Long before the #MarsLanding was trending in the news, Andy Weir was writing a story called The Martian about an astronaut stranded on Mars; which then became a bestselling book that was adapted into a screenplay by Drew Goddard; which then became a feature film that was nominated for multiple Academy Awards (including Best Adapted Screenplay) - and there, in one paragraph, is the full cycle of a story, from page to screenplay to screen.
Now cue in the new entertainment giants like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon and then fast-forward to a future where stories are no longer born in just one medium and then get "adapted" into another, but rather, they're born as one literary property, say a play or a book, then evolve across the page - from a play to a video game, or a web series, or even a feature film; and each of these new layers add on a whole new side to the story that would have been otherwise impossible to discover had the story just remained in one, singular literary world.
For although it could be said that super franchises like Star Wars and Harry Potter, have already done this and evolved far beyond their original medium - with each new version pushing the boundaries of the original tale. Yet, the future may hold similar evolutions for smaller, non-franchise stories if their writers are willing to invest in going beyond one literary dimension, to grow the story and characters across the page, stage or even digital screens!
And that’s precisely the future that the writers from the Across The Page Club predict and want to help build, and they've started with a small website and Kickstarter campaign to help launch the first and only subscription box for screenwriters, playwrights and cross-genre writers, aimed at helping them dissect the science behind their art across the full evolution of a story.
Imagine then, receiving a box that not only features Weir's book but also includes a copy of Goddard's screenplay, as well as the actual film DVD! The Across The Page newsletter might feature interviews with the authors themselves or other industry professionals involved, as they explain the process of working on a story across these multiple genres and platforms. Next month, another box, another full evolution of a different tale - and a few exclusive boxes might even include an author-signed material in addition to a surprise, story-inspired gift.
The Across The Page team envisions these writers, authors, screenwriters, and playwright members, meeting up for coffee or tea and discussing the differences and subtleties that each new story version brings to the table or takes away from the original tale. They want to help spread the idea that writers don't have to wait anymore for a Network Exec to buy their story to be able to transform them across these multiple platforms. It's just a matter of wanting to push your story beyond the expected norms, for the word is certainly mightier than the Network Executives' purchasing budgets.
Will Across The Page meet their crowd-funding goal and be able to send out that first box in January 2019 as promised? Or are they a little too ahead of the game and the literary world is not ready just yet? Well, the Kickstarter campaign launched on Cyber Monday and ends this December 31st, 2018, so like any good story, we'll just have to wait and see if the writers from Across The Page got the timing right on this one.
If you’d like more info, visit their website @ acrossthepage.club and make sure to click on the Writer's Room link for a touch of comedy. Or if you'd like to help fund their Kickstarter campaign in return for some extra freebies and discounts, you can visit the crowd-funding project HERE. If you're an influencer and would like a sneak peek at the January box, go ahead and contact them at admin@acrossthepage.club.
But no matter the outcome, just opening the topic up for discussion has already sparked some of us to start thinking "outside the box," if you'll pardon the (very cliché) pun. So if you’re a cross-genre/cross-platform writer, then the future is definitely looking exceedingly bright.
