The Right to Film an Adaptation of King's Short Story Was Sold for 1$

A nineteen-year-old Ukrainian student Valentin Lavrenyuk signed a contract with Stephen King on the Dollar Baby program and bought the right to film the writer’s story Stationary Bike, written in 2008, for just $1.

In case you didn’t know, the Dollar Baby (or Dollar Deal) is an arrangement where best-selling author Stephen King grants permission to students and aspiring filmmakers or theatre producers to adapt one of his short stories for $1.

Thus, Valentin decided to continue the work of his father, Sergey Lavrenyuk, a general producer of Solar Media Entertainment.

The short story Stationary Bike by the American writer tells about the artist Richard Sifkitz, who is trying to lose weight with the help of a stationary bike in the basement of his house in New York. Moreover, the more the main character loses weight, the more often he is haunted by strange illusions.

Valentin plans to release a short film based on the story before the end of this year, and it will be his debut project. A positive response to Valentine's request was received quickly. The rights to the story adaptation are granted for a year. Under the terms of the contract, a short film cannot be uploaded to the network or broadcast on television. A wide release will only be possible with the personal permission of Stephen King.

This is what an American writer says about selling the rights to a film adaptation of his work: "I like that I have the opportunity to lend a helping hand to beginners, as well as once handed to me."

Previously, the film rights of the Stationary Bike story have also been sold to students from Wales for one dollar as well.