The beginning of Book Club
A rather unconventional conversation that gave way to an incredible journey.

Bill: It was Mother’s Day 2012 and I didn’t have a gift for my mother. Flowers are always a safe default but I really wanted to send something more, I don’t know, fun. It happened to be right around the time the titillating trilogy 50 Shades was lighting up kindles and libidos all across the globe. I thought – bingo – my mother will love this. So, off to the bookstore I raced and then back to the office for a shipping label. Erin and I were working together at the time and …

Erin: I remember, he came bounding back into the office with a bookstore bag

Bill: I’m not sure I was bounding, but perhaps hustling victoriously to quickly and discreetly package up the books and ship them off…

Erin: When I saw what he was sending

Bill: – her jaw hit the floor and she ridiculed me…

Erin: Well, I mean, who sends that to their mother?

Bill: You do?

Erin: Touché.

Bill: See, after Erin saw what I was doing she decided she would do the same thing.

Erin: True. But my initial reaction was, “Wow, that’s an inappropriate gift for a son to give his mother.”

Bill: Yes, but within minutes you were sending the trilogy to your mother and stepmother as well.

Erin: How could I resist?

Bill: This led to a conversation about how each of our mothers would respond to the randy sex novels…

Erin: And from that conversation Book Club was born.

Bill: All we had to do was write it.

Erin: Yes. The easy part.

Bill: Ha yes. To quote the great James L. Brooks: “Screenwriting is no more complicated than old French torture chambers, I think. It’s about as simple as that.”

Erin: True story.

Our rather unconventional conversation gave way to a much more traditional process starting with a cursor blinking on a blank screen…which became a screen filled with words…and now miraculously those words are being brought to life on a much bigger screen. It’s been an incredible journey – one we are endlessly grateful for. See you at the movies…

Book Club is out in cinemas from 1 June 2018.