Skip to main content

Stephen King: The Dollar Baby Concept

By July 4, 2025Adaptations, Authors

The “Dollar Baby” concept:

Since the late 1970s/early 1980s, Stephen King has allowed student filmmakers, independent filmmakers, and other aspiring directors to license certain of his short stories for film adaptation… for just $1.

🎥 Why? Because King has always said he remembers what it’s like to be a struggling young creative, and he likes the idea of giving people a shot at adapting his work when Hollywood budgets aren’t in reach.

👉 A few details:

– It applies only to certain short stories, never novels.

– The rights are non-commercial, meaning you can’t sell your movie or release it in theatres commercially. It’s just for practice, festival submissions, portfolio, and fun.

– The filmmaker gets a limited-time licence, and King retains all rights to the story and to any commercial exploitation.

Some of the stories that have been licensed this way include:

– The Woman in the Room

– The Man Who Loved Flowers

– Cain Rose Up

– The Last Rung on the Ladder

The best-known example of a Dollar Baby success is probably Frank Darabont, who licensed The Woman in the Room early in his career, and later went on to direct The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist, all based on King’s work.

King has written about this program on his official website and in interviews. He says he still likes the idea of helping people learn the craft and build careers.

Word of the Day – Medley

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Medley (noun) med-lee a mixture, especially of heterogeneous elements; hodgepodge; jumble. First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English noun and adjective medle(e), medlei(e), maedlai(e) “battle, war, quarrel; mixture, balanced mixture,” from…

Word of the Day – Hincty

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Word of the Day - Hincty (adj) hink-tee

Storygraph vs Fable: Breaking up with Goodreads

| Discussion and Recommendations, News | No Comments
There are many reasons that readers might want to break up with Goodreads, not simply because of its connection to the retail giant, Amazon but also because of the way…

Remembering Jane Goodall (1934–2025)

| News | No Comments
On 1 October 2025, the world lost Dame Jane Goodall, DBE, a pioneering primatologist, conservationist, writer, and tireless advocate for animals and the natural world. She was 91. Her passing…

Word of the Day – Melee

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Word of the Day - Melee (noun) mel-ey

Word of the Day – Fulciment

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Word of the Day - Fulciment (noun) (archaic) ful-si-ment

Word of the Day – Dubitation

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Word of the Day - Dubitation (noun) (Archaic) doo-bit-ay-shun

New writing prize launched in memory of Hilary Mantel

| Literary Awards, News | No Comments
A new literary prize that champions emerging writers has been set up in memory of author Hilary Mantel, best known for her book Wolf Hall that was adapted into a…

Word of the Day – Numen

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Word of the Day - Numen (noun) noo-men