UM News

The short film that School of Communication students and graduates adapted from a story that Stephen King wrote about the 9/11 hijackings and collapse of the World Trade Center will make its Florida premiere at the Miami Film Festival’s short film competition at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 10, at the Tower Theater.

The film, ‘The Things They Left Behind,’’ evolved from a scriptwriting class taught by lecturer Barbara Leibell, who in January 2014 asked King’s permission to adapt his story about a man haunted by the appearance of objects that belonged to colleagues who perished in the twin towers into a screenplay.

Though his response was not a foregone conclusion, the request was not unusual. Through what King calls his Dollar Babies program, the best-selling author has launched a number of careers by granting aspiring filmmakers the right, for the price of a $1, to adapt his stories for film. A week later, King gave his consent, and Leibell and about 20 of her former and at the time current students, got to work.

Directed, photographed, and written by three School of Communication’s graduates, Sara Werner, Jonathan Franklin, and Jake Gillman, the film already has shown at film festivals in Los Angeles and New York City, taking best short film awards at both, and in Alexandria, Virginia, where it won the audience choice award, Leibell said.