The Looking for Alaska Thing

2018-10-31 · story · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Personal update · tags: self promotion, timely hook, calendar ritual

On the day after it was announced (30 October 2018) that Kristine Froseth and Charlie Plummer were cast in the Hulu series of Looking for Alaska, John tells the 13-year road of its adaptation: the 2005 film-rights sale that paid for his move to New York, years of failed and cancelled film attempts, and Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage's revival of it as a limited series. Along the way he says the point of writing is to matter to those who find it, not to sell.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Pizzamas day 3; casting of Kristine Froseth and Charlie Plummer in the Hulu Looking for Alaska series

★★★ John says it was announced yesterday (30 October 2018) that Kristine Froseth and Charlie Plummer have been cast as the leads in the eight-episode Hulu adaptation of Looking for Alaska. — 00:00:02 · Looking for Alaska (novel)

00:00:15 — 2005: Looking for Alaska published, engagement to Sarah, money worries about moving to New York

★★ John recalls that Looking for Alaska was published in March 2005, when he was 28 and living in Chicago. — 00:00:15 · Looking for Alaska (novel), Chicago (city)
★★ John says he and Sarah, dating almost a year, got engaged that summer on the day she learned she would attend graduate school in New York City; he had thanked 'the lovely Sarah Urist' in the book. — 00:00:20 · Sarah Urist Green, New York City
★★ John says it was unclear how they could afford two years in New York: the book was selling okay, but not quit-your-job okay. (playful) — 00:00:33 · Looking for Alaska (novel), New York City

00:00:43 — Side note: the point of writing is to matter to those who find a book, not sales

★★★ John says the point of writing is not to sell a million copies or last a hundred years, but to write something that matters to those who find it. (hedged) — 00:00:43
★★ John says many long out-of-print books are still candles in the darkness for him: maybe not widely read anymore, but they still matter. — 00:00:54

00:01:00 — Film-rights sale without reversion clause, Josh Schwartz's script, the dead film, the cancelled post-TFIOS film

★★★ John says Hollywood suddenly took interest: in one day he was paid three times his annual salary for the movie rights, which let them move to New York and bought him time to write. — 00:01:10 · Looking for Alaska (novel), New York City
★★ John says the deal had no reversion clause, so the studio would own the rights forever, and he understood what he was doing. — 00:01:26
★★ John says Josh Schwartz, who makes TV with Stephanie Savage, was first attached to write the screenplay and wrote an excellent script, but the studio wanted changes, mostly to make it less like the book. — 00:01:38
★★ John says it is easy to paint Hollywood producers and executives as cartoon villains, and some are, but it is really hard to get any movie made, let alone a good one. (hedged) — 00:01:50
★★ John says no one would fund it, so the Alaska movie was dead until 2014, when The Fault in Our Stars became a very successful movie. — 00:02:05 · The Fault in Our Stars (film)
★★ John says everyone on The Fault in Our Stars movie, studio included, cared so much about the book that the process made him really want an Alaska movie. — 00:02:16 · The Fault in Our Stars (film)
★★★ John says the studio hired great screenwriters and a director, then cancelled the movie at the last minute; heartbroken and angry, he told them he was out. — 00:02:26

00:02:49 — Revival as an eight-episode Hulu limited series by Josh and Stephanie; auditions, gratitude; sign-off

★★★ John says a producer friend proposed that Josh and Stephanie, long the book's champions, make it with more time than a film, so it became an eight-episode Hulu limited series. — 00:02:49
★★ John says this time the series is really going to happen, he thinks. (hedged) — 00:03:17
★★ John says the series is not his but belongs to Stephanie and Josh, as it should; they have welcomed him into every aspect, including sending him the audition tapes. — 00:03:20
★★ John says both actors cast as Alaska and Miles embodied the characters for him in surprising, overwhelming ways, and both had read and cared about the book years ago. — 00:03:27
★★ John says who knows how the show will turn out, but he is excited and grateful to everyone who stuck with it through 13 long years. — 00:03:41
★ John notes the two leads were little kids when the book came out; he doesn't believe in fate, but calls it good fortune that the story waited for them. — 00:03:49

In the description and comments

★★ In the description John congratulates the two leads, whose auditions blew him away, and restates his gratitude to the producers, Josh and Stephanie, Hulu and Paramount TV. — video description

Threads in this video

milestone · Looking for Alaska limited series on Hulu (2018) — John says it was announced yesterday that Kristine Froseth and Charlie Plummer have been cast as the leads in the eight-episode Hulu adaptation of Looking for Alaska. (00:00:02)
told · John sells the Looking for Alaska film rights for three times his salary, paying for his and Sarah's move to New York (2005) — John says Hollywood suddenly took interest: in one day he was paid three times his annual salary for the movie rights, which let them move to New York and bought him time to write. (00:01:10)
looked back · Looking for Alaska film adaptation in development (2007) — John recounts the film's history: rights sold forever in 2005, Josh Schwartz's script changed by the studio, the film dead until 2014, then revived and cancelled at the last minute. (00:02:26)
restate · Does commercial success or reach measure how good or valuable a work is? — John says the point of writing is not to sell a million copies or last a hundred years, but to write something that matters to those who find it. (00:00:43)
predicted · John: the Looking for Alaska Hulu series will really happen this time (2018) — John says this time the series is really going to happen, he thinks. (00:03:17)
came true · John: Looking for Alaska may never be made into a movie (2016) — John says the studio hired great screenwriters and a director, then cancelled the movie at the last minute; heartbroken and angry, he told them he was out. (00:02:26)

Where the stories that moved here went next

John: Looking for Alaska may never be made into a movie (2016) — came true
John: the Looking for Alaska Hulu series will really happen this time (2018) — came true
Looking for Alaska limited series on Hulu (2018) — completed; last: looked back, 2024-02-06

Mentioned

Central: Looking for Alaska (film) · Looking for Alaska (miniseries) · Looking for Alaska (novel)

Also: People: Charlie Plummer · Kristine Froseth · Sarah Urist Green

Projects: Pizzamas

Works: The Fault in Our Stars (film)

Organizations: Hulu

Places: Chicago (city) · Hollywood · New York City

Characters: Alaska Young · Miles Halter

Only in the description or credits: Josh Schwartz · Paramount Television · Stephanie Savage

Also centred on Looking for Alaska (film): Brotherhood 2.0: May 16: Beating the EBO into the ground · Travel Tips (and Paper Towns Movie Updates) · Some News · The Looking for Alaska Movie, Davos, and Hufflepuff Shade: It's Question Tuesday

Also centred on Looking for Alaska (miniseries): Looking for Alaska Movie (BUT BETTER) and YouTuber Things · Going Home with Alaska and Miles · Question Tuesday with Miles and the Colonel: Manolo! · Looking for Alaska (...with Alaska) · I'm Having a Lot of Feelings

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