Stephen Chbosky brings his own book to the big screen

Stephen Chbosky on the set with Emma Watson and Logan Lerman

When a novel is adapted to film, it is usually a mixed blessing for the author – they can reap the benefits of their work being exposed to new audiences, but in doing so they must give up any control over the new form that their art will take.

This is not is the case for Stephen Chbosky, the author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The novel is being adapted to the big screen, but Chbosky is the man at the helm – as both screenwriter and director.

Stephen Chbosky is one of the rare few authors who have sufficient skills to straddle between the worlds of bestselling literature and commercial feature films.

In 1992 he graduated from the University of Southern California's screenwriting program and throughout his career has written and directed a number of screenplays, including the 1995 independent film The Four Corners of Nowhere and the 2005 film adaptation of the Broadway rock musical Rent. He was also behind the film adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and served as co-creator, executive producer, and writer of the CBS serial television drama Jericho.

In 1994 Chbosky began writing The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The film, starring Emma Watson, Ezra Miller and Logan Lerman, will be released in 2012.