Charlie Kaufman is hired to adapt Susan Orlean's book "The Orchid Thief" into a movie, while his own latest project "Being John Malkovich" is in production. He struggles to find enough material in the story of rare orchid hunter John Laroche to fill a movie, while also wanting to capture the beauty of orchids cinematically.

Adaptation.
A struggling screenwriter's creative block is shattered when he becomes obsessed with adapting Susan Orlean's "The Orchid Thief" into a film.