy Award® winner, Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech), will soon be putting the project out to a select party of directors, while Beukes has first look as screenwriter to adapt her novel for the screen. “Lauren is perfectly placed to do this. The characters are alive inside her,” says Spring. Julian Friedmann of Blake Friedmann (the literary agency that reps Beukes), says that: “Helena outbid all the others in a spirited auction for film rights to this extraordinary book. She had an extremely proactive, writer-friendly approach to working with Lauren and offered an imaginative and creative proposal that was irresistible.” Lauren Beukes’ meteoric rise seems unstoppable and recently a new megabucks book deal was announced. The working titles of the two novels – due in 2013 and 2014 – are The Shining Girls and Broken Monsters. They were picked up by publishers in the US, the UK, South Africa, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany. Congrats to Lauren! This is incredible news. We can’t wait to see Zoo City on the big screen (or any screen, for that matter). (You can check out our interview with Lauren here.)
Dear UK Publishers and Authors: We Want You…Bad!
We’ve recently added two lovely people who live in the UK to our team, and they’re interested in reviewing SF/F/H (or related) books from UK folks! (under the same guidelines listed for the podcast, of course. Read those here.). If you’re a UK publisher or author, big or small, and you’ve got a book coming out that you’d like to see reviewed, send an email to skiffyandfanty[at]gmail[dot]com! We’ll forward the information to our UK correspondents and see if they want to review it (then we’ll give you their address). So…what have you got for us? P.S.: The only downside is that they do not own e-readers at the moment. Print books only (hence why we’re focusing on publishers in the U.K. in this post).
