Jonsberg - H is for Happiness

Another wonderful and heartwarming comedy drama from award-winning author Barry Jonsberg.

Winner, Best Young Adult Fiction, Indie Book Awards 2019

Book of the Year, Older Readers, Notables, CBCA Awards 2019

Give this book to everybody it is urgent fiction and a true must-read. Books+Publishing

Dealing subtly with a range of topicsthis is a moving, witty and endearing narrative Highly recommended. Magpies

Many books are optioned for films, but very few actually make it onto the big screen. So, when I heard that My Life as an Alphabet had been optioned by a screenwriter, I didnt get overly excited. Even when I found out that the screenplay placed fourth out of a thousand entries in an international screenwriting competition, I tried to be realistic.

Competitions are one thing, finding funding of millions of dollars is something else entirely. Then Julie Ryan of Cyan films got involved. Julie is a legend in Australian film-making and produced the iconic movie Red Dog. This was significant (and yes, slightly exciting) but I still carried on writing the next book. Ill allow myself to dream when the funding is found, I said to myself. Then I got a call from Lisa Hoppe, the screenwriter, to tell me that Screen Australia was putting up money and that the film would definitely happen (later, other funding bodies joined the party).

Interestingly, I received that call in the southern part of WA where I was doing school visits, only forty or fifty kilometres from where the film would eventually be shot. Now I got excited! I made two phone calls one to my wife, Nita, who was shocked but thrilled and the second to Angela Namoi who had brokered the deal for me and Allen & Unwin. To be honest, I think Angela was a bit shocked as well (and equally thrilled).

I read the screenplay and was delighted at the way Lisa had adapted my book for the screen. Lisa confessed she was worried I wouldnt like her treatment, that some authors can get very protective of their words and characters, but I assured her I understood that different media require different treatments. And her screenplay was absolutely true to the heart and spirit of the book.

I was invited down to Albany, WA where the film was scheduled to be shot and shown the mood board that director John Sheedy had compiled, outlining his vision for the movie. It was a mood board saturated and vibrant with colour. I also learned that I had been given a cameo role in the film Mr Coolidge, the school principal who introduces Douglas Benson From Another Dimension into Candices class. Although John Sheedy gave me no specific direction (to be fair, Im in the film for two seconds in a long shot and have no dialogue) I did a Robert de Niro and immersed myself in the character for a couple of months. I decided he would be an old, overweight idiot and I think the finished product shows how well I delivered that brief.

News of the cast began to leak Richard Roxburgh as Dad, Joel Jackson as Rich Uncle Brian, Emma Booth as Mum and Miriam Margolyes as Miss Bamford (the amazing Deb Mailman was a later addition). I must admit I was a little overwhelmed by the quality of the stars assembled. Later I found out that director John Sheedy sent love letters to the cast telling them why they were crucial to his vision for the film.

Finally, after an exhaustive nationwide search, the two leading roles were cast. Daisy Axon as Candice and Wesley Patten as Douglas Benson From Another Dimension. Obviously, I knew nothing about these children but Lisa Hoppe sent me some pictures. Daisy looked gorgeously dorky and I knew she was the right choice for the quirky Candice Phee. Wesley, an indigenous boy, had previously made a short film with John Sheedy Mrs McCutcheon, which won a swathe of awards both here and internationally. I watched that short film and was blown away by his acting and by Sheedys direction. John later told me he had never worked with such a charismatic child actor before. Everything was set. Now the film had to be made.

Nita and I travelled to Albany in November 2018 and met up with Angela Namoi and her husband Scott (both Nita and Scott are extras in the climactic hall scene they sit together on the far left of the screen as seen from Candices POV). It was surreal to meet my characters and even more surreal to act in a scene with Miriam Margolyes, who has always been a screen favourite. My two seconds of screen time took four hours to film (nothing compared to the twelve hours it took for the hall scene later on). During a break, John Sheedy told me how Miriam would fart in front of the children in the classroom. Not only that, but shed give a countdown. She is as outrageous in real life as she is in character. Since the filming, she has visited us twice in Darwin. Dont forget your fat friend, she said as I dropped her off at her hotel. We couldnt, if we wanted. Which we dont.

We watched the filming for a week and were mightily impressed by John Sheedys direction and the acting ability of Daisy and Wesley. Everyone treated us with great kindness and made us feel incredibly welcome. This was not something they had to do. Id written the book six years before and my job was done. Theyd bought the rights and didnt have to speak to me if they didnt want to. But we were all made to feel part of the team and I will always be grateful for that. I felt the film was going to be special and certainly cast and crew felt the same way. The backdrop of Albany was spectacular. As John said, the town is a character in H is for Happiness in its own right.

We returned to Darwin and I tried to forget the film (yeah, right!). I knew it was going to have its world premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August 2019 and that post-production had started. That all takes place behind closed doors, so there was no news at all. Then the first stills were released and then the teaser trailer. This was followed by interviews with cast and crew. LevelK, the international distributors, took a teaser of the film to the Cannes Film Festival (it later announced it is taking the film to the Toronto International Film Festival). MIFF was making the film its centrepiece Gala family production, complete with red carpet and a miniature horse in attendance. My sister travelled from the UK to see the premiere, along with my brother from Brisbane and my niece and all my Darwin family, plus author friends like Scot Gardner, Will Kostakis and David Legge. The premiere was sold out. 1200 people watched as John Sheedy led cast onto the stage, including me, and introduced us all. Then we watched.

At the end of the film the whole audience cheered and applauded. Afterwards I was introduced to the man who is writing the screenplay for A Song Only I Can Hear. Yes, Julie Ryan has optioned it for a film. Yes, John Sheedy is on board to direct it. I said to Julie, Ill get excited when theres funding. She replied, I dont take on projects I cant fund.

Looks like there could be more excitement to come. But, (apologies to Julie Ryan) Ill still wait for the funding

Barry Jonsberg, author of My Life as an Alphabet, published by Allen & Unwin, February 2013.

H is for Happiness premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August 2019. General release in Australia scheduled for early 2020.