Screenplay Progress

What a great way to end 2013! The first official screenplay adaption of It Had To Be Us, the award-winning romantic memoir my husband and I co-wrote under the pen names of Harry and Elizabeth Lawrence, is completed. And filmmaker Misha Zubarev has done a terrific job! 

Although our little book is written in a He Remembers/She Remembers format, Misha has used his cinematic talents to make the story more visual and to update the time period. He's also focused on the humorous elements of "Harry and Elizabeth's" journey back to each other after being divorced and estranged for almost 20 years. 

The Ebook edition of It Had To Be Us won a first place at the Hollywood Book Festival a few years ago because of its potential to be transferred to other media like radio and film. Here's hoping this is the beginning step toward becoming a motion picture!

Thanks to Misha Zubarev for his extraordinary dedication to this special project. 

Tarnished Gold

I need more than a spoonful of sugar to make me feel happy about those Golden Globe nominations announced yesterday. Only ONE nomination for Saving Mr. Banks? The Hollywood Foreign Press Association really upset me by snubbing this wonderful film in the Best Picture category. Although I wholeheartedly approve of the group giving out separate awards for a movie drama and a musical or comedy, it’s almost a joke that Saving Mr. Banks was missing from either of those lists. Starring the great Emma Thompson -- who DID get nominated as Best Actress -- and Tom Hanks, this delightful movie deals with how Walt Disney finally persuaded the cantankerous author of the Mary Poppins stories to let him make the Mary Poppins film – and the music treatment simply sparkles here. Personally, I feel it could have qualified as a drama or a comedy or a musical, but especially a musical/comedy. Instead, the HFPA gave nods to Her and Nebraska as Best Musical or Comedy, along with American Hustle, Inside Llewyn Davis and Wolf of Wall Street. I haven’t seen American Hustle or Wolf of Wall Street yet, but the previews for both suggest they will be comedies. And Inside Llewyn Davis deals with a struggling folk singer, so it could be a “musical.” But Her and Nebraska? Please. The former is a strange love story – much more poignant than humorous -- between a man and a computer voice; the latter follows an elderly man (played by Bruce Dern, who earned a Best Actor nomination) on a trip to collect a million dollars he mistakenly thinks he won. Yes, it evokes a few laughs – but it’s clearly more dramatic than comedic. Oh well, congrats to all the Golden Globe nominees anyway. Next stop, the Oscars. For a full list of Golden Globe nominees, go to the HFPA official website.

Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Showbiz!

I want to give a big shout out to George and Lizette Bettinger for their contribution to our "Two Christmases" show on Movie Addict Headquarters yesterday. The Bettingers read the Christmas section of IT HAD TO BE US, the romantic memoir my husband and I wrote under the pen names of Harry and Elizabeth Lawrence, which is now being adapted for the screen by filmmaker Misha Zubarev. I call George and Lizette Mr. and Mrs. Showbiz because of their diverse talents. They are a fun couple with a passion for bringing back the Golden Age of Radio in their popular Mom and Pop Shop show on DreamStream radio. George is an actor, comedian, producer, writer and director. He's won acclaim for his uncanny impressions including Groucho Marx, George Burns and The Three Stooges but may be best known as the voice of the red M&M. Lizette is a versatile actress and soprano with experience at the Metropolitan Opera. They are both quite believable as Harry and Elizabeth in this special audio interpretation. Producer Nikki Starr says, "It was a beautiful show and I even got teared up -- I loved it!" An archived segment is now available at the Movie Addict Headquarters page on BlogTalkRadio.