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ADAPTATION: The Rhythm of Rewriting

By Jacob Krueger

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Today’s podcast will be a special treat for those of you who did not get to attend our screenwriting retreat in Costa Rica this year. This is an excerpt from one of my retreat lectures about Charlie Kaufman's Adaptation screenplay and what it can teach us about rewriting and adapting our own screenplays.

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Here’s a fun thing to note about Adaptation that is also an example of how Charlie Kaufman pushes the edges of his own control: Adaptation is an adaptation of three different source materials.

ONE: it's an adaptation of a book called The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, which is a beautiful book that Charlie Kaufman loves.

TWO: it is an adaptation of Story by Robert McKee. No one has ever attempted to do a movie version of a screenwriting book before.

It is an adaptation of Story by Robert Mckee, which is a book that he hates… Even if Robert McKee does say, "As featured in Adaptation" on his website.

THREE: Adaptation is an adaptation of The Three by Donald Kauffman, which is a script that does not exist. In fact, in the original draft of Adaptation, the movie ends with a supertitle of this monologue from The Three:

"We're all one thing, Lieutenant. That's what I've come to realize. Like cells in a body. 'Cept we can't see the body. The way fish can't see the ocean. And so we envy each other. Hurt each other. Hate each other. How silly is that? A heart cell hating a lung cell."

- Cassie from The Three

This is Charlie Kauffman's little key - which the producer's cut - to what this movie is really about. This movie is really about archetypes. This movie is about the fact that inside of Charlie Kaufman, “the genius who can’t write” is the sellout brother, Donald. Inside Charlie Kaufman, “the genius who can’t write” is Susan Orlean, the New Yorker writer. Charlie Kaufman, “the genius who can’t write” is Laroche, the guy who's so passionate about one thing.

This is a script about multiple personality disorder. This is a script about fractured personalities and mirrors. This is a script about a bunch of characters who are all the same thing. This is a script about how orchids are women and women are orchids. This is a script about mistaking an orchid for a lover. This is a script about not understanding the difference between you and others. This is a script about how to write a script.

How do you write a script? You don't write a script by applying a bunch of principles. You write a script by looking inside and finding the piece of you that you're not inviting to the table. At least that's one way to do it.

So, in the case of Adaptation, the thesis is Charlie. This thesis is about purity, real life, not being a Hollywood sellout. What's the antithesis to that? Donald Kaufman via Robert McKee. And you breathe life into that Donald inside of you. There is no real Donald Kaufman, but you breathe life into the Donald inside of you because we are all one. You also breathe life into the Susan Orlean inside of you.

Now, here's what's really interesting, which ties into what Mirtha asked about about backstory today. So, I want to show you this. This section of the script gets cut,