ARPress’ Movie Script Coverage Service aims to provide a written outline of an author’s book—specifically, a screenplay—that will be stored in a database accessible to major studios seeking stories to adapt into films. Recently, a Hollywood-style script, To Be a Rose by E.B. Mason (Anne Bowen), was released.
As he fights to stay alive in a Kabul field hospital, a former Air Force officer drifts through the memories of his past, reckoning with war, love, and the fragile beauty of a life he may not return to. To Be a Rose is a quiet, haunting journey through one man’s fading consciousness as he searches for meaning in his final hours.
The journey from novel to screenplay involves essential intermediate steps that pave the way for success. One critical step is the transition from coverage—which provides an initial analysis of the source material—to a film treatment. This transition is not only a natural progression but also a pivotal moment in the adaptation process. Once coverage is complete and the decision to proceed with an adaptation is made, the next logical step is creating a film treatment: a detailed document outlining how the source material will be translated into a screenplay. The treatment serves as a bridge between the novel and the final script, providing a roadmap for adaptation. It is the crucial intermediary step that moves the adaptation from concept to concrete screenplay development.
A screenplay serves as common ground for producers, directors, actors, and the production team, guiding them from start to finish and determining what will be seen on the big screen. The purpose of the Movie Script Coverage Service is to lay the foundation for screenplay production.
Memory and mortality sit at the heart of the book. The protagonist’s failing health frames the narrative in a foreign field hospital, unfolding through vivid memories. These recollections—from childhood in Germany to his years of military service and moments with his wife—create a mosaic of a life lived in motion. The structure reflects how the mind clings to memory as the body begins to give out.
Dislocation and foreignness are also crucial. Much of the book takes place in Afghanistan, a country marked by cultural misunderstanding, moral ambiguity, and physical danger. Mason is a stranger there, both in the geopolitical sense and in his internal state. The contrast between the physical chaos outside and the order he once knew in military life sharpens his feeling of being out of place.
Cynicism and sincerity compete in the characters, especially in the interactions between Mason and others like Ralph. There’s dark humor, biting commentary, and a quiet search for meaning beneath it all. Finally, beauty in ruin is a subtle but constant presence. The roses of Kabul and Mason’s past are symbols of resilience and grace. They remind the viewer that even in collapse, something human still blooms.
To Be a Rose is a memoir-style narrative centered on Edmund Mason, a retired U.S. Air Force officer who takes a civilian contract job in Afghanistan during the early 2000s. What begins as a professional assignment quickly turns into a personal reckoning as Mason grapples with illness, memory, and the chaos of a war-torn environment. Told in fragmented, reflective prose, the story weaves his present physical crisis—struggling to breathe while being treated in a NATO field hospital in Kabul—with memories that drift across continents and decades.
The concept hinges on how the body fails even as the mind tries to stay alert. While the medical emergency unfolds, Mason’s consciousness returns to defining moments in his life: his military service, his marriage to Anne, quiet memories from childhood in Germany, and surreal encounters with cynical colleagues like Ralph. Each memory is layered with sensory detail, often grounded in place—the scent of Kabul’s roses, the smoke from burning trash, the silence of a Slovenian train station on New Year’s Day. These fragments aren’t just recollections, but emotional check-ins, guiding him back toward meaning.
At its core, the story isn’t about war or politics. It’s about the fragility of a man’s body as it carries the weight of a lived life—and how memory becomes a form of resistance. The “rose” becomes a recurring symbol: beauty growing out of inhospitable soil.