‘He never went to see movies he drove for, but sometimes, after hanging out with screenwriters, who tended to be the other guys on set with nothing much to do for most of the day, he’d read the books they were based on’ – James Sallis, Drive

Alistair Owen, author of The Art of Screen Adaptation, talks to Oscar-nominated screenwriter Hossein Amini about the challenges and pleasures of adapting James Sallis’s acclaimed noir thriller Drive to the big screen, in this free and exclusive Q&A.

'A formidable repository of knowledge and experience, and a great resource for fledgling screenwriters and film fans alike' – Roger Michell, writer/director of My Cousin Rachel

‘A masterclass in reverse engineering, this book should go straight onto mandatory reading lists for screenwriting courses everywhere’ – Daniel Rosenthal, author of 100 Shakespeare Films and The National Theatre Story

'A fascinating selection of new interviews. The likes of (a riotously entertaining) Sarah Phelps, David Nicholls and David Hare offer penetrating insights into both the craft of adaptation and their working processes, while Owen’s well-judged questions elicit valuable in-depth responses’ – Alexander Larman, Observer

‘Every bit as good as @alistairwriter’s Story and Character and his books on Bruce Robinson and Christopher Hampton’ @SabotageFilms on Twitter

‘Alistair Owen has done writers a huge service with this book. He has uncovered a commonality of experience amongst experts in the field that will hopefully serve as a blueprint for those of us contemplating adaptations as part of our portfolios… Refreshingly free of jargon, this is highly accessible to writers at all stages of their careers’ Elinor Perry-Smith, Lock and load brides of Christ on Blogspot

📷Hossein Amini is a screenwriter who was nominated for an Oscar for his adaptation of Henry James' classic novel The Wings of the Dove. He has also written Jude, based on the novel by Thomas Hardy, which won the Edinburgh Film Festival prize for Best British Film.

In 2011 he wrote the screenplay for Drive, based on the novel by James Sallis, which was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the BAFTA award for Best Film.

In 2014 Hossein made his directorial debut with his own adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's The Two Faces of January, starring Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst and Oscar Isaac. His limited series, The Alienist, adapted from the novel by Caleb Carr, premiered on TNT in January 2018. His critically acclaimed series McMafia, based on the nonfiction book by Misha Glenny, also premiered in January 2018 on BBC One, and he is currently working on the second series.

📷Alistair Owen is the author of Smoking in Bed: Conversations with Bruce Robinson (one of David Hare’s Books of the Year in the Guardian), Story and Character: Interviews with British Screenwriters and Hampton on Hampton (one of Craig Raine’s Books of the Year in the Observer).

He has chaired Q&A events at the Hay Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival and London Screenwriters’ Festival, and his platform with Christopher Hampton in the Lyttelton Theatre to celebrate Faber’s 75th anniversary was published in Faber Playwrights at the National Theatre.

Alistair has written original and adapted screenplays, on spec and to commission; contributed film reviews to Time Outand film book reviews to the Independent on Sunday; and recently published his first novel, The Vetting Officer.

His next nonfiction project is a book of conversations with novelist, screenwriter, playwright and director William Boyd, for Penguin.

The Art of Screen Adaptation: Hossein Amini in conversation with Alistair Owen