Watch What They Write: Ned Vizzini (Author of It’s Kind of a Funny Story)

[Editor’s Note: This was originally published on September 9th 2007. We are republishing this to coincide with the theatrical release.]

Watch What they Write, also going by the fancy acronym of WWTW this is a unique monthly-ish feature where we interview the writer – more specifically, the voice behind the original source material. The novelist often creates a world that borrows from the cinematic and vice-versa – it’s not a coincidence that a heavy amount of projects that make it onto the silver screen are based on/adapted from literature. Sometimes the translation works and more often than not it doesn’t but either way, having your book bought and then made into a major motion picture adds a certain notoriety and life to the given novel, and it may incite curious movie-goers to discover what drives/inspires a given author. Hoping to bridge the distance between author and his/her original material with what may one day make itself onto the screen, this new feature is born. Happy reading! Literally]

This month we feature: It’s Kind of a Funny Story a novel by Ned Vizzini.

When an author pens a novel, it often begins as a film in their own mind. The images run across the screen of their imagination, characters grow and develop and it is the writers job to document what they see. Granted not all writing is so cut and dried, sometimes the process is even more reality based. Take Ned Vizzini’s It’s Kind of a Funny Story. The hilarious and thought provoking novel is based not on experiences limited to the imagination of the author, but to the actual experiences he faced as a teenager trying to cope with the stresses of the world. Vizzini is fortunate to have his work run in a sort of reverse play, from life, to paper, and now to film. It’s Kind of a Funny Story tells of the authors struggle to deal with the stresses of being a modern teenager; parental expectations, career goals, academic and peer pressures. The tale moves the reader through the  choices, judgments and  consequences of a teen who feels pushed over the edge by the demands of his life. Through what could have been one of the worst experiences of his life, he finds inspiration, love and friendship.

The challenge facing Vizzini’s It’s Kind of a Funny Story as it comes to the screen is the transition of the interior thoughts of the main character. Traditionally thoughts have to be presented as a voice over, which is rarely successful – with the due exception of American Beauty – and is a challenge to any director. Potentially the director could translate the interior dialogue into action, or have the character speak to himself or another.

The novel presents as a realistic visage into the closed world of mental illness and the recovery process. The transition to film will be a challenging one, but done well, can prove to be a superb project.

Larry L. Peel: This past May, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Paramount Pictures and MTV Films optioned your novel. Can you elaborate on how this came about, and perhaps describe your initial reaction to the news before it was reported?
Ned Vizzini: My book It’s Kind of A Funny Story was optioned after being shopped around to some interested parties and I’m really lucky to have Paramount Pictures and MTV Films on board with Ryan Fleck and Anna Bowden set to adapt and direct. They did a great job with Half Nelson.

LLP: What does this personally mean to you to have your novel possibly brought to the big screen?
Ned Vizzini: It’s always good to learn that someone wants to make your book into a movie, if only because you can say, “Someone wants to make my book into a movie.”

LLP: Has there been any discussions on what kind of collaboration/participation you might have on the project?
Ned Vizzini: It’s Kind of A Funny Story is being adapted by Ryan and Anna—I’m not writing it. I’m obviously there to help, though, and they’ve shown themselves to be very open to collaboration.

LLP: Did you have a chance to catch Half Nelson or any of their short films?  And what did you think of their work?
Ned Vizzini: I really enjoyed Half Nelson—the best thing about it was how it evoked an inner world without voice-over, which is obviously a consideration with It’s Kind of A Funny Story; when you’re dealing with teen depression and problems that are mostly in a character’s head, how can you show that without just explaining it to the audience? Half Nelson does a great job of depicting inner struggle without overselling it.

LLP: Would you consider yourself an avid moviegoer? What is your favorite book to film translations? What, if any, films have influenced your own views and work?
Ned Vizzini: I go back and forth with movies. Some years, I’ll watch lots of movies; some years I’ll watch practically none. This year I watched ALL the summer movies (my fav. was Live Free or Die Hard) and I have watched The Departed several times since a friend lent it to me. I didn’t like it at first because I was comparing it to GoodFellas, one of my all-time favorites, and didn’t think it stacked up, but now I’ve got to watch GoodFellas again to compare—The Departed is really, really good. (Talk about a depiction of inner struggle.)

When it comes to book-to-film translations, I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings movies like everybody else. My dad has a phrase for good action movies; he used to say it coming out of the theater when I was a kid: “That [movie] delivered the goods.” Those Rings movies definitely delivered the goods.

When it comes to my work, I’m much more influenced by books than films, but basically I have terrible taste in movies: Goldmember, Scary Movie, the early 90s Steven Seagal films. I love the early 90s Steven Seagal films! Why are they not on DVD yet?!

LLP: What facets of your book do you imagine might translate well onto the screen? What facets do you worry about transitioning?
Ned Vizzini: With It’s Kind of A Funny Story, we have a cast of people in a mental hospital who will be great onscreen—different faces, different personalities. That is a major strength. The challenge will be the inner dialogue of hopelessness that Craig has to overcome.

LLP: When a novel is being adapted into a screenplay and then film, there is sometimes a danger that a certain message will be lost. What don’t you want to see “on the cutting room floor”?
Ned Vizzini: With It’s Kind of A Funny Story, I would want to make sure that we still have the nascent sex scene on the mental hospital bed that gets interrupted by the Egyptian patient going, “CHILDREN MAKE SEX IN MY BED!”

LLP: What subtleties or characteristics from It’s Kind of a Funny Story do you imagine might be difficult to retain?
Ned Vizzini: There are a few specific callbacks to Brooklyn—I’m from Brooklyn and I had a good time writing about it in funny and disdainful ways. I think that you should probably cut out those insular references in a film.

LLP: What kind of writing process do you use? What is your writing habit – or your daily grind like?
Ned Vizzini: I have a new and wonderful writing process: I wake up every day and go to the library. I dress in work clothes and consider myself late if I’m not there at 9. Then I have a few hours to make progress before I have to leave and I have to get good work done because I’m in a semi-office environment worried that I’ll go poor.

LLP: When you originally wrote Be More Chill, had you thought that you would one day shape it into a screenplay?
Ned Vizzini: Be More Chill had movie interest from the beginning. I had no experience writing screenplays and another book to think about, so I didn’t attempt it until later. At the time, I wasn’t thinking about writing a screenplay based on the book, no, but now I’m glad I took it on.

LLP: What is the status of the screenplay?
Ned Vizzini: I’ve finished the Be More Chill screenplay with Steve Pink and it’s getting looked over before being shopped to studios.

LLP: How did you like Steve Pink’s Accepted? –and be honest!
Ned Vizzini: Accepted was great and it’s obviously launched two stars (Justin Long and Jonah Hill). Steve’s a great director and he does a great job with all his projects.

LLP: What’s on the horizon – what are your future projects?
Ned Vizzini: I’m currently working on a new novel and everything else is on hold until that’s done. It’s going well and I’m motivated by a new maturity now that I’m 26.

LLP: If you had to narrow this work into one concept or message, what would it be?
Ned Vizzini: It’s Kind of A Funny Story is about turning away from suicide and accepting the will to live—hard to do, sometimes, with all this noise.

LLP: Would you say that the evolution of your novel from print to film has been an overall growth experience for you, or have your previous conceptions of the process been shattered?
Ned Vizzini: The evolution of my novel from print to film, in this case and in Be More Chill, has taught me a lot about the process but at the same time, it’s commonsense stuff—work with good people, deliver what you need to on-time, don’t screw up.

The TV depiction of the whole process being hell is way off—they decline to mention that a lot of movie/TV development deals keep writers fed for a long time.

LLP: Are you looking to move further into the world of film based on your experience thus far with this project? Considering any original screenplays?
Ned Vizzini: In between finishing It’s Kind of A Funny Story and starting this new novel, I came up with many, many novel ideas that didn’t work. I’m going to try to turn one of them into a screenplay now that I have more confidence with the form.

For more upcoming news and thoughts from Ned Vizzini you can visit his personal site at www.nedvizzini.com.