The Scoggins Report: October 2011 Spec Market Roundup
The Scoggins Report is a compilation of spec sales and trends in the industry. Archive editions of The Scoggins Report can be found at The Business of Show Institute and on www.thewrap.com. Details on every person, project, and company covered by the Report can also be found at www.ItsontheGrid.com. The Report is reprinted at Scriptmag.com by permission of the authors.
Spec Market Roundup for October 2011
By now you’ve probably heard how fantastic October’s spec sale numbers were. Turns out we missed two in our preliminary count on Monday. All in, 20 pieces of original material were set up last month, and the total number of spec sales for 2011 is already up over 2009 and 2010 in a huge way (+21% over 2009, +42% over 2010). Here are our favorite highlights:
- CAA had seven spec sales in October, the highest single month tally we’ve ever seen, for a total of 18 so far in 2011, the highest among the agencies. The next highest number in the past three years was in September 2009, when ICM sold four. WME had three of its own sales last month, for a total of 15 this year; APA, ICM, and Original Artists each had two.
- Eight different studios bought specs last month.Lionsgate bought its first and second spec of the year, Universal bought its fourth and fifth, Fox bought its fifth and sixth and Paramount bought its fifth as well. Five other buyers bought one each including Gold Circle, which bought its third of the year.
- Warner Bros. continued to set the pace with four purchases in October. The Burbank studio’s 2011 total is now 14, twice its nearest competitor (Columbia, which hasn’t bought a spec since June).
Congratulations to newly-minted Kaplan/Perrone manager Josh Goldenberg, who left Red Wagon just a couple of months ago and already has a notch on his belt.
We’re looking forward to pulling together the updated Scorecard in a couple of weeks. October’s raw numbers and weekly breakdowns are below, along with the details on each sale. Enjoy.
1 This number is a tally of every script that sold in October.
2 This percentage only counts scripts that came out and sold in October.
Weekly Activity Breakdown
Week of October 3:
- 8 scripts hit the tracking boards, none of which sold
- 4 additional sales were reported (“The Envoy,” “Flesh,” “Thicker Than Water,” and “Sex on the First Date”)
Week of October 10:
- 6 scripts hit the tracking boards, one of which sold (“Hyperdrive”)
- 3 additional sales were reported (“Gone,” “The Imitation Game,” and “The Three Misfortunes of Geppetto”)
Week of October 17:
- 6 scripts hit the tracking boards, none of which sold
- 5 additional sales were reported (“He’s Fuckin Perfect,” “Untitled Matt Damon John Krasinski Project,” “The Mountain,” “Tammy,” and “Wake Cycle”)
Week of October 24:
- 10 scripts hit the tracking boards, two of which sold (“Category 6” and “Grim Night”)
- 5 additional sales were reported (“The Chung Factor,” “The End,” “Grace of Monaco,” “The Voice,” and “XOXO”)
Genre Breakdown:
Spec Sales (alphabetical by title)
Writer: John Swetnam (“Evidence”)
Reps: APA (David Boxerbaum) and FilmEngine (Jake Wagner)
Buyer: New Line
Genre: Thriller
Attachments: Todd Garner and Sean Robins will produce through their Broken Road banner.
Writer: Andy Selsor
Reps: Original Artists (Jordan Bayer, Matt Leipzig, Chris Sablan)
Buyer: Lionsgate
Genre: Comedy
Attachments: Ken Jeong (“The Hangover”) is attached to star and produce with his manager, Brett Carducci.
Notes: Previous version of the script was on the 2005 Black List under the title “THE EX-FACTOR.”
Writer: Aron Eli Coleite
Reps: CAA
Buyer: Warner Bros.
Genre: Sci-Fi
Notes: Jesse Ehrman and Andrew Fischel will oversee for Warners Bros.
Writer: Robert Lynn
Reps: UTA (Charlie Ferraro) and Kaplan/Perrone (Josh Goldenberg)
Buyer: Warner Bros.
Genre: Unknown
Attachments: Andrew Rona and Joel Silver will produce through Silver Pictures.
Writer: Kristin Hahn
Buyer: Summit
Genre: Drama, romance, supernatural
Attachments: Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey will produce.
Notes: Based on the YA novel by Laura Whitcomb.
Writer: Bryan Edward Hill
Reps: ICM (Harley Copen) and Elements Entertainment (Christopher Pratt)
Buyer: Universal
Genre: Action
Attachments: Marc Platt will produce through his Marc Platt Productions. Pratt will executive produce.
Notes: Scott Bernstein and Tara Case will oversee for Universal.
Writer: Arash Amel
Reps: CAA
Buyer: Pierre-Ange Le Pogam
Genre: Drama
Writers: Brandon Bestenheider & Allen Bey
Reps: Verve
Buyer: Universal
Genre: Thriller
Attachments: Marc Platt will produce through his Marc Platt Productions along with Unbroken Pictures’ Adrienne Biddle and Bryan Bertino.
Notes: Script was accompanied by a teaser trailer.
Writer: Lauryn Kahn
Reps: WME
Buyer: Fox 2000
Genre: Comedy
Attachments: Will Ferrell and Adam McKay will produce through Gary Sanchez Productions.
Notes: Emma Stone is attached to star, purchase price was $1m against $1.5m, and rumor has it there’s an offer out to Stone’s “Easy A” director Will Gluck to direct.
Writers: Alex Ankeles & Morgan Jurgenson
Reps: CAA & Kaplan/Perrone -- Ankeles; APA (Ryan Saul) & Jonathan Hung --Jurgenson
Buyer: Paramount
Genre: Sci-Fi
Attachments: Cale Boyter and Mary Parent will produce through Disruption Entertainment.
Writer: Graham Moore
Reps: CAA (JP Evans) and The Safran Company (Tom Drumm & Peter Safran)
Buyer: Warner Bros.
Genre: Drama
Attachments: Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Peter Safran are attached to produce.
Notes: Based on the Andrew Hodges biography, “Alan Turing: The Enigma.” Script hit the market in September. Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly “has the inside track for the lead” and Ron Howard is considering directing.
Writers: Matt Damon & John Krasinski
Reps: WME
Buyer: Warner Bros.
Genre: Drama
Attachments: Damon is attached to direct and will star with Krasinski. They will also produce along with Damon’s Pearl Street partner, Chris Moore.
Notes: Jesse Ehrman will oversee for the studio.
Writer: Helen Childress (“Reality Bites”)
Reps: Original Artists (Jordan Bayer, Matt Leipzig, Chris Sablan)
Buyer: Fox
Genre: Horror
Attachments: Ben Stiller is attached to direct and will produce with Stuart Cornfeld through Red Hour.
Note: Based on the characters in Edith Wharton’s “Summer.”
Writers: Sall Grover & Emma Jensen
Reps: WME (Daniel Cohan) and Magnet Management (Michael Diamond)
Buyer: Gold Circle
Genre: Comedy
Attachments: David Brooks (“ATM”) is attached to direct. Dan Clifton will produce with Gold Circle’s Brad Kesell and Jeff Levine.
Notes: Script went out in September.
Writers: Melissa McCarthy & Tate Taylor
Reps: CAA
Buyer: New Line
Genre: Comedy
Attachments: Melissa McCarthy (“Bridesmaids”) will star and executive produce.
Notes: Script went out in September.
Writer: Tess Rafferty
Reps: New Wave (Josh Adler & Mike Goldberg)
Buyer: Scott Freeman and Adam Grossman
Genre: Comedy
Attachments: Freeman is attached to direct. Wayne Carmona will produce with Freeman and Grossman.
Writer: Michael Vukadinovich
Reps: ICM
Buyer: Fox
Genre: Adventure
Attachments: Shawn Levy (“Real Steel”) is attached to direct and produce through his 21 Laps banner with Dan Cohen and Billy Rosenberg.
Writer: Robert Davi
Reps: Binder & Associates (Chuck Binder)
Buyer: Atmosphere Entertainment MM
Genre: Drama
Attachments: Atmosphere’s Mark Canton and David Hopwood will produce, Jack Kavanaugh will co-produce.
Writers: Christian Cantamessa & Chris Passetto
Reps: CAA and Energy Entertainment (Adam Marshall & Brooklyn Weaver)
Buyer: Boss Media
Genre: Sci-Fi
Attachments: Cantamessa is attached to direct. Boss’s Eric Gores and Frank Mancuso Jr. will produce.
Notes: Jennifer Nieves will oversee for Boss.
Writer: Mark Heyman (“Black Swan”)
Reps: CAA (Matthew Rosen) and Management 360 (Daniel Rappaport)
Buyer: Lionsgate
Genre: Thriller
Attachments: Darren Aronofsky and Michael London will produce through Protozoa Pictures.
Notes: Alli Shearmur and Michael Paseornek will oversee for Lionsgate. Script originally hit the market in June.
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. Archive editions of The Scoggins Report can be found at The Business of Show Institute (http://bit.ly/2HRZ67) and in their beautiful new home on www.thewrap.com.
Details on every person, project and company covered by the Report can also be found at www.ItsontheGrid.com, the only place mere mortals can find listings of Hollywood’s active open writing and directing assignments, not to mention comprehensive spec market data and active film development information.
Top screenwriting and film publication, founded in 1989, published by Active Interest Media. Twitter: @scriptmag
