An ADAPTATION, as the term is used in the film industry, is simply a screenplay that has been created from another literary source. Most typically, this source is a published or unpublished novel; film adaptations can also be created from scripts originally intended for live stage productions. In recent years, many very successful feature films have been adaptations of comic books or graphic novels. Television shows or series also very often serve as the source for film adaptations.

There are two key elements that must be addressed in the adaptation process. First, it must be determined how closely the film adaptation will mimic the characters and storyline found in the original work. This element varies greatly from film to film; there is no single approach that works best across the board. Each work must be considered as unique and to be successful the process must be skillfully tailored specifically for that source material.

Secondly, the writer or writers creating the adaptation must successfully transform the source work into a presentation format that is quite different from the original. While this may seem like a mechanical task to those outside the industry, it is far from it. Many very successful novels have failed as adaptations on the big screen, not because the story wasn’t told, but because the creative elements conveyed in the original written words simply were not properly translated as they were presented in the new medium.