If you think completing an Ironman takes perseverance, try getting Hollywood to invest in the retelling of a World War I novel. It took Scottish screenwriter and professional triathlete Lesley Paterson 16 years to see her Oscar-nominated screenplay for “All Quiet on the Western Front” come to life. The persistence paid off, as the film, an adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 antiwar novel of the same title, took home seven BAFTAs—the most prestigious British film awards—in February, including for the best adapted screenplay. The “All Quiet” script, by Ms. Paterson, Ian Stokell and director Edward Berger, earned one of the film’s nine Academy Award nominations. The Oscars take place Sunday night.

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