The Scoggins Report: August 2013 Pitch Market Roundup
The Scoggins Reportby Jason Scoggins & Landon RohwedderAugust 26, 2013 August 2013 Pitch Market Roundup As you can see from the below grid, August’s pitch sale numbers ended strong (you…
The Scoggins Report
by Jason Scoggins & Landon Rohwedder
August 26, 2013
August 2013
Pitch Market Roundup
As you can see from the below grid, August’s pitch sale numbers ended strong (you know, for August). September’s numbers will most likely be in the same ballpark, since buyers will be distracted by Labor Day, Rosh Hashanah and the Toronto Film Festival, all in the first half of the month.
Since the Fall selling season still technically begins next week, though, we thought we’d take a beat to note where things stand among buyers and sellers so far for 2013:
- Universal is still the top pitch buyer of 2013 with 9, even though the studio hasn’t bought one since May. Fox’s August purchase puts its tally at 7, and New Line sits in 3rd, with 5.
- CAA and WME are tied in the lead among agencies, with 14 each. (We hadn’t noticed until this exercise, but CAA had been slightly ahead since April.) UTA, which is #1 (just ahead of WME) in the spec market, is in 3rd place for pitch sales, with 9 through the end of August.
- Anonymous Content’s 3 pitch sales in the past four-ish weeks (all of which involved Keith Redmon’s clients) jumped it to the head of the line of management companies. The firm’s total of 6 puts it in front of previous leader Management 360’s 5 and Energy’s 4.
We hope you have a great Labor Day weekend - we’ll be back next week with the Spec Market Roundup before taking a bye week to sync up with the calendar. Don’t forget to tip your waitresses. And try the veal.
Weekly Activity Breakdown
Week of July 29
- Boogeymen (July 30)
- Machina (July 30)
Week of August 5
- King Harald (August 6)
- Untitled Matt Johnson Action Project (August 9)
Week of August 12
- Breaker (August 12)
Week of August 19
- Untitled Joe Swanberg Comedy (August 20)
Pitch Sales (alphabetical by title)
Breaker
Writer: Trevor Cawood (pitch), Matt Cook (script)
Reps: WME (Rich Cook, Cliff Roberts) and Anonymous Content (Brad Dorros, Keith Redmon)
Buyer: Fox
Genre: Sci-fi
Attachments: Cawood is attached to direct and Cook will write the script. Hutch Parker will produce through his eponymous production company.
Notes: Jason Young will oversee for Fox, Dan Wilson will supervise for Hutch Parker Entertainment.
Logline: Original sci-fi idea being kept under wraps.
Boogeymen
Writers: John Sullivan (“Recoil”)
Reps: WME (Mike Esola) and Benderspink (Jake Wagner)
Buyer: Nickelodeon Original Films
Genre: Supernatural family action
Attachments: Howard Deutch is attached to direct.
Logline: A “Men In Black” style adventure involving a fearful kid who partners up with the Boogeyman to investigate paranormal activity.
King Harald
Writer: Mark L. Smith (“Vacancy”)
Reps: WME (David Karp, Cliff Roberts, Marc Korman) and Anonymous Content (Keith Redmon)
Buyer: Warner Bros.
Genre: Period action
Attachments: Leonardo DiCaprio will star and produce alongside his Appian Way partner Jennifer Davisson Killoran.
Notes: The deal reportedly includes for a blind script commitment for Smith.
Logline: The story of Harald Hardrada, the 11th century conqueror/King of Norway, also known as the last great Viking king. His quest for power and thirst for battle led to his being exiled for a time to Russia and then returning in triumph. Film envisioned is a Braveheart-style story.
Machina
Writers: Fede Alvarez & Rodo Sayagues (2013’s “Evil Dead”)
Reps: CAA (Stuart Manashil) and Anonymous Content (Brad Dorros, Keith Redmon)
Buyer: MRC
Genre: Sci-fi
Attachments: Alvarez will direct.
Logline: Being kept under wraps.
Untitled Joe Swanberg Comedy
Writers: Joe Swanberg (“Drinking Buddies”)
Reps: CAA (David Kopple)
Buyer: Fox Searchlight
Genre: Comedy
Attachments: Swanberg will write and direct. 21 Laps' Shawn Levy will produce with Alicia Van Couvering. 21 Laps’ Billy Rosenberg and Dan Cohen will executive produce.
Logline: Kept under wraps, but will tackle complex romantic relationships between people struggling with commitment.
Untitled Matt Johnson Action Project
Writers: Matt Johnson (“Horrible Bosses”)
Reps: UTA (Keya Khayatian, David Kramer) and Kaplan/Perrone (Aaron Kaplan, Sean Perrone)
Buyer: Lionsgate
Genre: Action
Attachments: Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen will produce.
Logline: Kept under wraps but said to revolve around a group of U.S. Marines who start a high-stakes business venture when they return home from Afghanistan.
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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