Film Treatment/Concept (for NYU/Columbia apps) - Is an adaptation frowned upon?

[nycactor7467]

Hey everyone,

I know that it's permissible to write a treatment of an adaptation rather than an original story for these two schools, but does anyone know if they frown on it? I have really great idea for an adaptation I'd love to develop one day, but I'm worried that will seem lesser than in the eyes of these schools. Any thoughts?

 

[catmom]

I wouldn't recommend doing an adaptation unless the source material is in the public domain.

 

[llueve]

I also wonder... and this is just my opinion, Does this adaptation concept best represent the unique kind of work you want to make after your MFA?

Maybe it does. Maybe your personal statement is about how (random example) Latinx identities have been left out of the American canon, so you want to infuse classic stories with Latinx elements, intervene in the canon. So for your treatment, you pitch a thoroughly Chicanx adaptation of a classic of American entertainment like The Headless Horseman or of The Little Mermaid (both public domain).

But maybe it doesn't, because your focus isn't folk tales or classics or intervening in the canon, and so your application is best served by pitching an original story instead of an adaptation. That's my thinking on it anyway.