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The May spec market wrapped up with another set of respectable numbers, especially considering the town basically went dark mid-last week in the run-up to Memorial Day. Five different studios picked up original material (CBS Films, Fox, Paramount, Relativity and Warner Bros.), and two other new buyers got into the game as well (Crime Scene Pictures and Skydance Productions).
WME had a great May, with the agency’s Jeff Gorin involved with two of the company’s three sales. That puts WME in the lead for the year with eight spec sales so far, followed by UTA’s seven, including two last month, both of which went out from Charlie Ferraro and Emerson Davis (along with Barbara Dreyfus on “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”).
UTA’s team spirit apparently influenced Industry’s Andrew Deane and Jess Rosenthal — the two managers collaborated on a couple of sales of their own, which makes the company number one among management companies so far this year. That’s the best showing by far for Industry since we started tracking in 2009; its current total would have tied the firm for second last year with Anonymous.
Here are May’s numbers:
Weekly Activity Breakdown
Week of May 2:
• 10 scripts hit the tracking boards, 2 of which sold (“Father Daughter Time” and “The Hauntrepreneur”).
Week of May 9:
• 7 scripts hit the boards, none of which sold.
• 2 additional sales were reported (“Inside the Machine” and “From Mia With Love”).
Week of May 16:
• 7 scripts hit the boards, none of which sold.
• 2 additional sales were reported (“Everly” and “Tipping Point”)
Week of May 23 (run-up to Memorial Day Weekend):
• 2 scripts hit the tracking boards, none of which sold
• 1 additional sale was reported (“The Hitman’s Bodyguard”).
Genre Breakdown*
Spec Sales (alphabetical by title)
Everly
Writer: Yale Hannon
Reps: Verve (Bryan Besser, Adam Levine) and Management 360 (Jill McElroy)
Buyer: Crime Scene Pictures
Genre: Action/Thriller
Attachments: Crime Scene’s Rob Paris and Adam Ripp will produce with Anonymous Content’s Luke Rivett. Crime Scene’s Head of Business Affairs Philip Elway will executive produce, as will Rizal Risjad. Joe Lynch will direct.
Notes: Script originally went out in January 2010 and made that year’s Black List. The plan is to shoot in New Orleans this winter.
Father Daughter Time
Writers: Matthew Aldrich
Reps: CAA (Stuart Manashil) and Silent R Management (Jewerl Ross)
Buyer: Warner Bros.
Genre: Drama
Attachments: Matt Damon is reportedly attached to direct, star, and produce with Ben Affleck and Chris Moore through their Pearl Street banner alongside Drew Vinton.
From Mia With Love
Writer: Kevin Chesley, Seth Grahame-Smith, David Katzenberg & Bryan Shukoff
Reps: WME (Jeff Gorin, Cliff Roberts, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, Daniel Shear)
Buyer: Fox
Genre: Comedy
Attachments: Grahame-Smith (“Pride & Prejudice & Zombies”) and Katzenberg will produce through their Katsmith Productions; Katzenberg will direct.
The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Writer: Tom O’Connor
Reps: UTA (Emerson Davis, Barbara Dreyfus, Charlie Ferraro) and Industry Entertainment (Andrew Deane, Jess Rosenthal)
Buyer: Skydance Productions
Genre: Action
Attachments: Skydance’s David Ellison will produce.
The Hauntrepreneur
Writer: Scott Rosenberg
Reps: WME (Adriana Alberghetti and Ari Greenburg)
Buyer: Paramount
Genre: Comedy
Attachments: Platinum Dunes’ Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form will produce.
Inside the Machine
Writer: Marc Maurino
Reps: UTA (Emerson Davis, Charlie Ferraro) and Circle of Confusion (Zach Cox)
Buyer: CBS Films
Genre: Thriller
Attachments: Contrafilm’s Tripp Vinson and Beau Flynn to produce.
Notes: Mark Ross and Ryan Conroy will oversee for the studio.
Tipping Point
Writer: Todd Stein
Reps: WME (Jeff Gorin) and Industry Entertainment (Andrew Deane, Jess Rosenthal)
Buyer: Relativity
Genre: Sci-Fi
Attachments: Temple Hill’s Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen will produce with Industry’s Deane and Rosenthal and Relativity’s Ryan Kavanaugh.
Notes: Script went out in March 2011; Daniel Herther will oversee for the studio.
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