‘City of Ember’ Premieres in Manhattan
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By Nancy Gallt -- Publishers Weekly, 10/9/2008
This past Tuesday night, I found myself sitting in a dark movie theater, waiting with some trepidation for a project that had been long in the works. Jeanne DuPrau’s manuscript, The City of Ember, had arrived at my newly opened office nine years ago along with a flood of other slush. I was just starting out, not that confident that what I liked would be saleable, reluctant to be enthusiastic in the face of critical editors. Jeanne’s novel about a city dying in the dark stood out for both its setting and her characters—the brave, resourceful and thoughtful Doon and Lina. It almost glowed in the dark
Fortunately, several editors agreed. There was a modest auction and the book went to Jim Thomas at Random House. The Random House marketing team did one of the most innovative and interesting launches I’d seen for a book—the invitation to a pre-pub author dinner mimicked the fragmented Instructions for Egress that Lina and Doon puzzle out to escape the city. And movie people got interested.
It was somewhat surprising to me that there was so much film interest early on for The City of Ember. It is a wonderful book, but its sales have built the way many children’s books do—slowly and over time. Hollywood speaks in opening weekends and millions in revenue and doesn’t seem to understand that book publishing operates on a different scale. It’s also surprising because Ember is about the encroaching darkness. One of the most memorable moments in the book is when Lina loses her little sister during an eight-minute blackout. How are you going to portray that without having the theatres’ exit signs ruin the effect?
It’s been my experience that authors have a difficult time letting go of the book they’ve created, and Hollywood doesn’t help. When Jeanne and I read the screenplay, we were both concerned that the subtleties of the book had been lost in translation. The director, Gil Kenan, was responsive to many of Jeanne’s concerns, but the difference between the two media made some of the changes essential as far as he was concerned, so we resigned ourselves to wait and see.
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Bill Murray as the Mayor of Ember. |
Now the big night had finally arrived—the premiere. Jeanne wouldn’t be there, though a special screening had been arranged for her and her friends closer to her home, and a friend at PW had invited me. We got there early, as she is an old hand at this and knew good seats might not be reserved for the press or agent. Security was tighter than the Random House front lobby; cell phones were confiscated at the door. There were free sodas and popcorn. There was a buzz of excitement, a red carpet, a round of flashes as the stars made their appearances. Susan Sarandon sitting in the seats marked Robbins! As the lights went down, Bill Murray made a dramatic entrance wearing a miner’s hat.
I felt a flush of pride. I was the first person in the room to have read The City of Ember. All these people were here because Jeanne had written a great book and I’d been fortunate enough to recognize it.
The movie was great! The cast and acting were wonderful, in keeping with the characters of the book. The set was just as I’d imagined Ember would look. The simplification of the puzzle and the addition of a subplot
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Tim Robbins as Loris, being interrogated by the Ember police. © Keith Hamshere for Walden Media and Twentieth Century Fox. |
I whooped when Jeanne’s name came up in the credits. Of course it isn’t the book, and that’s a good thing. We want people to read the book, after all—long after the movie is available on DVD in the bargain aisle at the supermarket and Hollywood has gone on to the next thing.
On the way out, Tim Robbins walked by us as we waited to claim our cell phones. I yelled “good job!” He looked over his shoulder, grinned, and said “thanks.” No, thank you, I should have said.
Nancy Gallt runs the Nancy Gallt Literary Agency. City of Ember opens nationwide on Friday.
