Dennis Lehane Short Story Becomes a Film and a Novel

FIU MFA alumnus Dennis Lehane's The Drop, now out as both a novel from William Morrow and a film from Fox Searchlight Pictures, began as the short story "Animal Rescue," first published in Akashic Books' Boston Noir and chosen for Best American Mystery Stories 2010. Lehane wrote the screenplay for the film, in which the action moves to New York City, but the novel stays in Boston's Dorchester.  Publisher's Weekly calls the novel a "gritty gem," and The Guardian says, "“He has reworked [the story] into a smart, grubby and thoroughly enjoyable novel to coincide with the film's release.”

Photo: Radio Boston

What is it like to write both the screenplay and the novel? Lehane discusses the differences in an interview with Boston Magazine. You can watch the trailer for the film which co-stars Tom Hardy and James Galdolfini, here.

Pain & Gain by Pete Collins, Now a Paramount Film

Pete Collins on the red carpet

Opening this Friday, April 26th, the Paramount Pictures film Pain & Gain is based on the writing of Pete Collins, part of his MFA thesis of creative nonfiction crime stories about South Florida con men. Pain & Gain is drawn from what the Miami Herald calls Collins' "an epic three-part story" that was published by the Miami New Times. Other pieces by Collins (which he refers to as "jailhouse yarns") in his thesis were published in the Herald's Tropic Magazine and then picked up by Sixty Minutes and Dateline.

Director Michael Bay (Transformers) describes Pain & Gain as "a mixture of Fargo and PulpFiction. It's a dark comedy, and it's all true."  Shot entirely in South Florida, Pain & Gain stars  Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie as members of the Sun Gym gang, bodybuilders who turned, ineptly, to kidnapping, extortion, torture, and murder. Tony Shalhoub plays a victim who survived attempted murder and Ed Harris the detective he turned to for help. Playboy says, "An early candidate for the guy flick of 2013, Pain & Gain is violent, deeply nasty and insanely funny."  The original series can be found online at the New Times, where you can also read Pete Collins' recent (wry and hilarious) essay about his journey from being "broke, jobless, and near bottom" to the red carpet and seeing his name in the movie ads.  More about Pete Collins and his current projects on his website.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/20/3353317/pain-gain-revisits-a-horrific.html#storylink=cp