The Scoggins Report is our bi-weekly analysis of the feature film development business. The numbers in the reports are comprehensive but by no means official statistics. You can download a PDF of this week's edition here, and details on each of the people, companies and projects in the article are available to subscribers of ItsontheGrid.com, a division of TheWrap. Follow the site's Twitter feed here, and the Facebook page is here.
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As you’ll see, there’s plenty to be optimistic about in the below breakdowns. Familiar faces from 2010 like Esola and Fenton are mixed in with fresh ones like Kessman and Karp, and half of the month’s sales went to four major buyers (Disney, DreamWorks, Sony and Warner Bros.), two of which hadn’t bought spec scripts in a year. But there are two obvious standout stories from last month’s spec market:
• Two companies sold 3 specs each in February: CAA and Gersh. WME and Circle of Confusion are close behind with 2 each.
• Gersh’s Greg Pedicin and Circle’s David Alpert were on fire individually last month: Each sold two specs.
Here’s a snapshot of the raw numbers, with year-over-year comparisons since 2009:
Weekly Activity Breakdown
Week of January 31:
• 8 scripts hit the tracking boards, 1 of which has sold (“Harker”)
Week of February 7:
• 6 scripts hit the boards, 1 of which sold (“Line of Sight”)
• 2 additional sales were reported (“Voices from the Dead” and “Good Time Gang”)
Week of February 14:
• 13 scripts hit the boards, none of which have sold
• 2 additional sales were reported (“Article III” and “Stash House”)
Week of February 21 (President’s Day):
• 6 scripts hit the boards, none of which have sold
• 3 additional sales were reported (“Something Cliqued,” “Inherit the Earth” and “Zombie Pet Shop”)
Genre Breakdown
Spec Sales (alphabetical by title)
Article III
Writers: Aaron Tracy
Reps: CAA (Grant Kessman)
Buyer: Route One Films
Genre: Thriller
Good Time Gang
Writers: Max Landis
Reps: WME (David Karp) and Circle of Confusion (Britton Rizzio and David Alpert)
Buyer: RCR Pictures
Genre: Action comedy
Attachments: RCR’s Robin Schorr and Chris Ferguson will produce.
Harker
Writer: Lee Shipman & Brian McGreevy
Reps: Paradigm (Trevor Astbury) and Mad Hatter (Michael Connolly)
Buyer: Warner Bros.
Genre: Horror
Attachments: Jaume Collet-Serra will direct. Appian Way’s Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran will produce along with Connolly.
Notes: Project is a re-imagining of Bram Sroker’s Dracula. Mike Ireland will oversee for Appian Way.
Inherit the Earth (aka “Robots vs Zombies”)
Writers: J.T. Petty
Reps: CAA (David Kopple) and Circle of Confusion (Lawrence Mattis and David Alpert)
Buyer: Sony
Genre: Sci-Fi Horror
Attachments: The Soon-to-Be-Named Yorn Company’s Rick Yorn and Julie Yorn will produce along with Platinum Dunes’ Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller and Circle’s Alpert, Mattis and Rick Jacobs.
Notes: Based on the IDW Publishing graphic novel. Project originally went out in July 2010. Jonathan Kadin and Hannah Minghella will oversee for Sony.
Line of Sight
Writers: Scott Frazier
Reps: WME (Mike Esola) and H2F (Chris Fenton)
Buyer: Warner Bros.
Genre: Action thriller
Attachments: Silver Pictures’ Joel Silver, Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman
Notes: Sarah Schechter will oversee for the studio.
Something Cliqued
Writers: Karen Bloch Morse
Reps: Gersh (Eric Garfinkel) and Underground (Trevor Engelson)
Buyer: Disney
Genre: Teen comedy
Attachments: Panay Films’ Andrew Panay will produce along with Underground’s Engelson and Nick Osborne.
Notes: Tendo Nagenda and Erin Westerman will oversee for Disney; Alex Ankeles will oversee for Panay.
Stash House
Writers: Gary Spinelli
Reps: Gersh (Greg Pedicin and Frank Wuliger) and ROAR (Josh Adler and Mike Goldberg)
Buyer: Dark Castle
Genre: Thriller
Voices From The Dead
Writers: J. Michael Straczynski
Reps: CAA (Chris Harbert)
Buyer: DreamWorks
Genre: Mystery thriller
Zombie Pet Shop
Writers: E.L. Katz
Reps: Gersh (Greg Pedicin) and Generate (Jeremy Platt)
Buyer: The Animation Picture Company
Genre: Family horror (3D animation)
Attachments: The Animation Picture Company’s John Davis, Dan Chuba and Mark Dippe will produce along with Davis Entertainment’s Brian Manis and Silver Nitrate’s Ash Shah. Platt will co-produce.
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