David Sedaris Meets Silver Screen with C.O.G. Film
It’s early days, but I am cautiously optimistic this might come to fruition – at last, at last (a mighty huzzah!), it looks as though some of David Sedaris‘ brilliant, caustic and hilarious writing might find its way to a movie theater.
The project is an adaptation of Sedaris’ essay called “C.O.G.”, from the 1997 collection Naked, from writer-director Kyle Patrick Alvarez. Alvarez is so far little-known, but his 2009 directorial debut, Easier Than Practice, impressed critics and earned him an Indie Spirit Award in the “Someone to Watch” category.
I loved C.O.G. when I read it. Sedaris wrote it about the time he spent working as an apple-picker in Oregon orchards in the 1980s, and the wonderful and alarming people he encountered along the way. I remember it the characters being almost cartoonish, but Sedaris’ writing is such that I bought into it wholly and laughed my way through the whole thing.
What is exciting is this, in two parts: 1) David Sedairs, to now, has flat-out refused to allow any of his work to be adapted for screenplay; and 2) It was Alvarez himself, with a visit to Sedaris on his book tour, and an impassioned six-page email follow-up, who convinced the author to let him proceed.
Shooting is slated to start in October 2012. I am crossing fingers and toes that this goes forward and makes it.
If you’ve never read Naked, I recommend it very highly – that, Me Talk Pretty One Day and Holidays On ice are my favourite Sedaris collections.
via indiewire.com
My favorite Sedaris is Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (or is it Denim and Corduroy?). Each essay is a pleasure unto itself, but the way they are collected and arranged is artful and lends power to his vision of personal and universal family life.
That was a great one too, ALM – and a heck of a title.