The Scoggins Report: April 2013 Spec Market Scorecard

The Scoggins Report
by Jason Scoggins & Cindy Kaplan
April 22, 2013

April 2013

Spec Market Scorecard

Consistency may be the hobgoblin of little minds, but it sure makes it easier to analyze the spec market. We took a week off from the Scoggins Report in mid-April in both 2012 and 2103, and year-over-year numbers show 2013’s spec market up quite a bit over 2012: 12 specs sold in the past 5 weeks, compared to 8 in that period in 2012.

We’re still waiting for the major buyers to get into the game. Two studios still haven’t bought a single spec in 2013 (Sony and Fox), while the other three -- Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros. -- have bought just one each. (The sixth, Disney, typically buys only 2 specs per year and has already nabbed one in 2013.)

So far, 2013’s spec market has been sustained by non-studio buyers, including 10 companies that hadn’t bought any specs in the previous five years, as you can see from the grid on page four, below. We refuse to believe this distribution will continue, however. If we were selling spec scripts, we’d be buttering up Sony, Paramount and Warner Bros. in particular, since unlike Fox and Universal, those three buyers haven’t been very active in the pitch market so far in 2013, either.

Get out there and win, Hollywood. And enjoy the grids.

2013 Overall Numbers

Of 2013‘s 32 spec sales, 5 have been of scripts that originally went out prior to 2012. Here are the overall spec market numbers through April 19...

* For 2010 and 2011, sales of scripts that originally went to market in years prior are not distributed monthly in the above table but have been added to the year-end totals.
...and here are the monthly spec sales numbers in graph form.

The following are combined total spec and pitch sales numbers through April 19, with year over year monthly comparisons...

...and here are those combined spec and pitch sales numbers in graph form as well.

Spec Sales By Genre

Spec Sales By Buyer - Studios

* 2011 and 2012 numbers for Lionsgate and Summit are combined.

The following grid shows the combined pitch and spec purchase numbers for the major Studio Buyers so far in 2013:

* 2011 and 2012 numbers for Lionsgate and Summit are combined.

Spec Sales By Buyer - Other Buyers

Here are the combined pitch and spec purchase numbers for Non-Studio Buyers that have bought at least one of each so far in 2013.

Each of the following production companies has been attached to at least one spec sale so far this year. Names in bold are new or have set up an additional spec since the last Scorecard.

Allison Shearmur Productions

Anonymous Content

Atlas Entertainment

Broken Road (2)

Crave Films

De Line Pictures

Disruption Entertainment (2)

Electric Entertainment

Energy Entertainment (3)

Industry Entertainment

Intrigue Entertainment

Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Jon Shestack Productions

Le Grisbi Productions

Madhouse Entertainment

Midnight Kitchen

Platinum Dunes

Rosa Entertainment

Sean Daniel Company

Spec Sales by Seller - Agencies

Here are the combined pitch and spec sales numbers for the agencies that have sold at least one of each in 2013:

The following 26 agents have been involved with at least one spec sale so far this year. Names in bold are new or sold an additional spec since the last Scorecard.

Five:

Mike Esola (WME)

Two:

David Boxerbaum (Paradigm)

Geoff Morley (UTA)

Ida Ziniti (Paradigm)

Marissa Devins (UTA)

One:

Abram Nalibotsky (Resolution)

Adriana Alberghetti (WME)

Billy Hawkins (CAA)

Chris Licata (Paradigm)

Dan Erlij (UTA)

Daniel Cohan (WME)

David Park (UTA)

Debbie Deuble-Hill (APA)

Harley Copen (ICM)

Jason Burns (UTA)

Jon Huddle (UTA)

Josh Hornstock (UTA)

Julien Thuan (UTA)

Matt Leipzig (Original)

Mickey Berman (UTA)

Rob Herting (Verve)

Ryan Saul (APA)

Sandra Lucchesi (Gersh)

Shan Ray (KSA)

Todd Feldman (CAA)

Will Lowery (APA)

Spec Sales by Seller - Management Companies

Here are the combined pitch and spec sales for management companies that have sold at least one of each in 2013.

The following 21 managers have been involved with at least one spec sale so far in 2013.

Seven:

Brooklyn Weaver (Energy)

Three:

Jake Wagner (Benderspink)

Two:

George Heller (Apostle)

Jeff Belkin (Zero Gravity)

One:

Aaron Kaplan (Kapital)

Adam Kolbrenner (Madhouse)

Ava Jamshidi (Industry)

C. Campos-Greenberg (Anthem)

Dallas Sonnier (Caliber)

David Alpert (Circle)

DJ Talbot

Greg Shephard (Circle)

Jeff Ross (Jeff Ross Ent.)

Jeff Silver (Fourth Floor)

Josh Adler (New Wave)

Linda Seifert

Marc Manus (Manus Ent.)

Michael Botti (Industry)

Mike Goldberg (New Wave)

Sidney Sherman (Rosa Ent.)

Will Rowbotham (Prolific)

About The Scoggins Report:

The Scoggins Report is a terribly unscientific analysis of the feature film development business based on information assembled from a variety of public and non-public sources. The numbers in the reports are by no means official statistics.

Caveat emptor.

Mol?n labé.