SEBASTIAN DURFEE | Cat Person (Adaptation)

People familiar with me and my creative body of work know that I tend to gravitate towards comedy. I’m always exploring new ways to make you laugh through my films, writing, and general demeanor. For my final project at Hopkins, I decided to try something different. What you’ll be seeing today is an adaptation I completed of the short story “Cat Person” by Kristen Roupenian. First published in The New Yorker in December of 2017, “Cat Person” is the first New Yorker piece that can be truly described as having gone viral. I’m one of countless people, I’m sure, who read and felt inspired by it. Among other things, “Cat Person” is a story about the difficulties and challenges associated with dating in the modern age, and deals with themes of disconnection, discomfort, and societal obligations and expectations. As with any good adaptation, care was taken to ensure that my script remained faithful to the source material, while exploring ways in which the story being told can and must be changed for the screen. “Cat Person” is a story that I anticipate will inspire strong and contrasting opinions among everyone involved; I hope simply that you emerge from this reading feeling as moved as I did when I first encountered it.

This is a 25-page adaptation of the short story “Cat Person” by Kristen Roupenian, first published in The New Yorker in 2017. “Cat Person” tells the story of the budding relationship between Margot and Robert and explores many of the challenges and pitfalls that have become commonplace in the modern-day dating scene and how they translate to the ability to connect.