Saturday, October 1, 2016

Colin Gigl's "The Ferryman Institute"

In Colin Gigl's debut novel, The Ferryman Institute--
Ferryman Charlie Dawson saves dead people—somebody has to convince them to move on to the afterlife, after all. Having never failed a single assignment, he's acquired a reputation for success that’s as legendary as it is unwanted. It turns out that serving as a Ferryman is causing Charlie to slowly lose his mind. Deemed too valuable by the Ferryman Institute to be let go and too stubborn to just give up in his own right, Charlie’s pretty much abandoned all hope of escaping his grim existence. Or he had, anyway, until he saved Alice Spiegel.
Here Gigl dreamcasts an adaptation of The Ferryman Institute:
Oh, boy -- straight into the dream zone with this one, eh? This is going to be total flight-of-fancy stuff, but here goes.

Director: Spielberg for me. He handles whimsy and fantastical stories as well as more grounded ones, and since The Ferryman Institute is a bit of both, I think it'd be right in his wheelhouse.

For Charlie, I've always had a soft-spot for Chris Pratt. I think he has a wonderful balance of comedy and earnestness that I believe are Charlie's core tenants. Nathan Fillion would be great for those same reasons.

Alice is tougher as I feel like the current crop of leading ladies is inordinately talented. Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone, Emma Watson... I think all of them would bring a fascinating take on Alice to the table. As a character, she has a dry, morbid view of life burying a little glimmer of hope she's holding on to, and I could see all those actresses bringing that out on screen.
Visit Colin Gigl's website.

--Marshal Zeringue