Alma Har’el is a director, producer, and writer best known for directing the semi-autobiographical work of Shia LaBeouf dear boy and highly stylized bombay beach.
Most recently, she filmed the Apple TV+ miniseries lady in the lakeestarring Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram. The show, adapted from Laura Lippman’s book, tells the story of two women whose lives tragically intertwine after a young Baltimore girl goes missing on Thanksgiving Day in 1966. Maddie Schwartz, an aspiring journalist. Ingram plays Cleo Johnson, a mother who longs for a better life.
Hael wrote, directed and produced the series. As with her previous work, the series showcases her ability to create interesting characters in stories of ambition and identity, laced with her signature imagination.
ScreenCraft spoke with Alma Har’el about her process filming the series, what we can learn from her, and the challenges of adapting her work into a TV series. She discusses when and how to take creative freedom, what it’s like to work with a team, what it’s like working with Portman and Ingram, and her best advice for aspiring TV writers.
How Alma Harel injects drama and conflict (even in an adaptation)
We’ve learned from other writers and showrunners like Brian Donovan and Sue Hugh that adapting existing works presents unique challenges, but also opportunities.
One of the first things Harell and Portman (executive producers) wanted to tackle was making sure the show was a two-woman show, or a dual lead with two women. She said Cleo’s character didn’t initially develop the way she did in the book.
“So I think that’s probably going to be our biggest challenge in adapting it,” she said.
A traditional two-hander script involves several different characters from different backgrounds or belief systems, and the combination of these characters can create some potentially rich conflict.
Two hands is a great way to give the page a natural drama, since these characters are almost always at odds with each other. They can use this tandem of opposition to move the plot forward and complete each other’s character arcs.
“The Lady in the Lake” (2024)
We’ve said it before, but you’re also not married to your source material.
“Laura Lippman was extremely generous in allowing me to do a lot of work on this book and was a great support [for] The direction we’re taking,” Hael said. “I think the challenge was to trust my instincts as always and find a way to deal with this vast conspiracy that was part of this murder mystery and something I’d never done before.”
Hael said their changes included “bringing Cleo’s world to life and writing characters that weren’t in the books to give it more dimension.”
If a novel already has a rich cast and you want to include them all, go for it! You can also omit a character, combine two or more characters into one person, or add a new character entirely.
In this show, they added a husband to Cleo. Hael said it was an attempt to include a “possibly comedic character and provide a different perspective on black people at the time that wasn’t necessarily a character we were familiar with.” All of these decisions are difficult to make.
Read more: “Beyond” How writer/directors adapt to misfits
“The Lady in the Lake” (2024)
Work with your creative partners
Don’t forget that you can use your perspective to bring ideas into your work, even if it’s a world you haven’t directly inhabited (like 1960s Baltimore). Hael and her writers’ room drew inspiration from diverse backgrounds to develop their show’s period world and characters.
The creative team’s experience isn’t limited to the writers’ room. The actors were also able to draw on their own backgrounds to work with Hael.
She said Portman actually had a grandmother who immigrated to Baltimore, which she used in her portrayal of Maddie, something Hael was happy to embrace. So does Ingram.
“When Moses Ingram came in, we were very lucky because she was a black woman from Baltimore who was from this character’s neighborhood or nearby,” she said. “Let her perspective develop and make room for what she instinctively feels is right. Or discuss it openly without fear and say, ‘Hey, this would really work well, but do you think this really works? Is it suitable for this role?
Hael discusses an example in which Cleo ends a scene testifying on television by overturning a chair in anger. Hael stopped by the set to discuss the scene with the actors. While outbursts of emotion can be a great button for a scene, she wanted to avoid stereotypes or clichés. After discussion, Ingram argued for an emotional beat, saying it suited the character.
This collaborative moment is a great reminder to the screenwriter that what’s on the page doesn’t mean it’s set in stone, and an actor’s or director’s requirements may require some quick discussion or even rewriting. Flexibility can serve you well.
“The Lady in the Lake” (2024)
Alma Hael always keeps things simple
We’d like to hear Hael’s advice, especially for adapting a sophisticated and complex suspense thriller lady in the lake.
“I say simplify it,” Harrell said with a laugh. “If you can. That’s what I recommend.
She said that’s what she and her team are actually doing with the series in terms of plot and point of view. While they did add some characters to the series, they omitted plot points that would overcomplicate the series’ larger story.
“There are probably 20 more points of view and characters in the book,” she said. “So it’s really challenging. I would just say simplify it and find out who [are] Your hero.
If you’re interested in simplifying your IP, a thorough and careful overview may be your best option. There are also ways to streamline the writing process from idea to execution.
Read more: How to create a screenwriting process that works for you
