‘Audiences are always drawn first and foremost to the emotional conflict between characters. That remains true even of massive-budget movies. In the end, when you listen to audiences leaving the cinema, they’re talking about people. And it’s true of adaptations, too, however large the canvas.’

Alistair Owen, author of The Art of Screen Adaptation, talks to BAFTA-winning screenwriter Jeremy Brock (The Last King of Scotland) about adapting fact and fiction for the big and small screen – and adapting as a screenwriter to the Covid world – 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

Jeremy Brock is a screenwriter, playwright, director – and co-creator of the BBC series Casualty, now in its 35th year and the longest running returning drama series in the world.

His subsequent original film and television work includes: The Widowmaker (1991), 15: The Life and Death of Philip Knight (1993), Mrs Brown (1997), Plotlands (1998), I Am Slave(2010), Diana & I (2017) and the semi-autobiographical feature film Driving Lessons (2005), which he also directed.

His screen adaptation credits include: Charlotte Gray (2001, from the novel by Sebastian Faulks), The Last King of Scotland (2006, from the novel by Giles Foden), Brideshead Revisited (2008, from the novel by Evelyn Waugh), The Eagle (2011, from the novel The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff) and Dark Crimes (2016, based on the article True Crime: A Postmodern Murder Mystery by David Grann).

Jeremy won the 1998 Evening Standard Best Screenplay Award forMrs Brown, was co-winner of the 2007 BAFTA Best Adapted Screenplay Award for The Last King of Scotland, and in 2017 was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for “exceptional accomplishments” in the field of motion pictures.

📷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 Out and 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: Jeremy Brock in conversation with Alistair Owen