Author Sells Film Rights to DreamWorks Animation
Chris Gall Talks About His Dinosaur Picture Book Dinotrux
May 25, 2009
Dinosaur pictures get a new look in Chris Gall’s Dinotrux, an engaging dinosaur picture book about prehistoric monster trucks. Now, DreamWorks Animation has purchased film rights to Dinotrux and is developing a 3D animated movie based on the book.
Suite 101 spoke to Chris Gall via an April 22, 2009 phone interview and got the story behind Dinotrux. The following is an edited version of the interview.
How did you come up with the idea for Dinotrux?
CG: Dinotrux came to me when I was sitting in traffic – they were widening the I-10 and had dozens of these big yellow earthmover trucks lumbering around. The more I watched them, the more I thought, “Boy, look at those big treads on the tires and those grumbling noises – they sure remind me of dinosaurs!”
And I thought – what if trucks weren’t just things people made but creatures that evolved from primitive versions of themselves? What would they have been like millions of years ago?
So the book itself is about creatures like Dozeratops, Garbageadon, and Tyrannosaurus Trux who embody behaviors like messiness, stubbornness, and bad temper – the whole parable being that, like children who have to grow up and become more civilized, these trucks evolved into the helpful trucks we know today.
How did DreamWorks Animation discover Dinotrux?
CG: Well it’s very unusual that picture books get made into movies because they’re so short and don’t come with a fleshed-out story. So if a movie house acquires a picture book they have a lot of work to do to turn it into a screenplay – whereas if they acquire a YA book like Twilight, a lot of that stuff is very clear in their minds.
Nevertheless animation companies like DreamWorks and Pixar are starting to look outside for new properties. And they have people who get a bead on things that are coming out and decide whether or not they sound like movies. And that’s what happened to me before the book even came out. I have an agent who handles my film rights who met with a representative from DreamWorks who liked the idea [of Dinotrux].
At first they just wanted to just buy the option – which is when a movie house says, “We’re interested in your book and might make it into a movie someday – but we want to retain rights to it so nobody else can make it into a movie in the meantime.” It doesn’t cost them much – and they can tie up a book for years until the option expires, you get the rights back, and have to go through that again.
We weren’t interested in that because we believed Dinotrux had so much appeal that somebody would inevitably commit to making the movie. So we stuck to our guns and five months later, after lots of negotiation, DreamWorks committed to the full buyout of the movie.
Will you have control over the movie’s story and character design?
CG: I negotiated in the contract what are called “Meaningful Consultation Rights for Screenplay and Character Development” And that means they have to keep me informed of all developments and listen to my input. It’s meant to be a benefit for everyone. But the caveat is that if there’s a dispute, then DreamWorks’ opinion rules – and it really has to be that way because they know how to make movies!
Would you be interested in writing screenplays?
CG: Definitely! I’ve been a movie buff my whole life. Someone, I think it was Michael Crichton, once said everybody has a different avenue into the world of entertainment. There are no set rules on how you get there. And for me this exposure to DreamWorks has really opened that door for me. It’s just one step at a time.
Read more interviews with famous authors at From Commercial Artist to Picture Book Author, Science Fiction Author Creates New Computer Game and Storyteller Shares Thoughts on Children's Books.
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