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 the PDF of this week's edition here, and details on each of the people, companies and projects in the article are available at ItsontheGrid.com, a division of TheWrap. Follow the site's Twitter feed here, and the Facebook page is here.
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And now for something completely different… In honor of the second anniversary of The Scoggins Report and to celebrate today’s launch of the completely redesigned ItsontheGrid.com, I decided to take a break from obsessing over the spec market and think about something even more tantalizing: Pitch Sales. Because after all, there are few things sweeter than being paid a small fortune before putting pen to paper.
Since I was buried in a huge pile of HTML all week, the lovely and talented Cindy Kaplan saved my bacon despite Passover by pulling all of the below info together and laying it out here, Spec Market Scorecard-style. (All together now: Thanks, Cindy!) Here are my favorite highlights:
• Paramount hasn’t bought any specs yet this year, but has bought the most pitches by far of the studios (4)
• There was a three-way tie among the agencies for most sold specs as of mid-March (CAA, UTA and WME), but CAA is absolutely dominant so far this year in pitch sales (6).
As you go through the below grids, keep in mind that no one has comprehensive data on how many pitches actually make the rounds every year. They tend to stay on the DL even when they sell unless they have a splashy attachment. All of the below are just the projects that we’ve heard or read about so far this year.
Each of the following production companies has been attached to at least one pitch sale so far this year:
21 Laps
33andout
Bruckheimer
Chernin
Dickhouse
The Donners’ Company
The Gotham
Group
Jinks/CohenLittle Stranger, Inc.
Original Film
Overbrook Entertainment
Panay Films
Rat Entertainment
Roth Films
Smokehouse
Weston
Wonderland Sound & Vision
Pitch Sales (Alphabetically by Title)
BLACK ICE
Writers: Greg Russo
Genre: Action thriller
Reps: Rob Lazar at ICM and Dan Halsted at Manage-ment
Buyer: Alloy Entertainment
Attachments: Bob Levy and Leslie Morgenstein will produce.
FIRST MAN
Writers: Matt Spicer and Max Winkler
Genre: Comedy
Reps: CAA and Principato-Young
Buyer: Paramount
Attachments: Johnny Knoxville is attached to star. Priya Swaminathan will produce for Dickhouse Productions.
THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE
Writers: Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander
Genre: Thriller
Reps: CAA
Buyer: Fox 2000
Attachments: George Clooney is attached to star and produce the adaptation of Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi’s book. Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen of Jinks/Cohen (yes, we know the feature side of the company has folded, but that’s how Mike Fleming reported it in January) and Grant Heslov of Smokehouse will produce.
PAN
Writers: Billy Ray
Genre: Fantasy
Reps: Brian Kend and Todd Feldman at CAA and Management 360
Buyer: Columbia
Attachments: Channing Tatum is attached to star and Reid Carolin will produce for his 33andout shingle. Eric Bromberg will produce, as will Joe Roth through his Roth Films.
THE POOL
Writers: Dan Lagana
Genre: Comedy
Reps: CAA and The Gotham Group
Buyer: Fox
Attachments: Will Speck and Josh Gordon are attached to direct. Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, and Josh McLaughlin will produce through Chernin Entertainment. Jeremy Kramer will oversee the project for Fox.
UNREASONABLE DOUBT
Writers: Marc Klein
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Reps: Gersh
Buyer: Universal
Attachments: Andrew Panay’s Panay Films to produce. Maradith Frenkel and Tracy Falco will oversee the project for Universal. Jon Turtelaub will produce and is in negotiations to direct.
UNTITLED ANNA FARIS FEMALE STALKER PITCH
Writers: Deanna Kizis and Anna Faris (story)
Genre: Comedy
Reps: Carolyn Sivitz and Ken Kaplan at Gersh
Buyer: Paramount
Attachments: Joe Roth and Palek Patel will produce through Roth Films. Anna Faris is attached to star.
UNTITLED BRIAN MILLER PITCH
Writers: Brian Miller
Genre: Sci-fi
Reps: CAA and 3 Arts
Buyer: Paramount
Attachments: Brad Weston at Weston Pictures is attached to produce.
UNTITLED COOK/GREENBERG PITCH
Writers: Emily Cook and Kathy Greenberg
Genre: Drama
Reps: Gersh and Kaplan/Perrone
Buyer: New Line Cinema
Attachments: Lauren Shuler-Donner and Richard Donner’s The Donners’ Company will produce.
UNTITLED DARREN BOUSMAN THRILLER
Writers: Darren Bousman
Genre: Thriller
Reps: Verve and Chris Ridenhour and Andrew Wilson at Prolific
Buyer: Strange Weather Films
Attachments: Andrew Adamson, Aron Warner, and Jeff Fierson will produce.
UNTITLED DAVID CALLAHAM PITCH
Writers: David Callaham
Genre: Sci-Fi
Reps: UTA and Management 360
Buyer: Fox
Attachments: McG will produce through Wonderland.
UNTITLED KODACHROME LAB PROJECT
Writers: Jonathan Tropper
Genre: Drama
Reps: UTA
Buyer: DreamWorks
Attachments: 21 Laps’ Dan Levine and Shawn Levy will produce with The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Eric Robinson. Based on the New York Times article by A. G. Sulzberger.
UNTITLED LIMA/SUSSMAN PITCH
Writers: Kevin Lima and David Sussman
Genre: Adventure, animation
Reps: WME and Mosaic
Buyer: Sony Pictures Animation
Attachments: Chris Chase is attached to produce.
UNTITLED PAULA PELL PITCH
Writers: Paula Pell
Genre: Comedy
Reps: WME
Buyer: Universal
Attachments: Tina Fey’s Little Stranger Inc. is attached to produce. Erik Baiers and Maradith Frenkel will oversee for Universal.
UNTITLED SPAIHTS/BRUCKHEIMER PITCH
Writers: Jon Spaihts
Genre: Adventure, sci-fi
Reps: Paradigm and Circle of Confusion
Buyer: Disney
Attachments: Jerry Bruckheimer is attached to produce.
UNTITLED STEVEN KNIGHT PITCH
Writers: Steven Knight
Genre: Unknown
Reps: CAA
Buyer: Columbia
Attachments: Neal Moritz’s Original Film to produce.
WHEELER DEALERS
Writers: Michael Lerner
Genre: Drama
Reps: ICM and Anonymous Content
Buyer: Paramount
Attachments: Brett Ratner’s Rat Entertainment to produce with James Lassiter and Will Smith’s Overbook Entertainment.
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