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'Holes' author knows what kids will dig
Sachar doesn't talk down to audience
By C.W. Nevius
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

When "Holes" opened as the No. 2 movie at the box office in its first weekend, a lot of people were suprised. But not Louis Sachar, who wrote the original book and screenplay. He'd already done the whole suprise thing. "When I was writing the book," Sachar recalls, "people would say, 'Wait a minute. You are going to do a book about kids in prison at an interracial romance 100 years ago with a serial killer?' "
Exactly. And who wants to read something like that?
As it turned out, lots of people,
"Holes," the book, which was published in 1998, has been a sensation in middle schools and high schools. With the new emphasis on reading in class - many schools have a weekly or daily silient reading period - finding a book that will hold a teenager's attention in a huge accomplishment "Holes" is that book.
This story of a juvenile delinquent kids sentenced to dig holes at a work camp on a sun-dried Texas lakebed has sold millions of copies. it has been published in 30 countries, it is required reading in some middle schools and won both the Newbery Medal and the and National Book Award,
"It has definitely been a hugely popular book," says Sachar a former Bay Area resident. "It was just under the radar screen for people who don't have kids, I guess."
So when Sachar approached with the idea of making a movie of "Holes," he'd already gotten what he needed out of the experience. Let's just say he wasn't kidding himself.
"To be honest, I have never liked the movie when I liked the book," he says. "I figured I would sell the rights and hold my nose But it turned to be extemely positive. Not at all what I expected."
Reluctant screenwriter
A large part of the reason is that he write the screenplay - reluctantly. "Kept saying, why don't you get someone who knows how to write a screenplay?" Sachar says.
But the director Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive") kept after Sachar, a few books and with the help of (literally) a few books on how to write a screenplay, the author turned the book into a script The result is a nearly dead-straight retelling from the two parallel stories from the book. "I didn't want the warden's character (played by Sigourney Weaver in the movie) to turn like Cruella De Vil or anything," Sachar said.
Again the popularity of the book was a major factor. Whenever one of the "suits" from the movie biz would wonder if some of the plot devices were going to play with the teen audience. Sachar could reply, "It is in the book and kids will love it."
Among those who would be dissappointed with changes is Weaver's daughter. Sachar says she read the book years ago and went to her mother and said, if they ever make this into a movie, you should play the warden."
The author of several children books - 1 "Dogs Don't Tell Jokes,"There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom" - Sachar has a valuable skill. He recoginizes what kids like.
" I never tell anyone what I am writing," he says. "But I always thought kids would like to read about kids in prison So we were in San Fransisco and we went to Alcatraz. My daughter really enjoyed it, And I thought, 'Good.'"
Sachar spent 13 years in the Bay Area, including attending Hastings College of Law. he was even part owner of Hanno's, an alley bar near the Chronicle. Hanno's, Sachar says, did a thriving business until the newspaper printing presses were moved and the convivial pressmen stopped coming in.
He moved from San Fransisco to Austin, Texas, in 1991, little realizing that it would give him the beginnings of an idea for the book.
"It was kind of my reaction as a San Fransiscan going to Texas," he says. "It was the heat, the racial history and the way Teaxa was tough on crime. They had the boot camps."
Besides the plot, one reason the book has been such a sucess is that it isn't written as a kids' book. It is a novel first, and it happens to be the one that teenagers can enjoy. That's Sachar truism - don't talk down to the audience.

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			'Holes' author knows what kids will dig Sachar doesn't talk down to audience By C.W. Nevius CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER When "Holes" opened as the No. 2 movie at the box office in its first weekend, a lot of people were suprised. But not Louis Sachar, who wrote the original book and screenplay. He'd already done the whole suprise thing. "When I was writing the book," Sachar recalls, "people would say, 'Wait a minute. You are going to do a book about kids in prison at an interracial romance 100 years ago with a serial killer?' " Exactly. And who wants to read something like that? As it turned out, lots of people, "Holes," the book, which was published in 1998, has been a sensation in middle schools and high schools. With the new emphasis on reading in class - many schools have a weekly or daily silient reading period - finding a book that will hold a teenager's attention in a huge accomplishment "Holes" is that book. This story of a juvenile delinquent kids sentenced to dig holes at a work camp on a sun-dried Texas lakebed has sold millions of copies. it has been published in 30 countries, it is required reading in some middle schools and won both the Newbery Medal and the and National Book Award, "It has definitely been a hugely popular book," says Sachar a former Bay Area resident. "It was just under the radar screen for people who don't have kids, I guess." So when Sachar approached with the idea of making a movie of "Holes," he'd already gotten what he needed out of the experience. Let's just say he wasn't kidding himself. "To be honest, I have never liked the movie when I liked the book," he says. "I figured I would sell the rights and hold my nose But it turned to be extemely positive. Not at all what I expected." Reluctant screenwriter A large part of the reason is that he write the screenplay - reluctantly. "Kept saying, why don't you get someone who knows how to write a screenplay?" Sachar says. But the director Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive") kept after Sachar, a few books and with the help of (literally) a few books on how to write a screenplay, the author turned the book into a script The result is a nearly dead-straight retelling from the two parallel stories from the book. "I didn't want the warden's character (played by Sigourney Weaver in the movie) to turn like Cruella De Vil or anything," Sachar said. Again the popularity of the book was a major factor. Whenever one of the "suits" from the movie biz would wonder if some of the plot devices were going to play with the teen audience. Sachar could reply, "It is in the book and kids will love it." Among those who would be dissappointed with changes is Weaver's daughter. Sachar says she read the book years ago and went to her mother and said, if they ever make this into a movie, you should play the warden." The author of several children books - 1 "Dogs Don't Tell Jokes,"There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom" - Sachar has a valuable skill. He recoginizes what kids like. " I never tell anyone what I am writing," he says. "But I always thought kids would like to read about kids in prison So we were in San Fransisco and we went to Alcatraz. My daughter really enjoyed it, And I thought, 'Good.'" Sachar spent 13 years in the Bay Area, including attending Hastings College of Law. he was even part owner of Hanno's, an alley bar near the Chronicle. Hanno's, Sachar says, did a thriving business until the newspaper printing presses were moved and the convivial pressmen stopped coming in. He moved from San Fransisco to Austin, Texas, in 1991, little realizing that it would give him the beginnings of an idea for the book. "It was kind of my reaction as a San Fransiscan going to Texas," he says. "It was the heat, the racial history and the way Teaxa was tough on crime. They had the boot camps." Besides the plot, one reason the book has been such a sucess is that it isn't written as a kids' book. It is a novel first, and it happens to be the one that teenagers can enjoy. That's Sachar truism - don't talk down to the audience. A lot on their minds. "a lot of movies and books for kids of that age who believe that all boys think about is sex." Sachar has told interviewers. "Don't underestimate their intelligience." IN england, two edtions of "Holes" were put out: one

		THE KIDS To play Stanley Yelnats IV, the latest male in the Yelnats family to suffer the curse of his no-good-dirty-rotten- pig-stealing great-great-grandfather, the filmmakers turned to Shia LaBeouf, the star of the Disney Channel series, "Even Stevens." "I needed an actor who could combine the best qualities of Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, and Gene Wilder in the body of a sixteen-year-old, and I think I found him in Shia LaBeouf," says Davis. "He's tremendously talented, and that's unqualified. He's not a talented actor for his age - he's talented for an actor of any age." "When Stanley gets to Camp Green Lake, he can't even solve his own problems, much less anybody else's," says LaBeouf."He's a caterpillar when he arrives, and when he leaves he's a butterfly. He can control things like never before - he's not going to be the same guy, and because he's got his life figured out a little more, he can help the other kids in the camp, especially Zero." LaBeouf credits Andy Davis and Louis Sachar with helping him find the character of Stanley Yelnats. "Andy doesn't force anything on you, but everything he's thinking, he gets out there. He's great at explaining how he sees the character and what he wants. He really cares about every detail and will do everything to make sure that every detail is right - from how you read your lines to the way your shoelaces are tied. He's a genius. "Having Louis Sachar on set was amazing," LaBeouf continues."It kind of struck me - he was the whole reason we were here. He had a great idea, and he wrote it down. At first, I was gobbling down Twinkies, because Stanley is chubby in the book. But Louis said that it's more about the attitude - at the beginning of the book, Stanley's unsure of himself and quiet; it was more important for that to come through. Louis helped me find that." The one kid at Camp Green Lake who everybody feels free to pick on is Zero, who never says anything until Stanley shows up. Khleo Thomas takes the part of a kid who keeps all of his natural talents hidden. Thomas describes Zero as a kid who "doesn't like to talk much, but you can tell what he's saying by the way he looks at you. He's very quiet, but he has a warm heart. "Before we started the movie, I only knew Sigourney Weaver from the movies - especially 'Alien,' because I've seen every trilogy ever made," says Thomas. "When I saw her, I freaked out, because she looks exactly like she does in the movies. But it was cool working with her - she gave me some good hints about how to stay focused. Jon Voight, too, was great.These guys are legends, but they don't have a big head or anything. You can just talk to them straight." As great as that experience was, though, it couldn't rate with Thomas' favorite scene. "When Shia and I are trapped in the hole, with lizards crawling all over us - that was the best," he says."I had one lizard, named Mocha, just staring at me. He was great. Another one was on my shoulder, and he kept licking my ear." For the rest of D Tent, the filmmakers turned to a talented young cast. Brenden Jefferson was cast as X-Ray, the leader of D Tent, who has terrible eyesight but tremendous force of personality. Newcomer Byron Cotton plays Armpit, an enormous kid with a tremendous stench coming from one particular part of his body. Jake M. Smith plays Squid, a tough kid who's at odds with Stanley from the start. Max Kasch plays ZigZag, a kid who's all over the place. Miguel Castro rounds out the cast as Magnet, an aptly-named kleptomaniac who can't help but steal stuff - his fingers attract hot goods like ... well, you know. "We all got along, like a brotherhood," says LaBeouf. "Khleo was the mascot, sort of, because he's smaller than the rest of us - everybody wanted to treat him like their little brother. Miguel is the energy of the group - he's got this weird laugh that would crack us up every time we heard it. Jake has a lot of the same taste in music that I do - we got along very well. Brenden is an amazing actor - he listens so well. You can ad lib with him for days and he'll respond to anything you say. Max is the Bob Dylan of our group - he'd come on set and play guitar. Byron is the lyricist - he thinks he's Biggie, and I think he's Biggie, too.You have to hear him rap to believe how good he is."

	One to Watch: Khleo Thomas The Lycos Report May 7, 2003 Often, when we say that a star comes from out of nowhere, it's a bit of an exaggeration. An "out of nowhere" actress probably has a few supporting roles in movies and perhaps a TV series in her background; an "out of nowhere" band has the record company publicity machine behind it and a couple years of touring under its belt. But when we say that actor Khleo Thomas has come from out of nowhere, we really mean the guy has come from out of nowhere. Young fans of the film Holes, particularly young female fans, are making a big fuss over the 14-year-old actor. Thomas was getting no searches whatsoever four weeks ago, got a few in the second week of April, and then saw interest triple, double, and double yet again in the last three weeks. Thomas plays the troubled inner-city orphan Zero in Holes, and it is his first major role and only second overall. According to the Internet Movie Database, Thomas' only previous movie appearance was as "Bad Boy #1" in Friday After Next. Not the kind of thing that launches a star career, is it? So perhaps Thomas is one of those young actors who is finally graduating to films after years on teen-oriented sitcoms, like Hilary Duff or Amanda Bynes. Actually, no, his only TV role was a one-episode part on the forgettable NBC Saturday morning show City Guys. And yet, Khleo Thomas is the breakout star of the summer movie season so far. He's getting eight times as many searches as Shia LaBeouf, who plays the film's main character Stanley Yelnats. If that doesn't impress, try this ridiculous fact: Last week Thomas received more searches than the far better known adult actors Colin Farrell and Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman. Thomas' next move is unknown -- he isn't listed in the cast of any major movies in development, and he doesn't even have a fansite yet. But you can find pictures of him here. He sure is dreamy

January 10, 2003: Behind the Headlines Khleo Thomas, who plays Zero in the movie Holes, has appeared in several commercials that can be seen daily on the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and the WB Network. Khleo made his show-business debut as a child-guest on Bill Cosby's Kids Say the Darndest Things. When Know Your World Extra asked Khleo about the most challenging part of his role as Zero, he responded, "There was no challenging part. It was all fun." Khleo, who turns 14 on January 30, says that school is very important to him. His mother, who was born in Morocco, speaks five languages. What subject does Khleo like most? "I like science because of the different things you can do, like dissect frogs," he said.