Mariam

Slightly surreal career update for those following along: A film for which I wrote all the US-release dialogue is currently tracking at sixth in the Oscar race for Best Animated Feature, meaning it has a real shot at a nomination. In Waves is a French film about Southern California young adults, adapted from a graphic novel by AJ Dungo. It was written and produced in French, and when it came time for distribution I was hired to take the French dialogue and the literal translations and rewrite it into a naturalistic English script. It's a tricky process with a lot of considerations. I think my own Southern California teenage years definitely helped me here with finding the vernacular and the flow. I believe Miyazaki once said of Neil Gaiman's adaptation of Princess Mononoke that the English fit the lip flap even better than the original Japanese. I try to hold myself to that bar as far as adaptation standards…but of course the retention of meaning and the natural flow come first. Anyway, my script got recorded by Will Sharpe and Stephanie Hsu, and the film got picked up by Netflix. It seems like Netflix really believes in the film and they are taking it on tour all month. From what I understand, the English version, my version, is the one that's playing in US theaters and the one that they are sending to critics as a screener. I'm not exactly sure if the English version is the one they'll submit for awards season, but I think it's likely. It's a little bizarre to be in this position when I've spent so much time on the utterly independent side of entertainment, and it's even more surreal to have done it without representation or WGA membership. I'm grateful to Verité Entertainment, who brought me in on this. I think it's my best adaptation work, and I'm very proud of how it all turned out. René Veilleux did a great job directing the English performances. Believe me, I will keep you posted as things progress.