John Cameron Mitchell, the writer/director of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus, and Rabbit Hole is developing an indie film adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s short story “How to Talk to Girls at Parties.” The science fiction story is set in England in the 1970s as two teenage boys chat up a pair of girls at a party only to discover that one of the “birds” is actually an alien.

 

Howard Gertler, who produced Mitchell’s Shortbus, is producing the movie version of “How to Talk to Girls at Parties.”  Film Business Asia is reporting that the Hong Kong and Amsterdam-based Fortissimo Films has picked up sales rights to Girls and is currently shopping them at Cannes.

 

Mitchell and Gertler are also involved in the production of an animated feature film based on The Ruined Cast by Dash Shaw (Bottomless Belly Button, BodyWorld).