The Scoggins Report: June 2013 Pitch Market Scorecard

The Scoggins Report
by Jason Scoggins & Cindy Kaplan
June 17, 2013

June 2013

Pitch Market Scorecard

We’d already planned to read Lynda Obst’s new book, “Sleepless in Hollywood: Tales From the New Abnormal in the Movie Business,” but after stumbling across this excerpt in Salon we immediately clicked through to Amazon. If you haven’t read the article already, do -- it not only corroborates the patterns we’ve been seeing in the spec and pitch markets this year, it (read: Peter Chernin) explains why several studios seem to be “frozen” in indecision (in the last four paragraphs in particular).

Wondering which studios Chernin alludes to? Look no further than the chart on page 4, below. And if you think he’s being overly loyal to Fox when he says they’re not still struggling with the same problem, he isn’t, as you can see in the same grid. Fox and Universal are on pace to buy their “New Abnormal” number of specs and pitches this year.

To connect the dots (and reading between the lines), Obst suggests the New Abnormal crystallized in 2012, but only a couple of studios have adjusted to the new program. You can see the same dynamic on the sell side, too -- most companies, including CAA, are still struggling to find their footing, while a few, such as WME have already adapted.

The poster boy for the New Abnormal on the sell side, though, is clearly Brooklyn Weaver, whose Energy Entertainment had a terrific 2012 and is already poised to surpass those numbers in 2015, as you can see from the grid on page 9. We have our fingers crossed that the rest of the business follows suit in a hurry.

Overall Pitch Numbers

Here are basic pitch sales numbers through June 15 on their own, with year-over-year monthly comparisons.

The following are combined spec and pitch sales numbers through June 15, with year over year monthly comparisons...

Pitch Sales By Genre

Pitch Sales By Buyer - Studios

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

Pitch Purchases by Genre - Studios

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

Here are the combined pitch and spec purchase numbers for Studio Buyers that have bought at least one of each in 2013 (plus Columbia).

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

Pitch Purchases By Buyer - Other Buyers

Pitch Purchases By Genre - Other Buyers

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

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

21 Laps

Action Entertainment

Aggregate Films (2)

Anonymous Content

Appian Way

Bandito Brothers

Blue Grass Films (3)

Broken Road

Chernin Entertainment (2)

Davis Entertainment

De Line Pictures

Di Bonaventura Pictures

Disruption Entertainment

Energy Entertainment

Gambit Pictures

Gran Via

Groundswell Productions

Hurwitz & Schlossberg Productions

Hutch Parker Productions

Jim Whitaker Entertainment

K/O Paper Products

Langley Park

Lin Pictures

New Regency

Oasis Media Group

Offspring Entertainment (2)

Original Film (2)

Ranger 7

State Street

Sunny Field Entertainment

Thunder Road (2)

Underground

Vinson Films

Wild West Picture Show

Pitch 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 54 agents have been involved with at least one pitch sale so far this year.

Three:

Greg McKnight (CAA)

Two:

David Boxerbaum (Paradigm)

Jason Burns (UTA)

Jay Baker (CAA)

Jeff Gorin (WME)

John Garvey (CAA)

Mike Esola (WME)

Rich Cook (WME)

Sandra Lucchesi (Gersh)

Todd Hoffman (ICM)

One:

Andrew Miller (CAA)

Bill Zotti (CAA)

Brett Loncar (CAA)

Brian Kend (CAA)

Bryan Diperstein (ICM)

Charlie Ferraro (UTA)

Cliff Roberts (WME)

Cori Wellins (WME)

Dan Aloni (WME)

Dan Rabinow (CAA)

Daniel Cohan (WME)

Danny Greenberg (WME)

David Karp (WME)

David Kramer (UTA)

David Lubliner (WME)

David Wirtschafter (WME)

Erik Garfinkle (Gersh)

Geoff Morley (UTA)

Greg Hodes (WME)

Jeff Barry (ICM)

Jenny Maryasis (UTA)

Joel Roman (Paradigm)

Jon Cassir (CAA)

Jon Levin (CAA)

Jordan Cerf (WME)

Josh Hornstock (UTA)

Keya Khayatian (UTA)

Kimberly Bialek (WME)

Lee Keele (Gersh)

Lisa Harrison (WME)

Martin Spencer (Resolution)

Matt Rice (UTA)

Matt Rosen (CAA)

Michael Sheresky (UTA)

Nick LoPiccolo (Paradigm)

Peter Micelli (CAA)

Phil d’Amecourt (WME)

Ramses Ishak (UTA)

Risa Gertner (CAA)

Roger Green (WME)

Scott Greenberg (CAA)

Solco Schuitt (WME)

Trevor Astbury (Paradigm)

Zach Druker (WME)

Pitch 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 34 managers have been involved with at least one pitch sale so far this year:

Four:

Brooklyn Weaver (Energy)

Two:

Adam Marshall (Caliber)

Brian Lutz (Lutz)

Dawn Saltzman (Mosaic)

George Heller (Apostle)

Greg Walter (3 Arts)

Jill McElroy (Mgmt 360)

Paul Nelson (Mosaic)

One:

Adam Kolbrenner (Madhouse)

Bard Dorros (Anonymous)

Brian Dobbins (PYE)

Dan Halsted (Manage-ment)

Darin Friedman (Mgmt 360)

Eryn Brown (Mgmt 360)

Jake Wagner (Benderspink)

Jeff Okin (Anonymous)

Jennifer Levine (Untitled)

Jimmy Miller (Mosaic)

Josh Adler (New Wave)

Josh Turner McGuire (Undergrnd)

Keith Redmon (Anonymous)

Langley Perer (Mosaic)

Margaret Riley (Brillstein)

Michael Shlain (Dgtl Consp.)

Michael Sugar (Anonymous)

Mike Goldberg (New Wave)

Missy Malkin (Brillstein)

Mitch Solomon (Magnet)

Noah Rothman (Undergrnd)

Paul Young (PYE)

Rosalie Swedlin (Anonymous)

Stephen Crawford (Industry)

Tom Lasally (3 Arts)

Tony Blain (Blain)

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.

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