Joan Didion New York Essay to Be Feature Film

Posted on March 18, 2015

Joan Didion's classic essay "Goodbye to All That" is going to be turned into a feature film. Deadline reports that the essay has been optioned by Carlson Sullivan Pictures LLC, the new venture of producers Megan Carlson and Brian Sullivan. Ms. Didion's essay was the original in what eventually became its own subgenre: the literary essay about falling in love with New York City, then eventually leaving it, weary and heartbroken.

Ms. Didion made her way from California to New York city in her early 20s. She was supposed to stay for a few months. She ended up staying eight years before she finally left to return to California with her husband John Gregory Dunne. Her essay covers the entire time she was there: from her naivite, her job as an assistant editor at Vogue and all she grew to love and loathe about the city that never sleeps.

Mr. Sullivan said in a statement, "It's been a dream of mine for years to bring this essay to the screen. I tried to option it as a student when I was at the San Francisco Art Institute and was turned down. It's been a part of my being for 40 years, and then the planets aligned and here we are. The moment has come for Goodbye To All That. He and Ms. Carlson worked together for many years at George Lucas' ILM before forming their own production company. They said they are looking for a female writer and director to move the project forward.

Ms. Dunne's career shows no signs of slowing down. Her 1977 novel, A Book of Common Prayer is being adapted into a feature film. A new documentary about Ms. Dunne is being directed by her nephew Griffin Dunne and Susanne Rostock. The documentary will be called "We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live." She is also breaking ground in a new direction. She is the new face of Celine and is currently starring in an ad campaign for the fashion house.