Lisa O'Donnell's "Closed Doors"

Lisa O'Donnell won the Orange Screenwriting Prize in 2000 for The Wedding Gift and, in the same year, was nominated for the Dennis Potter New Screenwriters Award. Her debut novel, The Death of Bees, was the winner of the 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize.

Here O'Donnell dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Closed Doors:

Closed Doors has a lot of children in it and so I guess a director who is accustomed to working with children would be ideal. I am a big Jim Sheridan fan and I cite him all the time when asked this question. He works well with kids. My Left Foot, In America and Dream House. I also think Alan Parker would be equally amazing. Angela’s Ashes was an excellent interpretation of the book. Ideally you want a filmmaker who can take any kid and turn them into the characters created by the writer and that’s hard. Working with children isn’t easy.

I’d love Emily Watson to play Ma. Colm Meany to play Da and Phyllida Law to play Granny. I love her and we don’t see enough of her on screen. She’s from Glasgow and her performance in The Winter Guest where she plays opposite her daughter Emma Thompson is really special.

Learn more about the book and author at Lisa O'Donnell's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Death of Bees.

Writers Read: Lisa O'Donnell.

The Page 69 Test: Closed Doors.

--Marshal Zeringue