Hello everyone, my name is Stephanie Batailler. I’m a writer and a filmmaker.
What are OhlalaLand Stories?
OhlalaLand Stories are stories in the genre of Fantasy that bring my two passions together: Books and Cinema.
Firstly, OhlalaLand Stories are books. At the moment, these books are fantasy short stories that I have written. I am also developing stories for comic books series. My goal, down the road, is for OhlalaLand, to have other writers, filmmakers, and creative artists joining me on this adventure.
Secondly, OhlalaLand Stories are books that would eventually become films.
You see, I’ve created OhlalaLand Stories in order to take control of my life. I had enough of emailing résumé and/or scripts to film studios without ever receiving any response. I don’t have big films credentials so why would the studios respond to me or invest in me anyway? I get that. Making movies is a business-that is why it is called: the movie business.
To get attention from the studios you need to have a product or a name that has already proven its value in marketing and profitability, and often you need both. Hence, most of today’s Hollywood movie hits are franchises and shot by famous movie directors and A-List cast.
What do franchises mean? It means that these films are based on an original work such as:
- a previous film – Rambo, Star Wars, Terminator;
- a work of literature, a short story or a novel – Planet of the Apes, James Bond, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Twilight, Divergent, a comic book – all the Marvel Comics, Spider-Man,Wolverine, Iron Man, X-Men, the Avengers…;
- or video games – Mortal Kombat, Tomb Raider...
After having written a feature film script and tried to shop it around, I understood that continuing to write more scripts would just be a waste of time, energy, and money, and I that should try to find a more productive tactic.
So, one day, it just clicked!
My dream is to tell stories and be able to touch people’s hearts with them. So, I am not going to wait anymore that a fairy comes along and shakes her magic wand. Let me sit right now in Captain Kirk’s command chair. Let me concentrate on writing books, self-publish them and build an audience from there. And, once I’ll have enough OhlalaLandians (readers and supporters), I’ll turn OhlalaLand Stories into movies. ET Voilà!
What does OhlalaLand mean?
Two things: where I currently live, LOS ANGELES, and my origins, FRANCE.
Los Angeles has several nicknames: L.A., The City of Angels, The City of Flowers and Sunshine, and The Big Orange. By the way, I love that song Under the Bridge by the Red Hot Chili Peppers about The City of Angels. In the 1970’s a new term appeared: La-la Land. And since 2011, this term can be found in the edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.
“La-la land n. can refer either to Los Angeles (in which case its etymology is influenced by the common initialism for that city), or to a state of being out of touch with reality—and sometimes to both simultaneously.”
Strangely enough, this definition doesn’t mention Hollywood: Los Angeles’ most famous neighborhood and the home of the U.S. film industry. Indeed, in Los Angeles, when we speak about La-La Land, we are also referring to Hollywood. What could be more ‘out of touch with reality‘ than making movies?
Oh là là! in French is an exclamation of surprise, shock. It can also mean that something or someone is great or sexy. Sometimes, we elongate the first part and add extra o’s and pronounce it like Ooh or Ooooh là là!
What is different when you write a book instead of a script?
I write with visuals in my heads. It means that I’m projecting my characters and stories into a cinematographic reality (some would question putting these two words together, but that’s another topic). Does this mean that I am just writing a script into a book format? No.
A book usually provides a more in-depth story of your characters and plot. In a traditional book-to-movie process, the author is not necessarily the screenwriter nor the director. Thus, the story can go through 3 different minds, 3 different visions-and can make, at times, fans react negatively when their favorite book is turned into a film.
With OhlalaLand Stories, the advantage is that the author is also the scriptwriter and the director. In that way, the film should remain true to the original story.
What will the readers get from OhlalaLand stories?
- An OhlalaLand reader will automatically become an OhlalaLand VIP. This means that he or she will get his or her name in the film credits.
At the book fair in Geneva, we had one sweepstake a day to award one OhlalaLand best reader!
- OhlalaLand VIPs will have access to the script, the storyboard, production stills, and making-off videos.
So, once you purchase a copy of a book from the Ohlalaland Stories series, do not forget to register as an OhlalaLand VIP, see at the bottom of the page.
OhlalaLand BLOG
Follow my OhlalaLand adventures as a self-published author and independent filmmaker! I will tell you all about my struggles but also introduce you with great talented people from both world, Books and Cinema.
Check out OhlalaLand BLOG!